A British photographer set out on a nearly impossible task in 2005 – to capture the faces of the last living veterans of World War I. 

In a series titled "The Old Guard," U.K.-based photographer Giles Price displays Britain's last remaining WWI veterans, many of whom were well over 100 years old by the time they sat down for their portrait. According to Slate, when Price came up with the idea to track down the veterans, only 23 of the roughly 9 million British military members who served in WWI were living. 

"I was aware that very few were still alive and wanted to document them while they were alive," Price told the news source. "I was 20 minutes from taking one sitter when the home rang me to say he had passed that morning. He was 106."

Price traveled to each veteran's home to take their photo. A Royal Marines veteran who fought in Iraq in the early 1990s, Price added that being a former military member influenced the way he shot and edited his subjects, some of whom chose to wear their service medals for the photo shoot.

The New York Times reported in 2012 that the last known World War I veteran on either side of the conflict, Florence Green, passed away at age 110. 

Two veterans organizations have found themselves facing off in a defamation lawsuit. 

The Indiana Star reported that the Wounded Warrior Project, a national nonprofit that empowers returning servicemembers, filed a lawsuit with a U.S. District Court last week, claiming that the organization was publicly defamed by Dean Graham. The Indiana resident and Army veteran runs the local veterans organization Help Indiana Vets Inc. with his wife, Patricia, who is also an Army veteran, according to the nonprofit's website.

In the lawsuit, lawyers for the Wounded Warrior Project claim that Graham called the organization "a fraud … that needs to be investigated immediately" in a post published on the Help Indiana Vets website. The news source stated that the lawsuit also alleges that Graham emailed major broadcast news outlets, including CNN and Fox News, with attacks on the Wounded Warrior Project. The Help Indiana Vets founder also reportedly sent similar messages to government departments at both the state and federal level.

A recent post on the Help Indiana Vets website outlines the Wounded Warrior Project's alleged "fraudulent behavior," claiming that the nonprofit exploits veterans through its TV ads.

According to the nonprofit's website, Help Indiana Vets gives 100 percent of its donations directly to veterans. 

Local police squads will now be equipped with vehicles armed with bullet-proof glass and gun turrets, courtesy of the Defense Department.

According to The Associated Press, fighting vehicles that were used during the Iraq War are being given to police forces across the country through a national military surplus program.

"It's armored. It's heavy. It's intimidating. And it's free," Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple told the news source. Albany is one of five county sheriff's departments receiving the vehicles in the state of New York.

While the trucks might be free – and military-grade – the news outlet stated that they can also cause some issues for the local police forces. Coming in at 18 tons, the $500,000 vehicles only get about five miles to a gallon and might be too large to travel on commercial roads. In some cases, that can make them nearly inoperable. Despite these setbacks, many local police agencies are excited for their new arrivals.

Dallas County Sheriff's Department Spokeswoman Carmen Castro recently told The Blaze that the recent addition of its $600,000 armored truck will boost the department's readiness and safety. The Dallas Observer added that the sheriff's department new International MaxxPro MRAP  was not used in overseas combat, but in stateside training exercises. 

Michigan veterans with disabilities will now be exempt from paying property taxes on their main residencies as a result of new legislation. 

According to The Marquette Mining Journal, the Dannie Lee Barnes Disabled Veteran Property Tax Relief Act applies to veterans who are permanently and entirely disabled, unable to gain employment and currently receiving special housing assistance. Former legislation only exempted veterans who received housing assistance due to their disabilities. 

The news outlet added that former servicemembers must have been honorably discharged in order to be eligible for the tax exemption. 

"Michigan's military veterans, particularly those who are disabled, have sacrificed more for us than we can ever repay," Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder said in a statement, as quoted by the news source. "They have served to protect our way of life and our freedom. This property tax break will be available to their families, will help them afford homes, and stay right here in Michigan."

The new legislation has been met with approval from many of the state's veterans, including Dave Eling, director of the Muskegon County Department of Veterans' Affairs. Eling told the Muskegon Chronicle that the law is a sign that Michigan is improving its veterans benefits. 

Johnny's Saloon, a mainstay in the sunny surfside city of Huntington Beach, Calif., is currently trying to save its iconic marquee that proclaims thanks and support for American veterans. Featuring a POW/MIA symbol, the black-and-gold billboard proudly situated on top of the bar reads: "Thank a veteran for your freedom!"

The OC Weekly reported that bar owner Johnny Kresimir will be hit with a $960 fine from the city's code enforcement department if he does not remove the famous sign from the roof of his bar as soon as possible.

A popular punk-rock haven in the sporty Southern California city, Johnny's Saloon opened in 1982 and began spreading its "thank a veteran message" since the early '90s, according to the establishment's website. Kresimir's father, Johnny Kresimir, Sr., frequently had customers come in who were World War II, Korean and Vietnam veterans and wanted to express his support. The OC Weekly added that Johnny's Saloon is known for its community outreach efforts in support of veterans' charities. 

