Author Archives: Veterans' Voices

About Veterans' Voices

Veterans Voices is produced by Ken Olsen, a freelance writer and author who frequently writes about military families and veterans issues for national magazines

Camp Lejeune’s Toxic Legacy: Marine Corps families who were exposed to decades of contamination search for answers

By Ken Olsen (Copyright 2013/All Rights Reserved) Jerry Ensminger’s 9-year-old daughter died of a rare form of leukemia he believes was caused by solvent-laced drinking water at Camp Lejeune, N.C. Her death could have been prevented, he says, if the … Continue reading

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Suicide help on the home front: Symposium April 20 at Fort Belvoir, Virginia for military spouses and children

Frustrated by the lack of attention on the crisis military families face, an Army wife is organizing a suicide awareness symposium to help the spouses and children who are struggling on the home front. “Are You Listening: Suicide Awareness for … Continue reading

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Frank Kowalski’s forgotten war: In the mid-’50s, Kowalski and hundreds of other U.S. soldiers were sent to a largely unknown country called Vietnam

By Ken Olsen (Copyright 2013, All Rights Reserved) The Pentagon didn’t acknowledge Frank Kowalski’s tour in Southeast Asia for more than 40 years. Some of his fellow veterans still don’t. Kowalski was handed orders for Vietnam on his 19th birthday … Continue reading

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Upside Down Lives: Spouses and parents of severely injured veterans struggle under weight of 24/7 caregiving

By Ken Olsen (Copyright 2012/All Rights Reserved) By the time Debbie Schulz got help, she had been her wounded son’s full-time caregiver for more than six years. She had lost her husband, her teaching career and her retirement. She lay … Continue reading

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For Air Force veteran, challenge trumps comfort

By Ken Olsen (Copyright 2012/All Rights Reserved) Nicole Green walked away from her secure six-figure salary at a Washington consulting firm for a far more austere and uncertain future at Team Rubicon. That says everything about the quality of people … Continue reading

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Mission Possible: Team Rubicon’s rapid response to natural disasters gives combat veterans the challenge they crave

By Ken Olsen (Copyright 2012 / All Rights Reserved) The moment he saw the destruction on TV in January 2010, former Marine scout-sniper Jake Wood knew he had to get to Haiti. He called a few friends, posted a quick … Continue reading

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More than 40 years after he came home from combat, John Wayne Cloud is still walking point for fellow veterans

By Ken Olsen (Copyright 2012 / All Rights Reserved) To anyone except John Cloud, the Vietnam veteran’s case was hopeless. Johnny Pryor had gone AWOL three times, tried to kill himself twice, spent months in the stockade and was booted … Continue reading

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Seconds to Win: For nearly 60 years, Wyoming veterans have helped develop some of America’s top rodeo talent

BY KEN OLSEN (Copyright 2012, All Rights Reserved) Emily Faber steps off her galloping horse, flies to the goat, flanks it, ties its feet and steps back. Time: 8.31 seconds – one of the fastest on this 98-degree summer evening … Continue reading

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Restorative Justice: Veterans treatment courts make differences in the lives of those who served

By Ken Olsen (Copyright 2012, All Rights Reserved) Glenn Slocum faced as much as 25 years to life after his arrest in late 2010 for stealing food and diapers. The Marine Corps veteran had two previous felony convictions for robbing … Continue reading

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Rare Victory: Vietnam Navy veterans struggle to prove, and keep, Agent Orange benefits

By Ken Olsen (Copyright 2012, All Rights Reserved)  Surgeons started removing strange growths from Mark Crosbie’s body a few years after he came home from Vietnam. Over the next three decades, they took sebaceous cysts from the Navy veteran’s back, … Continue reading

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