Publish to Newswire
Add an EventAccept or alienate our vets?
Those who survive have to deal with debilitating injures such as Post Traumatic Stress disorder, loss of limb, deformities, depression, other permamanent physical injuries, and permanent mental injuries. When the soldiers returned from Vietnam they were dealt the same blows. Will we welcome our vets this time around and will we simply cuss them out when they beg for money on the streets?
We all know the federal government is being run by incompetents, but that is the way it has always been and will continue to be....
It is up to us to take care of our own and hopefully remind others who wish to join the military.
Memorials like the one picture here are a stark reminder and should be permanent.
I do know this; soldiers die just about everyday in Iraq and most of them are getting killed under brutal circumstances, and I think Americans need this display so they won't be so willing to send our men to wars.
Surely you know someone serving in the Middle East or a family with someone serving. Surely someone in your workplace has a loved one serving. The important thing is to let these young folks know they are in our hearts, minds and prayers. Ask them what they need, what would make their lives a little more comfortable.
I was in 'Nam. Few cared about us, with some very important exceptions. Someone (I've never been able to learn who) sent us cases of books, as if something was selected from the book list at a typical US college. That simple gift gave me and others the reading we needed to keep sane and to get ourselves back on track for college. Today it is not possible to send anything "to a soldier"; you must address it to a specific person. Find that person through your contacts and ask him/her if he knows of someone who gets no mail from home.
No need to lay your political views on them, unless they bring it up. They are adults and will reach their own conclusions in their own time. War is never the fault of the young people on whom we lay it. So many of them serving three and four combat tours enlisted just after 9-11. They honestly thought that they would be defending their country.
This country has a long history of beating the drums of war without paying the piper. If you really care about these servicepeople, make sure your Representative and Senators know you support increased funding for the the care of their bodies and minds. There is no excuse, as rich as this country is, for making a returning soldier wait two months for initial counseling and treatment for PTSD.
They're hurting this Christmas. Reach out to one or more of them, and begin the healing, before they get back.
It IS hard to pull this off if you don't anyone directly, but in all your relationships or travels, you may haer someone say they have a brother, boy-or girlfriend, son or nephew over there.
Donate
$190.00 donated
in the past month
Get Involved
If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us.
Publish
Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay.