On Veterans Day, the president laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns . (Photo Credit: Getty Images)
Washington (CNN) - President Obama paid tribute Wednesday to those who have lost their lives in the nation's wars as well as to the men and women who currently serve.
"There's no tribute, no commemoration, no praise that can truly match the magnitude of your service and your sacrifice," he said in a speech at Arlington National Cemetery on a rainy, overcast Veterans Day.
"We call this a holiday, but for many veterans, it's another day of memories that drive them to live their lives each day as best as they possibly can," he said.
"For our troops, it is another day in harm's way. For their families, it is another day to feel the absence of a loved one and the concern for their safety. For our wounded warriors, it is another day of slow recovery. And in this national cemetery, it is another day when grief remains fresh."
He vowed that "America will do right" by its troops.
"To all who served in every battle in every war, we say that it's never too late to say thank you."
Earlier Wednesday, the president laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns. He then stood solemnly as a bugle played taps. Some onlookers watched from under umbrellas.
Washington (CNN) - Standing behind the president during a bill signing is a shining moment for any policy activist.
For Paul Rieckhoff, it came last week when President Obama signed the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act into law.
Having served in the Army for six years and as an infantry platoon leader in Iraq, Rieckhoff knows something about the challenges active-duty soldiers face overseas and later when they come home.
Watch: Rieckhoff discusses his experience in Iraq and Washington
Rieckhoff's experience inspired the 30-something executive director and founding member of the nonpartisan Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans for America to challenge the way the country supports veterans.
"We can say we really got something significant done," he said on a warm fall day near Capitol Hill. "We used all the tools in our arsenal, ranging from our e-mail list to Facebook to Twitter to folks on the ground, to push forward a really transformative piece of legislation that's going to help a lot of vets."
The IAVA notes the new law will provide "timely, predictable funding for veterans' health care by requiring Congress to approve a health care budget for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) at least one year in advance."
Rieckhoff has come a long way from combat in Iraq. Tailored suits and policy papers now replace his military uniform and M-16.
WASHINGTON (CNN) - President Barack Obama on Thursday signed a bill to ensure that government funding for veterans' health care avoids any gaps in the budgeting process.
The Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act calls for Congress to approve funding for veterans' medical care a year in advance, Obama said. Such advanced funding will give the Department of Veterans Affairs more time for planning how to spend the money, he said.
The bill also requires the Government Accountability Office to audit the budget process to ensure that veterans' medical care is receiving sufficient funds, according to supporters.
WASHINGTON (CNN) – The federal government is establishing a new system for updating medical records of servicemen and women both during and after their military careers, President Obama announced Thursday.
The Joint Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record will, among other things, help ensure a streamlined transition of health care records between the Pentagon and the Veterans Administration.
It will provide "a framework to ensure that all health care providers have all the information they need to deliver high-quality health care while reducing medical errors," the White House noted in a background statement.
"When a member of the armed forces separates from the military, he or she will no longer have to walk paperwork from a (Defense Department) duty station to a local VA health center. Their electronic records will transition along with them and remain with them forever," Obama said in remarks delivered near the White House.
Listen: What's the price of progress on veterans' health care? CNN Radio explores
The system will "cut through red tape" and allow new veterans to start receiving their benefits more quickly, he promised.
WASHINGTON (CNN) – The Department of Veterans Affairs says it will study the effects of toxic emissions from burning trash at military installations in Iraq and Afghanistan on veterans, even after the Department of Defense has concluded no long-term effects exist.
Studies of the smoke from the burn pits suggests it contains dioxin and other toxins.
The extent of the VA's intention was discussed in a letter to concerned congressmen that was sent on Friday and obtained by CNN.
In the letter responding to the congressmen's inquiry on the subject, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki said he shared "concerns that some veterans could have health problems from such exposures."
"Our previous experiences with returning Vietnam War and Gulf War veterans show that we must take these concerns very seriously," he added.
WASHINGTON (CNN) - Veterans groups are angry after President Barack Obama told them Monday that he means to go ahead with a proposal to have treatment for service-connected injuries charged to veterans' private insurance plans.
Leaders of the country's most prominent veterans groups met Monday at the White House with Obama, Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and Steven Kosiak, the director in charge of defense spending for the Office of Management and Budget.
Some of the veterans groups were caught off guard when the president said the administration wants to go ahead with the idea as a way of generating $540 million for the Department of Veterans Affairs in 2010. The groups and some members of Congress have been very vocal in opposing the idea.
The message, according to some of the people in the room, was that if the groups do not like this idea, they need to come back with another way of saving or raising revenues for the VA.
On CNN's "State of the Union," host and chief national correspondent John King goes outside the Beltway to report on the issues affecting communities across the country. This week, King traveled to Georgia to learn about the toll military service is taking on two veterans.
SAVANNAH, Georgia (CNN) - As his tank rolled into Baghdad in April 2003, Chris Tucker mounted his camera to capture the moment.
"It's history; we made history," he told CNN back then. "It's my first war, hopefully my last war."
He could not have imagined then that six years later, Iraq would still be a combat zone.
"I thought we would get there quick and handle our business and we'd be out," Tucker told us this week. "At least, that's what we were told anyway."
Tucker received a medical discharge from the Army last year and he now is Officer Chris Tucker of the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department.
"You still get to serve your community and your country in other ways," he said.
At age 26, he is a veteran of three combat tours. The patrol skills he learned on the streets of Baghdad, Fallujah and Sadr City come in handy as he drives his police cruiser around the neighborhoods of his Savannah precinct.
SAVANNAH, Georgia (CNN) – As his tank rolled into Baghdad in April 2003, Chris Tucker mounted his camera to capture the moment.
"It's history; we made history," he told CNN back then. "It's my first war, hopefully my last war."
He could not have imagined then that six years later, Iraq would still be a combat zone.
"I thought we would get there quick and handle our business and we'd be out," Tucker told us this week. "At least, that's what we were told anyway."
Tucker received a medical discharge from the Army last year and he now is Officer Chris Tucker of the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department.
"You still get to serve your community and your country in other ways," he said.
At age 26, he is a veteran of three combat tours. The patrol skills he learned on the streets of Baghdad, Fallujah and Sadr City come in handy as he drives his police cruiser around the neighborhoods of his Savannah precinct.
WASHINGTON (CNN) - Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki confirmed Tuesday that the Obama administration is considering a controversial plan to make veterans pay for treatment of service-related injuries with private insurance, but was told by lawmakers that it would be "dead on arrival" if sent to Congress.
Washington Sen. Patty Murray used that blunt terminology, telling Shinseki that the idea would not be acceptable and would be rejected if formally proposed. She made the remarks during a Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs hearing about the 2010 budget.
No official proposal to create such a program has been announced publicly, but veterans groups wrote a pre-emptive letter last week to President Obama opposing the idea after hearing the plan was under consideration. The groups also noticed an increase in “third-party collections” estimated in the 2010 budget proposal—something they said could only be achieved if the VA started billing for service-related injuries.
Asked about the proposal, Shinseki said it was under "consideration."
"A final decision hasn't been made yet," he said.
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