UPDATE:WaPO reports repairs to begin on Bldg. 18 at Walter Reed.
Also I'm including a poem written by a friend especially for this topic:
Walter Reed
Ave to the wounded heart
To the fragile mind
To the shattered soul
To the morning
And the evening
And the morning again
Ave
Ave to the next breath
To the next thought
To the next prayer
To the waiting
And the asking
And the waiting again
Ave
Ave to the scarring
To the screaming
To the nightmares
To the enduring
And the suffering
And the dying
Ave
Ave to the healing
That flits like a shadow
Down dingy corridors
Like a mirage
In the desert
Like the armor
That never came
Like the mercy we denied them
To be its givers or receivers
Like the justice they are owed
Even if it comes
Too slowly
For too many
And is not enough
Ave to the wounded
And to those who will not let them
Be forgotten.
1 comment:
My grandfather, WWI vet, got quality medical care through the VA, with minimal rigamarole, as I recall. My dad, WWII vet, was the first person in his family to graduate from college, thanks to the GI bill. Beginning with the Vietnam era vets, coinciding with Republican dominated presidencies, it's been downhill for veterans' benefits, with the commercial Republican media complicit in letting them spout their "support the troops" rhetoric without challenging them on their hypocrisy.
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