A question for DU military veterans

[democrank]

Thanks to the media, Trump and his enablers have sucked the life from most every news program I've seen. Consequently, there seems to be little time, energy or interest left for critically important issues like our troops and their deployments.

When media interview members of the House, Senate, or Trump administration, they RARELY ask why we never hear a debate on war policy or goals.

More and more troops are being sent to Iraq and Syria and I want to hear ongoing discussions and current updates about that.

What can we do to increase national awareness of where our troops are being sent, what happens to them once they're deployed, and what they still struggle with when they return home?

I appreciate your thoughts on this. Thank you.

[TexasProgresive]

1. I hear what you're saying but it is the nature of the beast

Video and internet news sources tend to pick up what is going "viral." When we had good print media the big stories might be on the above the fold front page but there would be much of interest through out the paper. I would read "The Houston Chronicle", "The Houston Post", "Newsweek", "U.S. News and World Report" and "Time" among others. This gave me a more complete view of what was happening in my town, state, nation and world. It certainly was not complete as I did not have access to international news publications.

Our #1 DUer who keep us up to date on military and veteran's news was unhappycamper. He got in to a kerfuffle with the various military publications like "Army Times".

[democrank]

5. As news goes, I somewhat understand interest in stories that go "viral"

but why such a lack of interest in our own military, especially those deployed to war zones? That's what I wish could be different.

Thanks for mentioning unhappycamper. I miss his posts.

[Baconator]

18. It's 'normal'....

We've been at this since the early 2000s.

Short of a real 4 alarm fire of an emergency or event, the military gears turn slowly and change is gradual.

Makes a tough story to sell soap with...

[TheMastersNemesis]

2. Support For Veterans Has Collapsed & Is Non Existent Compared To 36 Years Ago.

Very few American families now participate in the military experience. The Veterans Administration has been compromised by neglect by conservative and GOP policies. And the business community largely uninterested in hiring former military veterans.

During my time at DOL there was strong preference for veterans in services and hiring. The National Employment Service (destroyed by Reagan & the GOP) used to have a mandate to provide services to veterans. There was also veteran's preference in state and federal jobs. That concept has been destroyed.

With the emphasis in contracting out and getting rid of government jobs veterans have lost that avenue of work. Plus many disabled vets were able to get work in government. Disabled vets are NOT wanted by civilian employers because of their employment barriers.

The conservative meme is "veterans volunteered for service" so they know what got into". So there is NO NEED for preferential treatment. They volunteered there is no government obligation to them.

Plus the Rumsfeld military was focused on combat arms and most other work has been contracted to private contractors. So most training opportunities such as cooks, maintenance, logistics, and other civilian related duties are done by civilian contractors. So in the Army and US Marines the only training is combat arms like infantry, armor or artillery (trigger pullers.)

At present there is no preference or service in employment. My agency the National Jobs Service was semi privatized and turned over to counties. Now these same federal jobs programs are now being turned over to corporate contractors and taken out of the public sector.

The special veterans employment units in my former agency are NOW GONE. They were staffed by veterans and disable veterans.
Returning vets have no where to go.

Right now there is a move to privatize the veterans health care system. Ryan and company want to make the VA system a voucher (coupon) system having veterans use the civilian insurance market. They want VA privatized completely.

They also want the military retirement system turned into a 401K. They want to scrap the defined pension system the military now uses and turn it over to Wall Street.

I worked for the Colorado State DOL as a state employee for 24 years and worked as a vet rep as well and en employment specialist. The labor and employment system has been pretty much destroyed. THERE ARE NOW NO MEANINGFUL PROGRAMS FOR VETERANS. What is left will be gone as we move forward..

I am alos A Vietnam veterans with service in the US Army with the 1st Air Cavalry Division in Republic of Vietnam 11-67-11-68.

[Siwsan]

3. I think there is still a significant amount of support in the form of "lip service", but that's it

When people find out I am a veteran, I still get the "Thank you for your service." verbal reaction, which is fine. I am a 'Cold War' and 'Lebanon Conflict' veteran so was never in any more danger than any other female who serves in the military, but I appreciate the sentiment, when it is genuine.

But when it comes to the government showing support in areas that can rescue and save veteran's lives,all they talk about are cutbacks. And people can utter a 'thank you', but how about donating time and/or money to a veteran's organization. I fear the true concern is fast disappearing down a whirlpool of rhetoric, apathy, inaction and greed.

