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.
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Black vets fought overseas but returned home to segregation — which made it harder for them to benefit from the GI Bill. Some in Congress hope to remedy that injustice. -
In 1944, the GI Bill lifted a generation into the middle class — but excluded Black vets who served their country at war and came home to segregation. A bill in Congress aims to fix that.
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After Hurricane Ian dumped record levels of rain across Florida, rivers flooded, leaving thousands stranded on newly created islands. -
People in Florida are turning to the government for help after Hurricane Ian. But that's not an option for the many people who work as day laborers or in service industries on the Gulf Coast.
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The city of Arcadia, Fla., is 50 miles inland from the Gulf Coast, but it's still grappling with the water Hurricane Ian dumped last week. The flooded Peace River has cut off thousands of homes.
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Flooding cut off I-75 for hours as officials struggle to restore power and water to residents in the path of the storm's destruction. -
The Pentagon held its first ever Energy Expo this week. One conclusion? The best way to sell the military on green tech may be to make sure it's lethal.
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Veterans and their caregivers who are part of a popular Department of Veterans Affairs program are breathing easier after a three-year grace period on unenrollment was announced.
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The GI bill has helped generations of veterans get an education and easy home loans. But that benefit has never really been available to Native Americans living on tribal land. -
Five-tour combat veteran Jestin Dupree works for the Assiniboine and Sioux tribes on the Fort Peck reservation in Montana. He aims to fill in gaps in VA care that often leave Native veterans behind.
