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 plan would have shut many of the Department of Veterans Affairs less-used clinics and aging hospitals. The senators say they're working on a way to rebuild the VA' infrastructure.
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Thousands of Afghans that were promised U.S. visas remain on the run from the Taliban. The Biden administration, however, quickly cleared red tape for Ukrainians after Russia invaded Ukraine.
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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 Buffalo neighborhood that was attacked by a white supremacist has struggled for years with violence and poverty. Calls by politicians for the community to come together were met with skepticism.
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Police in New York City say they're not sure why a man boarded a subway car during rush hour Tuesday morning and fired 33 times. Authorities have arrested Frank R. James but they don't know a motive.
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Scientists in the Arctic are concerned that the rift with Russia over Ukraine will set back crucial work on climate change.
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Tensions between Russia and NATO countries may be higher than at any time since the cold war. Why would the U.S. and its allies stage war games right on Russia's doorstep in northern Norway.
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Combat veteran Christy Barry has been working to help her former Afghan colleagues escape the Taliban — including a former brigadier general, who was a key U.S. ally and is on the run.
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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.
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Ian Fishback was a Green Beret who exposed torture by U.S. troops in Iraq. After serving four combat tours and earning a Ph.D. in philosophy, Fishback died last month in a nursing home. He was 42.