Quil Lawrence Quil Lawrence is a New York-based correspondent for NPR News, covering national security and veterans' issues nationwide.
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Quil Lawrence

David Gilkey/NPR
Quil Lawrence
David Gilkey/NPR

Quil Lawrence

Veterans Correspondent

Quil Lawrence is a New York-based correspondent for NPR News, covering national security, climate and veterans' issues nationwide. Previously he was NPR's Bureau Chief in Kabul and Baghdad.

Lawrence started his radio career by interviewing con-men in Tangier, Morocco in 1995. He then moved to Bogotá, Colombia, and covered Latin America and the Caribbean for NPR, the BBC and the LA Times.

In the Spring of 2000, a Pew Fellowship sponsored his first trips to Iraq — that reporting built the foundation for the book Invisible Nation: How the Kurds' Quest for Statehood is Shaping Iraq and the Middle East (Bloomsbury, 2009).

Reporting for the BBC World Service, he traveled throughout the Arab world and to Sudan, Pakistan, Israel, Gaza and the West Bank.

Lawrence covered Iraq and Afghanistan for 12 years, including 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 2009 he joined NPR as Baghdad Bureau Chief, and then served as Kabul Bureau Chief.

In 2012, Lawrence returned to the U.S. to start a beat covering 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.

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) honored Lawrence with its Award for Leadership in Journalism. His coverage of life after war won a Robert F. Kennedy Award, and he received a Gracie Award for a series on female combat veterans. He co-hosted Home/Front, a podcast about the civilian-military divide, which the New York Times recognized among the ten best podcasts of 2021. The series won an Edward R. Murrow Award for the episode Marla's War.

Lawrence edited Pictures on the Radio, a book of the late photographer David Gilkey's work for NPR News, which won the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation's Sergeant Major Dan Daly Award and was named Photography Book of the Year by PoYi.

Originally from 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.

Story Archive

Thursday

Biden picks Air Force Gen. CQ Brown as Joint Chiefs chairman

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Tuesday

U.S. military veterans generally don't embrace extremism, a new survey shows

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A nationwide survey by the RAND Corporation found that veterans were less likely than the general population to support extremist groups. Adam Kaz/Getty Images hide caption

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Adam Kaz/Getty Images

Survey: Surprising to some, veterans are less likely to support extremism

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Friday

Wednesday

How U.S. debt default could negatively impact the VA and veterans

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Tuesday

E. Jean Carroll (center) departs the Manhattan courthouse where a jury awarded her $5 million after finding former President Donald Trump liable for sexually abusing her in the mid-1990s. Seth Wenig/AP hide caption

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Seth Wenig/AP

Monday

An electronic health records system for veterans has caused unnecessary suffering

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Thursday

Veterans fight back against extremist groups trying to recruit ex-military members

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Wednesday

The USS Chancellorsville has been renamed the USS Robert Smalls, to honor the enslaved man who stole a Confederate battleship in the Civil War and delivered to the Union forces, loaded with weapons. The USS Robert Smalls is shown here off the Japanese island of Iwo To, on its way to honor the fallen service members of the World War II battle of Iwo Jima. Navy Media Content Services hide caption

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Navy Media Content Services

A Navy ship named for a Confederate victory now honors a Black Union hero

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Monday

Navy ship with a Confederate name now honors Black Union Hero Robert Smalls instead

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Wednesday

K2 veterans demand answers from the Pentagon about the toxins they were exposed to

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Tuesday

Courthouse where Trump pled not guilty was surrounded by press, police and protesters

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Friday

Black veterans are less likely to be approved for benefits, according to VA documents

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Tuesday

Activists light candles outside the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the U.S. invasion that launched the Iraq War in 2003. Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Win Without War hide caption

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Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Win Without War

Iraq vets reflect on a war Americans have largely put behind them

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Saturday

Iraq Vets reflect on a War Americans have largely tried to put behind them

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Tuesday

Remembering 33-year-old Pete Reed, a frontline humanitarian medic killed in Ukraine

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Tuesday

In this Oct. 8, 2010 file photo, Mexico's Secretary of Public Safety Genaro Garcia Luna attends a press conference on the sidelines of an American Police Community meeting in Mexico City. Garcia Luna, who is in custody and facing drug trafficking charges in New York, has been charged in a superseding indictment with continuing criminal enterprise. Marco Ugarte/AP hide caption

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Marco Ugarte/AP

He was the head of Mexico's FBI. Now he's on trial for accepting cartel bribes

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Monday

Trial for Mexico's former top drug cop is underway over cartel bribery accusations

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Tuesday

Oleksandr Fedun, 24, holds onto railings as he practices walking on his prostheses at Medical Center Orthotics & Prosthetics (MCOP) in Silver Spring, Md., on Thursday. MCOP is working with several charities and organizations to help fit Ukrainian soldiers with prostheses after they've been injured in combat. Eric Lee for NPR hide caption

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Eric Lee for NPR

Ukrainian soldiers benefit from U.S. prosthetics expertise but their war is different

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Tuesday

These screenshots show deployed service members that Wove worked with to design engagement rings while they are away from home. The rings in the photos are replicas that the service members received so they would have a sense of what the actual ones would be like. Andrew Wolgemuth hide caption

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Andrew Wolgemuth

Friday

How two former Army Rangers built an engagement ring business

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Friday

New George Santos allegations involve stealing money meant for a veteran's sick dog

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Saturday

Army vet Mike Biggs, who has worked ten years for U.S.Vets in Phoenix, on Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022. Adriana Zehbrauskas for NPR hide caption

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Adriana Zehbrauskas for NPR

VA says it's on track to end veterans' homelessness

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Friday

A bipartisan bill in Congress to grant legal status to Afghan refugees is blocked

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