Does this look like what a grateful nation should do?

"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

With these words, I close out my posts when I have something to add to the articles I put up or when I write an entire article. These words come at the end of all the emails I send out. These words matter to me and should matter to every American.

"........how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." How do we treat them? How do we show we appreciate them?

Is any of the following showing appreciation from a grateful nation?

Redeployments, when it has been proven increases the risk of developing PTSD. When it takes away a soldier from their family again and again and again. When it puts National Guardsmen and Reservists in financial crisis over and over again.

Stop-loss, when they are kept and redeployed past the time they agreed to serve the nation. When they are told they are going back into Iraq or Afghanistan no matter what they agreed to do.

Wounded being sent back into combat when the doctors have already classified them as disabled and unable to work. When they have already been exposed to so much trauma they have their minds wounded and need medication just to function. When they have physical injuries that would prevent anyone from holding down a regular job, yet they are sent back into combat.

Wounded being told they entered into the military already wounded in their minds and what they are suffering from has nothing to do with their service, no matter if the flashbacks and nightmares along with all the other symptoms associated with PTSD all have to do with their service. When they are given dishonorable discharges for the simple fact they were wounded by honorably serving the nation doing what they were sent to do, doing their duty to their country. When they have to come back and fight the same country to have their wounds taken care of and be able to support themselves with the disability they were entitled to receive, yet are told they do not deserve it. When they are told they need therapy but they can come back in six months or longer. Or call a suicide hotline and are told to call back some other time. When they are told that they need to seek help as soon as possible to stop PTSD from getting worse, then being told that if they seek help it will ruin their career or keep them from getting security clearance or keep them from staying in the military if that is what they want to do and are still able to do.

When they are told all the money in the world is not too much to find in order to wage the combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan but it is too much money to fully fund the VA, provide them everything they need to do their jobs and take care of their families with a livable wage so they do not need to ask for food stamps and hand outs from families. When they are told they can go to college when they get out but then are told that to provide them with enough funding to do this, it is just too generous and may make it more attractive to leave the military than to stay in. This being said by a man running for the Presidency, who never voted against funding the occupations they are risking their lives in.

Does any of this resemble a grateful nation to you? I doubt it does to them. I doubt it does to the children of Vietnam veterans, now at an age when they too can serve the nation as their parents did, but won't because they saw their parents suffer for far too long neglected and abandoned to suffer in silence.


In a few days, we will honor, or are supposed to honor the fallen, for Memorial Day. Do you think we have done their lives justice by all we allowed to happen to this generation or the last, or the one before that? Do you think we honored their sacrifice by treating the veterans as if they should feel lucky enough just to have come home alive and should expect nothing more from us because it's too expensive or too generous? What possible reason could anyone in congress or the White House have for not supporting the veterans and what they need as token gestures of true appreciation for all they were willing to give up for us?

Senior Chaplain Kathie Costos

Namguardianangel@aol.com

http://www.namguardianangel.org/

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