Dad And The B-25

God Help The Vets

A Veteran Commits Suicide Every 80 Minutes | Veterans Today

A veteran commits suicide every 80 minutes, according to a study published Monday.

Military suicides have increased since the start of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a Center for a New American Security Suicide report. In the fiscal year 2009 alone, 1,868 veterans of these wars have made suicide attempts, according to armytimes.com...

The Daily Flashback: Screwed Vets Edition

This one paragraph sent me reeling, unpleasantly, back in time to a place and time I'd rather forget. Like America has.

Daily Politics Blog - Charles P. Pierce - Political Blogging - Esquire-- Chuck Hagel Already Knows How To Be Defense Secretary

Read more: Daily Politics Blog - Charles P. Pierce - Political Blogging - Esquire http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/#ixzz2HLFh7t21

...(And thus doth fall one of the great wingnut myths of all time — that draft-dodging hippies trashed the Vietnam veterans when they got home. It was the antiwar Left and its remnants that ran the GI coffeehouses, and that listened to the terrible stories and took them seriously. It was those remnants — and, if I can brag a little, the alternative press of the day — that helped force the issue of PTSD, and the complications from Agent Orange, and the other ancillary horrors into the spotlight. By contrast, the conventional veterans groups were next to useless; I still remember Vietnam vet sources of mine cursing what they called "the class of '45." And the Reagan people told them what a noble cause it was in which they had fought, and then cut the funding that was helping them back here.)...

Vets Waiting

Count me as disgusted. I've been turned down twice for medical assistance (I was injured on active duty in 1967). I don't know what to do really. My local veterans rep keeps referring me somewhere else so that seems a dead end since all those places hand me the same papers I've filled out before. Both my deafness and orthopedic problems are service connected. I'm thinking maybe I'll put in for disability and see if I can get a hearing aid that way. Hundreds of thousands of war vets still waiting for health benefits - CNN.com

Shafting The Vets: Jobs Edition

Robert L. Borosage: Senate Republicans Shaft the Vets

The young men and women who serve in our military return from fighting in the longest wars in American history to the worst jobs market in generations. They suffer higher unemployment rates than the general population: over one in ten is officially counted as unemployed -- and that does not include those who have stopped looking for work or are forced to work part-time.

So yesterday, in one final vile act before adjournment for the elections, Senate Republicans used a point of order to block passage of the Veterans Jobs Corps proposal that would have provided a modest $1 billion to hire veterans to tend federal lands or gain priority in hiring at police and fire departments. The bill was crafted with bipartisan support. 58 Senators supported the bill, but Republicans put together the 40 votes needed to block its passage...

Scamming Vet Supporters

Calif. accuses major veterans charity of misusing millions

...In the lawsuit filed Thursday against Help Hospitalized Veterans, of Winchester, near Los Angeles, the AG says the charity's board retroactively spiked the earnings of the founder and former president, Roger Chapin, to justify his nearly $2 million annual pension after he retired in 2009. The organization also spent more than $80,000 on golf memberships for board members...

GOPer Slams Vet

Walsh Slams Duckworth: ‘True Heroes’ Don’t Talk About Their Military Service | TPM2012

...“That’s what’s so noble about our heroes. Now I’m running against a woman who — I mean, my God, that’s all she talks about,” said Walsh, in video posted by Think Progress. “Our true heroes, it’s the last thing in the world they talk about. Our true heroes, the men and women who served us, it’s the last thing in the world they talk about. That’s why we are so indebted and in awe of what they have done...”

Duckworth lost her legs. Walsh needs to lose his mouth.

You Can Lie About Valor

Veterans disappointed about court's ruling but say free speech takes priority - The Washington Post

Jack Jacobs can proudly — and truthfully — say he was awarded the Medal of Honor for his valor in Vietnam. After a recent Supreme Court ruling, anyone else is free under the First Amendment to make the same claim, whether it’s true or not...

