President Obama: Where is Your Casualty Plan?

Veterans for Common Sense remains deeply concerned about the needs of our troops and our veterans. Nearly two million U.S. troops have gone to war since 9/11, and nearly a half million are now VA patients.

President Obama has escalated the Afghanistan War, and VCS demands he also implement a plan to provide medical care for our service members and veterans – especially for mental health conditions.

     As of June 30, 2009, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) counted 480,000 total Iraq and Afghanistan war patients, based on a VA report released to VCS under the Freedom of Information Act.

The evidence shows there is a mental health crisis caused by the wars – especially multiple deployments. Among our veterans treated at VA, 227,000 were diagnosed with a mental health condition, including 134,000 diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

For all the talk about expanding Afghanistan War or winding down the Iraq War, there remains very little discussion about our troops in the trenches and our veterans struggling here at home.

We all know that deploying more troops into heavy combat means more casualties. According to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle, Michael Blecker, the executive director at Swords to Plowshares in San Francisco, estimates 13,000 new veteran PTSD cases if President Obama deploys 40,000 new troops to the Afghanistan war.

Remember General Bradley’s Legacy

General of the Army Omar Bradley was highly praised for being "the soldier’s general" during World War II because he placed the needs of our troops – those doing the actual fighting and dying – first. Down the hall from VA Secretary Eric Shinseki’s office sits the Bradley Room, a powerful reminder of how Bradley overhauled VA after World War II.

VCS urges President Obama to work closely with VA Secretary Shinseki, who is also a retired Army General, to make sure the anticipated surge in casualties from Afghanistan receive prompt and high-quality care while at the same time making sure every other veteran receives equal access.

VCS agrees with the editors at the News Review in Greensboro, North Carolina demanding care for our troops, especially the expected increase in mental health conditions, including PTSD.

RELATED STORIES:

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/index.php/whats-new/1506-kevin-fagan

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/index.php/whats-new/1504-news-review

Robert L. Hanafin

Readers are more than welcome to use the articles I’ve posted on Veterans Today, I’ve had to take a break from VT as Veterans Issues and Peace Activism Editor and staff writer due to personal medical reasons in our military family that take away too much time needed to properly express future stories or respond to readers in a timely manner.

My association with VT since its founding in 2004 has been a very rewarding experience for me.

Retired from both the Air Force and Civil Service. Went in the regular Army at 17 during Vietnam (1968), stayed in the Army Reserve to complete my eight year commitment in 1976. Served in Air Defense Artillery, and a Mechanized Infantry Division (4MID) at Fort Carson, Co. Used the GI Bill to go to college, worked full time at the VA, and non-scholarship Air Force 2-Year ROTC program for prior service military. Commissioned in the Air Force in 1977. Served as a Military Intelligence Officer from 1977 to 1994. Upon retirement I entered retail drugstore management training with Safeway Drugs Stores in California. Retail Sales Management was not my cup of tea, so I applied my former U.S. Civil Service status with the VA to get my foot in the door at the Justice Department, and later Department of the Navy retiring with disability from the Civil Service in 2000.

I’ve been with Veterans Today since the site originated. I’m now on the Editorial Board. I was also on the Editorial Board of Our Troops News Ladder another progressive leaning Veterans and Military Family news clearing house.

I remain married for over 45 years. I am both a Vietnam Era and Gulf War Veteran. I served on Okinawa and Fort Carson, Colorado during Vietnam and in the Office of the Air Force Inspector General at Norton AFB, CA during Desert Storm. I retired from the Air Force in 1994 having worked on the Air Staff and Defense Intelligence Agency at the Pentagon.