When 8-year-old Sophia Yassini's mother wrote a Facebook post describing her daughter's fear that she would be removed from the country for being Muslim, many servicemembers and veterans stepped up to let the little girl know that she was safe in America.

After hearing Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump suggest that all Muslims should be banned from the U.S., Sophia grew fearful.

"She had began collecting all her favorite things in a bag in case the army came to remove us from our homes," Melissa Yassini, Sophia's mother, put on the Facebook post. "She checked the locks on the door 3-4 times."

ABC News reported that post was shared over 20,000 times, making it a viral sensation. Servicemembers, both active duty and veteran, began responding to the post to let Sophia know that they would protect her. Many replied with photos of themselves in their military uniforms, and they began to use the hashtag #iwillprotectyou, as reported by the news source. 

Sophia's mother says that once the responses started coming in, she shared them with her daughter, and the little girl seems more at peace. Pix 11 News reported that the movement has even inspired a Facebook page called "I Will Protect You," where servicemembers can share their sentiments with other Muslim Americans.

Veterans who contracted eight different medical conditions while serving at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, from 1953 to 1987 have seen the Veterans Affairs Department change its policy regarding treatment. The Military Times reported on Thursday, Dec. 17, that VA officials had determined the eight diseases – kidney cancer, liver cancer, leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, scleroderma, multiple myeloma, aplastic anemia and Parkinson's disease – were all caused by drinking Camp Lejeune's contaminated water.

The Veterans Health Administration and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry both contributed to the years of health research  that located the guilty contaminants.

"The water at Camp Lejeune was a hidden hazard, and it is only years later that we know how dangerous it was," said VA Secretary Robert McDonald, according to Military Times. "We thank ATSDR for the thorough review that provided much of the evidence we need to fully compensate veterans who developed one of the conditions known to be related to exposure to the compounds in the drinking water."

According to Orlando's News 6, prior to the decision, only 778 of 9,636 former servicemembers applying for disabled veterans benefits for illnesses related to Camp Lejeune were approved. Thankfully, veterans exposed to the harmful camp compounds won't have to fight for their benefits any longer. 

"Today's announcement is a welcome first step by the VA and hopefully a sign that the adversarial relationship they have had with the Camp Lejeune community has improved," said Mike Partain, an advocate for veterans who grew ill in Lejeune , according to the source. "While this is welcomed news, the SME program still remains and needs to be dismantled before it can harm other veterans. I look forward to working with the VA on other diseases such as breast cancer and bladder cancer to have them included for service connection." 

More progress still needs to be made, but the VA's announcement is a promising first step to make sure veterans are taken care of in their life after service. 

States and cities nationwide have worked throughout 2015 to render veteran homelessness virtually extinct. On Thursday, Dec. 17, Philadelphia added its name to the list of those who have done their best to create a better safety net for anyone struggling in their life after service as part of the Mayors Challenge to End Veteran Homelessness, according to Post Gazette.

Organizational and volunteer efforts in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, have made their impact felt. According to Post Gazette, from when Pittsburgh's Rapid Results Veteran's Homeless Boot Camp began in August 2014 to how it stands today, the number of homeless veterans has fallen from 230 to about 160.

When it comes to government agencies and homeless service providers, Chuck Keenan, administrator of the county's homeless services, told the source that "this has really tightened up relationships and processes. It just made people more aware of what was available to veterans and put that at the forefront of people's thinking – more so than in the past."

Not long ago, local officials set themselves the goal of finding long-term housing for 484 veterans by the end of 2015. As of last week, they had already succeeded in securing homes for 450.

"If we do a better job of identification and prevention up front, any veteran becoming homeless will become a rare experience because we got better at stopping it in the first place," said Jennifer Ho, a Department of Housing and Urban Development senior adviser to Post Gazette. "When it happens, it's much more brief."

That's what officials in Seattle/King County have found to be true. The Federal Way Mirror reported that, by working hand-in-hand with federal agencies, the Housing Authority there has provided almost 500 housing choice vouchers to homeless veterans and their families. Properties in the city have proven stubbornly expensive, but progress has been made by working closely with landlords and by offering veterans assistance with moving expenses, like paying off old utility bills and putting down deposits. 

Hills and uneven terrain are no longer the obstacles they once were for some paralyzed veterans around the country. For veterans whose movements were restricted by their old wheelchairs in Oklahoma City and Adrian, Missouri, the arrival of new, all-terrain rides announced an early Christmas.

Nine of the mobile, high-tech wheelchairs were given to the Mid-America Chapter of the Paralyzed Veterans of America in Oklahoma City following a $200,000 donation from ITC, a company that specializes in electric transmissions, reported KFOR News. Every dollar raised by ITC employees was matched by Gary Walker, an area manager with ITC , the source explained.

The result of that generosity is a greatly expanded landscape for paralyzed veterans in their life after service. In a normal wheelchair, seemingly simple tasks like mounting a sidewalk or moving across gravel parking lots is made incredibly difficult. The new all-terrain chairs have changed that.