Vets Scammed

Someone scammed most of my father's benefits, then another relative managed to get his estate. The VA could certainly improve in this area.There is a petition at the link.

Tell the US Department of Veterans Affairs to increase its oversight of fiduciaries responsible for managing the funds of mentally-disabled veterans | Support Veterans | causes.com

...Until recently, 83 year-old veteran Henry Ashurst had no idea that for a decade he’d been unwittingly financing the gambling habits of crooks Robert Morong Tabbutt and Jack Perry. Robert, a VA field examiner, conspired with Jack, a fiduciary in Memphis, to steal the VA funds designated for nearly a dozen other mentally disabled veterans. The shameless pair managed to siphon away nearly $900,000 from Henry and others, the majority of which they gambled away in Mississippi casinos. Their scheme continued until 2008 when Jack finally came forward and confessed their crimes to the FBI...

Forgotten Conflicts

Long ago, during Vietnam, we had numerous "border flares" and other "special missions,"often a half-world removed from Southeast Asia, that required troops to get in harm's way-- operations for which they received no honor, no credit, no recognition. The casualities from these operations were usually listed as accidents, or so I was told. Anyway, let us not forget the troops, both military and "civilian" who give their all for their country.
Clinton warns of wider Caucasus conflict | Reuters

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton voiced concern on Monday that violence between Armenia and Azerbaijan could lead to a broader regional conflict as three Armenian soldiers died in a border incident...

Obama On VN Vets

Obama calls treatment of Vietnam War veterans a disgrace | Reuters

"...You were often blamed for a war you didn't start, when you should have been commended for serving your country with valor," Obama told a crowd gathered at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, which lists names of those who died in the conflict. 

"You came home and sometimes were denigrated, when you should have been celebrated. It was a national shame, a disgrace that should have never happened. And that's why here today we resolve that it will not happen again," he said to applause...

Lest We Forget: Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor — History.com Articles, Video, Pictures and Facts

Just before 8 on the morning of December 7, 1941, hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu, Hawaii. The barrage lasted just two hours, but it was devastating: The Japanese managed to destroy nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight enormous battleships, and almost 200 airplanes. More than 2,000 Americans soldiers and sailors died in the attack, and another 1,000 were wounded. The day after the assault, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan; Congress approved his declaration with just one dissenting vote. Three days later, Japanese allies Germany and Italy also declared war on the United States, and again Congress reciprocated. More than two years into the conflict, America had finally joined World War II...

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The Most Important News Of The Day (To Me)

I originally posted the following on November 08, 2008. Last night my son landed in the Middle East for his third tour. It does not get easier.



Anxiety


Today my son trooped aboard a jet and disappeared into the sky, destinied for the war. I never wanted him anywhere near the fighting but he said "Dad, that's where the mission is."

And now that's where he is.

I never wanted any American in the Iraq war; I was deadset against it long before all the braying jackasses decided it was a bad idea. If the politicians all had "some skin in the game," then maybe they would give more careful consideration of American blood in foreign adventures.

Please give me and my boy a hopeful prayer and let him and all our sons and daughters return home safely, for they were not the cause of these wars and they should not have to bear the burdens for other people's flawed egos and poor judgment.

God save us all and bless the real patriots.

The Last One

Frank Buckles, Last World War I Doughboy, Is Dead at 110 - NYTimes.com:

National Service Call

McChrystal: Why America Needs National Service - Newsweek:

"Standing recently in new haven’s small train station, I was approached by a stranger who thanked me for my service. His gratitude was clearly genuine—and I deeply appreciated it.

During my years in uniform (particularly after 9/11), and even in the months since my retirement, I was routinely thanked for serving. For service members today, that experience is common—a thoughtful gesture that has done much to maintain the morale of a force that performs so bravely for our nation..."

I favor a universal draft-- come 18, everyone--everyone--goes. On a related note-- I've never been thanked for my service by anyone other than family, nor do I know any Vietnam era vets who have been.

