The GOP presidential candidate has touched a nerve with his remarks about the Arizona senator's war record, prompting the national commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars to call them "despicable."
Jesse Goolsby, author of I'd Walk with My Friends If I Could Find Them, says it's not only a question of appreciation. "We just want a conversation about what our country asks of us," Goolsby says.
Last year, Congress tried to make getting care for vets easier by giving them the option of going outside of VA facilities. Seems pretty simple, but making that rule work hasn't been all that easy.
The planes used to spray Agent Orange in Vietnam weren't retired from service — they were used by reservists in the U.S. for more than a decade after the war, exposing the crews to harmful chemicals.
Veterans service officers often help veterans successfully navigate the complicated benefits process. For instance, not all vets in Indiana know about VSOs or have access to them.
Sometimes veterans don't claim their benefits because they live in remote areas that lack resources. In one Washington state county, Veterans Affairs services are at least an hour ferry ride away.
When David Peters went to Iraq as an Army chaplain, his relationship with God faltered. But after years of feeling adrift, he eventually found that the trauma of war had actually deepened his faith.
Journalist David Wood says "almost everyone" in war has suffered a violation of their sense of right and wrong. As a result, Wood tells Fresh Air, veterans deal with grief, numbness or guilt.