Rep. Neugebauer (TX) on Veterans Benefits

Open Email to Rep. Neugebauer (TX):

Dear Rep. Neugebauer,
    I have read your latest newsletter with your particular emphasis on our appreciation for the service of our military veterans.
    All true, and as a veteran fortunate enough to having not been wounded in combat, I extend my appreciation to those who have not been so fortunate. This was also a nice campaigning move on your part.
    I am continually bombarded on TV by a Wounded Warrior Project requesting that I donate $19 a month to take care of wounded warriors. I find this ridiculous! It apparently only finds its basis in the deficiency of the Veterans Administration (VA).
    Men and women enter military service, either as volunteers or in times of war, as draftees. In either case, they literally devote their lives to the preservation of the United States of America. In return, they individually receive housing, food, medical care and generally all items of normal living, plus a small salary. If in the course of duty they are wounded in combat, they also receive medical attention to return them to previous health, as well as possible. In some cases, the bodily devastation is such that a normal return is not possible, and they continue their lives as paralyzed invalids or subject of posttraumatic stress.
    The Wounded Warrior Project says, "Your generous, tax-deductible donation in wounded warrior projects (WWP) enables us to help thousands of injured veterans returning from the battlefield and helps provide assistance to their families."
    Isn't this the sort of thing that we should already be supplying to our wounded veterans? I believe it is, because it should be one of the benefits that they really originally received under contract on original enlistment. There are certainly ramifications, which have bearing on the situation. One of them is that I find it ridiculous that thousands of our military personnel have been killed or severely wounded from the use of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), which are small hidden bombs. In World War II, we called them "Booby Traps". With the present state of high technology available, it is almost inconceivable to me that military leadership has been unable to cope with this. However whether there is still low or high damage to military personnel, it should be part of military's responsibility to appropriately handle the damage. This would include as much reasonable medical treatment as possible, followed by the use of subsequent devices, such as artificial limbs, mobile chairs, walking devices, etc.. In addition, any earning limitation placed on the wounded veteran after retirement carries through into his family's economic health and requires adequate adjustment.    Post Traumatic Syndrome is completely different. It is a mental condition which is difficult to diagnose, but still must be handled. I've written previously that military retirees, by nature of their previous service, have not accumulated the necessary experience to adequately participate in normal civilian life. Many veterans are able to make the adjustment but some are not, which is why we end up with a number of homeless veterans requiring care. Whether it could be considered that these veterans suffer from post traumatic distress is conjectural, but whether they do or don't, if is again part of the military obligation that they be taken care of, including the basic needs of their families.
    It might be assumed that if retirement benefits to military retirees and earlier wounded veterans are too generous, there could be considerable cheating. While that is true, I believe it is a risk we must take. Many veterans will not even take advantage of present benefits available to them. For example, I spent two years is a noncombat draftee during World War II, with combat infantry training and subsequent transfer to Special Engineering. I was partially responsible for the killing of a few million Japanese. I suppose I could have posttraumatic distress, but I don't. I am now 92 years old and could get my medication from the VA. I don't. I pay for it out-of-pocket. I also know that there many others like me, even though many may require retirement assistance.
    We have a Veterans Administration (VA). It should be doing the job of completely taking care of the basic needs of veterans, paralyzed or otherwise incapacitated, with the resulting detriments to their families. It should be doing its job such that the claim of the Wounded Warrior Project of "helping thousands of injured veterans returning from the battlefield and providing assistance to their families" is without merit. I would much rather see advertisements by such private organizations saying we should help veterans by supplying special reading devices, such as Kindles, or tickets to baseball games, which might make their lives more pleasant.
    Rep. Neugebauer, I encourage you to look into the Veterans Administration activities on the basis I have described above, and arrange with your associates any required changes in the Veterans Administration's program.