Whose Life Matters?

I was reading a story online about a soldier's flight home.  It was his final flight, in a coffin in the cargo hold of a plane.  The story as is all these stories are, was one of honor and respect shown to him, his escort and family on board the plane.  From the applause of the other passengers to the actions of the Pilot and flight attendants.   It is one of those tear jerkers for certain, but it made me think.  It made me think back to the days when Vets coming home from Viet Nam were met with protest signs and were spat upon.  Instead of honor they were treated with disgusting disrespect.   Vastly different than the welcome of WWII vets returning from Europe and Japan.  Viet Nam war was controversial.  It was not a war the people wanted and I am still not certain what the good was that came of it.  But it was a war that this country fought by sending their men into the rice patties to fight.

We have grown as a country,  we show our vets great respect on the streets, and upon arriving home.  I see vets from time to time in the grocery store and around town and always see people including myself going up to them to thank them for their service.  I hear stories all the time like the story I just read about a soldier coming home.

We have turned a corner and learned a lesson, or so it would seem.  No longer are vets being spat upon on coming home, but what about when they need medical attention?  We have heard a lot about the terrible service our VA is giving our vets, the long wait times and inability to see a Dr. The reports of numbers of vets dying before seeing a Dr. 

It is disgraceful and a blight on our nation.  We would not have the freedoms that we enjoy were it not for these brave men and women in uniform.  Their income level is low, their hours long and their work puts their lives in danger.  And yet, when they are sick or hurt they go to the back of the line.  Our forgotten heroes, our silent heroes.  Why? I am not a psychologist or psychiatrist so I am not going to pretend to know the answer.  

Recently I have heard discussions about the fact that W kept us safe after 9/11 and yes, he does deserve some credit for that, but keeping us safe takes Intel officers willing to go into dangerous areas doing dangerous things to get the information we need, it takes people paying attention to the chatter on the internet and determining what the actual threat is.  They go at a moments notice across the world to fight the enemy.  Mostly, these are young men with young brides and children,  children oftentimes born while they are overseas.  They sometimes meet their own children at one or two or even three years of age.  They miss ballgames and piano recitals, plays and band performances.  I cry at every one of those surprise homecomings and the ones with the caskets draped in the American flag.  I watch them, all of them and I pray for the troops and their families.  

We need to do better for our Vets, we need to honor them as they have honored us.  But for them, who knows where we would be.  We need to fight for them here as many of them have fought for us over there.  Their lives matter, every single person who has or does put on a uniform to serve this country matters.  This VA scandal and it is a scandal it outrageous and sickens me.  We can and should blame Congress and this Administration, but we the people bear some culpability ourselves it is easy to lay the blame at the feet of others, but we should also lay the blame at our own feet.

The power of we the people is not just in the voting booth, but in the media, in letters to the editors of Newspapers, it is in signing petitions and staying vigilent.  ACLJ has put out many petitions and recently explained what happens.  If they get 100,000 signatures on a petition that petition gets the attention of the White House, but it also gets the attention of Congress.   ACLJ goes through these petitions and gives a report to every Congressman as to how many in his/her district signed the petition.  In some cases they will use the petitions in court.  The point is they are not a waste of time, and I encourage everyone to sign every petition available whether for active duty or retired, they deserve our help.

November 11 is Veterans day, let us not celebrate it by empty rhetoric or posts on social media, let us all commit ourselves to writing our Congressmen, signing as many petitions out there and hold their feet to the fire.  Some of them have said they would investigate the situation, but we need to stay on them, to not just investigate but make real changes in the VA.  They made it possible for the new  director to fire people, great, but to date few have been fired.  Go to a VA hospital if there is one in your area and visit the Vets, something I am planning on doing this month myself, and you can hold me accountable.  

From a Newsmax article: Thursday, Sept. 3, 2015 
Nearly 900,000 military veterans have officially pending applications for health care from the Department of Veterans Affairs, the department's inspector general said Wednesday, but "serious" problems with enrollment data make it impossible to determine how many veterans were actively seeking VA health care.

About one-third of the 867,000 veterans with pending applications are likely deceased, the report says, adding that "data limitations" prevent investigators from determining how many now-deceased veterans applied for health care benefits or when. 

Read more: VA Has Huge Backlog of Medical Requests