I know people, who know people, that have died in 9/11, Katrina. Afghanistan, and Iraq. We all know someone. In Florida, I was told that signs requesting amputee’s to remove their prosthetics before boarding rides are now common postings in theme parks. How many amputees in a theme park warrant the making of a sign? Its heart wrenching. Soldiers come home and have babies that are born with birth defects caused by the depleted uranium in their parents systems. You, our concerned government, have sent our soldiers back to war 3 and 4 times over. Our soldiers then come home broken and in need of help. Our response, your response, is to tell them that they will be fine. Our reservists are deployed out of country, for indefinite periods of service and we refuse to offer them the same benefits that our full-time soldiers receive. Returning vets have been subject to the lacking care of such veterans facilities as Walter Reed. If we claim to love and support our soldiers, if we continue to ask them to risk their lives, then can we not offer them comfort for their basic needs?

We cannot maintain a volunteer military if we cannot stand behind the promises we offer in the contracts we provide. Nor can we maintain a volunteer military if we do not care for the well being of the soldiers before, during, and after war.

• Provide psych support for veterans and current military. In the Article: VA Confirms 18 Afghanistan, Iraq Veterans Commit Suicide Everyday, Jason Leopold writes that the VA “In a stunning admission, top officials at the Veterans Health Administration confirmed that the agency’s own statistics show that an average of 126 veterans per week — 6,552 veterans per year — commit suicide, according to an internal email distributed to several VA officials.” WE send men and women into horrifying circumstances and ask them to do unspeakable acts in our name, for our country. We call this “WAR.” In war, we EXPECT that there will be casualties, and we EXPECT there will be death. What most people DON’T expect is that the men and women we send to serve in our name will be broken even if they do make it home. Human beings are affected by their actions. We cannot expect our military to be anything other than human, nor would we wish that. Yet we continue to treat mental instability as both imaginary and permanent. When veterans ask for help because they don’t feel whole, because they can’t control their actions, because they cannot shed their war logic, and because they are haunted—out loud, we tell them that time will heal their wounds. Quietly, we view them as fragile and weak, forever. We rarely encourage treatment. When we do offer treatment, the very act of accepting treatment comes with social consequences. Mental strife and instability are expected human reactions to what soldiers see on a daily basis. As a country, and in government, it is in our best interest that we encourage and support the mental health of our military. The government casts war soldiers into the streets of our country with no transition period or attention paid to themselves or the needs of their families. A great many veterans are homeless and suffer from mental illness. Many of our veterans have life changing injuries. Most veterans don’t relate to their families or civilian life after war. The active duty military shy away from treatment for fear of repercussions. Vets returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are plagued with thoughts of suicide and or PTSD. Alcoholism is war’s least effect on our soldiers, yet it is probably the most common. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will send soldiers home for good— eventually. They are good people with guns, power tactics, and the knowledge to use them. They are our cousins, brothers, sisters, husbands and wives. We should want them to be healthy

• Restore the structure and integrity of our military. When Donald Rumsfeld took on the daunting task of restructuring the military for cost efficiency he intentionally made the military dependent on third party contractors—both on the field and at home. Corporations like Haliburton stepped in to bare the burden of America’s military responsibilities which led to mass over-charging, tainted water, ill prepared food and confusion in the field. It is unclear to me whether or not we have saved money in the long term but I DO know that this restructuring of our military has hurt the ones who love us most—our soldiers. They deserve better.

• Halfway houses for returning veterans: Is it possible to create a transition environment for those retuning from conflict areas such as Iraq? Many husbands and wives are all too aware of the difficulty veterans have adjusting to civilian life after war. While veterans need access to their families following the conditions of war, it is not always beneficial to the family that they be immediately re-introduced to family life. Domestic abuse, alcoholism, and suicide are common following war. If we CAN change this WE should.

• Adequate protective equipment for soldiers that serve in war zones. How can we justify asking soldiers to risk their lives for our country if WE, the country, don’t do everything possible to protect them while they are in harms way?