"After spending $1,000's sponsoring the city's Marine 3/1 Marathon & The Surf City Veterans Day Car Show this is the thanks we get," Kresimir told the news source. "Every car dealership can do whatever they want whenever they want making Beach Blvd tacky but us little guys … want to spread a positive message."

A top Air Force official warned this week that the steady increase in pay and benefits costs could be harmful to the overall function of the military branch in the future, according to a news release from the Department of Defense.

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III said that the Air Force will not be able to complete its duties within the next 10 years because the cost of benefits, salaries and health insurance account for half of the branch's total budget.

"We've all benefited immensely and we thank them for that," Welsh said in the statement. "But it is time to slow it down a little bit until we know we can do our primary job, which is fight and win the nation's wars."

Welsh stated that Congress would need to slow the growth of military pay and benefits so that the DOD can iron out its current financial issues. Experts added that these costs might be unsustainable as early as 2023. 

The Pentagon's base budget is currently 26 percent higher than it was a decade ago, The Huffington Post reported. Under the new spending cuts, the Defense Department's spending budget would average around $528 billion per year. 

Despite a slight drop in overall homelessness in West Virginia, a recent report found that there are now more veterans without permanent shelter in the Mountain State. 

The Charleston Daily Mail reported that recent data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development shows that there were 329 former servicemembers in West Virginia without a long-term place to live in 2013, an increase from the 268 veterans living in similar situations in 2012. It's the highest number of homeless veterans without permanent housing in the last three years.

Amanda Sisson, the assistant director of the West Virginia Coalition to End Homelessness, noted that most of the homeless veterans in the state served in the Vietnam War.

"It's that era of veterans who are experiencing homelessness," Sisson stated to the news source. "But I also think we are going to see a lot of younger veterans coming back who suffer from traumatic brain injuries (and other issues) become homeless."

According to the HUD report, there were more than 57,000 homeless veterans in 2013, with 60 percent of them staying in shelters or transitional housing programs. 

When the federal shutdown hit last October, Catholic chaplains were barred from entering military bases, depriving active-duty troops and their families of Catholic mass and other services. Now, a New Jersey-based priest who filed a lawsuit against the Department of Defense is pressing on to protect chaplains from being furloughed during future federal closures.

The Star Ledger reported that Rev. Ray Leonard, a chaplain assigned to the Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base in Georgia, filed the lawsuit Oct. 14, claiming that the cancelation of religious services violated his freedom of speech. He ultimately won the lawsuit, as the Pentagon lifted the furlough on the chaplains a day later. However, the news outlet stated that Leonard is determined to take the lawsuit further.

"I've lived under a system where somebody else dictated to you when, where, how and what type of religious service you can have — or not have — and I'm not going to come home to my country and call it the land of the free and the home of the brave and allow anyone to tell me, 'You can't have church this weekend,'" Leonard told the news source. 

According to the Archdiocese for the Military Services, Catholic chaplains who provide religious services at military installations are employed as federal contractors, which means that their jobs are currently not exempt from furloughs during government shutdowns. The archdiocese added that there is currently a shortage of Catholic priests in the military, with only 234 active-duty priests serving 275,000 servicemembers. 

Thanks to a $1.8 million grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the New Jersey Hospital Association will now be able to help uninsured Americans gain health care coverage while also providing employment opportunities for former servicemembers.

According to The Trentonian, the hospital association will use the grant to hire 25 veterans to counsel those interested in purchasing new health insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act. Created through a partnership between the NJHA and the N.J. Department of Labor, the new role of certified application counselor requires veterans to be placed at hospitals throughout the state.

"Because veterans offer a unique set of skills, discipline and leadership abilities developed during their years in the military, they are ideal candidates to fill the role of [certified application counselor] CACs," Aline Holmes, RN, director of the NJHA Institute for Quality and Patient Safety, told the news source. 

Hiring veterans as CACs is the latest step New Jersey is taking to alleviate its high unemployment rate for veterans, which, at 10 percent, was the highest in the nation durin​g 2012, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. Current data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that the unemployment rate for veterans nationwide is currently 6.9 percent. 

Following a heated debate, the Senate has postponed its vote on proposed legislation to curb sexual assault in the military. 

The Military Justice Improvement Act was introduced in Congress as a way to improve the handling of sexual assault, abuse and discrimination in the military community. If passed, the bill would amend title 10 of the United States Code, which leaves the charging of sexual assault crimes up to military commanders under the current Uniform Code of Military Justice. While the bill was debated during the Senate's session last week as part of the discussion on the National Defense Authorization Act, The Huffington Post reported that the Senate went to Thanksgiving recess without voting on the legislation. 

The bill was sponsored by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.). Both Sen. Gillibrand and Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) sit on the Senate Armed Services Committee and are looking to reform the way in which sexual assaults on military members are reported, charged and convicted, Mother Jones reported. Currently, military commanders have the final say whether a perpetrator of a sexual assault is charged, while commanding officers can overturn any sexual assault conviction. 

More than 50 senators currently support the bill, including Sen. Rand Paul, Ted Cruz and Al Franken, The Huffington Post reported. The news source added that the Senate will take up the legislation following the Thanksgiving break.