That being said, I am guilty, too, of not doing enough. Now that I am retired, I've giving deep thought to finding a local veteran's organization, to do some volunteer work but I am honestly not sure if I am up to the heartbreaking situations I will encounter. I need to suck it up and turn intentions into action.

[TheMastersNemesis]

4. The Problem Is The Loss Of The National Mind Set After WWII Towards Veterans.

During the Vietnam war Congress had a large number of WWII veterans serving. They had had benefit of the GI Bill and there was a federal commitment. Now that there are virtually NO veterans in Congress there is no consciousness. "Veteran's preference" was a mind set about taking care of veterans. Plus the VA was more robust and funded.

Since Reagan the GOP has deliberated degraded the VA and veterans services because we now have a volunteer force. Plus the GOP does not view that government services are needed even for veterans. And the GOP believes that all government services really need to be in the private sector and run line a business.

Vets care is a federal responsibility. Volunteering though helpful will not make up for what the federal government is shirking. Plus the civilian employer is "veteran averse" because of the many problems veterans face with PTSD and other ailments.

[democrank]

9. You're right, Siwsan. Some of the situations are heartbreaking.

In spite of that, I remember this one time at the Va hospital in White River Junction, Vermont. A wheelchair-bound Korean War Vet was staring at the new, computerized, sign-in kiosk like he thought it was something from outer space. Card in hand, he had no idea what to do and eventually hung his head in defeat. My Vietnam Vet rolled up to him with a friendly, "howyadoin?" and helped him through the sign-in process. They hugged afterwards.

Such a tiny act of kindness, such meaningful results.

My best to you.

[democrank]

7. All this is inexcusable....privatize, semi-privatize, they volunteered so we don't owe them....

It goes hand in hand with our lack of interest in the lives of those who serve. I honestly can not accept this.

The love of my life was a Vietnam Veteran. Agent Orange took him in October, 2015. We spent a zillion hours at different Va hospitals and spoke with hundreds of veterans, mostly from wars in Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq.

[Victor_c3]

15. Your first paragraph hit the problem on the head

I read an article a while back that only about 2% of the us public has an actual emotional attachment to someone who served in Iraq or Afghanistan. By emotional attachment, they meant father, son, brother, sister, etcettera.

The vast majority of people haven't served or closely know anyone who has served.

[Baconator]

19. We also tend to self segregate...

Certainly while in the service and even afterwards...

Our social circles, like most people, are mostly made up of like minded people with similar values and experiences.

Obviously, this doesn't apply to everyone and we all have friends that aren't in the community but overall it diminishes the effect and influence we have on that other 98% of the population.

[hack89]

6. Once the casualties plummeted, so did the interest.

After 17 years of war, body bags filled with Americans are the only thing that engages the US public.

[democrank]

11. True, a seemingly endless war weighs on the U.S. public, but

how on earth can we just look the other way?

[Alea]

14. I am the U.S Public

and I am a veteran with 4 deployments and I stay engaged and want to know what the soldiers are doing. Unfortunately the MSM only wants to force feed us their 24/7 anti trump agenda. I also think most of the public wants to know too. We can know everything we need to know about trump by watching 5 minutes of msnbc and cnn. We don't need it force fed 24/7. The fault is with the main stream media, not the Public. Watching the news now days it seems the only thing happening in the world is all things trump. Would it kill them to devote a little time each day to keep us informed?

There is news covering what's going on with the soldiers, from smaller news outlets, but you won't find it watching the MSM

[democrank]

16. I agree with your points about MSM, Alexa.

Each week, our tiny newspaper lists the names of any local person currently serving in the military. It's very much appreciated.

[dmosh42]

8. Unlike Obama, Trump thinks he will silently draw the country into a confrontation..

by increasing ground troops and sending a carrier into the Gulf of Hormuz, to
cause a face-off with Iran. This from the great draft dodger of Vietnam era
fame. What a scumbag!

[democrank]

12. Agree. Trump got his Purple Heart that he "always wanted" the easy way.

He simply took it from the soldier who earned it.

[Kaleva]

10. Interest will pick up when more dead soldiers return.

Until then, the wars will stay in the background.

[democrank]

13. This shouldn't be.

What, if anything, do the politicians' flag pins mean?

[The Polack MSgt]

17. As is often the case - Satire tells the truth that everyone else avoids

http://www.duffelblog.com/2017/03/civilian-loves-troops-never-actually-met-troops/