STEVEN A. McCALEB
103 ALVERADO DRIVE
LONG BEACH, MISSISSIPPI 39560
PHONE & FAX: (228)-868-8428
E-MAIL: mccaleb4thdist@aol.com
WEB SITE: www.mississippiwebsite.com
Past Commander, Military Order of Purple Heart
Chapter 676 - Gulfport, Mississippi (1994-1995)
Monday, April 30, 2007
Is this true, and if it is who
are you going to get to fight your next war?
Since America has an all volunteer military, they may decide not to fight.
I spent over 20 years in the
military (Naval Seabee's)
but knowing what I know now about our government
I would not volunteer to be treated this way.
I spent 21 months in Vietnam
why did I do that, it sometimes takes
a six month to a year to get an appointment
at the Biloxi, Mississippi, Veterans Hospital.
If our hospital had doctors
instead of interns
we, the ones that have fought your wars,
would have the care we fought for.
Aging veterans who fought this nation's 20th century
wars are now fighting in the 21st century for the free medical care they were
promised if they stayed in uniform for at least 20 years.
In February, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C., ruled that the federal government was indeed obligated to provide free, lifetime medical care to such retirees. But on Wednesday, the full 12-member court granted a government motion to reconsider the three-judge panel's decision.
"The government is in their death throes," retired Air Force Col. George "Bud" Day said Thursday. "Nothing is going to help them."
However Day, an attorney seeking to restore the medical benefits, admitted that time is working against his clients. Most enlisted during World War II and the Korean War, and an estimated 1,000 to 1,500 veterans in those age groups die each day. So every delay means fewer will be alive to benefit from the case.
If the federal courts will not resolve this matter in a timely fashion, then the president and Congress ought to feel honor-bound to step in and right this wrong.
Those once willing to face death for their country must no longer be made to face death forsaken by their county.
The editorial above represents the views of The Sun Herald editorial board: President-Publisher Roland Weeks Jr., Executive Editor Stan Tiner, Editorial Page Editor Marie Harris and Associate Editor Tony Biffle. Opinions expressed by columnists, cartoonists and letter writers on this page are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial board.
STEVEN A. McCALEB
COMMENTARY