Letter: America should spend as much money on veterans as it does on wars
As the daughter of a veteran, I have seen firsthand how poorly the Veterans Administration treats patients. My father, 43, has recently fallen ill and has yet to find an answer.
He was on a two-year wait list for back surgery to correct a bulging disk when, three and a half years later, the VA tells him he has permanent nerve damage. He was even moved up on the surgery wait list and the VA still took too long.
The VA even sent my father to one of their doctors and the doctor said he was obviously 100 percent disabled and could no longer work. Even with their own doctor saying he can no longer work, the VA denied his disability claim.
It is time that America starts to spend as much or more money on the veterans than on the war. A quote I found by an unknown author says “taking care of our veterans is a cost of war. If you can spend six trillion dollars sending people to war, you can spend a few billion dollars taking care of them when they come home.”
Get to it America.
Caily Mendez, Connell
This story was originally published November 26, 2015 at 10:50 PM with the headline "Letter: America should spend as much money on veterans as it does on wars."