Veterans' Day 2021
Nov. 11th, 2021 09:31 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
puppetmakerToday we put those who have served our country front and center.
We recognize their sacrifices and celebrate their good deeds.
One of the places I go to lunch has a Veterans meet up on Monday. The one WW2 vet passed from COVID last year. There are a number of people who served in Vietnam and Korea. There are a number that served in Operation Desert Storm and in Afghanistan.
It is not always talk of bygone days. There was one day when the withdrawal from Afghanistan was announced and two of the people at the bar had served in that war. One when it began and the other had gotten back from his third tour about a month ago. We talked about the consequences of leaving and that this should have been done years ago. They talked about friends and comrades they had lost along the way which led to the other vets talking about their experience as well.
It was very educational for me.
We have several veteran posts in town and a lot of the people who moved out to Patchogue were vets from WW2.
We have military families that have served now for generations. I know one that have members who fought in the Civil War.
I have friends who answered the call to service from all the branches of the service included the Coast Guard.
It takes a certain type of person to join the military. It has helped many step out of poverty and give them skills that get them good jobs.
They have served us and now we need to step up and help them.
Veterans’ services are a mess.
The amount of paperwork and red tape for someone to get the things they were promised when they signed is criminal.
Then there are the Veteran medical benefits along with the hospitals which are in total disarray.
Things that our soldiers were exposed to while fighting for us make take years for the effects show up. Cancer is a big one. You have to prove that the cancer came from your time of service, or you are denied. Other chronic problems can be traced back but are often denied because “it can’t be proven” or something that the service member did might have been the cause.
Mental health is another thing that Veteran services have been woefully pitiful at. The damage done mentally can show up at any time during a veteran’s lifetime. Not just when they get back.
This has been discussed in the mainstream media. I learned about the burn pits and the toxic smoke that the entire encampment created it.
It is all great and good to bring attention to the problem, but we need to act before more people die of things they could have been treated for but were not because they were stonewalled by the very agencies that are supposes to help them.
We need to write our congressional members to bring this to the floor and fix this problem along with an overhaul of Veteran services so we, as a country, can deliver on the promises given to service members.
They served us, now we need to serve them.
I am grateful for all the veterans in my life.
We recognize their sacrifices and celebrate their good deeds.
One of the places I go to lunch has a Veterans meet up on Monday. The one WW2 vet passed from COVID last year. There are a number of people who served in Vietnam and Korea. There are a number that served in Operation Desert Storm and in Afghanistan.
It is not always talk of bygone days. There was one day when the withdrawal from Afghanistan was announced and two of the people at the bar had served in that war. One when it began and the other had gotten back from his third tour about a month ago. We talked about the consequences of leaving and that this should have been done years ago. They talked about friends and comrades they had lost along the way which led to the other vets talking about their experience as well.
It was very educational for me.
We have several veteran posts in town and a lot of the people who moved out to Patchogue were vets from WW2.
We have military families that have served now for generations. I know one that have members who fought in the Civil War.
I have friends who answered the call to service from all the branches of the service included the Coast Guard.
It takes a certain type of person to join the military. It has helped many step out of poverty and give them skills that get them good jobs.
They have served us and now we need to step up and help them.
Veterans’ services are a mess.
The amount of paperwork and red tape for someone to get the things they were promised when they signed is criminal.
Then there are the Veteran medical benefits along with the hospitals which are in total disarray.
Things that our soldiers were exposed to while fighting for us make take years for the effects show up. Cancer is a big one. You have to prove that the cancer came from your time of service, or you are denied. Other chronic problems can be traced back but are often denied because “it can’t be proven” or something that the service member did might have been the cause.
Mental health is another thing that Veteran services have been woefully pitiful at. The damage done mentally can show up at any time during a veteran’s lifetime. Not just when they get back.
This has been discussed in the mainstream media. I learned about the burn pits and the toxic smoke that the entire encampment created it.
It is all great and good to bring attention to the problem, but we need to act before more people die of things they could have been treated for but were not because they were stonewalled by the very agencies that are supposes to help them.
We need to write our congressional members to bring this to the floor and fix this problem along with an overhaul of Veteran services so we, as a country, can deliver on the promises given to service members.
They served us, now we need to serve them.
I am grateful for all the veterans in my life.
