Our local newspaper, for the Saturday forum, wants readers' takes on the miserable situation at Walter Reed Hospital — and perhaps in the Veterans' Administration in general.
No question that the current administration, in its zeal for cost-cutting and privatization, has short-changed wounded veterans of the Iraq and Afghan wars. But would any other administration have done otherwise? Give me leave to doubt. Anyone who expects wounded veterans, or any other kind, to be given good treatment is naive, ignorant of history, or both. This is true not only of the United States; there are indications that British wounded vets are also getting less than class A treatment.
A hundred years or more ago, Kipling wrote his poem "Tommy", which describes the current attitude towards soldiers and veterans to a T. I won't quote the whole poem, which you can easily find on the internet, but perhaps the last verse will give some idea:
For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Chuck him out, the brute!"
But it's "Saviour of 'is country," when the guns begin to shoot;
An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please;
But Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool — you bet that Tommy sees!
Though Tommy doesn't always see, and often continues to expect the sort of treatment his behavior deserves. But, when it comes to governments, it seems that vets, and particularly injured vets, are more of a liability than an asset. "Yes, you sacrificed your youth and your health and maybe your life for your country. But what have you done for us lately?"
Posted by Don Harlow at March 13, 2007 04:22 PM