Paul Rieckhoff

Paul Rieckhoff

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Paul Rieckhoff is a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom and the Executive Director and Founder of IAVA (Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America), the country's first and largest Iraq Veterans group. IAVA is a non-partisan, non-profit organization headquartered in New York City.

Rieckhoff is a nationally recognized authority on the war in Iraq and issues affecting troops, military families and veterans. His critically-acclaimed memoir, Chasing Ghosts was recently publilshed by Penguin.

Rieckhoff created IAVA in June 2004 along with a few dedicated Veterans, a handful of volunteers, and some serious credit-card debt. In less than one year, the organization had attracted thousands of Iraq War Veterans and more than 65,000 grassroots supporters across America. Whether you are an Iraq/Afghanistan Veteran or not, you can become a part of the new Veterans movement here.

The rapidly-growing membership of Iraq and Afghanistan war Veterans began speaking out on the airwaves and in the newspapers. The media quickly came to realize that Troops returning from the thick of battle possessed a uniquely informed and valuable perspective. By the beginning of 2005, appearances or statements by IAVA members had made well over 100 million media impressions worldwide. Today, IAVA continues to be a force in the media. The organization also makes an impact in Washington DC--and in cities and towns across America. IAVA conducts a nationwide college tour, testifies at congressional hearings, and crafts and supports critical legislation proposed by both republicans and democrats.

After graduating from Amherst College in 1998 with a degree in Political Science, Rieckhoff coached high school football, worked on Wall Street, participated in the rescue efforts at Ground Zero on 9/11, and served as an infantry platoon leader in Iraq from 2003-2004. In the spring of 2004, Rieckhoff became one of the first Iraq veterans to publicly criticize the war and demand accountability from elected officials.

He is a regular commentator on TV and radio and recent appearances include: ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos, CNN's Paula Zahn Now, Anderson Cooper 360, Fox's Hannity and Colmes, and MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews. In November 2004, Rieckhoff was honored by Esquire magazine as one of “America’s Best and Brightest for 2004” and was interviewed Tom Brokaw on The NBC Nightly News.

Rieckhoff has also had opinion pieces printed by AlterNet, Knight-Ridder and the International Herald Tribune and has been featured in The New York Times, Washington Post, L.A. Times, Army Times, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, New York Daily News, Newsday and A.P.

Rieckhoff is a staunch political independent and lives in New York City's East Village.

More info at ChasingGhosts.com and myspace.com/paulrieckhoff

Blog Entries by Paul Rieckhoff

Tillman Family Still Waiting for Answers: Will Congress Act?

1 Comments | Posted July 22, 2008 | 10:54 AM (EST)


I remember where I was when I found out that American hero Pat Tillman had been killed in Afghanistan. The football star, who gave up his career to join the Army Rangers, was an inspirational story of American patriotism, and his untimely death shook the country.

I also remember...

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Grassroots Power: Thank You Video From Senators Webb and Hagel for Supporting New GI Bill

14 Comments | Posted July 11, 2008 | 03:30 PM (EST)


28,000 petition signatures.

32,000 letters and thousands of calls to Congress.

With the support of thousands of readers from The Huffington Post, IAVA helped make history. When the GI Bill was signed into law by President Bush at the end of June, we hope you took pride in the fact...

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History is Made: New GI Bill Signed into Law

57 Comments | Posted June 30, 2008 | 05:34 PM (EST)


This morning, President Bush signed the new GI Bill into law. With that signature, college became affordable for the 1.7 million troops we sent to Iraq and Afghanistan. It is a promise we made to the veterans of World War II: that those who defend our country should be able...

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On the Brink of History

70 Comments | Posted June 27, 2008 | 10:58 AM (EST)


After a resounding vote in favor of the new GI Bill in the Senate last night, and the president making assurances that he will sign the bill, IAVA HQ is waiting with baited breath for a victory celebration. I wanted to take a moment to share with you some...

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Major Victory for Vets: Bush Withdraws Veto Threat Over New GI Bill

55 Comments | Posted June 19, 2008 | 08:04 PM (EST)


For anyone following the fight for a new GI Bill, progress seemed to slow to a crawl recently. After the House and Senate overwhelmingly passed the veterans' education benefit as a part of the war funding supplemental, reconciling their two versions of the legislation faced serious and unexpected...

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Business as Usual: Troops Wait While Congress "Governs"

63 Comments | Posted June 11, 2008 | 11:02 AM (EST)


• A resolution expressing support for designation of June 2008 at "National Safety Month"

• A concurrent resolution supporting the goals and ideals of the International Year of Sanitation

• Mother's Day Centennial Commemorative Coin Act

These are some of the critical issues our elected officials in the House of...

