03.12.07

Forgotten Veterans and Yellow Ribbons

Posted in General at 8:55 pm by MamaSaid

I am so moved by a comment regarding my recent blog about discrimination against veterans that I feel the need to discuss it further. As I had written, my husband is a Vietnam veteran and I have first hand experience with the pain and neglect veterans suffer. In fact, my dad, my late father-in-law and my uncle have all served this government in the military and have little to show for it. Is it no wonder I discourage my son from serving in the military and insist he take advantage of one of the few benefits left for family members of veterans – tuition reimbursement?

CSM Daniel L. Diaz, retired U.S. Army, wrote, “I personally have been denied work due to the nature of my military service as well as my rank at time of retirement. In short, even my fellow veterans discriminate against me because I am younger and higher in rank than when they served and retired. I think Vietnam Veterans were the most neglected for certain, but Korea is a close second.”

What a sad commentary from a man who attained rank and served our country and I completely support his statements about Vietnam and Korean veterans. My former boss served in the Marines during Korea and went on to become a husband, father, attorney and upstanding member of the community, but one day it all just fell apart for him. Obviously a victim of undiagnosed post traumatic stress disorder (only formally recognized over a decade after the return of Vietnam veterans), he lost his marriage, his home and his business with no support or empathy from his fellow lawyers or veterans. They clearly could not understand him and weren’t about to try – much like our government and society – and he now rents a room and walks for his newspaper every day, trying to make ends meet on social security. My point is that the lack of support and compassion is bound to take its toll on a veteran – whether sooner or later.

Diaz also stated that, “The veteran of today is educated, skilled, and articulate. We are not merely drones and robots. We have many, if not better, skills than the average 22 year old college graduate who knows nothing about working on a team or under stress. In any case, veterans always get remembered when they die, but are easily forgotten once the novelty of any war wears off and the people go back to their lives, take down their flags, and put away their little yellow magnets that used to be on almost every car.”

Despite the fact that veterans are educated, trained, have field experience and know how to work on a team, they still are the victims of discrimination and stereotypical thinking. Furthermore, I also wonder where all the little yellow magnets went. Does the American public get bored that easily and forget what is really going on in the world? The war still continues, but those who return today don’t get to see the support of those little yellow ribbons, which I still display. A yellow ribbon is not a fad, but a sign that you appreciate those who are serving this country in a war and await their safe return.

Regardless of public disinterest versus public opposition, the war continues to the beat of Bush’s drum. CENTCOM reported that there are currently 140,000 members of the military deployed to Iraq. As of February 24, 2007, 3,151 military personnel were killed in Iraq and an additional 23,550 were wounded in action. To add to this, two kidnapped soldiers, Matt Maupin and Ahmed Qusai al-Taayie, remain missing. So where did those yellow ribbons go, people?

To summarize, Diaz commented, “In short, veterans are just expendable tools that people relate to in video games, movies, and sometimes in concert with some public relations event. We do not matter enough, yet we are always going to be here, behind the scenes. We are all heroes, but only some of us ever get to go on Oprah, just like Jessica Lynch and her heroic tales. I am just sick and tired that any veteran would ever be forgotten. The next time someone wants to play Ghost Recon or Splinter Cell they need to stop, put down that latte, and remember that people actually do this for real and the scars we carry are not as easily deleted as a saved video game…”

This is the statement that moved me to tears. My husband feels the same way – like a forgotten hero, mocked by the media, video games and the ignorance of public opinion and haunted by the scars of war. It is horrible enough that our government is hanging these folks out to dry, but why do the rest of us have to? If these soldiers did not volunteer to serve our country, there could be a draft and what if your child was forced to serve? We need to respect and revere the members of the military rather than mirror the careless neglect of our government officials. Perhaps if we stand up with these soldiers, progress will be made in the areas of taking proper care of them and ending wars we don’t agree with so that they can come home. We cannot remain in denial, putting away our yellow ribbons, while the men who served our country feel like expendable tools. Our veterans are true heroes who should never be forgotten. Thank you, CSM Diaz!

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4 Comments »

  1. faith2faith said,

    March 13, 2007 at 12:12 pm

    I agree with you that war veterans should be treated better and should be given a prospect for the future by the government, which obviously chews soldiers up on the battlefield and spits them out when they are no longer of any use to it.

