WBEZ 91.5 Chicago

The amount the U.S. military spends annually on air conditioning in Iraq and Afghanistan: $20.2 billion.That's more than NASA's budget. It's more than BP has paid so far for damage during the Gulf oil spill. It's what the G-8 has pledged to help foster new democracies in Egypt and Tunisia."

Wounded troops often spend months in physical therapy to regain strength in their damaged bodies.

The signature wound of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — mild traumatic brain injury, or TBI — is hard to diagnose and just as difficult to treat.

Combat photographers Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros were killed Wednesday in Libya, and two more photographers were seriously injured.

Handsome and friendly, Clay Hunt so epitomized a vibrant Iraq veteran that he was chosen for a public service announcement reminding veterans that they aren't alone.The 28-year-old former Marine corporal earned a Purple Heart after taking a sniper's bullet in his left wrist.

Hundreds of veterans are returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with disabilities that make it hard or impossible for them to get a job. Many are eligible for disability benefits, but with a wait time that can last months or even years, the veterans are at risk of serious financial trouble.The U.S.

Before he was in the national spotlight, Bradley Manning, the Army intelligence analyst who now faces charges of giving classified material to WikiLeaks, was an isolated young man with a troubled family life, according to PBS correspondent Martin Smith.In a profile of the jailed Army private for