Wounded Veterans
Beth Grimes
The first of a two-panel newspaper cartoon shows a stocky, elderly man waving an American flag. On the front of his T-shirt are the words “Support Our Troops.” In the second panel, on the back of the same T-shirt are the questions “Veterans? What veterans?” Sadly, too many Americans say they support the troops, but forget about them once they come home.
As of March 27, 4004 American soldiers had been killed in Iraq. Multiples of that number are injured for every fatality. The official count of wounded by the Department of Defense is 29,451, but that number is probably higher when we count those injured in service related accidents and disease. It also does not include the toll taken by post-combat suicides.
Our soldiers’ wounds include losses of arms, legs, faces. They often suffer damage to their brains from the impact of the improvised explosive devices used so often in this conflict. Others come home with unfamiliar diseases of the Middle East, such as leishmaniasis, a nasty infection transmitted by the bite of a sand flea. Many have health problems caused by radiation from depleted uranium weapons. The Army thinks DU munitions are just dandy, because they’re so effective at penetrating enemy tanks. But DU rounds create radioactive dust when they explode, contaminating the air soldiers breathe.
Of course, our country gives wounded warriors the best medical treatment possible, sparing no expense. Doesn’t it? We wish! Although most of us believe they are entitled to the best care a grateful nation can provide, they are not getting it. The VA has admitted that 33,858 more Iraq war vets showed up in the first three months of 2006 than were expected for the entire year. The shameful treatment of soldiers returning from Iraq came to public attention when reports of substandard conditions at Walter Reed Hospital hit the news. But the scandal at this once excellent facility is just the tip of the iceberg. Inadequate medical treatment for too many of our injured soldiers is the norm right now.
How can that be? You may well ask.
The Veterans Administration is badly underfunded. A former Republican National Committeeman presently heads the Department of Veterans Affairs and, together with VA political appointees, opposed increasing funds for our wounded fighters’ health care. Waving the banner of lower taxes and smaller government, they testified that more money wasn’t needed, because the agency has increased “management efficiency.” Why did anyone think “management efficiency” needed to be increased? That the VA was inefficient is disputed by the Government Accountability Office. The VA has been quite efficient and its care conforms to the highest standards of medical services. It is a system that works well when it has sufficient resources.
Perhaps the Veterans Administration works too well to suit those who would like to privatize it. Privatization would be profitable for those corporations that want to take over the VA.’s mission of providing medical care and administering disability claims for veterans.
Politicians who want to privatize every service government provides never give up, do they?
We Americans should be ashamed that our political leaders look away from the myriad problems so many of our injured vets bring home with them from war. According to a report in USA Today, veterans are 25% of the homeless but only 11% of the adult population. Even higher percentages exist in cities across the country. In the San Francisco Chronicle of December 9, 2007, columnist C.W. Nevius quoted the regional manager for homeless programs at the Department of Veterans Affairs, as stating that there are about 2,100 homeless veterans out of the 6,000 shelter less people in San Francisco. If you think this is as bad as it’s going to get, just wait.
And homelessness is just one of the difficulties they face. Another huge problem is post traumatic stress disorder and government is now adding insult to injury by telling sufferers from PTSD that what they have is a “personality disorder,” a problem they had before enlisting. Why do government spokesmen say this? Because defining it as a pre-existing condition lets Uncle Sam off the hook.
Politicians love to blather about the nation’s debt to those who bravely fought for their country, but the actions of these politicos say, “the only good combat veteran is a dead combat veteran/” A dead hero can be eulogized and his memory used to motivate young people to join, and risk their precious lives in, the military. Those who are injured may come home to demand healing and medical services. Sheesh. That would cost barrels of money. The pols would rather get those dollars into the hands of corporations that helped them get elected.
“Support Our Troops” magnets are all very well, but we could slap one of them on every vehicle between New York and San Francisco and they wouldn’t do as they haven’t done a damn thing for the troops that come back damaged.
Combat leaves a lifelong impact. Those who go through it carry the memory inside them like an unwanted, uninvited guest who refuses to leave. Injured in body, mind and spirit, they need all the support a grateful nation can give them. They haven’t and they won’t get it from a VA with insufficient resources, doled out grudgingly by a soulless Administration and a Congress that didn’t hesitate to send them into an unnecessary, seemingly endless war.
Racism in America
Each January, we celebrate the birthday of a great African American, Martin Luther King, Jr., a leader of the civil rights movement. “He was treated as an icon, but his vision of a nation in which black and white kids went to school together seemed to effaced. Dutiful references to ‘The Dream’ are inevitably seen in school brochures and on wall posters during February, when “Black History” is celebrated in the public schools, but the content of the dream was treated as a closed box that could not be opened without ruining the celebration” From Savage Inequalities, page 3, by Jonathan Kozol.
We Americans should brush aside the syrupy, sanitized, reduced-to-sound-bite version of Dr. King’s work, a version which characterizes much of the media coverage of his birthday, and try instead to know the thinking of the real Dr. King. We should to remember his dream, the dream which lives on in his books and speeches, and in the memory of his courageous actions. We need to be inspired and re-motivated to continue the work he began and finally bring an end to the evil of racism.
Filed under Uncategorized | Comment (0)Advocates for Equality
Advocates for Equality work for respect, fair treatment and equal opportunity for all human beings. We are opposed to discrimination based on race, gender, age, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion or disability. We invite like-minded individuals to join us in our efforts to create a world without prejudice, fear and hate.
Filed under Uncategorized | Comment (0)Hello world!
Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!
Filed under Uncategorized | Comment (0)