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.
-
Troops from 27 countries wrapped up one of the largest NATO war games since the 1980s — in the Arctic. A it was scheduled two years ago, but Russia's war in Ukraine gave the exercise a Cold War feel.
-
Long-planned NATO exercises in Norway are preparing troops for arctic warfare — but they are taking place just miles from the Russian border, as tensions simmer over Ukraine.
-
Tensions between Russia and NATO countries may be higher than at any time since the cold war. Why would the U.S. and its allies stage war games right on Russia's doorstep in northern Norway.
-
President Biden is urging Congress to send a burn-pits bill to his desk. -
President Biden's son was one of many veterans who may have been sickened by burn pits. Advocates say the White House and Congress have been slow to officially link the health problems to the pits.
-
Combat veteran Christy Barry has been working to help her former Afghan colleagues escape the Taliban — including a former brigadier general, who was a key U.S. ally and is on the run.
-
Momentum on increased Veterans Affairs coverage for veterans exposed to toxic burn pits is building in Congress. None of it soon enough for sick veterans or advocates like comedian Jon Stewart.
-
Veterans Affairs is expanding its popular post-9/11 caregiver program to include vets from Vietnam and Korea, but caregivers currently in the program say they're being purged in the process.
-
A day after a fire killed 17 people and injured dozens at an apartment building in the Bronx, residents try to regroup. An investigation is underway.
-
New York City Mayor Bill deBlasio has announced what he called a "pre-emptive strike" before the winter — a vaccine mandate for private sector employers.
