"Support Our Troops" Should Be More Than a Bumpersticker Slogan

So here we are at the four-year anniversary of the war in Iraq, and my son is on his way back for his second tour. He shipped out Friday, the same day I visited the Oregon Health and Science University's dental school in Portland to have my yearly checkup. While waiting for my name to be called I reflected on the stories of his first deployment, the carnage, the lost friends, the senseless bloodshed. Hard to imagine such a loving and caring boy being exposed to that.

I was distracted by an older man begging at the receptionist window for some one to see him because he had broken two molars. The lady at the window was quick to point out that this was not a free clinic, and that since he was a Veteran, he should go to the VA Hospital next door. He quickly replied that he HAD gone to the VA first, but since he was not 100% disabled he did not qualify for dental benefits. I was floored. So must have been the receptionist, because she picked up the phone and made a call to the VA on his behalf only to find that, sure enough, unless a Veteran is 100% disabled, they do not qualify for dental care. Wow. Just wow.

Well-meaning soldiers like my son, which enlisted for a love of their country, or because joining the military provides them the only opportunity to have an education, spill their blood and the blood of the occupied people so that a few can enlarge their coffers. Presently, concurrent with the call for patriotism and support, certain senators plot the end of military medical benefits for those very same soldiers they sent to the desert in order to pass those savings on to the hungry corporations (HMO's and other medical insurance corporations). Some support. It should come as no surprise that investigations into the poor health care provided to soldiers at the VA Hospital has revealed that the management of those hospitals is outsourced to Halliburton. What is surprising is that they have absolutely no shame.