EDITORIALS : No way to treat a vet
Posted on Monday, July 30, 2007
WHEN THIS country sends its soldiers off to war and some come home wounded in body or spirit, the country owes them. The bargain they made with us when they agreed to defend the country doesn’t stop with their paycheck or some educational benefits they might have built up while in the service. Nor is the slate wiped anywhere near clean with some perfunctory care for the wounds, a Purple Heart and a sendoff wishing them good luck with whatever the future holds.
But, all too often, that’s how the wounded are treated when they come home. And the main governmental agency that’s responsible for their care is all too often the one that comes up short. Again and again, the Veterans Affairs department has failed returning veterans. The VA failed them when they came home from Vietnam. Now, it’s failing the wounded troops who are returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
One of the saddest stories we’ve read in a while was about the miserable conditions that developed at Walter Reed hospital, which we always thought of as one of the finest hospitals in the world. Maybe it was, once. But the reports of shabby physical conditions, like mold on the walls, combined with long waits for treatment and bureaucratic paper shuffling that delayed treatment for returning troops, wrecked Walter Reed’s once shiny reputation.
Now comes word that Iraq war veterans have been obliged to file a lawsuit against the VA. The veterans accused the VA of denying them disability pay and mental-health treatment. The accusations could affect as many as 800, 000 Iraq veterans whom lawyers say could be at risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder. The numbers are big and the charges are serious. The VA is accused of deliberately misclassifying veterans with post-traumatic stress claims to avoid paying benefits. Predictably, the VA denies the charge. The lawsuit also says the VA has failed to promptly provide disability benefits and has failed to add enough staff to care for those in need of medical care.
It’s worth remembering that some care through the VA has greatly improved over the years. Older vets are used to having their needs well addressed by a professional and thorough medical system. But, for some reason, the VA struggles with any surge of veterans needing care when they return from present-day conflicts. The fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan has thrown the shortcomings of the VA into sharp focus. The problems at Walter Reed are only part of the story, but the VA’s failures have already cost some high-ranking officials their jobs. The latest to go is the head of the Veterans Affairs department himself, Jim Nicholson, who has announced his resignation. He leaves under heavy criticism.
His successor will have a big job ahead. For starters, there’s a backlog of 400, 000 to 600, 000 disability claims. The claims take as long as six months to be processed. Appeals can drag out for the better part of two years. In yet another sign that the VA has been moving too slowly in its mission, Jim Nicholson promised to add more mental-health services and hire more suicide-prevention counselors. His pledge only came after several suicides by veterans whom relatives said did not receive adequate care from the VA.
It’s been a long since Abraham Lincoln stressed that the country must “care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan.” The duty remains. It’s high time to get serious about giving our veterans the care they deserve. The country can’t afford to scrimp on what we owe our veterans.
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