Guiscard wrote:I'd have thought you'd have agreed with the general argument Iz... People pay lipservice to the Vets but we should do more to truly honour them through helping them, charity, medication etc....
I guess I'll comment now that I actually read his post.
got tonkaed wrote:I think we pay a lot of lipservice to this whole idea of supporting our troops. A lot of people have signs, wave a flag, or expect other people to feel patriotic around this time of year. I do think there are a lot of reasons to do some of those things, i dont think we are always just villains, even though there are defintently things i dont agree with, and things i wish we hadnt done. But outside of those who have people in the service, or maybe will be in the service somewhere down the line, i dont know that many of us are really supporting our troops. Its easy to say things like that, that we have to make sure we are doing our best for the people who serve our nation. A lot of things get politicized to make it seem like we are doing our part.
I think you need to define "supporting our troops". I also think a lot of what that means (especially lately) is not "not-supporting" our troops. One does not need to fly the flag, give money, time, or anything else to legitimately support our troops. The problem lies in the non-stop anti-war drivel spouted by the hollywood & media-types. The "I support the troops but not the war" stance is bullshit.
The best way to support our troops is to get behind them 100% so as to get them home as quickly as possible. Protesting the war, saying the war is lost (Harry Reid), saying our soldiers are killing women & children in the dark of night (John Kerry), Saying they are cold-blooded murderers (John Murtha), etc., does not facilitate bringing them home. Whether you agree with the war or not, all resources must be put forth to complete a decisive victory. That means pro-war(troops) propaganda from Hollywood, not movies about soldiers raping women; and it means the media needs to report the good news that coming out of theater. THAT'S what our troops want, and that what we do to support them.
got tonkaed wrote:Then you hear all these stories about how many Vets are homeless, or many of them cant get the necessary treatment they need to get over some of the things they have seen and done in the course of service. You hear about how relatively little is done for the soilders once they come home, as opposed to how much is done to trumpet up the spirit of the nation to send them over there, wherever that happens to be.
I'm sorry, but this is just plain false.
Walter Reid aside (and measures have been taken to fix the situation there), the "homeless problem" among vets is just not true. It may have been post-Vietnam, but not now.
The programs and financial aid available to veterans now is too extensive to mention here. I know, I am a vet. There is the G.I. Bill to provide $$ for higher education, there is assistance for aquiring a mortgage to purchase a home, and there is also medical assistence for those who need psychiatric treatment etc. for PTSD and other illnesses.
The idea that once our veterans are out of the service they are forgotten is ludicrous.
got tonkaed wrote:I think this kinda reflects, our mentality as a whole, especially toward charity and aid to those who need it. Americans talk all the time about how much we give and about the spirit of the American people. Yet per capita we give the least amongst all the developed nations, and are far from making our promises time and time again. We say and promise things as a people, because we feel like that is true support. So many of our vets are sent over to do things under the pretense that America is some kind of broker of universal truths like freedom. Yet when it comes down to some of the nuts and bolts of improving the human condition, America does very little, if anything at all.
I guess this is why I probably shouldn't have read or replied to this at all.....
Here we go again....Americans don't give anything to charity, we don't do anything to help the world......
This is where the
"liberal blah blah blah" comes in.
This is crap. It is more anti-American rhetoric.
http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/displ ... 593508e-02 I'm not going to throw this into a debate about how much Americans give to charity or help others throughout the world. For some reason you think Americans don't do shit. You want to feel that way, go ahead. You're wrong.
got tonkaed wrote:If we really wanted to take care our vets and remember them, none of them would die homeless without some of the medication they need to help gain touch back with reality after some of the scars they gained both inside and out in battle. War seems to be a pretty ugly thing, and we dont really prepare for the effects of it, both on nations and people. If we really wanted to honor the lives of all those who fought under the hopes they were doing something to make the world better, we could go along way by doing more to make the world they died in a better place.
So in conclusion, we do a lot more for veterans now than you realize, or what you may see on CNN.
Veterans don't look for charity or handouts, but assistance is there if they need it.
What veterans want is for the general populace to get behind them in their mission; let the military leadership fight wars, not politicians.
They just want a thank you when they get home.