Esoteric Bowl

“The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional as to how they perceive the Veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their country.”
George Washington

My father served in the Marine Corps for more than twenty years. During his time in service, he fought in the wars of Korea and Vietnam. He also served as a Drill Instructor, molding thousands of young men into Marines while continuing the proud tradition of the Corps. During his distinguished service, he received several accommodations and medals, and he also was awarded the Purple Heart for wounds received in battle.

After he retired from the Marines, benefits that he had earned were systematically taken away by politicians in Washington. Access to veteran’s benefits and medical care that was once promised, he now no longer qualifies for.

Like my father, my brother made a career out of serving in the military. He served in the Army in Germany during the Cold War, and he served on Johnston Island with the U.S. Army Chemical Activity of the Pacific, responsible for the storage, security and transport of deadly chemical agents.

With less than a year to serve to achieve twenty years and to qualify for retirement, my brother was diagnosed with cancer. Against his wishes, he was forced out of the Army and thus never qualified for his twenty year pension. Since his departure from the military, any benefits that he receives from the Veterans Administration has not been without a fight.

I enlisted in the military with a desire to serve and a yearning to see the world. As a Navy Seaman, I was stationed aboard a frigate at Pearl Harbor. During my time in service, I sustained a service-connected injury and was given an early release from service.

Since my release from the Navy, I have witnessed a consistent and continual withdrawal of veteran benefits. The battle to qualify for veteran’s benefits is surpassed only by the battle to receive those benefits for which I qualify. Long lines, overcrowded waiting rooms, red tape, and understaffed hospitals are commonplace, and waiting four to six months to see a doctor is the norm.

I write this not out of a desire for pity of my family or myself, but rather to provide a glimpse into how our country is providing for its veterans. Unfortunately, my family is not the exception, but rather the rule. I also want to point out that while existing veterans are waiting for health care and benefits, a new generation of veterans are slowly coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Despite the growing population of veterans, federal funding for veteran’s programs has not even kept pace with inflation. In recent years a continued systematic erosion of veteran’s benefits has taken place even while our nation is engaged in war. To help pay for the administration’s massive tax cut package, the House majority proposed cutting veteran’s programs by some $25 billion over the next decade. Earlier this year the Republican majority of the Senate defeated an amendment to increase veteran’s health care by $2.85 billion, just three percent over last year’s funding levels.

Sadly, according to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, the conservative estimate is that “one out of every three homeless males who is sleeping in a doorway, alley, or box in our cities and rural communities has put on a uniform and served our country.”

Tomorrow the nation will celebrate Veteran’s Day. There will be parades and lots of flag-waving, and many will speak about the brave young men and women who have served our country. The veterans of this nation are often honored rhetorically, but all too often the support for our veterans and their families fails to go beyond the words.
We owe our veterans much more.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 10th, 2005 at 11:24 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.