Rep. Dave Loebsack:More has to be done for veterans

Veterans still need much more support
Loebsack holds discussion at Burlington VFW.

By CHRISTINIA CRIPPES

ccrippes@thehawkeye.com

Even with an additional $3.8 billion in federal funding in 2008, veterans need more money for services.

"I don't know anybody in Congress, and I certainly don't know anyone in the administration, the president included, who thinks we should not be treating veterans better than we have up to this point," District 2 U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack said.

Loebsack, who sits on the Armed Services Committee, came to Burlington's VFW post Wednesday to hold a roundtable discussion with veterans.

Aside from making them aware of the additional funding -- and the push for a $4.9 billion increase in 2009 -- Loebsack agreed with veterans that much more needs to be done.

"Everyone really supports the troops, everyone supports veterans when they come home," Loebsack said. "I think that we're beginning, in Washington, D.C., to understand and fully accept what veterans have done for us in past wars and the current war."

He said as evidenced by the Vietnam War, that has not always been the case.

Loebsack said one area in need of additional attention is caring for veterans of this war effort, as well as of Vietnam, who are experiencing post traumatic stress disorder because of the current conflict.

"We see now either a reoccurrence of PTSD among Vietnam veterans and other vets, or some veterans who've never had PTSD but have been watching the news and seeing what's going on...and now they're suffering from PTSD," Loebsack said. "So, we've seen a rise in a lot of incidents like this because of the most recent war."

Loebsack has traveled to Iraq twice and Afghanistan once in his 15 months in office.

"I think at least veterans are getting a better shake, a more positive shake, when they come back, but this is something that is going to take awhile for us to get right," Loebsack said.

More to be done
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There is no room for the new veterans. Because there is no room for the new veterans needing help, the older veterans, like Vietnam veterans, are being pushed back out of the way. Go into any VA hospital and ask for an appointment when you are not part of the new generation and see what you get for an answer. At the same time advocacy work is working for the Vietnam veterans gaining information on what is wrong with them when it comes to PTSD, the VA has decided that the older veterans need to wait longer than before. Appointments are being pushed back because they have deadlines on getting new veterans into treatment. As bad as it is for the Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, think of what it's like for the older ones.

While the government plays catchup to the reality of the dire need all of our veterans are living with, they need to make sure no veteran has to suffer for the sake of another, either way you look at it. I work with the older veterans as well as the new ones because I totally understand that time is key to healing. The sooner they begin being treated, PTSD stops getting worse. Saving time from being lost, saves more of their lives from being eaten away from them.

We have a golden window in which to address the trauma they go through. Ideally they should be treated the same way police, firefighters and emergency responders are treated, on the spot, as soon as possible and they are debriefed as soon as the situation is under control and they can talk about it all. Otherwise they stuff it into the back walls of their brains thinking they "got over it" but then finding out it is eating them alive. This is not possible in combat unless the DOD manages to deploy one Chaplain for every ten soldiers. That isn't going to happen. The next best thing is to get them to open up as soon as they get home before the trauma begins to eat away at them.

It is the same with older veterans. We cannot undo the damage done before they seek help but we can stop it from getting even worse. They all need to get into treatment as soon as possible. Advocates are working on providing the information they need on what PTSD but it will do them no good to understand it if there isn't any help waiting for them when they finally want it. We cannot keep doing this to any of our veterans. Emergency alarms went off four years ago. It's time they paid attention to them!

Chaplain Kathie Costos
Namguardianangel@aol.com
http://www.namguardianangel.org/
http://www.namguardianangel.blogspot.com/
http://www.woundedtimes.blogspot.com/

"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation."

- George Washington