    However, I will NEVER display a yellow ribbon on my car or anywhere else. “Support the Troops” to me means “support the war,” and I think this war should never have been started to begin with. IMO, supporting the troops would be to bring them home immediately and stop this senseless fighting for oil and power for the Bush administration. Besides, as a pacifist I can’t understand anyone who still signs up for the army these days. I can feel for soldiers who signed up before they knew the war was coming, maybe thinking that the army would give them access to a better education. I CANNOT understand those who signed up later, when they already knew they’d have to go over there and kill people (lots of them civilians). Whoever signs up for the army thinking that it’ll be great fun to shoot people doesn’t have my sympathy at all. And don’t give me crap about “defending your country” and such… for about the last century the US hasn’t been fighting ONE war to defend this country.

  2. Jim Eagle Feather said,

    March 18, 2007 at 4:43 pm

    Nations have always ignored their old soldiers. I recall reading Livy’s history of Rome where old soldiers were being mocked in a political vote and the old veterans would rip off their tunics to show their old sword wounds and beg in tears for consideration. In the recent Iraq war I refused to put a support ribbon on my car while all the troops were grooving out what big invaders they were. But later - after they began to get shot up and started to see that war really sucked I started puting ribbons on that supported the troops. Personally I believe the draft is best in that it draws in citizens from a WIDE SPECTRUM of our populous. Merc armies, like we use now tend to be filled with warhounds and they tend to by myopic. Where as draft armies bring with them a wide selection of people from all walks of life and of all political backgrounds. This adds true balance.

  3. David H. Marshall said,

    May 27, 2007 at 10:54 am

    The A, B, C’s of “DESIGNED TO HARM”. 5/27/07

    SUMMARY.

    In 2007 still misplaced are 63 years of records for the U.S. Senate’s stated Department of Defense (DOD) conducted on “hundreds of thousands” “experiments that were designed to harm”. [6] They were conducted in direct disobedience of the Secretary of the DOD’s order! [2] Missing are:

    A. 1. The previous experiments lessons learned Research and Development (R&D) documents. 2. Each subsequently conducted “designed to harm” project’s Scope of Work that defines what the experiment is “designed” to accomplish. With its then identified: 3. How, 4. Where, 5. When and 6. Who on Whom.

    B. The conducted RESEARCHED “to harm”: 1. CAUSE and 2. EFFECTS that are closely followed and also recorded.

    C. The from the in-the-record evidence DEVELOPED: 1. Safe Production, 2. Use, 3. Protection and 4. Treatment.

    That it “”WAS NECESSARY “TO CONCEAL THESE ACTIVITIES FROM THE AMERICAN PUBLIC IN GENERAL,” BECAUSE PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE OF THE “UNETHICAL AND ILLICIT ACTIVITIES WOULD HAVE SERIOUS REPERCUSSIONS IN POLITICAL AND DIPLOMATIC CIRCLES AND WOULD BE DETRIMENTAL TO THE ACCOMPLISHMENT OF ITS MISSION.”" says it all!! Emphasis added. U.S. Supreme Court STANLEY military experiments case, Footnote 4 page 688. [3]

    The 1950 U.S. Supreme Court FERES Case prevents Judicial Branch recourse on DOD “harm” as “incident” to service. [1] The Secretary of the Dept. of Veterans Affairs (VA) has FINAL DECISION with NO APPEAL TO THE JUDICIAL BRANCH AUTHORITY; U.S.C. Title 38, SECTION 511(a). A veteran is locked in to the must be exhausted VA Administrative misplaced records, can not be appealed process. AT THE TIME, AND LONG AFTER THESE PROJECTS ARE OUT-OF-DATE, THIS EXPERIMENT REVEALING CAUSE AND EFFECTS ARE NOT IN A SUBJECT’S MEDICAL HISTORY. Their resulting disabilities are not in the VA “schedule of ratings for disabilities”. [5] This Veterans Court Chief Judge’s “may not review” [5] cause and effects are not available for past, present and future veteran diagnosis and treatment: 1. By civilian HMO and VA Physicians’! 2. For each group’s long term “to harm” follow up, that would alert the victims. This is the U.S. Senate Report’s from 1944, 63 YEARS of lost, individual and group benefitting lessons learned! Thereby, no treatment for the original experiment and follow on injuries. And 3. For use as evidence during U.S. Executive (DOD & VA) and Judicial Branch processes! The subjects’ never the wiser become, e.g., Congress’s recent “Veterans Right to Know Act” failures.

    BACKGROUND.

    H.R. 4259 [109th]: Veterans Right to Know Act to establish the Veterans’ Right to Know Commission bill was proposed in the 2005 & 2006 Congresses. At the end of each session all proposed bills that haven’t passed are cleared from the books. This bill never became law.

