Memorial Day
Joe Sonka May 26th, 2008
(crossposted at Barefoot and Progressive)
Hey there. I know we provide this little political “entertainment” of sorts for free on this little blog, so if you wouldn’t mind throwing a few bucks to the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America and Operation Helmet, that would be quite sporty of you.
A couple of links that you should check out today:
CBS had a report this morning on the incredible sacrifices from Ft. Hood in Texas, which has lost 400 soldiers alone, leaving approximately 200 widows.
(See the video here (trouble embedding it))
The Herald Leader has a story on the toll the war has taken on families at Ft. Campbell, as well.
Also, the San Francisco Chronicle has a must-read story on the under-reported tragedy of the war in Iraq:
Thousands of Iraqi and Afghanistan veterans are returning home only to become casualties of war - at their own hands. Suffering from psychiatric injuries, 1,000 veterans under Veterans Administration care are attempting suicide each month. Almost 40 percent of the young men and women returning from combat almost have proven mental health injuries that include Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, major depression and traumatic brain injury.
But when they seek help, disabled veterans face a claims system so mismanaged and inefficient that they often must wait more than five years for any assistance. The Department of Veterans Affairs is choking on a backlog of some 600,000 unresolved benefits claims. Even after their eligibility has been established, thousands of veterans cannot obtain adequate mental health treatment. While they wait for the care they are owed, veterans are dying. About 126 veterans per week commit suicide. Vast numbers of veterans are living with mental illness, sometimes so severe that they are unable to work. Nationally, about 154,000 veterans are homeless on any given night and twice that many are homeless at some time during the year.
But as people like Senator Mitch McConnell would say:
“Nobody is happy about losing lives, but remember, these are not draftees, these are full-time professional soldiers“
And folks like Mitch McConnell think it is worth filibustering popular bi-partisan legislation to restore proper troop rotation and rest between tours, an ugly fact which many blame for the horrific suicide rates in the Army, reaching high levels that haven’t been seen since Vietnam.
And folks like Mitch also say that expanding the GI Bill so that these soldiers are able to actually pay for college expenses in the 21st century isn’t necessary.
So let’s remember not just today, but for the next 6 months, who really supports the troops.
