A hospital bed is draped with a flag after a veteran died in the hospice ward at St. Albans VA in Queens, N.Y. Quil Lawrence/NPR hide caption

George Murray, who served in Vietnam, was able to access his medical benefits from the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs relatively easily while living in Boston. But veterans living in other parts of Massachusetts, like Cape Cod, have more difficulty. Across the U.S., VA data show the unevenness in its benefit spending. Jesse Costa/WBUR hide caption

BASETRACK Live incorporates photographs, videos and interviews to tell the story of warfare, both at home and abroad. Courtesy of En Garde Arts hide caption

For some rural vets who live far from a VA hospital, getting medical care has meant driving a day or two from home, and missing work. iStockphoto hide caption

Alexander Morales, who served in the Army in the 1970s, with his family: wife Roberta; Elvia, 7, Elena, 8, and Elvira, 7 (in front), and Ruben Verdugo, 13, and Aaron D. Huerta, 17 (in back). Morales' family has been going for years to the Stand Down event in San Diego, where veterans receive assistance. David Gilkey/NPR hide caption