ANOTHER GENERATION OF VETERANS IS SCHEDULED TO DIE OF EMPTY PROMISES
BY G. DUFF
I am one of the thousands, not too many thousands, of the two plus million who survived the Vietnam war to come home to years of ignorance, hate, exploitation and lies. I survive as do a few of my friends. Most of them are dead, few on the battlefield and many many more dead when they could have been saved. We only now begin to touch on the numbers, but we have now lost more from Vietnam than even World War 2.
I could cry out for the few that remain. The real problem, of course, is that we are being overshadowed by a new set of dead and dying, forgotten the second they leave the plane, the second the parade ends, the second the contribution is made to the phony charity, the second the politician walks away from his photo opportunity…
We are murdering another generation, not with a gun or noose, but with a hateful bureaucracy and a near endless stream of casualties from a war few agree with or understand. The job started by an enemy thousands of miles away is finished here at an Army or VA hospital, a job "no longer available" or in the eyes of friends and family who find it easier to mouth platitudes and look away.
Every refrigerator box should have a sign on it, "VETERANS HOUSING UNIT, DEPOSIT ON SKID ROW".
We are coming up on another election year. Currenly, my emails are filled with promises from Joseph Biden to take care of the needs of veterans. He is saying all the right things and, with luck, someone will find out if this is another media charade or something more. He has had decades to do something, say something, why is he saying it now? I can guess.
Across the country, veterans are only one of a dozen issues, some real many imaginary,that take up the public’s attention. Foreigners stealing the all important jobs of picking up our grass clippings or working in our hospitals and nursing homes is at the top of the list, as usual. Lack of a viable economy with jobs for our kids is the real problem, but Americans are perfectly happy to live on credit cards, buying things built in China until their homes are foreclosed on. Then they turn to the government to bail them out.
One political party is running a debate between two well known leaders, one who believes that Jesus will give him his own planet when he dies, loaded with virgins, while the other is telling us that the earth is 10,000 years old and that AIDS patients should be put in concentration camps. Nether of these famous leaders has spent one second in military service nor have they spoken about war, foreign policy or veterans issues. They don’t seem to really care much about America at all. One of them will make a great president, much in the style of the one we have now.
Out there, the real people of America, some of them, at least, are trying. Some are sending needed items to our troops, some, few in reality, visit our hospitals and clinics, and even our service organizations, though not very qualified to work with veterans in a meaningful way, demonstrate real concern. The auxilliaries are regularly at the VA clinics and are very appreciated.
Dozens of new charties are out there to help. That the majority of them are run by petty criminals shouldn’t detract from those that are honest and good.
However, we have turned our power, not to a governent "by and for" the people, but one that controls and most often misleads and misinforms the people. They serve our need to be lied to, told "bedtime stories" about scary bad buys and heroes who defend us. To a veteran with PTSD, a TBI (traumatic brain injury) or no job, living under a bridge, these stories are just stories, empty promises.
We have another class, even more endangered than the veterans. We have thousands of our citizens who are being illegally held in military servitude in an undeclared war because of bizarre administrative rules that can demand endless years of service from some and leave the majority of Americans free to ignore war and suffering and live in their pretend world with their pretend lives.
Volunteering to fight for America is now a sign of total foolishness and idiocy guaranteed to get you a lifetime of poverty and suffering unless you are able to stay in the military forever, living a nomad existence of months with family and months in one hell hole after another on endless deployments.
America has spoken. They don’t want you back. You and your family can live in near poverty forever while you fight the wars that bring them the oil they need to cruise the highways and spend the money we borrow from the Chinese.
God help you if you ever leave the military. You will become a veteran. I wouldn’t wish that on a dog.
GORDON DUFF IS A MARINE VIETNAM VETERAN AND REGULAR CONTRIBUTOR ON POLITICAL AND SOCIAL ISSUES
Gordon Duff posted articles on VT from 2008 to 2022. He is a Marine combat veteran of the Vietnam War. A disabled veteran, he worked on veterans and POW issues for decades.
Gordon is an accredited diplomat and is generally accepted as one of the top global intelligence specialists. He manages the world’s largest private intelligence organization and regularly consults with governments challenged by security issues.
Duff has traveled extensively, is published around the world, and is a regular guest on TV and radio in more than “several” countries. He is also a trained chef, wine enthusiast, avid motorcyclist, and gunsmith specializing in historical weapons and restoration. Business experience and interests are in energy and defense technology.
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