• Restore the traditional enlistment requirements by which we have judged those fit to serve in the military. Since the Iraqi Liberation/ Occupation/ War began, the military has steadily watered down the requirements for applicants joining the military. Our selection process no longer embodies the phrase “Be all you can be.” In 2004, our military adopted new “Moral Waiver” policies, which allowed more enlistees who are violent ex-convicts and people known to have made terrorist threats to serve in our military. In addition they now offer “alcohol and illegal drug waivers.” Also new to enlistment standards are gang tattoos. In Iraq, there is now evidence of American gang graffiti. We now accept skinheads and Neo-Nazis as sufficient candidates for enlistment. We now accept older applicants as well as applicants suffering from medical conditions that our military once considered unacceptable. Our military is supposed to be our best face to the rest of the world, as we lower our recruitment standards we also lower our ability to affect the world around us in a positive manner. These policies will make us less safe.

• Employ More Translators/ Communication Specialists. Eric Lichtblau of The New York Times tells us “The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s backlog of untranslated terrorism intelligence doubled last year, and the time it takes the bureau to hire translators has grown longer, officials said …” If we insist on fighting wars in foreign territory then it only makes sense that we employ the people who can translate those environments. We teach our children to be prepared so that they will find success in their lives, yet we run headfirst into unwarranted wars without the necessary preparation. Communication is the basis for any positive resolution. Without the ability to communicate we are wasting time and we are wasting lives.

• The tour extensions that have taken place are unacceptable. The stop-loss clauses in the military contracts have been abused and this should be addressed sooner rather than later. Suicide amongst veterans returning from Iraq has reached levels of which this country has never seen. Yet we continue to “support our troops” by expecting them to serve tour after tour with no end in sight. Human being are not built like that. Wars are not won like that.

• Provide comprehensive support for the families of war. How is it that we allow the families of our soldiers to crumble under the pressures of house foreclosures, predatory lending, and perpetual distance due to stop-loss?

• Reservist serving in Iraq and Afghanistan deserve the same benefits awarded to full-time soldiers for themselves and their families.

• Upon exiting the military every soldier must be given formal notice in writing, using clearly spoken language, a detailed synopsis of their medical benefits and be assigned a case worker, with a manageable work-load, that can easily navigate the bureaucracy required to obtain those benefits. We have too many sick veterans. We have too many homeless veterans. They have waited too long for the respect that they deserve. Don’t let them become just another loophole exploited by the greed of the powerful few.

• VA Closures: Across the country VA facilities are shutting down, leaving veterans with fewer and fewer options to address their needs. Many veterans now must travel unacceptable distances to receive the care we have promised them. If we cannot provide more hospitals then can we not implement procedures that allow these veterans the luxury of seeing a local doctor when the distance is too great?

• VA Hospital Reform: As a country we were shocked to learn of the conditions that existed at the Walter Reed VA facility. It turns out that these conditions are not shocking at all. Veterans who depend on these services tell story upon story of the inadequate care, un-kept hospitals, struggles to qualify for care, and endless paper work that impedes care. We owe them more.

• State equipment must be returned. State reservists are deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq and their military equipment goes with them. This equipment is not returned nor is it replaced. This fact leaves our State governments vulnerable to natural disasters. While we continue to “fight them over there,” we do this at the neglect of our domestic needs. This must change.

• Soldier’s funeral attendance by the White House. The current administration refuses to honor our fallen soldiers adequately—a true American tragedy. This must change. Our soldiers need to know that not only have we not forgotten them but that we honor the risks and sacrifices made by them on our behalf.

• Signing bonuses for enlistment should not be revoked due to injuries beyond the control of the soldiers who risk their lives to save ours. A rash of wounded soldiers are coming home with life-changing injuries only to find that the government now expects them to re-pay their signing bonus because they were injured too early in their service. How is this supporting our troops?

• We must address the effects of depleted uranium on our military families as well as Iraqi natives by publicly acknowledging it’s existence and offering support to those affected.

• Vote to ensure that veterans suffering from exposure to Agent Orange are fully covered by their VA benefits. This must include veteran’s deployed soldiers in bordering countries to where Agent Orange was used, all veterans deployed in countries that Agent Orange was transported through, and any veterans affected by military tests of Agent Orange. As a nation, we continue to leave behind those who have given us their all and that is reprehensible.