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.
-
President Trump received an ovation when he told the assembled veterans that remains of U.S. Korean War dead would soon be repatriated from North Korea.
-
Robert Wilkie inherits a VA that is undertaking ambitious changes in the next year. The department has been in turmoil since Trump sacked his first VA secretary in March.
-
President Trump fired his first VA secretary, and his first nominee withdrew. His next pick, Robert Wilkie, is a veteran and a seasoned Washington official.
-
The immigrants were brought into the military — which offers a track to citizenship — because they provide hard-to-find skills and languages. A slow-moving vetting program had put their visas at risk.
-
A Chinese national who joined the U.S. Army is facing deportation before he has a chance to gain citizenship through military service. His lawyer says he'll face reprisals if he is returned to China.
-
One of the four key points agreed between President Trump and Kim Jong Un is to help repatriate the remains of Americans killed in action during the Korean War.
-
Gen. Robert Neller, commandant of the Marine Corps, joined a Baltimore-area mosque for Iftar, the evening meal during Ramadan which breaks each day's fast. He was the guest of a Muslim Marine vet.
-
An NPR investigation last year revealed that a number of VA centers were ejecting hundreds of caregivers from the program. The VA promised reform, but a year later few have returned to the program.
-
Following the disastrous nomination of the president's last pick, Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson, veterans groups say they hope the embattled agency can finally get back on track.
-
President Trump is nominating the current acting VA secretary, Robert Wilkie, as secretary. Trump made the surprise announcement at a White House meeting and said Wilkie "doesn't know this yet."