"I'm proud to announce for the first time today, on National Cancer Awareness Day, that we're expediting benefits delivery for veterans with cancer conditions covered in this law," VA Secretary Denis McDonough said during a speech at the National Press Club.

"History is being made by these leaders right here," said Rosie Torres, who cofounded the advocacy group Burn Pits 360 with her husband, former Army officer Le Roy Torres, and others more than a decade ago. "I want to recognize the veterans that didn’t go home, the ones that have walked the halls for 13 years. … We did it all for the fallen that are not here.”"