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Nickels and Dimes: Why the White House Opposes the GI Bill

Posted May 29, 2008 | 11:41 PM (EST)


Anyone with a pulse knows that the Pentagon has a history of wasting huge sums of money. Just last week, an internal audit found that the Army squandered $8.2 billion of taxpayer money on contractors in Iraq.

Sadly, while their wallets always seem to be open for the...

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75 Senators Stand With Veterans: GI Bill Passes in a Landslide

Posted May 22, 2008 | 05:39 PM (EST)


Today, three-quarters of the Senate voted to support a new GI Bill for the troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Following the 256-166 victory in the House last week, the GI Bill has achieved almost unparalleled momentum. A number of Senators actually changed their NO votes to AYE, as it...

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First Victory on GI Bill Today

Posted May 15, 2008 | 04:25 PM (EST)


This afternoon, the House of Representatives made history. By an overwhelming margin, lawmakers passed the landmark new GI Bill which will make college affordable to the more than 1.6 million Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.

As President Roosevelt said when he signed the original GI Bill for...

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Congress: Money for War, But No Money for the Troops?

Posted May 12, 2008 | 11:25 PM (EST)


When it comes to hypocritical "Support the Troops" rhetoric, I thought I'd seen it all. But I was wrong. This week, a small group of Democrats are using back door dealings to torpedo the widely-supported new GI Bill. For anyone new to the issue, here's the bottom line up...

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A Historic Vote

Posted May 7, 2008 | 05:53 PM (EST)


Last week I told you about a press conference in which leading Republicans and Democrats got together to call for a new GI Bill. And I said we'd have to wait to see if action was going to follow up those words. Tomorrow, we find out.

Congress has...

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BREAKING: Bipartisan Congressional Action to Send Troops to College

Posted April 28, 2008 | 05:55 PM (EST)


Tuesday at noon, some big-name Democrats, including Senator Jim Webb and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, will be leading a press conference on the steps of the Capitol - and they'll be joined by some of Congress's leading Republicans, including Senators Chuck Hagel and John Warner. With the political situation so...

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Landmark Study: Iraq Vets Face Healthcare Crisis

Posted April 18, 2008 | 02:46 PM (EST)


Shortly after Army Spc. Brandon Garrison returned from Afghanistan last June, his nightmares began:


"I remember waking up in the middle of the night. I'd sit straight up in bed and it was just hard to breathe and I was panicking and I remember my wife Lily asking...

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Exceptional Courage: Michael Monsoor

Posted April 14, 2008 | 09:10 PM (EST)


Last week, General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker delivered their highly-anticipated testimony to Congress on the situation in Iraq. But with the media and the nation focused on these tense hours in Washington, another story about an American SEAL in Iraq went largely unnoticed.

On Tuesday, President Bush...

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Stop-Loss: Another Hollywood Iraq Film Misses the Mark

89 Comments | Posted March 31, 2008 | 11:09 PM (EST)


Stop-Loss is Hollywood's latest attempt to define the Iraq War and the American troops who have fought in it. And is it the latest to fail.

I'm not a film critic, so I'll skip over the weak script, melodramatic music, and atrocious "southern" accents. But I feel an...

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Five Years of the War in Iraq: Where's the Media Coverage?

Posted March 19, 2008 | 11:06 AM (EST)


This week marks the fifth anniversary of the war in Iraq, but you wouldn't know it from what you see on TV.

With all the scandal-mongering coverage of the Democratic primary, the media's been too busy to spend much time talking about the two wars we're still fighting. In...

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Bad Apples and Bad Policy: Stereotyping a New Generation of Vets

Posted March 13, 2008 | 07:14 PM (EST)


Upset over a breakup with his girlfriend, Tennessee National Guardsman Rusty Rumley went to his former girlfriend's apartment building and killed her mother and current boyfriend as well as a neighbor and friend. Rumley later took his own life. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)


An Iraq war veteran who was...

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Saving the Friends We Left Behind

Posted March 5, 2008 | 08:04 PM (EST)


He was my most effective weapon in Iraq. Without him by my side, I was essentially deaf and blind. His name is Esam, and he served as my interpreter in Iraq. Iraqis like Esam put their lives on the line for their country, and for our troops. Now, most are...

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Troops Die While Bureaucrats Blunder: The Fight Against Red Tape

Posted February 28, 2008 | 11:39 AM (EST)


Time and time again, we've seen troops and veterans suffering at the hands of an inept government bureaucracy. Wounded troops have been forced to repay their enlistment bonuses. Amputees fell through the cracks at Walter Reed. And 400,000 veterans are still waiting months (and even years) for their disability...

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Washington Must Act: IAVA's 2008 Legislative Agenda

Posted February 8, 2008 | 03:47 PM (EST)


After six years of war, it is our country's moral obligation to provide real support for our troops and veterans. Our military is being tested like never before, while our veterans lack timely and sufficient health care and benefits. This generation of warriors is also facing new and unique problems,...

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