Sunday the Washington Post published a article called Soldiers Face Neglect, Frustration At Army’s Top Medical Facility. On Monday they followed up with The Hotel Aftermath. Both articles should be required reading by everyone in this country, especially if they drive around with a yellow “Support Our Troops” magnetic ribbon on their car.
I didn’t write about this sooner because every time I thought about what I had read I would cry. Then I would get so angry I had to do something else or I’d explode. I was outraged over what these men and women who had fought in Bush’s war were being subjected to in their own country.
Now there is going to be an investigation. I’m sure that the investigation will find that the conditions noted in the WP story were due to the system being overwhelmed by the number of casualties they had to deal with on a daily basis.
I’m sorry but that excuse just doesn’t even begin to explain what is happening not only at Walter Reed but at other VA hospitals as well.
The same administration that has been insisting that we show how much we support our troops by throwing as much money as possible at the Iraq war (and into private contractors’ pockets) have also been cutting funding for Veterans. They’ve even gone as far as to plan to shut down Walter Reed by the year 2011.
It seems to me that the Bush administration only wants to support the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Once those military personnel have been injured the administration seems to want to forget about them. Much the same way that the administration wants to forget about the military deaths in both countries.
They should start running a disclaimer when talking about supporting the troops. Something similar to the disclaimer in this political cartoon seems about right to me.
Dusty says:
I wept, I screamed, I was in agony and looked despair in the face. I couldn’t beleive what I read..it seemed like a horrible nightmare you can’t wake up from.
I blogged about it as soon as I read it..It was the only way to get the visions out of my head, through my fingertips.
God help them..someone please help the ones who only did the job they were ordered to do. and while your at it..smite the bastards in charge of this fiasco.
Thanks.
2/22/2007, 9:34 pmKim Palmer says:
I was shocked to see the facility on the news. I had never seen the building before and I about came unglued. What in the world are they thinking? Priorities are not included in helping our soldiers recover. Have you ever been to a jail or prison? I was floored when I saw inside them. In prison the cons watch tv have weight rooms etc in prison. How come the people that we she be so thankful for, live in ghetto type buildings? Aren’t the priorities our soldiers? Shame on our government!
2/22/2007, 10:52 pmSally says:
When you see or hear about the after care that soldiers currently receive does expose the support the troops the supporters as being insincere. The support the troops is a mantra for them and is nothing more. The fact that this particular housing unit for Walter Reed hospital was highlighted last year by a congressional committee as well as the bureaucracy soldiers face and is still a disgrace proves that it as merely empty words!
2/23/2007, 12:18 amKurt says:
The way this administration is treating our war heroes is a crime. Not exactly their first.
2/23/2007, 3:46 amSteve Hayes says:
Horses rule OK
Down with yahoos!
2/23/2007, 10:20 amjan says:
And then when the facts are publicized, the powers that be a shocked and indignant and vow that something-will-be-done about the situation. Haven’t we been down these roads before?
2/23/2007, 4:05 pmLAW says:
the physical problems with the buildings can be fixed What is truly hurting a lot of the troops… the bullshit bureaucracy that they have to go through just to get an appointment. when the army hospital records can’t interface with the military records which also can’t work with the VA… oh come ON! this is insane! While I hate what members of my military family had to go through, maybe their sacrifice will WAKE UP the rest of the country. if it can’t… WHAT THE HELL WILL IT TAKE!!
2/23/2007, 8:25 pmGillie says:
Sadly the problem the world over seems to be that troops in the front line in combat gear and troops coming home in body bags make great front page news and gear up the patriotic heart strings just the way governments want them to. Troops in wheelchairs, or suffering PSTD, or with hangers on (read families to support) just don’t cut the marketing mustard.
I’m sure I never used to be a cynic
2/24/2007, 3:41 amKen Larson says:
Excellent Post and good comments.
For contrast, I would like to provide a description of something our government is doing right these days with regard to Vets.
I am currently a resident in a Veteran’s Home after having undergone treatment through the VA for PTSD and Depression, long overdue some 40 years after the Tet Offensive that cap stoned my military 2nd tour in Vietnam with a lifetime of illness.
My blog has attracted the stories of many veterans such as myself and other sufferers from PTSD who were victimized by elements of society other than the VA system of medical and mental treatment. I, for one, became trapped in the Military Industrial Complex for 36 years working on weapons systems that are saving lives today but with such high security clearances that I dared not get treated for fear of losing my career:
http://rosecoveredglasses.blogspot.com/2006/11/odyssey-of-armaments.html
When my disorders became life threatening, the Commissioner of Veteran’s Affairs for the State of Minnesota, Clark Dyrud, stepped in and saw to it that I was entered into the VA System for treatment in Minneapolis. It saved my life and I am now in complete recovery and functioning as a volunteer for SCORE, as well as authoring books and blogging the world.
When I was in the VA system I was amazed at how well it functioned and how state of the art it is for its massive mission. Below is a feature article from Time Magazine which does a good job of explaining why it is a class act:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1376238,00.html
I had state of the art medical and mental care, met some of the most dedicated professionals I have ever seen and was cared for by a handful of very special nurses among the 60,000 + nursing population that make up that mammoth system. While I was resident at the VA Hospital in Minneapolis I observed many returnees from Iraq getting excellent care.
I do not say the VA system is perfect but it is certainly being run better on a $39B budget than the Pentagon is running on $494B.
2/24/2007, 12:22 pmSeven Star Hand (LW Page) says:
How much more evidence is necessary before more people discern that the “support the troops” mantra is a purposeful deception? These young people are cannon fodder for corporate profits and geopolitical gain. They have been deceived into fighting a war and others have been deceived into thinking that leaders of the political right are actually sincere in their assertions about war and the troops. People who tout so-called Christian values while beating the drums of war either can’t discern good from evil or are actively being deceptive.
War is evil, pure and simple. The only humane way to “support the troops” is by ending all wars and establishing true and just solutions to human needs.
Here is Wisdom !!
2/25/2007, 12:26 pmHippocracy « Khanya says:
[...] not sure, however, if that’s what the author of this blog post had in [...]
9/10/2007, 12:58 am