Thursday, November 12, 2015

Reflections on Veteran's Day.

This is posted on the 12th, but I'm thinking about it today. (The 11th)

Veteran's Day... or Veterans Day, depending on your persuasion... what does it mean?

In the year 2015, it means that the promises made to us when we raised our hands and took the Oath are no closer to fruition now than they were when I enlisted. (One of the bigger whoppers was "free medical care for life."  Yeah, right.)

It means hundreds of thousands of claims remain at least as unresolved now as they were when the Liar-in-Chief took office promising to fix all that; meaning that hundreds of thousands of veterans are in pain not only because of the wounds and injury they suffered serving us, but because a non-responsive government ordains it.

We're still dying during the wait.  Veteran's Choice, the supposed cure-all for wait times, has proven itself to be a worthless joke; at least in my case.  And Obama has ripped off $2.5 billion from that and shifted it to Syrian

Veterans are still killing themselves at a rate of over 20 a day (The number varies depending on where it comes from, but it's a lot and it's far too many) and no progress has been made in that theater.

The sacrifices made by so many of our best and brightest have been thrown away by a clueless Administration... thousands dead, many more thousands wounded... and for what?

I served my country for many years.  Millions of us did and hundreds of thousands of us are as I write this.

But to our government, both left and right, that service is meaningless.  Locally, the value was show by naming a non-serving fringe-left former politician as Grand Martial of the Veteran's Day Parade.  Must have been because no veteran of any stature was available for the honor.  Even Jaime Herrera made one of her all too few appearances (In Battle Ground) where Mayor Bowman made the only mistake of the day and mentioned "representatives" of Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, two more slimeballs who have done nothing for us but have done a great deal TO us. as the prelude of setting up the delusion that Herrera needed to speak... to lie about what she's doing for veterans and how important we are to her.

Herrera once told me that her time away from this area... going to the UDub, being a staffer in DC and doing a few weeks as an intern in Olympia was, and I quote, "a lot like being in the military."

Right.

It's a great Memorial.  And no politician should have been mentioned... for it wasn't about them... or even their low-level staffers.  It was supposed to be about those from here who gave the ultimate sacrifice.  The pols couldn't even do that right.

Her speech made me nauseous, and I left about 30 seconds in since it wasn't even a thinly veiled campaign effort.

The Weather God was obliging: I reached my car in about 90 seconds... texted my apologies to those I'd promised I'd be there... and the sky broke.  They were drenched. 

In my mind, the service of the newest clerk, or cook, or dental assistant in the Armed Forces exceeds that of any elected official today who did not put on the uniform.

Build a fake bomb, get invited to the White House.

Get killed for your country under that incompetent's policies, and nothing.

Between the terrorist in training... and the widow and kids of that man who died serving in the Armed Forces, who was more deserving of the invite?

Today, as I write this, is a day of remembrance.

It's marked by few ceremonies... and locally, a parade taken over by fringe-left nutjobs, disrespecting what we have done for their own ends... without protest or concern from their fellow leftists in local media.

We get sales.  We get free meal scams... well, most are scams, but not all.  We get a free oil change if you've got the right car, because God Forbid that your vehicle require more than 5 quarts.

I don't do any of them.

Today, wedged between a business meeting and lunch with my lovely bride and our son, I'll be going to the Battle Ground Veteran's Memorial dedication.

But that's going to be it for me.

A government that doesn't care.  A people that allows them to get away with it.

More sick veterans.  More crippled and wounded veterans.  More homeless veterans.  A member of congress that doesn't listen and doesn't care or do anything... well, not just about veterans, but about anything else that doesn't serve her dreams of reelection.

20 to 25 of us will die today at out own hand.

20 to 25 of us will die tomorrow at our own hand.

No where to go.  No one to help.  The numbers prove we're not doing enough.

On this day, it's not a great day to be a Veteran.

1 comment:

Lew said...

Add to all that you said: First VA transgender clinic opens in Cleveland

I'm sure that will cure the backlog of deserving Veterans sitting and waiting for much needed care. /sarcasm/