by James Glaser
February 3, 2003

President George Washington wrote, "The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceived the veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation,"

It is a fact that our country has treated the veterans of both Vietnam and the Gulf War very poorly. In fact, all through our history America has treated war veterans poorly. That is the reason that there are so many veteran's organizations. From the Veterans of Foreign Wars, to the Blind Veterans of America, and on to the Paralyzed Veterans, these and probably fifty other veterans organizations have come about because the veterans in each, had to ban together to get the help that they had earned, and was promised to them, from a government that would rather forget about them.

On February 12th of this year many veterans of World War 2 and Korea will march on Washington. These real American heroes will be protesting how Congress and President Bush have been cheating them out of benefits that were promised to them. Men and women that offered their lives for this country with a career in our armed services, were promised lifetime health benefits and now our country is screwing them out of this promised care. Remember if they had been a President or in Congress there would be no doubt that they would get this care and much more.

George Day a retired Colonel, veteran of three wars, and Congressional Medal of Honor winner is the lawyer that is going to fight this case before our Supreme Court. It is just so shameful that our government is playing this out in the courts knowing that thousands of WW2 vets are dying each week. If they can play it out long enough, they will save billions while the very men that made us free die, knowing they were betrayed by the Nation they fought for.

Navy vet Jerry Bell said, "This is our last chance to show how we feel about being betrayed. When warriors are treated in such a shameful manner, both the fabric of our country and its military institution are in question."

What President Bush and Congress have failed to learn, is that each war has costs that are passed on to future generations in the obligations we have for the men and women that fought for us. For the next sixty to seventy years or more, our nation will be paying for George Bush's wars. Never is that cost told to the American people because our government does not want us to know. For every veteran that Washington can cheat out of needed and promised medical care, more money is available for new wars.

Quotes taken from "Soldiers beware" by David H. Hackworth