I have been debating nearly all week about what to write in this week installment of the blog on veteran’s issues. I had originally thought that another article on the government shutdown would be boring considering the media talks about little else. However, less then 24 hours after my last post veteran’s issues became a hot topic. The VA has to furlough several thousand more employees thus causing the backlog of claims entering the system to continue. Many veterans will soon be without disability checks, education benefit checks and other services that their sacrifice for this country granted them.
I had fully intended of doing a “where are we know? “ type piece today but instead was inspired to do something different. While doing research about where exactly the shutdown has put the veteran community I realized that nobody actually knows the answer. I assume that in a few weeks I will not be paid, but in reality I don’t actually know. The VA has published that certain benefits and services will continue, which I mentioned last time. That list is more than likely to change as more employees get furloughed, especially the longer the shutdown continues.
Then of course there is the proposal of a partial reopening of the government that would allow for veterans services to resume. But in todays political climate that sounds almost to easy and naturally it didn’t pass. Which brings me to my next point an what I wanted to focus on primarily for todays post. I watched the news and read around on the internet and, as I am sure most people reading this are aware, a group of veterans protested in DC this weekend carrying “Don’t Tread On Me” flags, and American flags and proclaiming that Congress should of course open the government and pay them what they are owed.
As I mentioned in my previous post, I will try to be fairly neutral when writing, but it isn’t always possible. At some point and on certain issues an opinion is all that will suffice. Personally, even as a veteran I admired the protest, I find it hilarious that an open-air memorial would be closed and while I’m not going to pretend that I understand the logistics of a “shutdown” I can be pretty confident that wasn’t necessary. Particularly when a week or so early the park was opened for another kind of rally, this could have been for any number of reasons, but at first glance seems somewhat fishy to me. Even though I admire the enthusiasm of the protesting veterans, I find protesting a poor way of getting things done in today’s political world. Even looking back to a year or so ago with the Occupy movement, nothing was accomplished, clear goals weren’t met, and quite frankly I think most people flat out forgot that it even happened. In a few weeks I can only presume that the shutdown will be over and a few years from now no one will remember or care that the WWII memorial was closed, unless of course it happens again. My point  in writing all of this is that if paying the active duty military can pass with 100 percent approval, why doesn’t paying for our veterans feel the same? The answer of course is because it isn’t the same, and the people that fought for this country are expensive to keep around.
On a side note, as I was reading news articles on the various news websites I noticed that the way we can receive and comment on news has changed our society, and quite frankly I’m not sure its for the best. I am not a big internet or social media person, but the comments section of a particular new story caught my eye. An anonymous commenter on the Washington Post, in response to the article about this weeks protest, posted that people who are out of work because of the shut down “have lost more than you silly veterans are capable of imagining.”. What’s odd about this is that there was a serious of responses in agreement with this post. And just to clarify on a personal level I can imagine A LOT. I know people that have been turned into confetti because they stepped on a land mind. Someone I know is either killed in combat or kills themselves at least once a year. I have other friends that can’t hold jobs or be around their children because the have to be medicated due to PTSD. Now, I don’t want to take anything away from someone who lost their job, and will struggle to buy food, pay rent, or whatever else it is they need, but to be completely honest, unless you were already in some financial trouble odds are you will be fine when this is all said and done. (Obviously I can’t know that for sure, but its my opinion). Where as many veterans will have a lifetime of problems that will never go away, legs don’t grow back unfortunately.
On a final note, and I apologize for this being fairly long post, is that I also saw a commenter exclaim that unless we were drafted veterans do not have a claim against the government. We volunteered he said and any damage we sustained while fighting for this country was by choice and we shouldn’t complain. I’m not entirely sure how to respond to this but I will quickly give it a try. That’s like saying the 8-year-old girl who volunteered to ride her bike and was maimed by a drunk driver shouldn’t complain or be upset. Riding bikes is dangerous, and anything can happen I suppose. I volunteered, specifically to fight in a war, I was infantryman, our job is tough and bad things happen, I knew all of that going in. I am actually lucky to be alive and in one piece. I didn’t ask for free education or health care, it was given to me and I am grateful for it, but you can be sure that I and many of my fellow veterans earned every penny that comes our way.