Thank a Vet

In August, 1964, right after the world changed, President Johnson went to the Congress about an incident that he claimed took place in the Gulf of Tonkin in Vietnam. Based on this, the Congress, once again, ceded power to the Presidency by approving a resolution giving him virtually unlimited power to escalate our role in what was then known as the Vietnam Conflict.

From that point until March 30, 1968, he increased our presence from 15,000 advisors to over 500,000 soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen. On that date, he announced that he would not seek or accept the nomination from the Democrat Party for another term. By the time his term ended almost 10 months later, over 45,000 military died and hundreds of thousands were injured. By the time the ceasefire and peace was achieved in January, 1973, over 55,000 were dead and over 500,000 were injured, some permanently physically disabled, all psychologically afflicted, along with millions of others who served, with what is now known as PTSD.

When our last marines and other servicemen left on April 30, 1975, we were so beaten and war-weary that we swore we would never return to battle. And other than a few skirmishes during the late 70s and through the 80s, that pledge was kept. Even our involvement in a six-week war and less than 72 hours of troops on the ground in the Gulf War proved to be a blessing to keep that promise.

But on September 11, 2001, the world changed again. For almost 12 years and counting, there have been children born in this country that have never not known war. Their parent or, in some cases, parents had enlisted in the armed forces before they were born and subsequently, perhaps both  service people were deployed to Afghanistan and/or Iraq, leaving the child home with one parent or sometimes with grandparents, since both were deployed.

Between the two wars, almost 10,000 have died and over 50,000 have been injured. Again, this does not include all those who developed PTSD while serving. In addition, this also does not include the 22 veterans who commit suicide each day, as casualties of war.

There are still hundreds of thousands of veterans from WWII and millions from Korea and Vietnam, who were injured, suffering from PTSD, with thousands living in VA, Navy and Army hospitals, neglected by family and certainly by their country.

And has been done? Unfortunately, the Department of Veterans Affairs does not have the resources to care for all the injured veterans who need help. Entities like Wounded Warrior Project try to deal with the more critically wounded, but their resources depend on donations and fundraising. More traditional groups like AmVet, VFW and American Legion do what they can, but again resources are limited, relying on member contributions and dues, and contributions from the public.

As a country, we need to take better care of our veterans by acknowledging their sacrifices to our country. Perhaps, if each American sent just $5 to WWP, over $1.5 BILLION would be raised to help our veterans with their recovery. And imagine how many lives we would be helping. Every $10 raised after that would be $3 BILLION more.

What would be a better way to say "Thank You" to the men and women, and their children, for the freedom and liberty we enjoy and cherish? Or, when you see a veteran selling the poppies in the parking lot, make a donation of even $1 or $2 because you would be helping those vets who live in our communities.

And when you see one of our vets wearing his baseball cap or his windbreaker proudly displaying the war he or she was in and where they served, make sure you say "Thank you for your Service". It will go a long way.