military

President Trump has issued pardons for two Army officers accused of war crimes in Afghanistan and restored the rank of a Navy SEAL who was acquitted of murder in Iraq.

"For more than two hundred years, presidents have used their authority to offer second chances to deserving individuals, including those in uniform who have served our country," said White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham in a statement released late Friday. "These actions are in keeping with this long history."

In the United Kingdom, Veterans Day is celebrated with red paper poppies pinned to lapels in remembrance of those who served in World War I. The practice caught on after the bloody battlefields of France bloomed with red poppies following the war. Every year, British people wear these red flower pins for about a month leading up to Nov. 11, and buying one of these paper flowers funds veterans groups. The U.K. memorializes the end of World War I with purpose and style.

Howard Weistling wanted to be a comic strip artist. But when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, Weistling felt compelled to enlist in the Army.

Mike Weistling, Howard's grandson, loved to hear his grandfather's war stories.

"He probably told me a lot of stories that were not appropriate for a child to hear," Mike Weistling says.

After flight engineer training, Howard was shipped off to Europe. On his maiden flight, his plane was shot down over Austria. Mike has the actual rip cord hung on his wall in Flagstaff, Ariz.

Before Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi detonated a suicide vest, he was "screaming, crying and whimpering" as he was fleeing U.S. forces, winding up trapped in a dead-end tunnel in his Syrian compound, according to President Trump.

Baghdadi was being chased through the tunnel by a U.S. officer who is being celebrated as a crucial part of the top-secret mission that ended in the demise of one of the world's most wanted terrorist leaders.

That officer is a dog.

The U.S. may now keep some troops in northeast Syria, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Monday. It is the latest in a series of consequential pivots that the Trump administration has made in its Syria policy.

Updated at 4:02 p.m. ET

An early morning training exercise gone wrong resulted in the deaths of three U.S. Army soldiers and injured three more at Fort Stewart, in Georgia, on Sunday, according to Fort Stewart officials.

The soldiers were riding a Bradley Fighting Vehicle when around 3:20 a.m., it flipped over and rolled into water, a news release from Fort Stewart said.

President Trump and the U.S. Air Force are trying to tamp down questions about conflicts of interest that erupted over stays by Air Force personnel at Trump's luxury golf resort in Turnberry, Scotland.

The House oversight committee is investigating, and Air Force spokesman Brig. Gen. Edward Thomas says the Air Force is reviewing "all guidance pertaining to selection of airports and lodging accommodations during international travels."

The children of some U.S. military members and government workers overseas will have a harder time getting citizenship under a Trump administration policy announced Wednesday.

The changes will affect a relatively small number of people. But the announcement touched off widespread confusion and outrage — with immigrant and veterans' advocates questioning why the administration would change the rules for people who are serving their country.

Seven years ago, Maj. Jason Brezler sent an urgent message to a fellow Marine in Afghanistan, warning him about an insider threat. The warning wasn't heeded, and two weeks later, three U.S. troops were dead.

What did attract attention was that Brezler had sent classified information over an insecure network. The Marine Corps then embarked on what would be a multiyear effort to kick out Brezler — claiming it was for mishandling information. Brezler maintained it was retaliation for calling attention to deaths he thought might have been prevented.