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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The selection of Fox News host Pete Hegseth to lead the Trump Defense Department has renewed scrutiny of his political and religious views and his aggressive criticism of the military he'd be leading. -
An NPR investigation finds thousands of veterans were pushed into high-cost mortgages by a program that was meant to help them. A rescue plan being rolled out by the Department of Veterans Affairs is excluding many vets who need help. -
At a hospital in Charlotte, N.C., military doctors serve alongside civilian doctors. It’s a model some hope will improve medical care in peace — and wartime. -
A non profit has recruited more than 160,000 veterans as poll workers, in the face of growing threats and skepticism about the security of elections.
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For the first time since 1996, both major parties have picked a veteran for vice president — a fact that some veterans' groups are hoping it leads to greater understanding of military and vet issues. -
U.S. military veterans who support Ukraine worry about political blowback since the suspect in the apparent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump has connections to their movement. -
A federal judge in Los Angeles has handed homeless veterans a major victory in court. The West LA Veterans Campus, which has been used for things that have nothing to do with veterans for decades.
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NPR identified two Trump staffers involved in an altercation at Arlington National Cemetery including a deputy campaign manager, highlighting a disconnect between Trump's messaging and his campaign. -
The statement Thursday comes in response to NPR's reporting on former President Donald Trump's visit to Arlington and an altercation his staff had with a cemetery employee. -
Many U.S. servicemembers from Afghanistan and Iraq wars are interred in this solemn place. It made news after a cemetery official tried to prevent former President Trump’s campaign from taking photos.