Lest We Forget: Vets And The Economy

If you think things are bad now... - CNN.com

"...With that, the president of the United States, Herbert Hoover, fearing that radicals had infiltrated the veterans, ordered the Army to take over the involuntary evacuation.

And this country was confronted with the news that the Army was moving against the old soldiers.

At the highest level of the Army assigned to the task were men who would later become extraordinarily famous. Gen. Douglas MacArthur was in command; Maj. Dwight D. Eisenhower was the go-between with the local police force; Maj. George Patton was in charge of the cavalry.

Bayonets were drawn; tanks and soldiers on horseback advanced into the crowds; acrid gas was unleashed on the protesting veterans; the makeshift camps were torn down. Even though President Hoover didn't want it to happen, MacArthur sent his troops across a bridge to the site of the veterans' main living quarters. A fire broke out; it was never determined with certainty who set it, but there it was: the American veterans' cobbled-together homes in flames, as the Army drove them out.

There was no television back then; it is almost impossible to fathom what would have happened if the country had been able to see, live, the military moving relentlessly against former members of the military who were asking for the means to survive..."

Struggling Vet Organizations

American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars posts struggle - USATODAY.com

This is sad but I'm afraid the roots of the decline go back to Vietnam. Korean War veterans, for the most part, were welcomed into the vet service organizations as one of their own. That never seemed to be the case for Vietnam vets, who if not treated with outright contempt by their elders, were told they were boys who didn't fight in a real war. Couple just a few attitudes from vets with the general disdain for Vietnam vets held by the public at large and the current problem seems quite predictable.

Old, festering wounds perhaps never really heal.

I have to paraphrase Rambo here: "All we ever wanted was for our country to love us half as much we loved her."

Goat Staring

Check Out The Real-Life Men Who Stare at Goats - Cinematical: "'I'm not sure why, but Overture Films has chosen to downplay the 'based on a true story' aspects of their high-profile new satirical film The Men Who Stare at Goats. The film finds Ewan McGregor as a journalist looking for a story in Iraq who stumbles across a former member (George Clooney) of a special platoon of psychics employed by the U.S. military. While many moments in the film seem outlandish and ridiculous, they become even more jaw-dropping with the knowledge that the film is based on fact..."

For a primer, see Suspect Zero, an excellent flick btw.

Slamming Gov Health Care

Hot Air » Blog Archive » 1200 vets mistakenly told they’re dying from ALS: "Just as the Obama administration tries to reassure people that the government can manage the health-care system more competently than what we have now, one of its single-payer systems demonstrates exactly what we can expect from ObamaCare. The VA mistakenly informed 1200 veterans that they have amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), better known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, a 100% fatal condition. They blamed it on a “coding error” (via JWF):..."

Consider the source then ask yourself the question, "How has private sector veterans health care performed?" Oh, wait. Not any. So let's compare apples and watermelons. Of course, the private sector has never incorrectly informed anyone of a diagnosis; well, except maybe me.

Memorial Day

It's "Thank You" day in my house-- a day which I say thanks to all the veterans and from a veteran "Thank you, America" for giving me an opportunity to serve this great, if imperfect, country.

My dad, in the b&w photo, was a man that existed mostly to me as a mythic figure. I finally got to know him a little bit late in his life (that's a long story, involving the military, the VA, and nefarious relatives)and I have never met a more humble man, nor one more devoted to his country, though he didn't quite know what to do about me since for nearly his entire life I had been a toddler. He was man whose memories were trapped in amber, locked into a time during the war and shortly thereafter.

I'd also like to say thank you to everyone who offered support and prayers for my son while he was in Iraq. He's back now-- safe and sound, but now waiting for deployment to Afghanistan. I'm hoping he doesn't go but he says, "Dad, that's where the mission is," echoing words I spoke to my mother in 1965.

So, thank you, America, and thank you, veterans, for giving me America.