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.
-
A group called Force Blue, which does ocean conservation work, is providing what they call "mission therapy" to veterans who miss the camaraderie and the sense of purpose of service.
-
DOGE says its busy at work at both the Pentagon and the Department of Veteran's Affairs. But at this point, it's not entirely clear what that means.
-
Some federal agencies, like the Department of Veterans Affairs, are largely exempt from President Trump's hiring freeze. But they're hitting a new roadblock in bringing new staff on. -
Veterans groups are raising alarm about what they call indiscriminate cuts across the Department of Veterans Affairs.
-
Aid groups are suing the Trump administration over its freeze of refugee programs, but criticism is also coming from Republicans who want to help Afghan refugees who aided the U.S. military.
-
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says military recruiting has shot up since the Trump administration's return. In fact, it's been improving for at least a year, with big jumps in female enlistment.
-
At the request of the family, the Army is not going to release the name of the female member of the Black Hawk crew killed in Wednesday's crash. The withholding of the name is a highly unusual move. -
White House executive orders have effectively frozen all evacuations of American allies in Afghanistan. Veterans from across the political spectrum are pushing to change this.
-
President Trump's federal hiring freeze was not supposed to affect veterans benefits, but it's still not clear how many of the Department of Veteran Affairs' staff are exempt from the freeze.
-
Senators from both parties did push Collins about how he will solve problems that have plagued the VA for decades, like delivering timely health care and protecting whistle-blowers.
