Today’s Top Stories 

Eventually, she came to associate her deep depression, anxiety and panic attacks with the harassment and assaults during her military service. Procella, who had also experienced childhood sexual abuse, was diagnosed with military sexual trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder in 2014, nearly three decades after her service. Today she has a 70 percent disability rating from the Department of Veterans Affairs. | Dallas Times >>

VA initiatives include: equipping nonmedical staff and veterans with medication that reverses overdoses; requiring psychiatric emergency room physicians to be licensed to prescribe drugs that reduce opioid cravings; and offering alternatives to opioids for pain treatment. | C-Hit >>

Price called it an “astronomical amount of pills” and could not understand why they were prescribed. Bubacz’s VA medical records, which she assumed would transfer with him, said he had a history of “opioid dependence.” Price said she’s not received any explanations from Stormont Vail and she filed a formal complaint with the hospital last month. | Stars and Stripes >>

Iraq and Afghanistan

Archaeologists in Iraq have discovered a city which was lost for more than 2,000 years with the help of drone photography and declassified intelligence images. Qalatga Darband, which is believed to have been founded in 331 BC by Alexander the Great, was discovered by a team of Iraqi and British archaeologists led by experts from the British Museum. | The Independent >>

Mattis is hoping to deepen Washington’s quickly growing defense relationship with New Delhi. One area of cooperation could be Afghanistan, where the U.S. is in a deadlock with the Taliban after 16 years. President Donald Trump has called on New Delhi to do more in Afghanistan – a call that has upset New Delhi’s longtime rival, Pakistan. | Voice of America >>

The United States, traditionally a strong ally of Iraq’s Kurds, has said the timing of the referendum threatens the fight against the Islamic State. U.S. officials also worry that the Kurdish move will weaken Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi ahead of national elections next year while empowering sectarian political forces. | The Washington Post >>

Military Affairs

Still, the fiery rhetoric carrying over from a week of threatening exchanges at the U.N. General Assembly only further fueled fears the adversaries might stumble back into open military conflict. The Korean War ended seven decades ago without a formal peace treaty and tensions related to the North’s nuclear advances have escalated for months. | Military Times >>

The U.S. Navy hospital ship that Hillary Clinton wants the Trump administration to send to hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico has one of the largest trauma facilities in the United States. Hurricane Maria struck as a Category 4 storm, knocking out the power grid. Hospitals are flooded and back-up generators at many facilities have failed. The 1,000-bed USNS Comfort is equipped to handle large-scale disasters. In 2010, the ship was sent to Haiti after a large earthquake killed more than 200,000 people. In 2005, the ship docked in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. | Fox News >>

For the first time, a female Marine has completed the grueling Infantry Officer Course. The 13-week course is considered one of the toughest in the U.S. military, and one-third of the class dropped out before graduation. The Marines said in a press release that the lieutenant has “asked to keep her identity private.” The Marine Corps Times reported that 36 other women have attempted the feat before but did not make it through. | NPR >>

#VetsRising

Former Marine (though always a Marine) Ray Atkins was one of the Labor Day attendees. He has been with APO for a little over two years, but only recently has been able to attend events with any regularity. In his own words, he considers Whitman to be like a big brother; he grew up near Whitman and joined the Marine Corps when he was 17 at Whitman’s urging. He served in the corps for just over seven years. | Tallahassee Democrat >>

He wanted to be somewhere else in 2011 when he looked at the pictures of his wife. He thought about how, with his eyes open, he saw the reality that was Afghanistan. And thought about how he could close his eyes and take his mind to another place – how he could be with Amanda. | The Beaufort Gazette >>

Retired Air Force Staff Sgt. Sebastiana Lopez Arellano is also defending gold, as the only woman on the U.S. Wheelchair Rugby team. “I ain’t scared of those boys,” she said. “What are they going to do, flip me? Bring it!” | CBS News >>