I opened my eyes as I recognized my sister's voice. I had fallen asleep as we drove home through Waterville, and hadn't noticed the middle-aged veteran standing by the side of the road. I looked back and saw a middle-aged man holding a sign which, as she told me, said "disabled veteran."
As we continued down the highway, I began to think about all that his presence symbolized. He was probably a Vietnam vet, I thought. Is that what's going to happen to all the vets who are just coming home? I thought about the floods of physically, mentally, and emotionally wounded soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan to overwhelmed, under-funded Veterans Administration (VA) hospitals.
To me, that one man standing by the highway represented one of the many tragic results of what is now a nationwide problem: the funding crisis in America's VA system.
It is clear from our nation's experiences in past wars that the effects of combat can last months, years, or lifetimes. Many soldiers come home with serious physical injuries requiring very specialized treatment. Others suffer from mental ailments. Psychological traumas such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can have devastating effects on the long-term well-being of service members and their families, causing problems like depression, substance abuse, marital discord and family problems, unemployment, homelessness, and even suicide (PTSD Information Center).
Some of the more seriously wounded veterans rely on services that are not provided by the private sector. The VA system is the most effective and efficient of our country's health care systems, and some depend on it as their only source of health care (Violante). But more than five years of sustained warfare has brought the VA system to a breaking point.
As of October 1, 2007, the budget for Fiscal Year 2008 is late (Pelosi's Record). A prospective increase of $6 billion has been "supported, or at lest not opposed, by both sides of the aisle, both Houses of Congress, and both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue," but until the budget is passed, none of these funds can be used the by hospitals that need them (Violante).
As a result, VA hospitals cannot depend on any fixed budget for each upcoming year (Violante). They are forced to meet their needs on a day-to-day basis and have no way of planning their spending. According to Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), 30% of surveyed VA centers have said they need more staff, 100% said they have seen an increase in outreach and services to OEF (Operation Enduring Freedom) and OIF (Operation Iraqi Freedom) veterans, and 20% have taken or will take action to manage this increase, including "limiting services and establishing wait lists."
One of the most shocking examples of the depth of the funding crisis is the conditions found at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in February of this year. The facility has become so overwhelmed that it does not have sufficient file space to store all of its patients' paperwork. Some soldiers are unable to get replacements for the uniforms that were ripped or bloodied in battle. Mentally wounded outpatients are even appointed as drill sergeants over other outpatients (Priest). Such situations are evidence of the disorganization of the whole system.
While the hospital itself is clean and orderly, the "Other Walter Reed," the hospital's outpatient clinic, is much the opposite. Patients like Army Spec. Jeremy Duncan in Building 18 are surrounded by stained mattresses, rotting walls, mouse droppings, and dead cockroaches. Some lodgings are comparatively nice, but many soldiers spend up to two years there awaiting the decision to be sent home or returned to active duty (Priest).
Staff Sgt. John Daniel Shannon's introduction to the outpatient clinic consisted of being handed a map and left alone to find his room. Still recovering from surgery after sustaining serious eye and skull injuries in a firefight in Ramadi, he struggled to stay upright as he stumbled along the walls outside the hospital asking for directions (Priest).
Perhaps the most tragic story from Walter Reed is that of Cpl. Jeremy Harper, a 19-year-old soldier who came home from Iraq with post-traumatic stress disorder after watching three of his buddies die. On New Years Eve of 2004, the last time his mother spoke to him on the phone, he was wandering drunkenly around the lobby of Mologne House, a hotel now used for outpatient lodging. He was trying to find a ride to his home in West Virginia. The next morning, Harper was found dead of alcohol poisoning. "Somebody didn't take care of him," Shannon would say. "It makes me want to cry" (Priest).
Overall, soldiers at Walter Reed feel a sense of neglect, frustration, and disillusionment, but the system is bound up in so much red tape that it is nearly impossible for caseworkers to make any real progress. Endless delays keep desperately needed funding from reaching the facility (Priest). Sources seem to agree that conditions at Walter Reed are just "the tip of the iceberg" of the national crisis (Winter).
In his testimony about the VA funding process, Joseph Violante, the National Legislative Director of Disabled American Veterans, explains why the problem lies not only in the shortage of funding, but the budget process itself. He proposes a complete reform of the VA funding system to establish one that is sufficient, predictable, and timely. This would include converting from a discretionary to mandatory funding system, which "would eliminate the year-to-year uncertainty about funding levels that have prevented the [VA] from adequately planning and meeting the growing needs of veterans seeking care" (America's Commitment).
Several arguments have been raised to oppose these reforms. Some suggest that mandatory funding would not solve the VA's problems. On the contrary, it would give that VA the opportunity to plan for their needs and to be more efficient. Health care providers are constantly struggling to provide services in a timely manner because funding is always uncertain beyond the current year. Guaranteed funding would solve this problem by providing a budget they can depend on (Violante).