Bill Kokendoffer, president of the local Paralyzed Veterans of America chapter, remarked on how much the chairs alter a veteran's mentality.

"Going across the yard. When you've sat in a chair for 40 years saying 'I wish I could go there,' and it's only 50 feet away or 100 feet away, you might as well be in the next town over," he told the news source.

In Adrian, Missouri, members of the Vietnam Veterans of America 913 chapter made the special Christmas delivery of an all-terrain chair to Nate Beard, a Navy veteran who was paralyzed following a swimming accident. According to Ozarks First, the chair will give Beard back the freedom he so cherished before his accident. 

"I just wanted to spend time with my daughter outdoors," Beard said to the source.  

Hunting and fishing trips, an old favorite of Beard's, are also now back in play for the first time in a long time. 

"I wish I could tell you," he said. "If the smile on my face doesn't say it, nothing will." 

If there's one group that can be counted on to never forget veterans during the holiday season, it's fellow veterans. One Wood Dale, Illinois man did a lot of the heavy lifting – proving that his 84 years is just a number – while a Montana organization that calls itself Angels in Camo delivered presents to veterans and children alike.

Despite the December cold, Illinois' frozen temperatures seemed to have had little affect on 84-year-old Army veteran Gene Mikulecky, who during the Cuban missile crisis flew anti-submarine missions in thin-skinned aircraft five miles up. The Daily Herald described how every year, Mikulecky spends his fall weekends at his neighborhood grocery stores collecting donations for veterans' Christmas presents. For up to 18 hours, Mikulecky does his part in the statewide Gifts to the Yanks who Gave program, which began in 1944.

Just last week, Mikulecky received more than 9,100 gifts for veterans at the Edward Hines Jr. Veterans Affairs Hospital. The gifts tend to be practical – clothing and toiletries. Mikulecky's American Legion Post 1084 has been one of the best collection sites in Illinois for more than ten years, with donations ranging up to $19,000 annually.

"It's one thing to see the work they do and the amount of donations Gene organized to come here," Mitra Gobin, Hines' chief of voluntary services, told the Herald. "But the inspiring part is seeing how it impact the veterans. The sheer number of gifts is awesome, but the impact for vets to receive these niceties allows us to go above and beyond to enhance that quality of care."

In Montana, veterans were equally appreciative for a visit from Angels in Camo. KRTV 3 reported that for the sixth year in a row, the group delivered gifts to veterans and their families. This time around, 56 adults and 46 children were the happy recipients. 

"What it means to us just taking care of everything is heart filled," said Gregory Nyemaster, whose four children got gifts. "To see the kids be able to open gifts that we cannot afford is a big deal. It's just hard times lately and having Angels in Camo is just really awesome." 

With the way technology moves these days, what once seemed purely the stuff of science fiction – like bionic limbs – has become reality. That's the case for two Utah veterans, Bryant Jacobs and Ed Salau. Both Iraq war amputees, they will be the first patients in the country to have prosthetics surgically implanted. With surgery performed earlier this week in Salt Lake City, according to the Associated Press, Jacobs and Salau have become pioneers in the prosthetic world.

"I'm more than happy to be the guinea pig," said Jacobs.

Dr. Laurence Meyer, director of research for Salt Lake's Veterans Affairs department, said in the week before the surgery that it would involve implanting a titanium stud in the femur. Called a percutaneous osseointegrated prosthesis, the device will be followed by an exterior mechanism for docking the prosthesis in six weeks.

"Then we will start getting the actual data if it works, and we don't know that yet," said Meyer.

Stars and Stripes reported that having a prosthetic attached directly to the bone should help alleviate socket wear and the amount of energy Jacobs and Salau have to exert when walking. However, their doctors cautioned against excessive optimism. The technology is still very new, with perfection perhaps still decades away.

At a press conference, Dr. Erik Kubiak explained that they won't "feel like this was a successful event … unless we see people functioning with their implant … 10 years down the line. This is just the beginning of a process that potentially makes this available to more people."

Neither man was made available for comment post-surgery, but doctors did acknowledge they were allowed to return home earlier than expected. Should the trial prove successful, the prosthetic study will return to the FDA for wider trial approval. 

David Morgan may be gone, but he is not forgotten. A brand new house for homeless veterans in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania bears a proud plaque with his name on it.

A U.S. Navy veteran, Morgan died in August 2013 from complications after traumatic brain injury sustained while serving in Kuwait in 2009. According to the Times Leader, Mayor Tom Leighton thought that connecting Morgan with the new home would be a fitting tribute.

"I didn't think for one second who I was going to name this for. I knew exactly who it was going to be for. It was going to be for David Morgan," Leighton said.

Charlie Morgan appreciated Leighton for recognizing his son. "Knowing Dave, he'd be really honored to do this and me and his mother, we just can't get over this," he said. "This is a great honor."

