Wrenn Jane Wrenn Professor Newhart English 1010 10 November 2013

Veterans The mal-treatment of our military veterans has been an issue since the American Revolution. Long wait times for mental health services, lower than deserved disability ratings from the Army, homelessness, and high suicide rates are just a few things that plague our veterans today. The families suffer so much as well. As I am writing this article we saw a family with five children at the airport having to say goodbye to their father as he was deploying. It was heart breaking to see those children and the soldiers wife puffy eyed as they gave their hugs and prayed that they would see each other again. The sound of their four-year-old little girl crying out for her dad will haunt me. What will happen if her husband comes home physically and / or mentally disabled? Or worse, what will happen to that family if he doesnt come home at all. Sadly they will have to fight hard for every benefit that for most of us would think they would automatically deserve and receive. The Civil War marked the beginning of benefits for veterans. In 1862 the Confederacy introduced the draft making

Wrenn military service mandatory instead of voluntary. If the young men called in the draft refuse to enter service they were shot for cowardice. Because of this the government now had an obligation to help the injured and soldiers and their families. The initial payments to veterans were a mere eight dollars a month. This amount is about a third of an unskilled workers pay at that time. By 1872 the pension had only gone up to twentyfour dollars a month (H.W. Brands 70). By the start of the First World War congress started what is now the Veterans Administration to handle the future veterans medical and disability benefits. The soldiers were promised a onetime payment that would help them retire, however they would not receive the money until 1945. When the Great Depression hit American veterans were in greater need of their money than before so they looked to President Hoover to receive their payment early. When the veterans did not receive the response

that they desired from President Hoover the veterans, as well as the American Legion, marched on Washington. Because the American Legion joined them the President considered the march a danger and he called on Douglas MacArthur to break them up. MacArthur took the order too far and in the end two people lost their lives. The American people were outraged. As a result of this Franklin Roosevelt was able to win the presidential election and make great strides for our veterans. He started the Civilian

Wrenn Conservation Corps that put many veterans back to work (H.W. Brands 70). Roosevelt also put into action what economist now say is the best investment America has made (H.W. Brands 72). It was the G.I. Bill. The G.I. Bill offered veterans money until they could find employment, mortgage assistance, and money for college. This made it possible for three and a half million veterans the chance of owning their own home (H.W. Brands 72). It also put almost eight million into college. The opportunity to go to college not only gave the veterans a chance at a better paying job but it kept the job market from being flooded with the returning veterans. Unfortunately todays veterans are not as well off as they were before. They have to fight long drawn out battles to be compensated for their injuries. History shows wars that were fought with smaller number of men didnt get the benefits that wars with larger numbers received. There have been two and half million men and women that have been in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars; however that is less than one percent of the American population (H.W. Brands 72). The majority of American people have never even interacted with a person who had served in a war. As a result there seems to be a major disconnect between the soldiers and the civilians. After visiting Walter Reed Army Hospital Fred Wilpon, owner of the New York Mets, observed the

Wrenn following; The other thing that struck me was how removed most Americans are from the troops. Most people dont think about the war. We need to become more involved with our veterans and their families to help make the changes that are needed. The men and women of this country that have fought so hard for our freedoms deserve to have people ready to fight for them in their time of need. One of the pressing issues that veterans are facing is homelessness. Los Angeles has become inundated with homeless veterans. In December 2012 the count in LA was an astonishing 6,371 and at a national count of 62,619. These figures do not include the unaccounted for vets living in abandoned buildings and under bridges. Interestingly Los Angeles is in a unique position to have had 400 acres of land donated in the Brentwood area of Los Angeles for the purpose of housing the veterans. Unfortunately the land is now being leased out for an Enterprise rental car parking lot, a laundry service for a hotel chain, a baseball field, and a dog park. Mark Rosenbaum of the ACLU of Southern California has stated that, If you want to spend the night at the VA in Brentwood youre better off as a rental car than a homeless vet. It is sad that the land that was donated for the veterans housing is now being used for purposes that do not even benefit them. When the VA was confronted about this their argument was that they were not responsible for the

Wrenn housing of veterans. There is also push back coming from Brentwood residents. The land in Brentwood is very valuable and the residents are against the veterans housing being located there. Part of the root of the problem lies in the long wait times for mental health appointments. With twenty-two veterans committing suicide on a daily basis this issue has to be resolved (Greg Zoroya). The goal is to for the first time appointments to be no longer than a two-week wait. Unfortunately this has been unsuccessful. The Veterans Administration has failed to schedule a third of those appointments on time. It can also take more than three weeks to see a psychiatrist to obtain needed medications. The worst offending hospitals that fall under this careless act are in Orlando, Houston, and Los Angeles. Houston has the worst wait times of the three hospitals with an average wait time of twenty-eight days to receive a basic appointment with a counselor (Greg Zoroya). When these Veterans have to wait that long to receive mental health services its no wonder why they end up with drinking and drug problems just to cope. Sadly some of these vets find themselves homeless as a result of their untreated mental health issues. A dysfunctional rating system set up by the Army has been a major roadblock for a lot of soldiers trying to receive benefits. Linda Robins, author of Insult to Injury, report that

