The Threat On The Home Front

There are clearly defined duties that the Constitution outlines for the federal government. Perhaps the most important is that of the Common Defense of the Nation. Most Americans acknowledge that as a given but they would probably be quick to add that the federal government is also responsible for ensuring that you have money to live on and lots of food in the fridge. This false presumption of what the government “owes” us obfuscates the true responsibilities of the government and has put the health and welfare of our Defenders in jeopardy.

Our country has been defended for the last three decades by a volunteer force of men and women. Before that time, military conscription occurred from time to time to supplement the ranks of those that enlisted. The one thing that everyone who has served in the military has in common is that they took an oath to defend our country and were prepared to sacrifice everything, including their lives. For the last 10 years those who have sacrificed for our country have been relegated to the status of a second class citizen.

All warfare, especially modern warfare, has changed the nature of physical and mental harm to soldiers. Better technology and equipment for our soldiers, in recent years, have lowered the mortality rate but increased the number of injured. The average Iraq and Afghanistan Veteran is currently receiving $395 per month from the VA for their line of duty disabilities; compare that to the average person on Social Security Disabilities receiving over $895 per month. And I had to wait 2 two and a half years for the VA to process my claim. 

The average Social Security Disabilities claim process takes on average three to six months.Now these are people who’ve never served our country or done anything for our nation and in many cases are just looking for a hand out when their welfare and or unemployment runs out, according to a recent US Senate Committee investigation. A recent Senate audit of disability claims over the last ten years finds that as many as 25% of those Americans receiving disability did not meet the legal threshold for receiving benefits!(See 60 minutes story)

If a Veteran is seriously injured physically and/or mentally as a result of their military service and then has to wait 2 to 3 years for the VA to process their claims. This may account for why so many Veterans end up homeless after serving our country. Combat Veterans ending up homeless is a moral outrage and we should be ashamed as a nation.Every member of Congress has a Veterans’ liaison in their office that helps Veterans in their district navigate the claims process.

So every member knows the problems first hand and yet nothing has been done to change the facts on the ground. If we spent a fraction of the money Washington wastes every year on studying the mating habits of snails we could solve the VA problems that threaten our national security. When I joined the US military in 2005 along with millions of my brothers and sisters in Arms, in the middle of a bloody war in Iraq, the government made a contract with us.

If we get killed or injured while serving, the government will take care of us and our families. Period. If the US Government continues to fail to help those returning home, many Americans will decide not to join the US Military and that will create a serious national security challenge. 

 

The President, the Defense Department, and Congress better wake up, and fast, to the injustice that they have created by this inequality in their treatment of veterans vis-a-vis the rest of those fine Americans clamoring for government assistance. They may wake up one morning and realize that many of these great men and women in the military have decided it’s not worth fighting for a country that does not value them.