Others claim the reforms would cost too much. In reality, as Violante's testimony points out, "the recent Congressional Research Service report to Congress detailing the running expenditures for the global war on terror since September 11, 2001, revealed that Veterans Affairs-related spending constitutes one percent of the government's total expenditure since that date." Providing necessary care for wounded veterans is part of the continued cost of warfare, and it only amounts to a tiny fraction of all spending on homeland security and war.
Regardless of one's political standpoint on the war in the Middle East, it logically follows that if we send troops into violent combat zones where they are constantly in harms way, then we must be prepared to do whatever it takes to meet their needs when they return. Every American citizen bears a huge debt of gratitude to the heroes who have sacrificed so much to defend our country and our liberty. We can show this gratitude in many ways, however trivial they may seem. We can tell the soldiers and veterans in our lives how much they mean to us. We can send letters or care packages to let them know they are not forgotten. We can say a prayer every night for their safety and comfort. And we can pressure our lawmakers to do what is necessary to ensure that their needs are met when they come home.
Thinking back to that veteran by the highway, we have a choice to make. Will we let this new generation fall into the same plight as the soldiers of past wars, or will we stand up and support them in whatever way we can? Will we wait and see the tragic results we could have prevented, or learn from the experiences of our past? The time to make that choice is now.
Works Cited
Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. 6 November 2007.
"Honor America's Commitment to Veterans." Disabled American Veterans. 18
November 2007.
Priest, Dana an Anne Hull. "Soldiers Face Neglect, Frustration at Army's Top Medical
Facility." Washington Post 18 February 2007: A01. 13 October 2007.
PTSD Information Center. 2007. United States Department of Veterans Affairs and
National Center for PTSD. 16 November 2007.
"Setting Speaker Pelosi's Record Straight." The White House. 14 October 2007. 21
October 2007.
Violante, Joseph A. "Testimony By Mr. Joseph A. Violante." House Committee on
Veterans' Affairs. 21 October 2007.
Winter, Michael. "Wrap-up: Walter Reed 'tip of iceberg'." Weblog post. 5 March 2007.
Washington Post. 17 November 2007.
As we continued down the highway, I began to think about all that his presence symbolized. He was probably a Vietnam vet, I thought. Is that what's going to happen to all the vets who are just coming home? I thought about the floods of physically, mentally, and emotionally wounded soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan to overwhelmed, under-funded Veterans Administration (VA) hospitals.
To me, that one man standing by the highway represented one of the many tragic results of what is now a nationwide problem: the funding crisis in America's VA system.
It is clear from our nation's experiences in past wars that the effects of combat can last months, years, or lifetimes. Many soldiers come home with serious physical injuries requiring very specialized treatment. Others suffer from mental ailments. Psychological traumas such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can have devastating effects on the long-term well-being of service members and their families, causing problems like depression, substance abuse, marital discord and family problems, unemployment, homelessness, and even suicide (PTSD Information Center).
Some of the more seriously wounded veterans rely on services that are not provided by the private sector. The VA system is the most effective and efficient of our country's health care systems, and some depend on it as their only source of health care (Violante). But more than five years of sustained warfare has brought the VA system to a breaking point.
As of October 1, 2007, the budget for Fiscal Year 2008 is late (Pelosi's Record). A prospective increase of $6 billion has been "supported, or at lest not opposed, by both sides of the aisle, both Houses of Congress, and both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue," but until the budget is passed, none of these funds can be used the by hospitals that need them (Violante).
As a result, VA hospitals cannot depend on any fixed budget for each upcoming year (Violante). They are forced to meet their needs on a day-to-day basis and have no way of planning their spending. According to Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), 30% of surveyed VA centers have said they need more staff, 100% said they have seen an increase in outreach and services to OEF (Operation Enduring Freedom) and OIF (Operation Iraqi Freedom) veterans, and 20% have taken or will take action to manage this increase, including "limiting services and establishing wait lists."
One of the most shocking examples of the depth of the funding crisis is the conditions found at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in February of this year. The facility has become so overwhelmed that it does not have sufficient file space to store all of its patients' paperwork. Some soldiers are unable to get replacements for the uniforms that were ripped or bloodied in battle. Mentally wounded outpatients are even appointed as drill sergeants over other outpatients (Priest). Such situations are evidence of the disorganization of the whole system.
While the hospital itself is clean and orderly, the "Other Walter Reed," the hospital's outpatient clinic, is much the opposite. Patients like Army Spec. Jeremy Duncan in Building 18 are surrounded by stained mattresses, rotting walls, mouse droppings, and dead cockroaches. Some lodgings are comparatively nice, but many soldiers spend up to two years there awaiting the decision to be sent home or returned to active duty (Priest).
Staff Sgt. John Daniel Shannon's introduction to the outpatient clinic consisted of being handed a map and left alone to find his room. Still recovering from surgery after sustaining serious eye and skull injuries in a firefight in Ramadi, he struggled to stay upright as he stumbled along the walls outside the hospital asking for directions (Priest).
