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Veterans Day

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By John Ubaldi
Contributor, In Homeland Security

Veterans Day is a time for the country to remember all those who have served this nation in uniform, but a question remains unanswered; does America really care about its veterans?

As someone who has served over thirty years in the Marine Corps, with combat tours to both Iraq & Afghanistan, I have often wondered if America really does care for its veterans.

Often we hear and recount the exploits of the “Greatest Generation” who suffered through the Great Depression, then went off to rescue the world from slavery, and finally re-shaped the American landscape as they ushered in the economic juggernaut that transformed the world.

As the attack on Pearl Harbor was a transformational event for the US, and as a generation of Americans who had suffered through the Great Depression came of age during the Second World War to liberate a suffering humanity, they returned home to transform America.

During this period over 16 million men and women answered the call of duty, as the entire nation was galvanized for one singular purpose—the defeat of the Axis Alliance.

Decades later, a similar pivotal event occurred, equally as transformational as the attack on Pearl Harbor. On September 11, 2001, four planes were hijacked, two of the four planes slammed into the World Trade Center in New York City, and one into the Pentagon. The final plane was brought down by the passengers on board—crashing near Shanksville, PA.

The nation was mesmerized by the tragedy of that day. Unlike the WWII generation, only those who served in the military, or chose to join afterward, would find themselves fighting in the deserts of Iraq or the mountains of Afghanistan. America has changed dramatically since the Second World War.

Decades have passed, and now less than one percent of the population serves in the nation’s armed forces, and less than 20 percent of the nation’s power elites in Washington have ever donned the nation’s uniform.

Often I hear from people say, “Thank you for Your Service,” but what does this actually mean? The other phrase I often hear from political pundits is “America is tired of War,” but what has America sacrificed on the “War on Terror,” really the only sacrifice America has made is the inconvenience of having to remove their shoes when going through security at an airport.

Currently, the country is deep into the presidential election cycle to choose the next president of the United States, and in the various debates by both Democrats and Republicans, veteran’s issues were hardly mentioned.

Other issues have dominated the public discourse, especially immigration, but sadly nothing regarding veterans.

You would think the candidates and the nation would be outraged over the fact that 22 veterans commit suicide every day in the United States; still nothing from the candidates seeking the office of president, and for that matter from the American people.

It’s not like issues regarding veterans just suddenly appeared! In 2014, a scandal erupted where close to 40 veterans died while awaiting medical care at the Phoenix, Arizona, Veterans Health Administration facilities, and it wasn’t confined to just this facility, but others across the country.

An audit by the VA released in June 2014, found that over 120,000 veterans were left waiting, or never able to receive the care they needed, by VA administrators who fraudulently kept unofficial lists, and engaged in inappropriate activities which made the wait times seem shorter then was the case.

In the wake of the scandal, Congress passed a $17 billion package in July of 2014, aimed at curing the long wait times and mismanagement at the VA. The unfortunate aspect is that just because Washington allocates resources, it doesn’t make the problem go away.

Then in a damaging report by the Department of Veterans Affairs inspector general released in September, over 300,000 veterans died while waiting for health care treatment.

In September, Military Times reported that according to the report, the Veterans Benefits Administration spent about $1.8 million on 23 senior executive reassignments over the last three fiscal years, all but two of which appear to have been used as “a means to justify annual salary increases” for some of the department’s highest earners.

Where is the U.S. Department of Justice, why haven’t there been any investigations into this abuse?

In October’s Democratic debate, independent Vermont Senator and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders championed his support of the Veterans Choice, Access and Accountability Act of 2014, which gave the VA an additional $17 billion to fix its structural problems. Unfortunately, CNN moderator Anderson Cooper never pressed Sanders or any of the other Democratic candidates as to why there still are severe structural problems at the VA?

Prior to this debate, the Republicans have held two debates, and in each case nothing was mentioned concerning veterans. As Republicans often criticize the expansion of government, why not mention the Department of Veterans Affairs budget went from $95 billion to almost $170 billion in 2015, and still massive problems at the VA exist, with veterans not receiving the care they deserve. Have any of the candidates mentioned the over-medication of veterans?

Again, in all the debates very little of the candidates of both Republican and Democrats mentioned, discussed, or were asked questions concerning our nation’s veterans? Why is this? Maybe because all of them have never worn the uniform of our nation’s armed forces.

When the question inevitably turns to the discussion of veterans, it is always in the context of the war’s in Iraq and Afghanistan, with each of the candidates reiterating the claim that it was a mistake, even if they had previously voted for it. Those that did flip flop and try to justify their rational for their vote, and those who were against it, always point to how they were always against it.

For veterans who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, I have a feeling their service is being played out in the political spectrum of partisan warfare at their expense.

Recently, President Obama authorized the deployment of 50 Special Forces operators to Syria, how many in this country are affected by this?

President Lincoln’s quote “To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan,” adorns the building of the Department of Veterans Affairs in Washington, have we as a nation forgotten his council?

In his inaugural address President Kennedy stated, “Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and success of liberty.”

Veterans have borne the price and burden for our freedom, what has the rest of America done for freedom?

In recognition of Veterans Day, American Military University asked some of our faculty members who served in the military to discuss the benefits of being a veteran, the greatest challenges they faced, what advice they would give new veterans, and the best way the public can thank veterans. Hear from seven of our faculty members about their experiences. 

Interview with AMU Alumnus, Jason McClaren

My goal as a child was to do 20 years in the Air Force, retire, and teach JROTC, but after seven years as an Air Force firefighter that was cut short due to a death in my family. After relocating, I had a choice to start at the bottom of a municipal fire department and work my way back up the ladder or pursue my education. I chose the latter, getting my bachelor’s degree in fire science.