The Enemy Within
Not since the folly that led up to the invasion of Iraq, and remembering the horror I felt that this country was actually going forward by putting 'boots on the ground' in a catastrophic approach to countering terrorism-- knowing absolutely it was ill-advised and rushed, angry with U.S. citizenry for not being able to identify emotionalism and fear and political manipulation as the REAL reasons we were going in, nothing has taken a toll on me as piercingly as watching what is happening to the boys who make it home, damaged either physically or emotionally-- with nowhere to turn. Uncle Sam has skipped out the back door when it comes to healing and caring for these men and women who have done our dirtiest work for us.
This story- the story of war hero Spc. Joseph Dwyer- has gripped me in a way this evening that both breaks my heart, and enrages. How many fine, generous, dedicated and talented people are coming home to the same sort of bureaucratic goose chase? No one understands the visions in their heads as they revisit horrors the rest of us cannot imagine and could no better endure-- with no structure in place to address it. Tell me....why all the paperwork? Why insult these battered psyches by making them prove that their emotional damage is crippling, is the result of having been sent to Iraq and that, NO, they cannot simply 'get on with life'. They need help- real help and right now.
Before this toll rises with post-service casualties of the system, we need to treat application for veteran psychiatric and medical benefits immediately. It must be done in the same way we pay our taxes: we fill out a form, we either pay or collect from the U.S. Government-- and afterward- there may be random audits of the veracity of what we claimed or paid. The veteran's impossible snarl of delays and paperwork is unacceptable, and it's killing people. Those who have given so much should never have to wait months or years in order to access what they are desperately in need of right now.
This is a national scandal. It's a ridiculously intricate system designed to postpone or deny aid, and it's being done to the ones who paid the highest price. Whether you believe in the war or not (and I don't, and never did)- the men and women sent there bore the nightmare for all of us. It's time to pay up. It's time to make things right. Joseph Dwyer should not have died. I want to see his brothers and sisters in arms taken care of as they re-enter the civilian world. No more f*cking statistics like this. No more..
This story- the story of war hero Spc. Joseph Dwyer- has gripped me in a way this evening that both breaks my heart, and enrages. How many fine, generous, dedicated and talented people are coming home to the same sort of bureaucratic goose chase? No one understands the visions in their heads as they revisit horrors the rest of us cannot imagine and could no better endure-- with no structure in place to address it. Tell me....why all the paperwork? Why insult these battered psyches by making them prove that their emotional damage is crippling, is the result of having been sent to Iraq and that, NO, they cannot simply 'get on with life'. They need help- real help and right now.
Before this toll rises with post-service casualties of the system, we need to treat application for veteran psychiatric and medical benefits immediately. It must be done in the same way we pay our taxes: we fill out a form, we either pay or collect from the U.S. Government-- and afterward- there may be random audits of the veracity of what we claimed or paid. The veteran's impossible snarl of delays and paperwork is unacceptable, and it's killing people. Those who have given so much should never have to wait months or years in order to access what they are desperately in need of right now.
This is a national scandal. It's a ridiculously intricate system designed to postpone or deny aid, and it's being done to the ones who paid the highest price. Whether you believe in the war or not (and I don't, and never did)- the men and women sent there bore the nightmare for all of us. It's time to pay up. It's time to make things right. Joseph Dwyer should not have died. I want to see his brothers and sisters in arms taken care of as they re-enter the civilian world. No more f*cking statistics like this. No more..
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