Delay and denial are standard operating procedures when it comes to how the government cares for vets. Here’s why.
The Real Reason for the VA Scandal
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veterans
Denying Veterans Benefits a Venerable Tradition
The difficulties that Continental Army veterans experienced obtaining benefits mirror those of veterans today.
Promoting a “Right to Heal” from Ft. Hood to Abu Ghraib
Veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are holding the U.S. government accountable for innocent victims on all sides of the fighting.
Agent Orange on Okinawa: The Smoking Gun
Since 1945, the small Japanese island of Okinawa has been unwilling host to a massive U.S. military presence and a storehouse for a witches’ brew of dangerous munitions and chemicals, including nerve gas, mustard gas, and nuclear missiles. However, there is one weapon the Pentagon has always denied that it kept on Okinawa: Agent Orange. But a recently discovered U.S. army report puts lie to those denials once and for all.
Agent Orange in Korea
In May, three former U.S. soldiers admitted to dumping hundreds of barrels of chemical substances, including Agent Orange, at Camp Carroll in South Korea in 1978. This explosive news was a harsh reminder to South Koreans of the high costs and lethal trail left behind by the ongoing U.S. military presence.
“Blasted and Blasted and Blasted”: The Military Traumatic Brain Injury Epidemic
The United States is not facing up to the massive health-care and mental-health problems caused by traumatic brain injuries in our recent wars.
Veterans and Poetry
Dayl S. Wise was drafted into the US Army in 1969 and served in Vietnam and Cambodia in 1970 with the First Air Cavalry Division. After six months in country, he was wounded while on a reconnaissance team. Upon his discharge he studied engineering and worked as a draftsperson and design engineer for many years. Wise is a member of Vietnam Veterans Against the War and Veterans for Peace, and recently returned to school to become a teacher. He has self-published two collections of poems by veterans,The Best of Post Traumatic Press 2000 and Post Traumatic Press 2007.
Poem: ‘Walking my Dog While at War’
For Molly
A Moral Burden on U.S. Soldiers
A fighter pilot would never cut the throat of an innocent woman or child. However, the same pilot drops bombs into enemy territory to kill enemy personnel, knowing he may also kill innocent civilians. The luxury of a large distance between the bullet or a bomb used to kill suspected enemies in Iraq is a luxury many of our soldiers do not have.
The Truth About Veteran Suicides
Eighteen American war veterans kill themselves every day. One thousand former soldiers receiving care from the Department of Veterans Affairs attempt suicide every month. More veterans are committing suicide than are dying in combat overseas.