It's Only Fair

News & Views
The Armchair Curmudgeon
March 6, 2007


It took Three Wounded Vets, One Blind and Two Mising Limbs, to Come Up With An Answer!


…And we have to ask, “Why didn’t our Government Think of This First?”

We pay our government to represent the interests of all of the people.
Then we wonder why it doesn’t occur to them to do what’s right even if no lobbyists client is being served.

Consider the War in Iraq.

Soldiers are coming home and surviving wounds that would have killed their compatriots in former wars. Yes, the percentage surviving serious wounds is way above what is was before. However, these soldiers are coming home only to discover that they don’t have the money to support themselves through the rehabilitation process. And that can be devastating. Many are forced to ask family members and friends for 'hand-outs' so that they can simply survive the rehabilitation maze.


To serve as care-giver means that one member of the family has to give up their salary. Considering that the wounded vet is now also giving up their combat pay means that the family more often than not has to get by on about forty percent of the income they had before.

For most, they now only face the problem of the wounds and the recovery phase, they also have to survive not having money to pay all of the related expenses and the cost of just keeping their heads above water.

Recognizing this problem first hand, three veterans who experienced the indignity of trying to get by during this difficult time have walked the halls of Congress to promote their idea. It's very simple: It’s called insurance. These heroes have proposed a plan where seriously injured veterans can get up to 100 thousand dollars to cover indebtedness relating to their injuries.

It is a simple insurance policy that will be funded by the GI’s themselves with monthly payments but it can also bring back dignity to someone's life and afford tremendous relief for a family perched on the brink.

This bill, through their efforts, will be attached to a Veterans amendment to go into affect shortly but it will not help these gallant young people who have already not only experienced the hardships of war but endured the hardships of peacetime survival.

It is one small step in the right direction but very late in the game. It would be nice if Congress could award it retroactively and one might ask why not? if we can afford to give millions to the victims of 9/11.

Les Aaron
The Armchair Curmudgeon