Veterans: What Priority?

Are those who fought for Freedom to be forsaken?

Veterans facing the results of Agent Orange contact are a diverse group and their unity will strengthen the cause.

(MEDIA, Pa.) - Military service personnel of all branches of service, be it Army, Navy, Marine Corp, Air Force or Coast Guard. They serve with pride and honor and are sworn to protect our Country’s boarders, our Constitution and Bill of Rights. They serve in peace time and war time, all with one common goal, our Country’s Freedom.

We who served and those who now serve, ask only to be cared for by our Government if we have become sick with disease or injured in the line of duty. We are from all walks of life. We represent all religious faiths, all races, all political parties.

A bullet, a disease, does not discriminate who we are or what we are in time of war. A bullet or a disease does not care if we are of any one religious faith, black or white, yellow or red, democrat or republican or independent. We are all equals.

Some of us are injured by a bullet or explosive device. Some of us get sick by the use of poisonous herbicides that causes cancer, Hodgkin’s disease, and Ischemic heart disease, just to name a few. Some of us end up with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Yes, some of us even end up with a whole deck full of problems.

Some of our Legislators introduce Bills to the House and Senate to care for us who are in need. We submit claims to Veterans Affairs. Mountains of paperwork is required for us to prove we have disabling problems during our time in service to our Country. It can take months, more likely even years for that paperwork to get through the system. In the mean time those Legislative Bills receive little to no action in a hurry up and wait mode of operation. Some of our Legislators aren’t sitting on their hands, some support us, they are of the minority. A few can not do the job needed, it takes a majority.

What are the priorities of our Legislative Body? Do they tax the very wealthy, millionaires and billionaires or give them tax breaks? To what countries do they give billions of dollars? To what banks do they give assistance? To what giant manufactures do they give assistance? What Pork Barrel projects do they support? Just to name a few top priorities. But our military personnel who are sick and injured, where are they on this priority list? At what point does the almighty dollar stop to help those who served? It seems to me, if the bureaucracy waits long enough and makes VA claims difficult enough, more of us will just die out, then there are fewer of us to be concerned about. Sounds like a rotten death sentence?

What say you, The American People, is this what it has come to? Are those who fought for Freedom to be forsaken? Ask your Congressional Representatives and your Senators, are those who served to be forgotten?

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John was onboard the USS Sacramento (AOE-1) a fast combat support ship from Oct. 1967 to Feb. 1972, making four deployments to Vietnam waters. The ship supplied combat ships at sea with fuel, ammunition and food supplies. The ship operated within the territorial waters of the Republic of Vietnam in the South China sea and Tonkin Gulph.

Now an activist and writer, John lives in the aptly named Media Pennsylvania, where he continues to seek justice while becoming a larger and larger voice of the movement. John has a college degree (AS) Management from Delaware County Community College, and he taught disciplines of engineering at Williamson Free School of Mechanical Trades from 1975 to 1984 (Power Plant Technology), also in Media, Pa. When he isn't writing articles, performing research or rallying support for his fellow military veterans, John enjoys fishing; he is an amateur artist, and also spends time gardening and traveling. You can write to John at this email address: johnb1936@verizon.net