Veterans

The past few years haven’t been kind to the 104-acre property in rural Freeburg. The Metro East American Legion post used to be one of the largest in southern Illinois — and the only one that operated a recreation area. But that's all changed.

Kenny Euge, 75, was pronounced dead on Saturday after a fire at his residence. It had been a years-long battle for Euge, a Vietnam veteran, to remain living in a caboose in rural St. Clair County where he died.

Washington University’s School of Law launched the Veterans Law Clinic to provide free legal services for veterans.

This Veterans Day also marks a special day for Duckworth, a veteran herself — who’s celebrating the 20-year anniversary of surviving being severely injured in the line of duty.

All together, $19.3 million will be going to support veterans this year: $13 million from medical marijuana sales and $6.3 million from adult-use.

After the pandemic, the backlog grew to 600,000 requests, leaving veterans waiting for needed services. Last week, the National Personnel Records Center based in St. Louis County reported it’s nearly caught up.

No one knows how the fire started. It burned 16-18 million military records.

Grafton’s mayor said the city has raised about $130,000 so far. If the city meets its goals, it will finish the new memorial, museum and plaza in the next four years.

The goal of the nonprofit Veterans Community Project of St. Louis is to help transition homeless veterans to permanent housing.

Illinois quit collecting property taxes from disabled veterans in 2015, but that has cost Metro East school districts and other taxing bodies near Scott Air Force Base hundreds of thousands — or sometimes millions of dollars.