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.
-
An NPR investigation uncovered 40,000 vets facing foreclosure due to a VA mistake. A rescue program is helping many of them, but others fear being left out if Congress cuts this new lifeline -
An NPR investigation helped 15,000 veterans hang on to their homes, but some in Congress want to kill the program that made mortgages more affordable.
-
An NPR investigation helped lead to 15,000 veterans being saved from losing their homes, but some in Congress want to kill the rescue program.
-
Executive orders from President Trump have agencies across the government scrubbing websites of photos and references to transgender people, women and people of color. -
A group called Force Blue, which does conservation work across the country, is providing what they call "mission therapy" to veterans who miss the camaraderie and the sense of purpose of service. -
A group called Force Blue, which does ocean conservation work, is providing what they call "mission therapy" to veterans who miss the camaraderie and the sense of purpose of service.
-
DOGE says its busy at work at both the Pentagon and the Department of Veteran's Affairs. But at this point, it's not entirely clear what that means.
-
Some federal agencies, like the Department of Veterans Affairs, are largely exempt from President Trump's hiring freeze. But they're hitting a new roadblock in bringing new staff on. -
Veterans groups are raising alarm about what they call indiscriminate cuts across the Department of Veterans Affairs.
-
Aid groups are suing the Trump administration over its freeze of refugee programs, but criticism is also coming from Republicans who want to help Afghan refugees who aided the U.S. military.
