Next Tuesday we mark Veterans Day, honoring everyone who has served in the US Armed Forces. The annual Veterans Day national ceremony at Arlington Cemetery takes place at 11 a.m. on the 11th day of the 11th month, the moment the major hostilities of WW I officially ended in 1918.
This year’s ceremonies should not remain in the realm of honorable remembrance. This year’s ceremonies should not only harken back to the past. What began this summer at the Phoenix, Arizona Veterans Health Administration, where over 30 veterans died waiting for treatment, is a stain on how America (dis)honors its veterans.
Subsequent investigations found that over 100,00 veterans across the country at multiple VA hospitals never received treatment following interminable waiting times. Criminal investigations found that VA officials were falsifying data on wait times — including here in Colorado.
Bills have been passed, reforms announced, a new Secretary of Veteran Affairs appointed. We can only hope that these steps will get veterans the treatment they have earned. With more and more soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, veterans’ issues must remain a top agenda item.
In 1918, for many soldiers the initial euphoria quickly turned bitter as they returned home. Shell shock. Poverty. Black soldiers facing continued segregation. 2014 marks the centenary of the outbreak of WW I. The legacy of that conflict should not be our poor treatment of returning veterans. Veterans Day must be more than ceremonial.
Copyright © 2014 by the Intermountain Jewish News
