Quil Lawrence
Quil Lawrence is a New York-based correspondent for NPR News, covering veterans' issues nationwide. He won a Robert F. Kennedy Award for his coverage of American veterans and a Gracie Award for coverage of female combat veterans. In 2019 Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America honored Quil with its IAVA Salutes Award for Leadership in Journalism.
Lawrence started his career in radio by interviewing con men in Tangier, Morocco. He then moved to Bogota, Colombia, and covered Latin America for NPR, the BBC, and The LA Times.
In the Spring of 2000, a Pew Fellowship sponsored his first trips to Iraq — that reporting experience eventually built the foundation for his first book, Invisible Nation: How the Kurds' Quest for Statehood is Shaping Iraq and the Middle East (Bloomsbury, 2009).
Lawrence has reported from throughout the Arab world and from Sudan, Cuba, Pakistan, Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank. He covered Iraq and Afghanistan for twelve years, serving as NPR's Bureau Chief in Baghdad and Kabul. He covered the fall of the Taliban in 2001, the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the second battle of Fallujah in 2004, as well as politics, culture, and war in both countries.
In 2012, Lawrence returned to the U.S. to cover the millions of men and women who have served at war, both recently and in past generations. NPR is possibly unique among major news organizations in dedicating a full-time correspondent to veterans and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
A native of Maine, Lawrence studied history at Brandeis University, with concentrations in the Middle East and Latin America. He is fluent in Spanish and conversant in Arabic.
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This week marks one year since the abrupt end of the U.S. mission in Afghanistan. U.S. veterans are still trying to come to terms with the collapse of the mission. -
President Biden on Wednesday will sign the PACT Act, a bill to care for veterans exposed to toxins that is considered the biggest expansion of veterans' health care in U.S. history.
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Veterans groups are slamming GOP senators for blocking a bill that would have given health care and benefits to veterans affected by from toxic chemicals and burn pits in wars dating back to Vietnam. -
A bill known as the PACT Act, which will lend health care services and disability benefits to veterans exposed to toxic substances, looks likely to become law next month.
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The countries share a border. Along the frontier, residents say a new barrier has disrupted everything from Arctic climate action and nuclear waste control to trade and cross-border sports leagues. -
Troops from 27 countries wrapped up one of the largest NATO war games since the 1980s — in the Arctic. Russia's war in Ukraine made the exercise feel like more than a game. -
President Biden is urging Congress to send a burn-pits bill to his desk. -
President Biden's son was one of many veterans who may have been sickened by burn pits. Advocates say the White House and Congress have been slow to officially link the health problems to the pits.
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Momentum on increased Veterans Affairs coverage for veterans exposed to toxic burn pits is building in Congress. None of it soon enough for sick veterans or advocates like comedian Jon Stewart.
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Veterans Affairs is expanding its popular post-9/11 caregiver program to include vets from Vietnam and Korea, but caregivers currently in the program say they're being purged in the process.
