WASHINGTON, D.C. – A few days after the New York Times published a story detailing network reporters' concerns about war coverage, three soldiers wounded in Iraq expressed a dim view of how they see the war depicted on television.

"You always hear about the explosions or people being killed, but you never really hear about how the people are being helped, or how much they appreciate it," Spc. Hein Tran, 28, of Milpitas, Calif., said after receiving a Purple Heart today at Walter Reed Army Medical Center for wounds suffered May 10 in an explosion northeast of Baghdad.

John R. Chew/ Walter Reed

Spc. Hein Tran, center, at the Purple Heart ceremony at Walter Reed Army Medical Center on Friday.

Pfc. Alex Knapp, 22, of Shelby Township, Mich., who lost both legs in a roadside bombing on March 14, agreed with Tran.

"It's a little on the negative side because all we really hear about are deaths and injuries," Knapp said.

Sgt. Francis Collins III, 24, of Laurel, Md., also wounded by a roadside bomb, said some things are accurately depicted on television, other things aren't.

"Sometimes it's dramatized, sometimes it's not enough, as far as what they show on TV," Collins said after being awarded his Purple Heart.

Some journalists would agree. Earlier this month, the New York Observer published an article in which many journalists who cover the war expressed frustrations about the difficulties of getting their stories on air or in print. "There's a marked drop-off in the appetite for stories from Iraq," ABC News correspondent Terry McCarthy told the Observer.

Lara Logan, CBS News' chief foreign correspondent, spoke during a recent appearance on The Daily Show of her frustrations, saying, "If I were to watch the news that you hear here in the United States, I would just blow my brains out because it would drive me nuts."

As the war continues into its sixth year, the amount of time the three network evening newscasts dedicate to covering the war has dropped significantly. Six months into the year, albeit one featuring a heated political campaign, the three network evening newscasts have devoted 181 weekday minutes to coverage of the Iraq war, compared to 1,157 minutes during all of 2007, the New York Times reported.

"For the most part, it gets as much attention as it's going to get," Collins said after today's Purple Heart ceremony at Walter Reed.

Knapp has noticed a waning interest in the war, but he is philosophical about it.

"It happens over time," Knapp said. "People have got to move on and think about other things. We don't forget about it."

Tran thinks the public's main concern is bringing the troops home, a position he supports.

"It is time for us to come home, and I truly believe that," Tran said. "I think Iraq can hold its own right now if we were to leave."

Regardless of the public's attitude toward the war or the media's interest in covering it, the soldiers say they don't feel unappreciated.

"There's not a day that goes by that someone doesn't come by and say 'thank you' and shake my hand, and I'm really appreciative of that," said Tran.

"I believe they show great gratitude for what happened to me," said Collins.

"We just really want them to remember the ones who didn't get to come home," said Knapp. "That's who we are thankful for."

John Rutherford is an NBC News Producer based out of the Washington, D.C. bureau and is a decorated Vietnam veteran. He also posts stories on the military at www.dailynightly.msnbc.com (click on "John Rutherford" under "categories").

WASHINGTON, D.C. –  Leon Abbott made a startling discovery while rummaging through his late mother Sarah's personal effects last December.

"She was instrumental in launching the POW/MIA movement, and it turns out the bracelet she wore was John McCain's," Abbott said in an interview. "Pure coincidence."

Sarah Abbott and millions of other Americans began wearing the copper bracelets in 1970 to draw attention to the plight of U.S. service members missing or taken prisoner in Vietnam. She wore hers until McCain and his fellow POWs were released by North Vietnam in 1973.

She met McCain briefly at a reception in Washington, D.C., for the returning POWs.

"There were many people tugging on him at the time, so they didn't really have much of a conversation," Abbott said.

After her death in 2001, her belongings were put in storage in Florida, and Abbott came upon the bracelet six months ago in a storage box.

"I was pretty amazed," he said.

Abbott, who describes himself as an independent or a Democrat, not a Republican, has never met McCain, but he's willing to give the presumptive Republican presidential nominee the bracelet, if McCain would like it.

"I suppose the initial step would be to write him a letter and see how he reacts to it, but I don't want to politicize the event, so I was kind of waiting until after the election," Abbott said.

