“Appeal for Wounded
Men,” proclaimed the New York Times headline. “An appeal to
citizens to open their homes on Thanksgiving Day to the 15,000
wounded soldiers in the city was sent out yesterday…. ‘Many of the
disabled men feel the people have forgotten them.’”
That article appeared
on Nov. 14, 1920. Four score and seven years later, our veterans are
faring no better. In fact, except for the fleeting ripple of
awareness among the news media and the American public around
Veterans Day, the men and women who put their lives on the line to
preserve our freedoms are all but forgotten.
Yet while we are
called on daily to make certain sacrifices for the sake of winning
the war on terror and bear with encroachments on our rights,
economic hardships and an increasing number of casualties on the
battlefield, our government leaders are doing little to care for
those who were willing to make the ultimate sacrifice. Our military
veterans return home suffering from traumatic brain injuries, the
loss of limbs, posttraumatic stress syndrome and mental illness,
only to find themselves jobless, with limited access to health care
and other necessary support services.
We’re not talking
about a small group of people, either. According to the U.S. Census
Bureau, there are 24.5 million veterans in the United States. More
than a third of those living served during the Vietnam War.
Unfortunately, many of these very same individuals who survived
harrowing experiences on the battlefield are having a difficult time
just getting by today. For instance, a recent report from the
National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH) indicates that veterans
make up 25 percent of America’s homeless population.
“Combat veterans are
especially at risk,” says Steven Berg, the NAEH’s vice president for
policy and programs. “When people serve in battle, particularly,
they come back and they’re injured. They’re injured with physical
disabilities, they are injured with mental disabilities, and that
all makes it hard for people to get jobs and pay rent and stay
housed.” As one newspaper observed, “there is simply no reason to
tolerate the notion that a man or woman who was prepared to die for
this country ought instead to find him or herself homeless in it.”
Others are struggling
to just make ends meet. As a recent New York Times editorial
pointed out, “Tens of thousands of reservists and National Guard
troops, whose jobs were supposedly protected while they were at war,
were denied prompt re-employment upon their return or else lost
seniority, pay and other benefits.”
Still others are
being treated to bureaucratic run-arounds and are being forced to
foot the bill for injuries sustained in battle. As the Times
reported, “Some 1.8 million veterans were unable to get care in
veterans’ facilities in 2004 and lacked health insurance to pay for
care elsewhere.”
Even without physical
disabilities to contend with, the transition from the battlefield to
civilian life is not easy for many vets. Orlando Castaneda, an Army
combat veteran from Texas who served in Iraq, put it this way: “When
we come back, we are fragments of human beings, mentally and
physically. We’ve been in the thick of it.”
Sadly, some of these
fragmented human beings are resorting to suicide. According to a
recent CBS News special investigation, data from 45 states
shows that 6,256 veterans took their own lives in 2005. That
averages out to 120 deaths per week, which is more than double the
suicide rate of non-veterans. Veterans aged 20 through 24, the age
group currently serving in the war on terror, had the highest
suicide rate among all veterans—between two and four times higher
than civilians the same age.
It’s a sad state of
affairs. We ship these men and women off to fight for us, offer
brief tributes to the ones who die and leave those who return
home—many of them wounded in body and spirit—to fend for themselves.
And with nearly 200,000 American soldiers currently fighting in
Afghanistan and Iraq, it is little wonder that “aid groups are
bracing themselves for a tsunamilike upsurge in the coming years.”
If compassion alone
doesn’t compel us to do something about the plight of America’s
veterans, then shame should, because it is disgraceful and
dishonorable the way we continue to treat these men and women who
have given so much for our country. And I say “we” because,
ultimately, we the taxpayers, we the voters, we the people are
responsible for how our country is run. Clearly, our elected
officials need to do more than play political games with legislation
intended to improve veterans benefits, but they won’t act unless we
pressure them to do so.
So this Thanksgiving,
by all means remember to give thanks for the men and women who have
made it possible, but don’t just leave it at words. Put some action
behind your words by doing your part to pay back the debt we owe
these courageous men and women.
Take five minutes
right now to write or call your local and state representatives to
urge them to provide better care, facilities and job opportunities
for our veterans. Assist disabled military veterans to acquire the
financial and medical help they need. Find out what veterans live in
your community and work with your church, synagogue or other
institution to reach out to them. Many are in need of food, shelter
and transportation, but others simply need a friendly face. Some
communities are arranging free meals for homeless vets, as well as
providing food and hygiene bags. If yours is not already doing
something, arrange something.
A society is measured
by how it cares for its poor, including its veterans. Now is the
time to demonstrate that we are a country that values those who
sacrifice so much in order for us to live free.
Constitutional attorney and
author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford
Institute. He can be contacted at
johnw@rutherford.org.
Information about The Rutherford Institute is available at
www.rutherford.org.
