Shelters take many vets of Iraq, Afghan wars Also housing those from earlier eras
Out of site, unless you hit the skidrows of your cities, out of mind, during and after we've sent them into invasions of other countries, especially countries that did nothing to deserve the Offensive Invasion!
His fits of sleep brought nightmares of the wounded and dying troops whom Kevin, a combat medic, had treated over 16 months of suicide attacks and roadside bombings. He kept thinking about an attack that killed 13 of his comrades. He hated himself for having survived.
Let them live in their own nightmares of what they've seen, or done. We just don't want to pay the costs for what we've allowed!
"The general public believes that when a vet comes home, he's well taken care of," Downing said. "That's a horrible misunderstanding."
Those who've served know full well what the Greater Majority, who haven't and never thought about, pay attention to and are apathedic and in denial about!
Social workers say combat trauma is responsible for the plunge into homelessness for many veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Unable to cope, veterans turn to alcohol and drugs, lose their jobs and the support of their family and friends, and end up on the streets, said Larry Fitzmaurice, whose homeless shelter in Boston is currently providing beds to seven veterans of the Iraq war.
Mental problems "really interfere with the ability to maintain a stable relationship, to maintain a secure employment," Fairweather said.
And the booze and other drugs just bring them further into dispare, for a few they will find the small minority of caring people who try to come to their aid and give them at least some comfort and care. But there has always been way to few caring citizens for far too many Veterans who need much more than just Help!
'There's nothing right about it'
Than of course we have the families of the returning men and women wondering 'What The Hell Is Going On?', and where is All this 'Support' everyone likes to mouth, Especially when coming from those who sent these men and women into harms way!
Family disappointed in benefits for soldier injured in Iraq
Spc. Josh Eckley returned from Iraq in 2006 with the same two legs, two arms and two healthy eyes he took with him.
And therein, oddly, lies his problem.
The payment would have been $100,000 for losing both hands, both feet or sight in both eyes.
We send others to do the killing and maiming, to be killed and maimed, and wether right or wrong, when most return they have many other battles, lasting for years, fighting for what We Owe Them!
A metal rod now holds his aching back together. A three-inch gap in his clavicle prevents him from lifting more than 15 pounds or so. He has headaches and is undergoing therapy for problems of forgetfulness.
"They gave me the minimum $25,000 for it," he said. "I don't understand the guidelines."
Jones said she called for an explanation of why her son was denied more than $25,000 for his wounds and was told, in part, that Eckley could dress and feed himself.
could dress and feed himself. Now does that make everyone feel proud of those we call Heroes and Speak of 'Supporting?'!
Now lets look at what we've done this time, and what those we've sent will be living with for the rest of their lives, those who haven't died. As will we all, for this isn't a repeat of past failed policies, this will Haunt this nation for a long time!
Finishing a War That Should Have Never Started
Iraq no longer exists as a unified country. The experiment that was Iraq, the cobbling together of disparate and antagonistic patches of the Ottoman Empire by the victorious powers in the wake of World War I, belongs to the history books. It will never come back.
The American occupation forces are one more source of terror tossed into the caldron of suicide bombings, mercenary armies, militias, massive explosions, ambushes, kidnappings and mass executions. But wait until we leave.
I suggest you take a visit over to this report By Chris Hedges and read it in full, if you haven't already. It's worth the read and the thoughts you should have, not about who the front runners are, about the future we are leaving to not only our children but this world's children!
Nice being Responsible Adults isn't it!
Where once our folks sweated and toiled, as their folks did also, to build a better world for us, look at what we're giving to the generations coming!
And the political game playing don't mean jackshit!
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Let's just start with the
Let's just start with the fact that a soldier taking on the brunt of dangerous duty may be getting paid peanuts, while a contractor is getting paid a king's ransom for less dangerous and less onerous work. That alone, to me, is monstrous.
Then to shortchange these people when they get back home? It should be inconceivable. And maybe that's exactly why the government gets away with it. No one would think that they would treat vets this way.
__________________________Every weekend a group of us
Every weekend a group of us protest the Iraq War and call for its end. We have been doing this for years! Just last year a group of "Patriots" began to gather opposite us, waving flags, playing marching music, using a bullhorn to call us traitors and communists, and uncannily resemble the Nazis of yesteryear. They post banners "Support the Troops," and "No Surrender, No Retreat." They call us cowards and taunt us with words and signs that assume THEY are the ONLY ones who have ever defended this country.When they found out that there were veterans among us they called us Fonda and Kerry- as if they were dirty words. Just last week, one of us held a glass encased flag and a poster with pictures of troops who died- "For a Lie- How Many More Must Die?" Well that sent them over the edge-they demanded we get rid of the flag and went so far as to insist we identify whose flag it is- as if we were going to tell them. How can people like this be so clueless??--insensitive to the troops this administration tortures by sending them into a demented desert in full battle gear in temps that get as high as 130 degrees, in the middle of people who speak a language foreign to them trying to distinguish who is what religion, subject every second to people who try to blow them up, and then send them home to reduced benefits and non-existent care. Have any of you experienced this too?
The good news in all of this
The good news in all of this is that your protests are having an impact. Otherwise they would just ignore you. As the movement grows larger there is always a counter-movement. It is just the nature of things. The counter-movement signifies that the movement matters and people are paying attention. Congratulations!
__________________________Work and struggle and never accept an evil that you can change -- Andre Gide
There is no excuse for
There is no excuse for allowing our returning troops to go untreated for their physical, mental and emotional wounds of war.
Corporations make huge amounts of money while our troops continue to pay with their blood and their lives for oil and power in the Mid-East.
The Commander in chief and his cohorts have never been to war. Most of them have never been in the military service. George W. Bush even avoided participation in the National Guard after swearing in. He was AWOL most of the time. If that doesn't make him a "Chicken Hawk" what would?
It is time that we stood up to the "powers that be" and demand the best care available for our returning troops. Once again the middle class and the poor pay for the greed and folly of rich old men.
M.King
__________________________Albuquerque
M. King