Wounded vets face new fight
The attitude of this White House toward our troops who have out lived their usefulness reminds me of what I heard a wizened ol' Korean vet say -- "If you're looking for 'sympathy' you can find it in the dictionary .. between 'shit' and 'syphilis.'"
The Associated Press has a story about the trials of many American veterans who have left the military and are having a difficult time adjusting back to civilian life .. an important story because we now have nearly 2 million Iraq and Afghanistan veterans in this country. That's roughly equivalent to ten army divisions.
One of our nation's finest hours, with respect to the treatment of veterans, was the passage of the GI Bill during WWII. It was a wonderful moment. Here we had most of our manpower at war, and we were united in wanting to provide benefits to them when they demobilized. It caused a boon in our post-war prosperity.
This should be the model we use to help veterans of today.
But reality is another story.
From Associated Press, Sep 29: TEMECULA, Calif. - He was one of America's first defenders on Sept. 11, 2001, a Marine who pulled burned bodies from the ruins of the Pentagon. He saw more horrors in Kuwait and Iraq.
Today, he can't keep a job, pay his bills, or chase thoughts of suicide from his tortured brain. In a few weeks, he may lose his house, too.
....More than in past wars, many wounded troops are coming home alive from the Middle East. That's a triumph for military medicine. But they often return hobbled by prolonged physical and mental injuries ....Treatment, recovery and retraining often can't be assured quickly or cheaply.
These troops are just starting to seek help in large numbers, more than 185,000 so far. But the cost of their benefits is already testing resources set aside by government and threatening the future of these wounded veterans for decades to come ... [..]"
Yes, there are more "casualties of war" than the 3,800 dead and over 29,000 injured.
185,000 are claiming disability or other aid because of injuries or trauma suffered as a result of what they have seen and done and had happen to them, and they're no longer capable of carrying on a 'normal' life.
The plight of every one of those 185,000 also touches the lives of their loved ones. The true cost of the Iraq war goes way beyond what the White House or any of the presidential candidates want to admit.
Two-thirds of the American public want us out of Bush's Iraq quagmire .. if they realized we have already lost ten divisions of trained soldiers who will never fight again, there would be even more calling for withdrawal .. right now.
Just because we can never compensate our troops for serving in harm's way doesn't mean that we shouldn't try to do so. Educational benefits and medical benefits are the two most important ways to do this .. the former because it's a long-term investment in our economic prosperity, the latter because it's the very least we can do to take care of veterans and their families.
It's sad that the study on PTSD was being discredited before it was even finished. Apparently, a lot of vets seeking help are just looking for attention and not really having problems. Like they have nothing better to do than spend a day trying to get an appointment for six months later.
Yet the head of the VA blows smoke at Congress and pretends everything is fine.
We need a modern GI Bill .. let Sen. Jim Webb, a Vietnam vet, author it. He will fight for decent compensation for troops who earn it. Because if we continue to slight our veterans, next time we face trouble (think of a more dangerous threat than Iraq) we could find a shortage of men and women who'd put their lives on the line for a country who breaks promises to its veterans.
Another idea -- have our political leaders' own benefits be limited to what morsels they hand to our vets.
