| By J. Seago - Feb 21st, 2007 at 12:25 pm EST |
For those that have not yet read Dana Priest's excellent, humbling article in the Washington Post on Feb. 18th ("Soldiers Face Neglect, Frustration At Army's Top Medical Facility"), you must do so. Chris Matthews referred to the article as Pulitzer Prize caliber on Hardball last night and rightfully so. Priest and her co-contributor to the story, Anne Hull, comprehensively document appalling conditions at an outpost of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Consequently, they find disgraceful treatment of our brave men and women who gave more than their fighting spirit and courage to their country- they gave their limbs and often times tragically their emotional and mental stability. Too many injured soldiers, after returning home for medical treatment and becoming outpatients in Building 18, find themselves sentenced to a prison of inadequate medical care in an impoverished medical facility- a facility considered America's top Army hospital.
Before the Right-Wing Noise Machine spins yet another failure of the Bush Administration, let us contemplate who truly supports the troops. Every patriotic American must reflect upon the treatment of war veterans in this country and reassess what it means to support our nation's warriors- whether you support the Iraq War or not.
While soldiers are forced to fight another unnecessary, immoral battle on a battlefield carpeted with deadly red tape under a sky scorched black by the federal government's blind eye, I can't help but hear the echo chamber of this government's Republican hit men. While those who sacrificed for their country live with mice infestation and malfunctioning shower units, Vice President Dick Cheney outrageously dares to smear his political detractors and label those 63 percent of Americans who want all troops home by the end of 2008 as "unpatriotic" and "terrorist sympathizers who don't support the troops."
The Vice President and his fellow Republican thugs in Congress won't hesitate to accuse the Democratic Party of stabbing the troops in the back for passing last week's non-binding Iraq War resolution, yet you won't hear about Dick Cheney and his fellow chickenhawks not hesitating to attain deferments in the face of their call to duty. Meanwhile, soldiers recovering from life-altering consequences of war live with peeling wallpaper and an abundance of unhealthy mold. Several troops with missing limbs are even forced to walk uphill for great distances to receive their daily medical care.
When the non-partisan Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) decided to issue a report card to individual Senators and Congressman last year based on how well they supported the troops and war veterans, they revealed that it was Democrats who topped their A-list. In fact, not a single Democrat made the F-list. That list was composed entirely of Republicans- Republicans who score cheap political points by saying they support the troops but then turn around and vote against body and Humvee armor, against health care for National Guardsmen and Reservists and against funding for Vet Hospitals.
We, as college students, no doubt feel the pain and brunt of the casualties of war more than any other age group. Those are our peers fighting for us overseas. Those are our brothers and sisters coming home in body bags. Those are our classmates, our friends and our fellow Americans suffering in Building 18. This college student stands in dedicated solidarity with his fellow students and his fellow American citizens to support our men and women in battle by bringing them home safely and ensuring that we never again send them into harm's way under false, ideological pretenses. That is how one truly supports the troops.
Beyond politics, beyond Democrat vs. Republican, beyond liberal vs. conservative lies an appeal to every American. This appeal binds us together as fellow countrymen and fellow human beings. Are we a country that sends our young men and women into battle without properly protecting them with our finest body and Humvee armor? Are we a country that sends our brave troops into battle overseas only to have them return home to endure Third World living conditions when they urgently need proper medical care? Are we a country that supports our troops with empty rhetoric, only to divide concerned citizens by accusing them of carrying out the same exact domestic atrocities that the federal government itself is responsible for?
I believe not. Building 18 does not lie within the vision of our Forefathers and it certainly does not represent what countless men and women of generations past, present and future fight and die for. We are better than this. This is the United States of America, the country Tom Brokaw's Greatest Generation called home. I doubt they would feel at home at Walter Reed today.
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Also, while the Army medical system is probably run quite differently from civilian hospitals, its still ludicrous to see how much of our resources are drained by dangerously inefficient administrative systems. Imagine how much time (not to mention how many lives) could be saved by electronic record-keeping.
Anyway, this article is a must-read, thanks for posting it. Some select quotes I found especially mind-blowing:
"If they can have Spanish-speaking recruits to convince my son to go into the Army, why can't they have Spanish-speaking translators when he's injured?" Morales [a soldier's mother] asked.
"Staff Sgt. John Daniel Shannon, 43, [had] his eye and skull were shattered by an AK-47 round. His odyssey in the Other Walter Reed has lasted more than two years, but it began when someone handed him a map of the grounds and told him to find his room across post.
A reconnaissance and land-navigation expert, Shannon was so disoriented that he couldn't even find north. Holding the map, he stumbled around outside the hospital, sliding against walls and trying to keep himself upright, he said. He asked anyone he found for directions."
"One amputee, a senior enlisted man who asked not to be identified because he is back on active duty, said he received orders to report to a base in Germany as he sat drooling in his wheelchair in a haze of medication. "I went to Medhold many times in my wheelchair to fix it, but no one there could help me," he said."