Concerned about welfare of veterans

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A few years back it seemed common to encounter men on the streets in small groups looking dirty, downhearted and seemingly purposeless.

I had a chance to ask some of them why they let themselves go and the usual response was, “Because we didn’t get a parade.”

So I laughed and said, “Neither did I. I was in the Merchant Marines. But I did get to see the big welcome in San Francisco for the army people we carried back from Manila, as we watched from the ship.”

Not long after, these groups vanished following the dedication of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Veterans are veterans and deserving of the very best we can offer. Because of the present war, the numbers are growing, the care isn’t up to snuff and the damage seems deeper and longer-lasting.

As a child growing up in Spokane it wasn’t uncommon to see men on the streets wandering about vacant-eyed or coughing and I remember asking my mother why and she said, “They were damaged and gassed in the World War I.”

Now in 2008 we must do better than better. Is anyone really listening?

Hugh Wilson
Ferndale

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