The Disabled Vet

The disabled veteran comes in all shapes, sizes and colors. They come from many different ethnic groups, religions and sub-cultures. These people can be from either sex, age brackets and can be of any sexual persuasion. The disabled vet may have received his, or her, disability through their war or peacetime roles.

The disabled vet may have received their disability through some wartime act, such as a bomb going off and taking an arm or leg. The disabled vet may have come in contact with some disease while in service and force to live the rest of his life with a condition that may, or may not, have afflicted him if he never joined the military. The disabled vet may have received the disability that he or she has to deal with for the rest of their life through some medication or drug given to him by the doctors in the military.

The disabled vet is disabled to varying degrees, often called ‘disability ratings’ by such organizations as the U.S. Military Disability Systems and the Veteran’s Administration. Their conditions may be easily seen. Their skin could be badly burned or they could be missing a leg. The condition may also be ‘hidden’, such as those with heart problems or diabetes.

The disabled vet are not all the same and can be as different from each other as night and day, but they all have one thing in common… they have served our country and somehow through that service they have become disabled.

I will not sit here and try to make everyone think that each and every disabled veteran is the perfect role models or some type of hero. They are simply people and even though most of them are decent and honest enough people, you do have the bad ones who don’t give a fig if what they do harms another person. Whether the disabled vet is a good or bad person doesn’t change the fact that he or she gave up something in the service of our country. It is a debt of honor and gratitude to make sure the disabled vet is given proper care and compensation for past services that they deserve.

During my lifetime I have often felt disheartened by the views and attitudes of my fellow citizens towards the military member, veteran and disabled veteran. I’ve seen my fellow Americans spout views of the soldier being nothing but rapists and baby killers, spout views amounting to the Vet being nothing more than a leach on society and told to get a jobs because people on welfare needed our tax dollars, and treat the disabled vet as if he was some sort of con artist consuming funds needed for such important things as art made from elephant dung or displays showing our country’s flag partially stuffed into toilets. I’ve often wondered if things were always this way or if this is a relatively new thing stemming from the cultural changes of the 60’s.

I had the pleasure of stumbling across a Facebook group called the “Disabled Veterans Awareness Group” run by a man named Todd Marshall of Tampa Bay, Florida. The Group is “a focus group aimed at helping other disabled vets who have been hit hard in these dire times. This group is focused on vocal and public support for one another and other established programs to help Disabled American Veterans avoid homelessness, foreclosure, reduction of benefits,unemployment and so on. We will put pressure on the Disabled American Veterans Organization and Veterans Administration to insure that they are dealing with these specific.”

Further reading of the page shows Todd as saying:

“Due to tough economic times for all, it has been exceptionally painful for me to watch veterans from all wars and peacetime, become forgotten by our United States Government when we need their help the most. At the present time, there is currently no legislation that protects disabled veterans from losing their homes due to bad mortgages, layoffs, or increased injuries that are still being evaluated by the Veterans Administration. Veterans who have VA Home Loans are not protected by our government if they are laid off or simply now cannot afford payments, and because of their disabilities, are not able to find work. We as a nation and as Disabled Veterans, need to voice our feelings because almost all families have had a relative in our military at one time. We cannot allow our government to forget the men and women who were hurt or wounded while serving, and who took the oath to protect this nation from enemies foreign and domestic in this time of crisis.”

I can appreciate the sentiment shown in Todd’s words and after a hour of poking around I joined his group in the hopes of showing him that people are still interested in such things. I am a bit anxious to see what becomes of his group and the movement that is being started.

In the Discussion Board for the Group, Todd posted a thread entitled “Congress” where he asked:

“What should Congress and the Veterans Administration be doing to help Disabled Veterans from losing their jobs or facing foreclosure during this tough time?”

Anyone who is interested should go to Todd’s page and check it out, and maybe even join in on the discussion.