Wounded soldiers face neglect .. "five miles from the White House"...
Might as well be 5000 miles.
Talk about Support The Troops! In exchange for their service in the military these soldiers were promised -- and should be provided with -- the best medical care this country can give them.
"WASHINGTON - Behind the door of Army Spec. Jeremy Duncan's room, part of the wall is torn and hangs in the air, weighted down with black mold. When the wounded combat engineer stands in his shower and looks up, he can see the bathtub on the floor above through a rotted hole. The entire building, constructed between the world wars, often smells like greasy carry-out. Signs of neglect are everywhere: mouse droppings, belly-up cockroaches, stained carpets, cheap mattresses. [..]"
Since the Washington Post shined a light on this travesty, officials are scrambling to announce that there will be "investigations" into conditions at Walter Reed. How insulting .. they should call for the immediate resignation of those responsible.
And now Press Secretary Tony Snow is tossing the blame to those who "work on the other side of the river" (the Pentagon) to get the bottom of the Walter Reed mess. Excuse me? These soldiers served in Iraq at the orders of the President -- the Commander in Chief. It's his responsibility to ensure that they are properly cared for before they fight, as they fight, and when they come home .. especially the wounded and traumatized.
Shame on the damned War Profiteers! Shame on the White House and the Pentagon! There is at least 10 Billion dollars unaccounted for in Iraq. Look at what just half that wasted money could accomplish if spent on returning wounded servicemen and women.
DoD gets a budget of a half trillion dollars and they can't put our kids in decent housing? Can't even help the brain-injured find where they're supposed to go stand in line?
"Lost paperwork for new uniforms has forced some soldiers to attend their own Purple Heart ceremonies and the official birthday party for the Army in gym clothes, only to be chewed out by superiors."
I can't express how angry this makes me .. the entire article. It's tragic that our soldiers are treated this way .. especially after how much they have sacrificed.
And it's downright criminal for Bush to cut VA funding at a time when the system is overwhelmed with war casualties. And he and Cheney have the audacity to question other people's patriotism. Some patriots they are.
But, I guess you can't have tax cuts, corporate welfare and corruption without the money to pay for it coming from somewhere -- like public programs such as the VA .. public education .. FEMA.
I have heard of well-run VA hospitals, but that's not the norm .. because if you talk to Vets they'll tell you that VA hospitals in this country have shortages of everything from space to hospital gowns. Many have patients sleeping in hallways .. other vets turned away for care because there simply isn't enough space. And waiting 3 to 6 months for an appointment.
The grizzled old Vets from this Army town say VA hospitals have been underfunded and in trouble ever since Korea. But with the inordinate amount of wounded coming back from Iraq (we can save more lives than we used to) it has gotten so much worse.
Politicians sure can trail in and out of VA hospitals and Walter Reed for campaign stop/photo-ops .. and as long as they can use it for political leverage, and blame the other side, nothing will get done. Our soldiers will continue to suffer. The best thing we can do is work together to pressure our politicians .. regardless of our political leanings.
One solution to this problem could be to start a program where if you serve in the Military you are fully covered by the gov't with a major health insurance company. No more going to a gov't run hospital that will forever be underfunded and staffed by people who are burnt out and jaded by the system. That way they could go to much better hospitals and get much better care.
I mean, the idea of leaving psychologically wounded soldiers on 'death watch' over their suicidal comrades in arms is horrendous...
Between the cuts in the VA benefits, the deplorable conditions in this hospital, the lack of personal and vehicular armor, you can see a clear picture of just how little the powers that be support our troops.
"Support Our Troops" is little more than a bumper sticker to them.
We the people need to step up. We have indicated our discontent for the war in Iraq and now it's time for us to make clear our disgust with the way America treats service members.
"The President does not have the sense that God gave a duck, so it is up to you and me." Molly Ivins