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2-19-03 Vets are betrayed again They promised the men and women who signed up to serve in the
military to protect America that the country would always take care of
their health needs. Somebody lied. A veteran denied treatment by a VA hospital sued the
government to ask this claim be honored.
The judge said he morally agreed with the veteran but the
government was not obligated as his illness was not service related. Right now the door is closed to veterans wanting to apply for
VA medical treatment. Only
those already inside and those with illness caused from service are
eligible. That’s not what
the recruiter said. When he ran for Congress in 1994, Rep. Zach Wamp said, “The
government made a contract with you veterans and we’ll keep it.” Although not a
veteran, he was born at a Georgia military base while his father was in
service. Career military people are having to fork over hundreds of
dollars for medical bills the government won’t cover. At the same time, government officials, even one term
congressmen, get the best medical treatment at Walter Reed Hospital.
This is on top of raising their own pay $50,000 a year since
1994. Tennessee is particularly heartless in treatment of veterans,
all this at a time when drums of patriotism are being beaten for an
attack on Iraq. Gov. Phil Bredesen has announced veteran programs will be
cut. This comes following
the bankruptcy of many veteran posts caused by the state’s ABC
Commission. While no one cares if mom and pop stores and every corner
service station has video poker machines, a veterans post with a liquor
by the drink license is prohibited.
Beer joints can have machines, but a VFW or American Legion post
home can’t. The VFW post in Millington is the largest in the state.
Since being hit by the ABC inspectors, they have a for sale sign
out front. Others will follow suit.
The community service they performed will be discontinued. The lottery task force will spotlight schools in their
drafting of an ordinance. But
they will forget the people who have saved this country again. There is no reason veterans could not be included in the
ordinance and allowed to have bingo—tightly controlled—as they once
did. It seems a cruel joke that our lawmakers are talking about
allowing a once a year gambling enterprise for such organizations. If hypocrisy could be converted into dollars, there would be no budget deficit in the state.
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