Nothing angers me more than when our politicians are willing to fund the costs of a war upfront and during it, but then fail to fully fund or take care of our soldiers for as long as it takes after the war is over.
If a soldier joins the military at the age of 18, regardless of how long he or she serves, or in what capacity they served, we owe them a lifetime of the care and services provided by the VA.
Nothing less.
It is unacceptable to have veterans turned away, wait listed, or fall through the cracks and not receive the medical and mental health care that they need such as the scandal of 2014 brought to light.
If our politicians are not willing to make sure that the VA is fully funded, then they better think twice before demanding higher defense spending and before being so quick to send our sons and daughters in harm’s way.
For a simple analogy, we need to think of this similar to how the auto industry started thinking of “customers for life”.
For the longest time automakers just cared about making the sale of the car, and didn’t really care about the service department and what kind of experience their customers had if they brought their car back for service there.
They learned over time though that if you want that customer to come back and buy another car from you in the future, you have to make sure that they are taken good care of long after the original sale and all through the service years of that car.
If our politicians continue to send our family members to war but not fully fund taking care of them for the rest of their days afterward, then America’s future generations will vote with their feet and stop signing up to serve.
Our soldiers make a lifetime commitment to our country when they sign up, even if they only stay in for a few years, and the experience stays with them and their family and friends for life, and we must stand with them and support them for life as well.
And not only that…..the VA should be so well funded that it is viewed as the premier healthcare provider to work for. It should be able to attract and retain the best of the best in terms of doctors, nurses, staff, and administrators.
Unfortunately, right now if a medical professional of any kind has two job offers, one in the private sector and one working at a VA facility, unless they are specifically “called” to work at the VA, they will undoubtedly choose the private sector position because they would get more money and better facilities/colleagues/tools to work with.
Perry Waag 