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Connections
Connections

How can we better support U.S. veterans?

By Evan Dawson,
Megan Mack, Julie Williams
Published January 10, 2025 at 2:35 PM EST
Three men wearing headphones sit at a table in a radio talk studio: a man at left has brown hair and a brown beard and is wearing a black fleece; a man at center has a brown beard and is wearing a blue baseball cap and red hockey jersey; a man at right has short dark hair and is wearing a grey button-down shirt, jeans and sneakers.
Julie Williams
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WXXI News
Joseph Chenelly and Chas Belfield on "Connections with Evan Dawson" on Friday, January 10, 2025
A smiling man with short dark hair wearing a blue button-down shirt and a grey blazer. He is holding a pair of eyeglasses. The word "Connections" appears on the left side of the photo in vertical letters.
WXXI News

Roughly six percent of American adults are veterans. That’s more than 18 million people.

The plurality are now Gulf War-era veterans, eclipsing the number of living Vietnam veterans. Various advocacy groups are calling for changes – including dealing with a Veterans Administration budget shortfall.

Meanwhile, veteran suicide remains a serious problem, and local organizations are trying to give veterans a place to belong. One example is the Flower City Warriors veterans hockey team.

We discuss the state of veterans affairs with our guests:

Connections
Evan Dawson
Evan Dawson is the host of "Connections with Evan Dawson." He joined WXXI in January 2014 after working at 13WHAM-TV, where he served as morning news anchor. He was hired as a reporter for 13WHAM-TV in 2003 before being promoted to anchor in 2007.
See stories by Evan Dawson
Megan Mack
Megan Mack is the executive producer of "Connections with Evan Dawson" and live/televised engagement programming.
See stories by Megan Mack
Julie Williams
Julie Williams is an associate producer for "Connections with Evan Dawson" and is also the office administrator for radio, news and technology and operations. She started at WXXI in 2019 and has been working on Connections since 2022.
See stories by Julie Williams