Earlier this week, city officials and members of Volunteers of America of Pennsylvania came together to inaugurate the David C. Morgan House. Once the home is fully complete, a veteran and their family will be able to move in. So far this year, the VOAPA has purchased 12 housing units all over the state as part of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' Homeward Bound program.

Leighton told the Citizens Voice that Wilkes-Barre has been doing its best to exceed the challenge established by President Barack Obama to end veteran homelessness through a Department of Housing and Urban Development initiative. So far, four city properties have been put to use. Some, like the home named for Morgan, were donated to the city after the bank foreclosed on them. However they are obtained, they are put to good use in housing homeless veterans.

In a historic moment, the Department of Veterans Affairs has decided to provide robotic legs to veterans paralyzed by spinal cord injuries. The move could help many veterans who thought they'd never walk again regain their freedom of movement.

For years, veterans have petitioned the VA to provide the costly exoskeleton, which at $77,000 is much too expensive for most former servicemembers to afford. CBS News reported in 2014 that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first-of-its-kind robotic legs, called the ReWalk system, after it proved incredibly successful with paralyzed patients.

"I'm just so excited; I wish I had it on," said Robert Woo – who was crippled after his construction trailer was crushed by seven tons of falling steel – at the time of the approval. "I could just jump up and down. It's a great leap forward for a lot of us who are confined to wheelchairs."

On Dec. 10, the Associated Press was informed by the VA that it had distributed a memorandum to its staff on ReWalk program training.

Dr. Ann Spungen, lead researcher on the VA's team, said that "The research support and effort to provide eligible veterans with paralysis an exoskeleton for home use is a historic move on the part of the VA because it represents a paradigm shift in the approach to rehabilitation for persons with paralysis."

So far, 45 paralyzed veterans fitting the height and weight requirements have been tested for exoskeletons, which feature motion-sensitive motorized joints that respond to the wearer's balance and upper-body movements.

Former Army corporal Gene Laureano thought he would never walk again in his life after service. "I just kept remembering the doctor told me it was impossible for me to walk, and then I crossed that threshold from the impossible to the possible," he told the AP. "The tears came down. I hadn't spoken to somebody standing up in so long."

Just in time for the holidays, a group of homeless women veterans in Western Massachusetts have found themselves a home. In Northampton, a brand new, $1.7 million residence for women veterans was just opened by Soldier On, a private nonprofit advocating for veterans. With 16 individual apartments, plus a host of other amenities, the building will stand as a safe place for women to seek shelter and care in their life after service, according to the Boston Globe.

More than 4,000 women accounted for about 9 percent of all homeless veterans in 2015, the Globe reported, citing data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Despite that number being in line with their representation in the armed forces, women veterans are more likely to be homeless than men.

"Women come to us incredibly broken," Sara Scoco, Soldier On's women's program director, told the Globe. "All of our women experienced trauma before the military – childhood abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse. Many of them went into the military to escape trauma and were re-traumatized instead."

At Soldier On's new center, all programs are run exclusively by women. New additions like an arts and crafts room and yoga center are soon to arrive. WWLP reported that the 12 women who arrived on Tuesday are finally receiving the thanks and attention they deserve.

"We should not have any veteran living on the street," said Kathy Copeland, a homeless veteran and new resident. "These are people signing a blank check up to, and including, our lives for this country. And then to come back and not have the assets available to us."

Now, with Soldier On's help, Copeland and others like her have a place where they can heal both their physical and emotional wounds.

Bud Shepherd is familiar with the kinds of stress and danger war puts veterans through. In 1944, he was the tail gunner of a B-17 flying over Germany.

"They were shooting those 88mm at us and we had a shell go through the outer portion of the right wing on the airplane – left a big hole," Shepherd told Fox 8. "We lost three engines over the target. And then we started losing altitude and we flew for, oh maybe, two hours on one engine. We got back within 30 miles of France and that engine just quit – it just stopped like you turn a light switch off."

Shepherd and the others survived the descent only to be captured by the Germans when they reached the ground. For months he was held captive as a prisoner of war. When he returned to the States, he founded the Resources Exchanged Association, a company that sells food and other life essentials at low prices to help Americans, especially soldiers and their families.

Helping soldiers gave Shepherd the inspiration for another project – lending a hand to wounded veterans. Soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with wounds sometimes have their homes redesigned to accommodate their disabilities, so Shepherd decided that they could use the right tools to get the job done. The Reach Wounded Warrior Veterans Program was born.

Stephen Baker, who works at the program with Shepherd, helps deliver the deluxe toolboxes to veterans personally. "Seeing their face when you give it to them, even though it's just a toolbox with $800 worth of tools…they're thankful, they tear up, they always want their kids in the picture when we take one, because they say, 'I'm going to pass this down to my son,'" said Baker.

To assist veterans with a different kind of pursuit, the Veterans Outreach Center in Rochester, New York will make hundreds of donated suits, pants, vests and sports coats available to area veterans. Free tools and suits give veterans a chance to get a leg up on their life after service, both professionally and personally.