Perhaps the most tragic story from Walter Reed is that of Cpl. Jeremy Harper, a 19-year-old soldier who came home from Iraq with post-traumatic stress disorder after watching three of his buddies die. On New Years Eve of 2004, the last time his mother spoke to him on the phone, he was wandering drunkenly around the lobby of Mologne House, a hotel now used for outpatient lodging. He was trying to find a ride to his home in West Virginia. The next morning, Harper was found dead of alcohol poisoning. "Somebody didn't take care of him," Shannon would say. "It makes me want to cry" (Priest).
Overall, soldiers at Walter Reed feel a sense of neglect, frustration, and disillusionment, but the system is bound up in so much red tape that it is nearly impossible for caseworkers to make any real progress. Endless delays keep desperately needed funding from reaching the facility (Priest). Sources seem to agree that conditions at Walter Reed are just "the tip of the iceberg" of the national crisis (Winter).
In his testimony about the VA funding process, Joseph Violante, the National Legislative Director of Disabled American Veterans, explains why the problem lies not only in the shortage of funding, but the budget process itself. He proposes a complete reform of the VA funding system to establish one that is sufficient, predictable, and timely. This would include converting from a discretionary to mandatory funding system, which "would eliminate the year-to-year uncertainty about funding levels that have prevented the [VA] from adequately planning and meeting the growing needs of veterans seeking care" (America's Commitment).
Several arguments have been raised to oppose these reforms. Some suggest that mandatory funding would not solve the VA's problems. On the contrary, it would give that VA the opportunity to plan for their needs and to be more efficient. Health care providers are constantly struggling to provide services in a timely manner because funding is always uncertain beyond the current year. Guaranteed funding would solve this problem by providing a budget they can depend on (Violante).
Others claim the reforms would cost too much. In reality, as Violante's testimony points out, "the recent Congressional Research Service report to Congress detailing the running expenditures for the global war on terror since September 11, 2001, revealed that Veterans Affairs-related spending constitutes one percent of the government's total expenditure since that date." Providing necessary care for wounded veterans is part of the continued cost of warfare, and it only amounts to a tiny fraction of all spending on homeland security and war.
Regardless of one's political standpoint on the war in the Middle East, it logically follows that if we send troops into violent combat zones where they are constantly in harms way, then we must be prepared to do whatever it takes to meet their needs when they return. Every American citizen bears a huge debt of gratitude to the heroes who have sacrificed so much to defend our country and our liberty. We can show this gratitude in many ways, however trivial they may seem. We can tell the soldiers and veterans in our lives how much they mean to us. We can send letters or care packages to let them know they are not forgotten. We can say a prayer every night for their safety and comfort. And we can pressure our lawmakers to do what is necessary to ensure that their needs are met when they come home.
Thinking back to that veteran by the highway, we have a choice to make. Will we let this new generation fall into the same plight as the soldiers of past wars, or will we stand up and support them in whatever way we can? Will we wait and see the tragic results we could have prevented, or learn from the experiences of our past? The time to make that choice is now.
Works Cited
Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. 6 November 2007.
"Honor America's Commitment to Veterans." Disabled American Veterans. 18
November 2007.
Priest, Dana an Anne Hull. "Soldiers Face Neglect, Frustration at Army's Top Medical
Facility." Washington Post 18 February 2007: A01. 13 October 2007.
PTSD Information Center. 2007. United States Department of Veterans Affairs and
National Center for PTSD. 16 November 2007.
"Setting Speaker Pelosi's Record Straight." The White House. 14 October 2007. 21
October 2007.
Violante, Joseph A. "Testimony By Mr. Joseph A. Violante." House Committee on
Veterans' Affairs. 21 October 2007.
Winter, Michael. "Wrap-up: Walter Reed 'tip of iceberg'." Weblog post. 5 March 2007.
Washington Post. 17 November 2007.
Noelle Dodd lives in Maine with her parents, her sister, their dog, and their three cats. She is currently working toward a Bachelor of Arts in Art at the University of Maine at Augusta, and attending Faith Evangelical Free Church in Waterville on Sundays. When she is not working on homework or special projects like this one, she enjoys drawing, reading, various crafts, cooking, exploring the woods, and spending time with her family.
Noelle has always fallen somewhere on the conservative side of the political spectrum, having been raised by strongly Republican parents. But only recently, spurred by a series of events and people who inspired her, did she begin to develop a fuller understanding of world events, a bigger picture of her own beliefs, and a deeper appreciation for the sacrifices that are made so Americans may live free.
Please visit the author's website, Operation Care Mail, a place where people can send care packages, find ways to wear their support, or find resources for military families and veterans:
Noelle has always fallen somewhere on the conservative side of the political spectrum, having been raised by strongly Republican parents. But only recently, spurred by a series of events and people who inspired her, did she begin to develop a fuller understanding of world events, a bigger picture of her own beliefs, and a deeper appreciation for the sacrifices that are made so Americans may live free.
Please visit the author's website, Operation Care Mail, a place where people can send care packages, find ways to wear their support, or find resources for military families and veterans:
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