Taking Care Of Those Who Took Care Of US

Back on November 24, 2008, the Cedar Rapids Gazette ran an article “With Honor, without homes”. It talked about a local home for Vets where the government funding was cut and the residents were going to become homeless at the beginning of what was shaping up to be a very cold winter in the upper Midwest. Several of the residents were interviewed and although some had family that were willing to take them in, many were literally going to move to the streets. The home made attempts to raise the money privately to ensure their residence for the short term. I never found a follow up to the article; so I’m really not sure what became of these folks. After reading about the plight of the homeless throughout the winter, I’ve often wondered how many were Veterans like the ones in Cedar Rapids.

Now I see where President Obama met with the folks at the American Legion and informed them that the country that they served so faithfully will no longer be covering their medical bills ~ not even the ones related to the wounds obtained in the line of duty. From now on, the Veterans will have to use their own private insurance for these costs. Haven’t these folks gone through enough? The men & women that served our country during times of threat & war are now having to defend themselves from the very same government that they served so faithfully.

Fox News covers this meeting and the initial responses from the American Legion representatives in “Veterans Groups Blast Obama Plan for Private Insurance to Pay for Service-Related Health Care”. There are also some touching pictures. Also, there is a separate statement put out by Craig Roberts of The American Legion that quotes Commander David K. Rehbein of The American Legion saying as he was leaving the meeting with President Obama and the White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel, “He says he is looking to generate $540-million by this method, but refused to hear arguments about the moral and government-avowed obligations that would be compromised by it.”

Can we allow this? The public servants we elected to office are giving trillions away to big businesses who obviously can’t and won’t be responsible with it, (ie: AIG giving million dollar bonuses to their executives out of the bailout money.) Yet they can’t seem to find enough money to pay back a debt that we owe those who have given everything to defend the very land we live on? Our Federal Government is acting just as irresponsible with the tax payers money as AIG is.

For those who are in support of our new president & his administration, I’m not just picking on them. The previous administration cut funding to the Veterans Hospitals all across the country. Isn’t it time for us to raise our voices & cry out for these men & women (many of whom are our own parents, brothers, sisters, and neighbors)? At the bottom of most online news articles there is a place to comment on the articles. I guarantee that the folks in government read them. A simple sentence or paragraph is enough. Raise your voice! Tell these public servants that if they don’t straighten up, their jobs are on the line ~ and mean it.

The one thing I’ve noticed more and more over the years is the fact that APATHY is killing our country. If I don’t speak up for our Vets ~ I can’t possibly look them in the eye when I meet them on the street. Can you?

May the Lord be with you.