Look on the bright side! You could have been one of the guys you saw get their head blown off, or that corporal you told me about who helped you out of the burning Humvee, and then had his legs blown off. From your letters I thought Iraq sounded bad, but it's got nothing on Afghanistan, huh?
The way you described the aftermath of those suicide bomber attacks was more than I could handle. Just the idea of seeing babies and little children lying all around me, with their heads split open or their little arms and legs ripped off their tiny little bodies. Or especially the little girl you told me about; the one who had all her clothes and hair burned off her body and her skin was charred black, and all she could do was cry out for her dead mother. Man, I'll tell you what, I have no idea how you could forget an image like that, I get nightmares of it, and I wasn't even the one who saw it.
But hey, at least losing that arm bought you a ticket back home. This time for good.
I guess going back to being a carpenter isn't really an option for you anymore, but I'm sure you'll find something out there once the economy picks up. In the meantime, just kick back and relax. In about nine months, your interview with the Veterans' Affairs Department is scheduled, and if they approve you for partial disability, you can maybe move out of your folks basement. Then things will be looking up, huh? Anyway, again, welcome back.
The way we treat our returning veterans is appalling. This nation should hang its head in shame for the abuses piled upon these heroic warriors. In some parts of the country returning vets who have suffered disabilities while serving our great nation are told that there is a waiting list of nearly two years before their case is even heard -- not approved -- just heard.
Recently it was announced that due to sequestering, many programs designed to help veterans and their families were being slashed. Programs that would assist these vets with integrating back into a society far removed from that of the one they were living in recently. Tuition assistance programs for the children of those killed protecting us.
How any member of our government can validate the type of treatment our returning heroes are being subjected to is beyond my understanding.
Statistics show that an alarming number of these veterans are committing suicide daily, why would that be?
Because of the horrible things they were forced to witness; because of unending stresses; because of multiple deployments; the list goes on and on.
The job that these people were tasked to do in the name of the United States of America was done on their part with honor and excellence. The politicians who so bravely sent the sons and daughters of others to die in a foreign battlefield are now engaged in political gamesmanship for reasons of selfishness that belie their stated concerns. It's bad enough their partisan behavior punishes the citizenry they were sworn to protect, but the outrageous idea that we would give to those soldiers anything less than the very, very best we can offer, after they were willing to give ALL for us, is shameful.
These people went into harm's way for us, they now need our help and understanding. As a nation, if we refuse them this help, then I'm sure God won't see any reason to bless us.
Visit me on f/b at http://Gettingaclue1
These vets deserve to be treated much , much better....speak out for them......they need all our voices
ReplyDeletethe number of homeless vets is appalling.
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