AARP Launches Twice-Monthly Newsletter for Veterans and Their Families
AARP Veteran Report will combine inspirational stories of service with information and practical help
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AARP is launching a free twice-monthly e-newsletter for veterans and their families that will celebrate the military through stories about uniformed service to our country while also providing practical help in areas such as health, money, work and benefits.
The first issue of AARP Veteran Report will be sent to inboxes on Thursday, Aug. 11, and on the second and fourth Thursdays of each month thereafter. Anyone can subscribe here.
In an interview with AARP Veteran Report marking the inaugural issue, AARP ambassador Gary Sinise said: “AARP Veteran Report will play a significant role in raising awareness, offering help and telling personal stories of service. AARP has a vast reach, and the potential audience is huge. We have around 18 million veterans in this country. They are our defenders, and we can never do enough for them as far as I’m concerned. I applaud AARP for extending its hand to as many veterans as possible.”
The senior editor of AARP Veteran Report is Toby Harnden, a British-born veteran of the Royal Navy, in which he spent nearly 10 years. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2009.
In a career as a foreign correspondent that spanned almost 25 years, he reported extensively from Iraq and Afghanistan and was in Washington, D.C., during the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Harnden, 56, is also the author of three acclaimed books about war and the military, most recently First Casualty, about the CIA’s Team Alpha, the first Americans behind enemy lines in Afghanistan after 9/11.
“I am very excited to be at the helm of this new venture,” said Harnden, who is based in McLean, Virginia. “I am in awe of the contributions made by veterans and their families to our country. They are an intrinsic part of the fabric of the United States and deserve our gratitude, respect and support.
“My intention is that AARP Veteran Report will become required reading for the veteran community. As Gary Sinise indicated in our interview, the sky is the limit in terms of readership, and I am heartened by the large number of people who have opted to subscribe even before our first issue.”
Pete Jeffries, national director of AARP’s Veterans and Military Families Initiative, said: “Nearly 6 million of AARP’s 38 million members nationwide are veterans or current military service members. We are committed and honored to provide those who served our nation with free resources, timely information, local programming and access to discounts in the areas of family caregiving, fighting fraud, securing employment and connecting with earned service benefits.
“At AARP, we’re on a mission to support America’s veterans and military families, and the AARP Veteran Report newsletter is another important step on our journey to better serve those who served.”