Carol Bates Brown, who began making the POW/MIA bracelets in 1970, said there is no way of knowing how many John McCain bracelets were distributed because no records were kept.

Incidentally, Abbott's mother was not the only family member who had a brush with history.

Her father, Gen. Leon Johnson, was awarded the Medal of Honor for leading the bombing raid on the Ploesti oil refineries in World War II.

"There were actually five Medals of Honor awarded on that mission, the most of any action, ever," Abbott said. "Three of them were posthumous."

Abbott plans to present his grandfather's Medal of Honor to the Army Heritage Museum in Carlisle, Pa., in November, right about the time of the presidential election.

John Rutherford is an NBC News Producer based out of the Washington, D.C. bureau and is a decorated Vietnam veteran. He also posts stories on the military at www.dailynightly.msnbc.com (click on "John Rutherford" under "categories").

By NBC's Rehema Ellis and Patrice Fletcher

Today, as we did liveshots from the West Seneca, N.Y., park named for our beloved Tim Russert, a steady stream of people dropped by to leave flowers in remembrance of Tim, and well wishes for our NBC crew of six.  At one point, the owner of the Red Brick Inn down the street drove up in his catering truck.  He offered us the use of the restaurant's bathroom facilities and left us with a stack of menus.  Soon after, a West Seneca fireman showed up in a pumper truck with six barbecue chicken dinners from his department's Father's Day celebration.  Then another man, who would only give us his first name, Steve, showed up with coffee and doughnuts.  A few minutes later, Steve's wife brought us cold Gatorade on this 80-degree day.  It seems that Buffalo wants to make sure that Tim's NBC family is taken care of.  We are the beneficiaries of their affection for him.

After videotaping people leaving flowers, flags and notes, our cameraman Steve Delmonte, said the mourners treated him like family.  "I feel like I'm an ambassador for NBC," Steve said.  We told him that that's exactly what he is.   It's what we all are -- stand-ins, here in Buffalo, for the man they call "Timmy."

Patrice Fletcher is the field producer for Rehema Ellis, who is reporting from Tim Russert Park near Buffalo, N.Y.

WASHINGTON - Thomas and Romayne McGinnis were physically and emotionally exhausted after three days of ceremonies surrounding the posthumous awarding of the Medal of Honor to their son Ross.
 
Army Pfc. Ross McGinnis, 19, died Dec. 6, 2006, when he fell on a grenade in Adhamiyah, Iraq, saving the lives of four of his comrades. For his heroics, President Bush presented the military's highest honor to his parents at a White House ceremony on Monday.

Since the beginning of World War II, only 850 Medals of Honor have been awarded and according to the medalofhonor.com, there are only 123 living recipients.

AFP

President Bush looks on after presenting the Medal of Honor to Thomas and Romayne McGinnis, the parents of Army Pfc. Ross McGinnis, of Knox, Pa.on June 2.Â

"It's been a rough week," his father said today, shortly before flying home to Knox, Pa.

"It's been very good, though," his mother said. "The Army has taken care of us, tremendously."

"Yep, they've treated us very well," his dad said. "I mean, it's spilled over from here to the White House and then the Pentagon."

The ceremonies began on Monday at the White House. The next day Pfc. McGinnis was inducted into the Pentagon Hall of Heroes. And today his headstone at Arlington National Cemetery was unveiled with Medal of Honor inscribed on it.

VIDEO: Teen killed in Iraq awarded Medal of Honor

After the brief Arlington ceremony, a large group of family and friends lined up to console Pfc. McGinnis' family. There were hugs, tears and occasional laughter. I asked the McGinnises, as they were leaving, what was running through their minds.

"Pride, honor," his mother Romayne said.

"Well, it's all these people here to support us," his father Thomas said. "It's really helped us so much, and there's these people and hundreds more like them that have helped us over the past 18 months to really keep going."

"And as Ross' story goes out," Romayne said, "there will be more. We gave him to the nation. We're sharing him with the nation."

"Yep, he's pretty much public property now," Thomas said.

"That's a good thing," Romayne said. "That's a good thing."

Ross McGinnis would have turned 21 years old next Saturday.