I knew it would be painful to watch. I knew it would break
the heart of anyone who loves America. But I knew I would learn something.
So, last evening, I walked across the street from the condo
to the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History to watch the monthly documentary,
this one entitled VA: The Human Cost of
War.
It was as sad and terrifying as the title suggests. The way
America treats those who have agreed to risk life and limb for their country
can amount to a horror story at times. Since politicians never admit fault for
any problem, the blame often falls on the VA system. The documentary began by pointing
out the recent failures of the VA and its bureaucracy. There was much more, however,
the story.
The modern VA system, by the way, evolved from the vision of
General Omar Bradley after World War Two. He proposed a system that would not only
provide veteran care, but would coordinate with medical schools, train, and
provide research.
The advances in medical care resulting from such research is
astounding, from the advancements in the treatment of amputees to the discovery
of the benefits of daily aspirin usage in preventing heart disease.
Ever wonder why Little Rock’s VA hospital is located next to
the U of A Medical Center? That was part of General Bradley’s vision as well. As
the film pointed out,
“The VA is the second-largest government agency and the
second-largest part of the federal budget. It trains 70 percent of the doctors
and the overwhelming majority of nurses in the U.S.; has nine million veterans
and counting in its system; and has spearheaded the development of some of the
most innovative medical treatments in the country, “yet few know what
it is and how it works.”
The most illuminating fact, for some of us, in the documentary,
dealt with the relationship between the Veterans Administration and the Department
of Defense.
There is none.
Unlike many foreign governments, the two are not wed, or
even distantly related. In America, once a veteran leaves the military and is
handed a DD 214, the official record and proof of service, the Department of
Defense is finished with him or her. Goodbye. Good luck. Nice to have seen you.
Piss off. Next!
How do politicians respond to this? Just as you might
imagine. It’s a hell of a lot more fun to bluster and threaten to invade (make America
great again) than it is to face the realities of planning how we would deal
with, as Eric Bogle puts it, “the legless, the armless, the blind, the insane”.
Combine this with the lag time between the end of a war (yes
children, wars used to end, long ago in an America far away) and the peak
demand for the damaged veterans of that war. It’s decades and decades later. By
the time it arrives, there are other, more politically palatable things (border
walls and such nonsense) to address, and “no-tax” pledges made to private
citizens such as Grover Norquist. These get more votes than allocating revenue
to honor our commitments to those who have paid their part in a contract with
America.
Some of the best quotes in the documentary were from Max Cleland
(a triple amputee from the Vietnam War and the one who a Republican opponent once
compared to Osama Bin Laden).
“The best way to lower the costs of veterans’ care is to prevent
wars,” he said. That’s not likely, as long as wars make good press, affect less
than one percent of Americans along with their families and friends, and can be
carried out “on credit.”
Addressing the current practice of not including the cost of
care for damaged veterans in planning for the cost of a war, he offered the following
slogan. I quote from memory here but the meaning stands.
“No leader should be allowed to outline plans for the first
step (of a war) until he has announced plans for the last step.”
In the meantime, twenty of our veterans are committing
suicide each day, many because our leaders and politicians don’t do that.
We should be ashamed of ourselves.
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| A must see. |
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