She and her husband, Paul, were at a support program in the Twin Cities for returning soldiers, checking out a Veterans of Foreign Wars table. Anne, a staff sergeant in the Minnesota National Guard who had just come back from the first of two tours in Iraq, was in uniform. Her husband was wearing jeans and a T-shirt.
But the VFW officials focused on him, explaining the benefits the group could provide, even offering to mail him more information.
For Anne, who received a combat medic badge in Iraq, the disrespect was jarring. "I can expect that from the average citizen,'' she said. "But to have that kind of disrespect from fellow veterans, it was just frustrating and hurtful."
To this day, the VFW offers come mailed to Paul, not Anne.