    The from 1944 DOD “designed to harm” experiments are documented as conducted on “hundreds of thousands” by the 1994 U.S. SENATE REPORT! [6] The REPORT’s NOTES (No.’s 72, 168 & 169) cite, “The Nazi Doctors and the Nuremberg Code, Human Rights in Human Experimentation.” Not addressed by the U.S. Congress and U.S. Courts are the many conducted in direct disobedience of the DOD Secretary’s 1953 ‘Nuremberg’ order; “The Nazi Doctors” pages 343-345. [2] With the Secretary’s of all U.S. Military Services, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the DOD R&D Board then known! This ignored order was TOP SECRET until 1975, 22 YEARS LATER. The subjects by its “need to know” are prevented from finding out. The 1994 Report noted that rights be restored. To-date, in 2007, not done!

    “The court may not review the schedule of ratings for disabilities or the policies underlying the schedule.”, i.e., the needed for treatment “designed to harm” policies with their causes and effects! [6] The Veterans Court Chief Judge’s statement during 17-18 Oct. 1994. [5] His severely “may not review” restricted is a Congress’s 12/18/88 established Legislative ‘no teeth’ Article I Court. [9] Their oversight and accountability response to the 6/25/87 STANLEY experiment. One of the Judicial Branch Article III U.S. Supreme Court decisions on: 1. The DOD STANLEY 1953 order, 1958 disobeyed, confirming Congress is responsible 1987 Case. [3] And 2. The 1950 FERES Case that prevents recourse on DOD “harm” as “incident” to service. [1] Made very clear is that UNLESS CONGRESS CHANGES IT, BY REASON OF MILITARY SERVICE VETERANS’ LOST ARE PRIOR TO CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS! They are given to convicted rapists and murderers. [4] These cases assume that the DOD and VA “disabilities” coverage provides remedy. Not addressed is the withheld R&D “designed to harm” identifying, needed for treatment evidence! Congress’s 12 December 1974 Privacy Act censored the names of all injury witnesses from surviving and future service records. The 12 July 1973 National Personnel Records Center fire destroyed “to harm” service records.

    A politically contrived justice denied for the greater good. An end justifies the deliberate “to harm” means. Make the checks and balances within and between our branches of government work! Only when you hold your members in the U.S. Congress responsible will this happen!

    NOW ON THE GENERAL POPULATION.

    In 2007 duplicated is the U.S. Senate’s stated DOD “designed to harm” misplaced records? This is by the in 2006 established CIVILIAN Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA). [8] Under its “NATIONAL SECURITY MISSIONS” is the advancement of the DOD Project 112, SHAD “Biomedical” lessons learned. [7] BARDA, under the present war cover, also lacks the oversight and accountability of the past wars DOD Shipboard Hazard and Defense (SHAD) biological experiment.

    REFERENCES:

    [1] Feres v. United States, 340 U.S. 135, 146 (1950)

    [2] DOD Secretary’s 26 February 1953 NO non-consensual, human experiment’s Memo pages 343-345. George J. Annas and Michael A. Grodin, “The Nazi Doctors and the Nuremberg Code; Human Rights in Human Experimentation” (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992). In REFERENCE [6] as NOTES 72, 168 & 169.

    [3] U.S. SUPREME COURT, JUNE 25, 1987, U.S. V. STANLEY, 107 S. CT. 3054 (VOLUME 483 U.S., SECTION 669, PAGES 699 TO 710). In REFERENCE [6] cited in NOTE 169.

    [4] U.S. State Dept., “U.S. Report under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights July 1994, Article 7″.

    [5] Chief Judge and colleague statements, Court of Veterans Appeals, Annual Judicial Conference, Fort Meyer, VA., 17 & 18 October 1994. www.goodnet. com/~heads/ nebeker.html

    [6] December 8, 1994 REPORT 103-97 “Is Military Research Hazardous to Veterans’ Health? Lessons Spanning Half a Century.” Hearings Before the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, 103rd Congress 2nd Session. With NOTES 1 to 170.

    [7] “Project 112 (Including Project SHAD) Home”; www1.va.gov/ shad/ Starting in 1962 DOD chemical and biological experiments.

    [8] Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA). Became law 19 December 2006.

    [9] Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Title 38, Part V, Para. 7252. Jurisdiction; finality of decisions.

  4. OIF Vet said,

    July 24, 2007 at 7:14 pm

    Greedy American corporations no longer need Americans to work for them. The work is farmed out to India, China or “farmed in” to our resident illegal aliens. Americans, especially baby boomer Americans are obsolete. How do you get rid of them before they are eligible to collect the Social Security,
    pensions, and 401K’s they have contributed into? Corporate-Government sponsored Genocide! That is why the America of 2007 is the way it is.
    Rovian and Cheneyesque!

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