Author: Tony Peck, The Gazette

COLORADO SPRINGS – A new stamp unveiled by the American Legion and U.S. Postal Service in Colorado Springs last week commemorates the World War I centennial by highlighting those who served. The “Turning the Tide” stamp was designed by Greg Breeding, art director for the Postal Service, and based on an illustration by Mark Stutzman.…

The Colorado Department of Military and Veterans Affairs broke ground Friday in Grand Junction on a state-funded one-stop-shop service center for veterans and military families. The Western Region OneSource is scheduled to open in May and will support the 40,000 veterans living in 24 counties on Colorado’s Western Slope. The center would be modeled on…

COLORADO SPRINGS – The city’s annual PrideFest celebrating the vibrancy of the LGBTQ community reveled in its usual flashy rainbow-hued hairdos and costumes along its downtown parade route Sunday, attracting a record number of spectators and participants, organizers said. The large turnout under overcast skies, they said, reflected the growing confidence born of legal victories,…

Not since the creation of the Air Force in 1947 has the Pentagon been tasked with forming an “equal but separate” branch of the military. While creating an independent Air Force seemed a natural evolution after World War II, it was not without its challenges. The messy divorce started 20 years before President Harry S.…

COLORADO SPRINGS – They call themselves “quiet professionals.” Soldiers with the Army’s Special Forces – known as Green Berets – are secretive and rarely give interviews. Those with Fort Carson’s 10th Special Forces Group are no different. But when discussing the deaths of one of their own, their understated words turn more assertive. These are soldiers…

COLORADO SPRINGS – Soldiers gathered at Fort Carson on Thursday for a memorial for two Green Berets, the post’s only soldiers to die in combat since last Memorial Day. At Kit Carson Memorial Park near the post’s visitors center, the 15th annual Mountain Post Warrior Memorial ceremony brought together soldiers, veterans and the families of…

Nearly 1,000 Air Force Academy cadets will graduate Wednesday, crossing the stage at Falcon Stadium during a ceremony that features a speech from Defense Secretary James Mattis and a performance by the Air Force Thunderbirds flying team. The academy poses challenges for every cadet. Here are stories of struggles faced by a few senior cadets…

COLORADO SPRINGS – The Gazette will host a discussion Tuesday on veterans’ health in the Pikes Peak region. The discussion, part of The Gazette’s Community Conversations series, will kick off at 6 p.m. at the Pioneers Museum, 215 S. Tejon St. “In Community Conversations, we at The Gazette are able to engage directly with our…