Fayetteville Observer: Keeping our promises to veterans
Fayetteville Observer
Kay Hagan
July 3, 2008
Keeping our promises to our veterans is not a tagline for me. It’s not a catchphrase or a slogan. It’s personal.
I come from a strong, proud military family — my father-in-law is a retired two-star general, my father and brother served in the military, my husband served in Vietnam and went to law school with help from the GI Bill, and currently I have two nephews who have served in the Middle East and Afghanistan. Keeping our promises to our veterans is a very real priority of mine, and it should be a priority for Washington as well. Our troops sacrifice their lives to protect us and the freedoms we have come to expect, often spending months at a time away from family and loved ones to do so. When they come back home, it is our responsibility to honor their service with all the support we can give.
Under the current leadership in Washington, this has not been the case. Throughout my travels across North Carolina I have met many veterans whose stories convince you that we need to do more if we truly want to honor their sacrifices. Commander Greg Woodard, who leads VFW Post 2087 in my hometown of Greensboro, told me that he dreads going to the VA Hospital because there are multiple appointments scheduled at the same time and it sometimes takes all day to receive care. And Commander Woodard is a lucky one — he’s enrolled in the VA system already, he knows how his coverage works, and he has remained actively involved in the military community following his service. It was clear from my conversations with other veterans that this is the exception and not the rule.
Listening to the needs
Throughout the next few months, I’ll be holding veterans town halls across the state. In a recent town hall in Greensboro, we attracted a diverse crowd of veterans and discussed the challenges they have faced trying to navigate a system that should work seamlessly and reward their service to our country. There were some success stories, and those should not be forgotten, but the number of those who still needed help far outnumbered those who had been receiving it.
We must make our veterans and their families a priority, not an afterthought.
In the state legislature, we were able to increase pensions for members of the N.C. National Guard. I was pleased to include this in the budget, but the fact of the matter is that there needs to be more done on the federal level to make the VA system — and veterans’ care in general — work for the people whose service to our country is priceless.
I strongly support Sen. Jim Webb’s new GI bill, which is befitting the service our brave men and women in uniform gave to our country.
How to help
We need to help them achieve success in the next stage of their life, including providing educational benefits and career training.
We need to streamline the bureaucratic maze for active-duty military who deal with the Department of Defense then transition to veterans who deal with the Veterans Administration. Our VA Hospitals need to be synonymous with what a high-tech, 21st-century facility can be, not what an underfunded, underserved facility is. And we need to be helping ease the transition for veterans into civilian life, and beyond, achieving real mental health care reform so we can identify and treat conditions such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Our military is the strongest and the bravest in the world. Our soldiers, sailors, Marines, airmen, Coast Guard and National Guardsmen need to know that when they are done serving their country honorably, they will have a helping hand back at home. At the bottom of all the rhetoric and reasoning is this: Without our veterans we wouldn’t have our freedom. You would be hard-pressed to find someone who will put a price tag on that.
Kay Hagan, a Democrat from Greensboro, is running for the U.S. Senate against the incumbent, Sen. Elizabeth Dole.
