Symbol of the grateful appreciation this nation feels

The flag is folded and is then presented to next of kin, "As a representative of the United States Army, it is my high privilege to present you this flag. Let it be a symbol of the grateful appreciation this nation feels for the distinguished service rendered to our country and our flag by your loved one."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_funeral

"Symbol of the grateful appreciation this nation feels." Can this be measured with a flag? Is it to weigh more than all other ways to show appreciation? Can we, should we, will we honor the living with the same words but into action?

Today I heard how President Bush was upset over the fact he was called on not supporting the GI Bill along with Senator McCain. When you read the words they used to defend the fact they are against this bill, it is apparent they have nothing to complain about. It is in fact their view that the GI Bill is too generous, yet they defend their opposition of it by attacking anyone bringing up what they said. They do not deny they are against it because it is "too generous" and "would hurt retention" but they don't like being attacked for it. Amazing.

When the conditions at Walter Reed were reported to Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, he ignored the conditions and excused them as being more about the fact they were planning on closing Walter Reed. This was supposed to excuse the conditions the wounded were being treated in. Yet it took the Washington Post to present these deplorable conditions to the public. Once this was accomplished, there was such an outrage across the nation, they were forced to react to it. No one was fired in the upper end of the chain of command.

When over 22,000 members of the armed forces were given dishonorable discharges under "personality disorder claims" instead of PTSD, no one was fired for doing this. The men and women who served this nation, were wounded by serving it were still discharged and unable to obtain any VA services or compensation.

When the fact the redeployments of troops already diagnosed with PTSD, were being sent back, again it took the media to bring this to the public's attention. Yet again the practice was defended as "necessity" to retain troop levels.

When the redeployments were found to increase the risk of developing PTSD by 50% for each time back, yet again the practice was defended to "retain" troop levels.

When the lack of rest time in between deployments was found to be a detriment to the mental health of the troops as well as an increased burden on the families, the practice was defended yet again under retaining troop levels.

Over and over again, we read account after account on how the same nation able to present a flag to the families of the fallen, lacks the ability to live up to those words when it comes to them still being alive and risking their lives. Are they less worthy of appreciation when they live to fight another day? Are they less worthy when they are forced to fight that other day the very nation they risked their lives for when they are in need of the nation because of their service?

What kind of symbol does all of this represent in reality to them? If you really want to honor them, then honor them while they live as well as when they gone.

Senior Chaplain Kathie Costos
Namguardianangel@aol.com
www.Namguardianangel.org
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