My friend Josh Fielder authored an essay about the gun violence/gun control debate back in January that proved to be one of the top five most popular posts at “What’s the Diehl?” He’s back with an interesting piece about how we treat those who defend our nation that’ll probably also overshadow the thousands of posts over which I've toiled in the last two years.
Shortly after the Civil War, veterans were required to travel all the way to our nation's capital in order to collect their pensions and/or military benefits in person. With such a large population requiring those services, there was a huge backlog of paperwork. These massive mounds of records and documentation were stacked in government offices and bound with red tape. Thus is the origin of that lovely government phrase.
As our country has grown, modernized and streamlined, one would think that we have progressed past that point. Yet today we still have stacks and stacks of unprocessed veterans’ claims piling up in offices around the country. They may not be wrapped with actual red tape any longer, but the phrase still couldn't be more appropriate.
No real soldier would ever insist that they needed a lengthy heads up before they could stand up and fight for this country. These men and women do what is required of them without hesitation. Yet when the military is done with them, they're passed on to different departments that are severely understaffed and underfunded and made to wait for months – sometimes years – before their wounds or disabilities are addressed.
As a veteran myself, I've gone through the process and have found it very disheartening. I can only imagine, with great difficulty, how it is today for our returning soldiers, Marines, sailors and airmen. I recall the feeling I got when someone thanked me for my service or shook my hand or I saw a yellow ribbon sticker on the back of a car. While these gestures are heartwarming and remind us to "Remember the Troops," it would be better to remind Congress to remember our veterans as well.
Every member of the military sacrifices something, whether it be their time, comfort or family (I missed my daughter's first steps and words while deployed), but some have even sacrificed a limb, an organ, their sight or hearing. Very few veterans will ask to be acknowledged for what they've done. I think that it is our duty to not only remember their service and sacrifice, but to ensure they’re taken care of after they hang up their uniform for the last time.
We may have progressed as a country, we may have become a more modern society, we may be more connected than ever to one another's plights. But it’s deplorable that we still allow the same "red tape" we had 150 years ago to prevent our soldiers from getting what they need and deserve.
Josh, 38, is a Virginia native who served in the U.S. Air Force at the National Security Agency for six years. The son of a sheriff’s deputy, Josh is a single father of two teenagers who runs a custom-made dog collar business, RBD Pet Outfitters, and promotes social, political, economic and environmental change in his spare time.
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