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TODAY's Takeaway: Veteran inspires, Lady Antebellum serenades 

1. U.S. Marine corporal Aaron Mankin’s face was badly damaged in combat, but Operation Mend – which provides military personnel with access to top reconstructive surgeons – is helping.Willie Geist shared the story of his friend Aaron on Veterans Day, as part of this week’s #InspiredBy series.2. Newtown officer Thomas Bean, one of the first responders to the Sandy Hook school shootings las

1. U.S. Marine corporal Aaron Mankin’s face was badly damaged in combat, but Operation Mend – which provides military personnel with access to top reconstructive surgeons – is helping.

Willie Geist shared the story of his friend Aaron on Veterans Day, as part of this week’s #InspiredBy series.

2. Newtown officer Thomas Bean, one of the first responders to the Sandy Hook school shootings last December, is struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder – and is likely to get fired for not returning to work since the massacre.

"[The town] promised us – all of us, all the police officers – that if we do our job, and something happens, they’re going to take care of us,” he told Savannah Guthrie.

3. As international aid started to arrive in the Philippines after Friday’s typhoon killed an estimated 10,000 people, Dr. Nancy Synderman looked from helicopter at the areas hardest hit

"What worries us is there are so many areas that we have no information from and when we have this silence this usually means that the damage is even worse," Joseph Curry, country representative for Catholic Relief Services, told TODAY.

Here’s how you can help survivors.

4. Sarah Palin joined Matt Lauer to talk about her new book, “Good Tidings and Great Joy: Protecting the heart of Christmas,” and kicked off the conversation with harsh criticisms of Obamacare and the GOP’s chances in 2016.

“I would never put my faith and hope in any one individual politician,’’ Palin said after Matt asked her about N.J. Gov. Chris Christie. “Not any of them. There is no Ronald Reagan on the scene today. If he were on the scene, that’s who I would put my faith in.”

5. Lady Antebellum helped TODAY celebrate Veterans Day on the plaza with a lovely rendition of the national anthem, a serenade for service members and a little bit of country.

And that’s TODAY’s Takeaway!