Memorial Day is a day when millions
of Americans pay lip service to people who gave their life in service to our
country. It’s happening at a time when the government’s treatment of our
veterans has never been worse.
Laying a wreath for the dead is not a substitute for respecting
the living. And our veterans have been mistreated in ways that ought to shame a
nation that claims to be a serious military power. The current state of neglect
of our veterans is about as respectful as taking a piss on the Tomb of the
Unknown Soldier.
Why are there celebrities making commercials for private
charities that care for veterans? Why should any private charity exist to
support wounded veterans? Our government accepted full responsibility for the
health of our veterans when the veteran signed on the dotted line to join.
There should be no issue with veterans getting the things they need.
Yet our TV broadcasts are teeming with entertainers taking
to the airwaves to beg couch potatoes for money on Memorial Day weekend to help
wounded American veterans.
Ours is supposed to be the most powerful military in the
world. Our armed forces operate drones that can send a missile up a camel’s ass
two thousand miles away but can’t afford a few shekels to build a wheelchair
ramp for a crippled soldier? Am I the only person in TV land who thinks this is
horrifying horse shit?
Health care for your soldiers is a basic, like ammunition
for rifles, boots and helmets. You wouldn’t send a soldier or Marine into
battle without ammunition, you don’t bring them home without the ability to provide health care.
What better way to tell our enemies that the U.S.A. is a
paper tiger than to let them see that private charities have to help care for
wounded U.S. service members?
And it’s gotten worse. The Bureau of Veterans Affairs was
shown to keep secret waiting lists at some of its hospitals to cover up the
terrible waiting times for medical care. So upper management knew how bad
things were and tried to cover it up rather than fix it.
So while the efforts of the Wounded Warrior Project are noble, such charities shouldn’t
exist because they shouldn’t have to. Veterans with serious injuries should
have all of their health needs tended to. They shouldn’t have to raise money
for wheelchairs or artificial limbs. Those benefits should be a given and not
subject to debate.
We have an all-volunteer military and haven’t had a draft
since the Vietnam War (although the “stop-loss” programs and activation of
inactive reservists during the George W. Bush administration
served as a kind of draft, with the lottery restricted to veterans who had
already served). So it behooves the government to make good on its promises to
veterans. Among the outraged public are potential new recruits. If the
military is willing to break its promises to the aged and the infirm, why
should a patriotic American want to join. (N.B. – Years ago a family member who
was then enlisted in the armed forces described recruiters as “hired liars.”).
So while I hope everyone at least takes a moment to reflect
on the brave men and women who have sacrificed their lives for our country, we
should determine that there won’t have to be private charities tending to the
needs of our veterans.
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