What price glory?

Wounded American soldiers have been testifying on Capitol Hill. One by one, these veterans of Iraq have voiced personal tales of neglect in VA facilities created for their care.

“As a veteran and one who feels this anger, I would like to talk about it. We are angry, because we feel we have been used in the worst fashion by the administration of this country.”

The neglect of wounded veterans is nothing new. Such deplorable treatment is graphically depicted in Vietnam veteran Ron Kovic’s story, “Born on the Fourth of July” - one of Tom Cruise’s best performances.

Administrative and legislative Johnny-come-latelys are scurrying like the rats at Walter Reed to rectify the horrible conditions there, and possibly other VA facilites across the country.

Only after Dana Priest and Anna Hull of the Washington Post sparked a media firestorm and an I-rant, did those responsible for veteran care seem to get a clue.

“So many of those best men have returned as quadriplegics and amputees, and they lie forgotten in Veterans' Administration hospitals in this country, which fly the flag which so many have chosen as their own personal symbol.”

Since “shock and awe” lit up a nighttime Baghdad sky, I have sat at my computer and read story after story of administrative cuts to Veteran pay and benefits.

One I remember told of avoiding the payment of “missing in action” benefits by changing that classification to “whereabouts unknown.” No sensitivity whatsever about taking away the “lost in battle” distinction and making soldiers sound like truant schoolboys.

Will America correct the injustices that have plagued our veterans – past and present?

“There is nothing (in this war), nothing which could happen that realistically threatens the United States of America. And, to attempt to justify the loss of one American life … by linking such loss to the preservation of freedom … is to use the height of criminal hypocrisy, and it is that kind of hypocrisy which we feel has torn this country apart.”

As I watched these wounded vets who lost limbs and eyesight in Iraq, I could not help but wonder: should any one of them, say 20 or 30 years from now, decide the best way to serve one’s country is to run for public office, will there be a “Swift Boat Vets for Truth” group waiting to lie them out of any chance at serving?

A young veteran with a powerful voice and powerful words went before Congress in behalf of returning heroes. His compelling testimony got the lawmakers’ attention.

“How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?”

The quotes in this post are the words of that young man, and the right-wing still makes a mockery of his service and his medals.

The prescient passages of John Kerry’s April 1971 testimony before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations are even more compelling when read in the light of what’s unfolding in Iraq.

The hearing transcript is incredibly long for a slow reader, but I could not tear myself away from the senators’ questions and Kerry’s responses – almost every word uncannily applicable to our situation in Iraq.

If you’ve never read the transcript of this hearing, it’s time. There are answers to be found within! Read on C-SPAN: LINK