House Ok’s callings more Reserve retirees Veterans. And, VA adds coverage for ‘presumptive’ ailments.

House OKs calling more Reserve retirees vets

National Guard and Reserve retirees who never saw extended military service are halfway to being able to call themselves veterans.

On Tuesday, the House of Representatives approved by voice vote a bill, HR 3787, that gives Guard and Reserve retirees the privilege of being called veterans — an honor currently denied them because the legal definition of “veteran” applies only to those who served on active duty.

VA Adds Coverage for ‘Presumptive’ Ailments

The Department of Veterans Affairs is once again giving the benefit of the doubt to veterans who served in America’s most recent conflicts by assuming that their illnesses are linked to their wartime assignments.

Gates Fears Wider Gap Between Country and Military

DURHAM, N.C. — The United States is at risk of developing a cadre of military leaders who are cut off politically, culturally and geographically from the population they are sworn to protect, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told an audience at Duke University on Wednesday night.

CYBERCOM won’t be fully operational by Friday deadline

ARLINGTON, Va. — U.S. Cyber Command will not be fully operational by Friday’s deadline, military officials revealed Wednesday.

Pakistan Cuts NATO Supply Line After Airstrike

PARACHINAR, Pakistan — Pakistan blocked a vital supply route for U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan on Thursday in apparent retaliation for an alleged cross-border helicopter strike by the coalition that killed three Pakistani frontier troops.

Funeral Protest Case Reaches High Court

YORK, Pa. — One thing Al Snyder wants to make clear: His boy fought and died for freedom in Iraq, but not for the right of some “wackos” to spew hate at troops’ funerals under the protection of the Constitution.

Official: Germans, Brits behind Europe terror plot

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Eight Germans and two British brothers are at the heart of an al-Qaida-linked terror plot against European cities, but the plan is still in its early stages, with the suspects calling acquaintances in Europe to plan logistics, a Pakistani intelligence official said Thursday. One of the Britons died in a recent CIA missile strike, he said.

Mullen Restates Hope For DADT Repeal: We’re Asking Members To ‘Basically Lie’

The decade-long campaign to repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell gained both real momentum and cultural symbolism last February when Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen announced that he favored ending the military’s policy banning openly gay service.

For parents of war dead, the combat doesn’t end

The week that Army Spc. Thomas K. Doerflinger was killed in Iraq at age 20, a friend in the neighborhood brought his parents a felt banner with a gold star. Tradition holds that a grieving mother hangs it in her window until the war is over. As it turned out, the war outlasted the banner.