Wrenn the U.S. News show, the vast majority-nearly ninety-three percent- of disabled troops are receiving low ratings, and more have been graded similarly in recent years. Whats more, ground troops, who suffer the most combat injuries from the ubiquitous roadside bombs, have received the lowest ratings. (Linda Robins) It is appalling that ground combat troops are receiving such low ratings. The Army has given 4.3% a disability rating over thirty percent. The Marines are at an astonishing 2.7% meanwhile the Navy is at 95.9% (Linda Robinson). If a soldier receives a rating of less than thirty percent from the Army they are sent home with nothing more than a severance check. If they can manage to receive a thirty percent rating or higher they qualify for many lifelong benefits. The ratings that have been

issued at twenty percent or below are at 92.7% from the Army. Fighting the system to receive a proper rating is an exhausting task and often requires help from experienced volunteers. As a daughter, sister, and wife of three generations of military service men and women I have seen the hardships. My father was given a horrible blood transfusion and had to endure a long treatment of chemotherapy as well as a major organ transplant. He has spent years in pain and his life is greatly limited because the military base didnt screen the blood donations, then failed to treat him when they initially found the mistake. He has to push through extreme exhaustion and

Wrenn illness to work a full time job because they only rate him at 50%. He is now looking to the DAV to help him get a proper disability rating. My husband and sister have to fight for help and benefits as well. As my husband is a veteran he has a lot of appointments at the VA Hospital in Salt Lake. I try and go with him to his appointments as much as possible so I can hear the vets share their stories. I have to sit in a corner quietly and pretend to read so they forget, or stop caring, that I am there. The courage and bravery of these men is heartbreaking and amazing. The conditions that they served in at times makes my stomach turn, but they act like it was just another day on the job. They speak with humble pride as they share their victories and pat each others hands when they share in their respective losses. Every once in a while I peak above my book and see that some of them are in wheel chairs so broken down they can hardly move and most of them have no one with them. My heart just breaks because those men deserve so much better. Americas veterans are our heroes of today and we should be theirs. Those chosen ones have committed themselves to a life of duty defending our country for what they truly believe in, to create a safer society for our loved ones to live in. At a moments notice they grab their gear, say goodbye to their families and fulfill their duties without question or

Wrenn hesitation. Unfortunately, what they dont realize is the hardship and complications that wait their return. Very important days are wasted spent waiting for our country to fulfill our obligations in that it takes care of our vets and family needs upon return. Our Veterans are too often ignored and placed on waiting lists that could take weeks, months, and sometimes years for the help they need. Is this treatment equal to what they have sacrificed? We should be more proactive by preparing families prior to their veterans returns and by having appointments already scheduled for them. This would make the transition of being home less stressful on both the veteran and their families. And we all should take some time out to, at the very least, to thank a veteran.

Work Cited Cohen, Charles Boot Camp for Homeless Veterans Christian Science Monitor ebscohost.com 11/10/1998 11/07/2013 This article was about Veterans Center (MCVET) in Baltimore, Maryland. MCVET are a program to assist veterans to overcome their drug and or alcohol addiction. They offer the vets a place to stay while receiving counseling serves. Charles Cohan wrote a very convincing article. He interviewed several vets in different levels of the program. I

Wrenn am curious to about seeing what the success rate is in a few years. It is nice to see a program for vets that seem to be working. So many veterans are lacking this level of care.

Klein, Joe Giving Back to Veterans Time ephost.com 07/14/2008 11/08/2013 Our Veterans are in need of better and more efficient care. Fred Wilpond Visited the Walter Reed Medical Center and saw the huge disconnect between the solders and the civilians. Wilpond

and his fellow baseball team owner are working to raise 100 million dollars to provide free mental health care to veterans. Klein wrote a convincing article about the mental health issues of the Iraq war veterans. He made a solid point about helping and connecting with our veterans. It was wonderful to read about someone going to visit the veterans, seeing an injustice, and going to do something about it. This was very motivating and our family is going to look into ways that we can help our fellow citizens.

H.W. Brand.

What Do We Owe Our Veterans? American History

ephost.com June 2012 Vol.47 issue2 pages 68-73 The article gave a history of the treatment of our veterans and what they have had to go through to receive them.

Wrenn 10 H.W. Bands gave a comprehensive view of the history of the vets in this country. He did quote several presidents and gave solid statistics. This article hit me hard. The uphill climb these men and now women have faced is appalling. No one should have to sacrifice what he or she do and then have to fight so hard for benefits they clearly deserve.

John Wiener LAs Homeless Vets The Nation ephost.com April 8, 2013 This article highlights the misuse of land given to the Veterans Affairs Department in Brentwood, Ca. Wiener wrote a motivating piece on the misuse of land. He was very convincing by siting statistics and getting quotes from the ACLU and Bill Boyarsky. The facts on the veteran homeless rate in LA are extremely high. It is hard to know that land that was set aside for housing is being used for things that are having no benefit for our veterans.

Gregg Zoroya Many Veterans Face Frustrating Delays for Mental Health Care USA TODAY November 05, 2013 This has shown the wait time veterans face when trying to schedule mental health appointments.

Wrenn 11 Zoroya showed data from the Department of Veteran Affairs. His writing was very straightforward and concise. The article has brought to my attention the horrible wait times for mental health care. It also makes me wonder how they know about the huge wait times in Houston and they have not fixed this.

Linda Robinson Insult to Injury U.S. News and World Report 04/16/2007, Vol. 142 Issue 13 pages 44-50 The article shows the veteran rating statistics. It showed the huge gap in the ratings of our ground soldiers and marines verses other branches of the military. Robinson showed statistics from the Department of Defense. She showed the experiences of a couple of veterans that are going through the rating process and their fight to have to receive a proper rating. This article kept me engaged and wanting to do something about helping our veterans receive proper benefits.