Military

Sen. Daniel K. Inouye died Monday after a uniquely American life defined by heroism in war and decades of service in the Senate — and a lifelong love of Hawaii symbolized by his last utterance: "Aloha."

There are an estimated 1.8 million female veterans in the United States right now. Roughly 25,000 of them live in San Diego County. Women leaving the service have unique needs, and the Department of Veterans Affairs is working to keep up with those challenges.

Members of the USS Makin Island First Class Petty Officers Association joined other military and local volunteers to help distribute 3,000 presents to needy families at Cajon Valley Middle School in the San Diego suburb of El Cajon on December 16.

Navy Lt. Leonard Robinson, 29, died December 15 of non-combat related injuries while home on leave in Fayetteville, North Carolina. The Department of Defense has not given further details as to the circumstances leading to his death.

The Department of Defense released today the 2013 Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) rates, which take effect Jan. 1, 2013. Overall rates will increase an average of 3.8 percent this year.

The Pentagon announced the deaths of three soldiers last week due to violence in Afghanistan. Army Staff Sgt. Nelson D. Trent, 37, died December 13 and Sgt. 1st Class Kevin E. Lipari, 39, died December 14 in Afghanistan. Staff Sgt. Nicholas J. Reid, 26, died December 13 in Landstuhl, Germany from wounds suffered in Afghanistan on December 9.

A car bomb exploded outside of a compound housing a U.S. military contractor in the Afghan capital Monday, blowing apart an exterior wall, killing at least two Afghan workers and wounding more than a dozen other people, company representatives and police said.

The death of Camp Pendleton Marine Sgt. Michael J. Guillory, 28, is under investigation, according to the Department of Defense. Guillory died December 14 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

A winning lottery ticket - to the tune of $170,827 - bought at Naval Base San Diego in September still has not been claimed. The folks at the California Lottery say it's been three months since the winning Mega Millions numbers were drawn, and the winning ticket buyer has just three months left to claim the money before that cash gets transferred to California's public schools.

The Navy has identified the Sailor killed in a fall aboard the USS Carter Hall as 19-year-old Seaman Darian Drouin of San Diego.