Veterans

U.S. military veterans from three decades pass through Judge Sarah Smith's courtroom here, reporting on their battles with drug addiction, alcoholism and despair. Those who find jobs and stabilize their lives are rewarded with candy bars and applause. Those who backslide go to jail. Smith radiates an air of maternal care from the bench. As the veterans come before her, she softly asks: "How are you doing? Do you need anything?"

It was, back then, a joke Luis Pinto shared with his Army buddies in Iraq. As they were all eating food out of tin cans, living out of rucksacks, moving constantly from place to place, Pinto cracked, "If I become homeless, I'm ready." But five years later he didn't actually expect to find himself sleeping in alleys in Whittier or in friends' cars, too busy getting high to hold down a regular job. A suicide attempt on March 16 was the shock he needed to start putting his life back together.

In the theater, technology has been a boon and a bane. Since the introduction of science to the stage three decades ago, it has transformed the way shows are put together. "It pervades everything," says Alys Holden, director of production for Center Theatre Group. "Lighting, video -- which is its own subset -- sound and scenery, where automation is huge." Progress on the artistic side has been more erratic. There have been plenty of breakthroughs, such as the blending of media and genres to create new art forms or the use of virtual gaming to redefine "audience participation."

After nearly a month of workouts and hitting only one another, USC players finally began looking forward on Thursday. The Trojans completed their last practice before Saturday's opener against San Jose State, and veterans and newcomers said they could not wait to get to the Coliseum. "I'm ready," said Wes Horton , a redshirt freshman who will start at defensive end. "I don't have any game experience, so it's going to be a little overwhelming at first, but I can't let that get to me."

After a decades-long struggle, Filipino veterans of World War II finally may be granted U.S. military benefits thanks to, of all things, the economic stimulus legislation. A $198-million provision of the proposed Senate stimulus bill would authorize one-time payments of $15,000 to Filipino veterans who are U.S. citizens -- many of whom live in California -- and $9,000 for noncitizens, including those in the Philippines.

To a muddy field lashed by razor-sharp winds, about 50 brave Serbs have come home. Their houses here on the edge of an ethnic Albanian town have been repaired, or new ones built. A few rows of wheat and corn have been planted. But there are no jobs, no school, and danger lurks. Graffiti from shadowy anti-Serb militias scar the walls of nearby buildings.

In his dreams, Tu Tongjin is back on the battlefield, a terror-stricken young medic wandering the Chinese countryside with Mao Tse-tung and his fledgling Red Army. He is marching again, always marching. All around him are the bodies, including those of the 40,000 killed in one battle alone. He's starving, eating only grass. He feels the nagging cold and desperation of being hounded by death and pursued by a relentless enemy army. "What I remember most," the 94-year-old says, "is the chaos."

Aboard the retired cruise ship Queen Mary -- a World War II veteran redeployed as a tourist attraction -- former members of the armed services Thursday got an extra ration of employment help. But, between a sagging economy and years of specialized experience, many veterans say they still can't find decent jobs or feel pigeonholed into low-paying fitness, security or law enforcement positions.

The VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System began offering 20-minute HIV tests at its downtown ambulatory care center Tuesday -- part of a campaign to encourage more veterans to get tested and treated for the virus. "HIV testing is the gateway to life-saving therapy," said Dr. Earl Tso, a primary care physician who is leading the downtown center's outreach effort. In the past, veterans wanting to be tested for HIV had to have blood drawn and sent to a laboratory for analysis.

A Jamaican man accused of carrying pipe-bomb parts in checked luggage at Orlando International Airport is a U.S. Army veteran who recently served as a contractor in Iraq, sources said. Kevin Christopher Brown, whom FBI agents quoted as saying he wanted to show friends in Jamaica "how to build explosive devices like he saw in Iraq," worked as a contractor there through late 2007.