BKSir
Posts: 4037
Joined: 4/8/2008 From: Salt Lake City, UT Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: ownedlilsweetie I think this thread would be most effective if those posting looked past the opportunity to get defensive and justify their opinions to others, and rather contained an open and honest discussion about moving forward and how to help these veterans, who are clearly hurting. I understand that each of us has a fundamental need to have our opinions understood. However I also believe that, opinions aside, we all agree that there is a definite problem that exists. I refuse to believe that quibling over details will in any way help solve it. The system in place for returning veterans is underfunded, understaffed, and abysmal in quality. The process veterans go through to get approved for service related disabilities, as well as their GI Bill benefits, is painstaking and designed to hinder the veteran in his or her efforts. Do I know why this is or the motivation behind it? No, and I can't say I really care about how the fubar system came to be. What matters is that it remains fubar, and that is a disservice to those who risked what they could to protect what we all have. I don't expect any solution or resulting alternative system to be perfect, as things rarely are. But that does not mean I can't work to make that which is in place infinitely better. As someone who works in a V.A. hospital every day, I can say, with 100% certainty, that these soldiers (god bless em), are prepared for absolutely nothing in civilian life by the military. They are hindered in their educations, they are stripped of individuality (that is precisely what boot camp is for, from the mouths of former drill sergeants and higher ups), they are given no, I repeat no form of re-introduction. The G.I. bill is a joke, as are a very good number of things that they're promised upon enlistment. Military Recruiters are paid to lie. They are there to say anything a person wants to hear, promise them the moon if they have to, to get someone to sign up. A $15,000 sign on bonus? SURE! (which a very close friend of mine was 'promised', but afterwards was told, "What? No one ever said such a thing.") Health care after you get out? SURE! You know, if you get terribly disabled IN the military, AND are able to prove that it happened during that time, AND that it was our fault, AND you have to do so in this certain amount of time, AND no one is going to tell you about how to do that or help you in any way. I see, all the time, these people struggling to not just regain individuality, but moreso, just to simply survive day to day. I LIVE with one of these people, and have for the last 14 years. I have grown up around these people all my life. I know and see all too well precisely why they kill themselves. My grandfather said sometimes that he wishes he'd died in the military, and seeing what it did to him, and how he was treated after he got home, and how his life consisted of pain and alchohol and terror, sometimes I wished he had too. No matter what, alive or dead, when these people return home, they have given their lives for their service. Often more so alive than dead. They are changed, irrevocably, as people. More often than not for the worse. And the help that they are 'offered' (read: have to fight to get), is often sub par, because it is underfunded, because it is understaffed, because the people that are in official position to change it just don't care. And the people that can help, usually don't. That same mentality toward viet nam veterans still exists in a good number of people. "Just ignore them and they'll go away." BUT! That can change, and it is up to every individual to change it. In little ways. Many V.A. hospitals now have small setups for temporary housing of homeless vets. Normally they're in old buildings that were just going to be shut down, but they decided to try and use it for something, so it's very underfunded. I won't bore you with the long details, because I don't feel like typing THAT much right now. However, there is a little town here called Coalville. Yesterday, I get in to work, and there is a PILE of boxes on three tables. These boxes contained, oh, maybe $85 worth of food. A lot of things were homemade, like cupcakes and cookies, some things bought like a box of tortilla chips. Small things. Why? Because the people of this dinky, backwater town that most people don't even know exist got together and said "You know what, lets get these guys up at the valour house something. It's going to be superbowl sunday, and they deserve a time to just sit down, watch a game, relax and enjoy the life and freedom that they've given to us, that we've just kicked back into their faces." Now, while I can see how the meaning of "not necessarily people" could be misconstrued, and yes, admittedly upsets me a bit as well, that is nothing compared to the attitude of "They signed up voluntarily, they should just suck it up and deal with it." Heretic, I may have disagreed with you in the past, but this... this is far beyond that. This kind of attitude is reprehensable and disgusting. This is the attitude that these people got when they returned home from Viet Nam, this is the kind of attitude that says, point blank, "I don't give a shit about them." I may not agree with wars, I wish we didn't need them, but they're there. They always have been, and always will be. I may not agree with why we're fighting in some places, but we're there, and my dislike for that isn't going to stop it. But, to take that kind of attitude toward these people when they return home and need help sickens me to my very core. Go up to a V.A. hospital sometime, work for them for a while. Even just volunteer for a bit. Get to know these people, listen to them, hear their stories, find out what they're really going through now that they're home, see what pains they have to deal with every day just to survive. THEN remember that these are the lucky ones, they are actually at the hospital trying to get help. They managed to fight through some of the red tape, where hundreds of thousands of others haven't. Recall that, if you were hired on somewhere and promised all this wonderful stuff and didn't get it, you could just quit. They can't. They signed on for 7 years or more, and even at the end of that term there is no guarantee that they'll get out, IF they even live that long. You sit there and wonder if someone that you work with and care about is even alive because they've not been in for a couple weeks and are prone to depressive bouts. You do that and then maybe you won't have that kind of attitude. And on a personal note, if I may quote, "You're damn right we have freedom of thought and speech in this country. Thank a vet (in your case, giving a blowjob would be appropriate)." With that, you have about as much room to call someone a bigot as David Duke does. Again, although I often disagreed with you, I used to look forward to your posts because they were normally thought provoking if nothing else. What happened? It's come down to sad, prejudiced personal attacks. I am very disappointed and feel very very sorry for you.
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We'll begin with a spin, traveling in a world of my creation. What we'll see will defy explanation. I am the voices in your head. BiggKatt Studios
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