I woke up two Saturdays ago and on a spur of the moment made a decision to take a stroll with the Veterans from my district in support of their call for better health care treatment. I got so caught up with the spirit of the cause, that my short stroll turned out to be a 250 march to the Alamo in San Antonio. In the process I came to better understand the plight of a veteran in today's society.
For those of you who have been following the Rome series on HBO, you will be reminded that returning soldiers have historically been neglected. Last nights story was about the neglect and troubles of returning veterans and what Rome did or failed to do. Ancient Rome like modern America simply failed to treat the veteran soldier with the same zeal and concern that it did when the war started. One would think with this historical fact repeating itself over and over again that modern America would get it right.
On behalf of the veterans I traveled with, I want to take time to thank the many of you who followed our march. I want to most especially thank those of you who posted our progress. Most of these veterans were not that computer or media savy, but they all read your posts on my Treo computer-phone. Their children certainly picked up the story off of the blogosphere and the soldiers heard about it.
A most sincere thanks to Off The Kuff, Dos Centavos, Pink Dome, RGV Life, Lawmakers, and Latinos For Texas, Politico, Valley In Exhile, Tejano Insider, Fort Hood at Large for helping bring awareness to the cause of these veterans.
For the most part, they are decent, humble men, some working some not, who each in some way is still traumatized by their experience in Vietnam or Korea.
They have encountered the neglectful eye of a forgetful nation who has moved forward on to other issues. What we fail to realize is that we are repeating a story as old as Rome. Now, with the benefit of the teachings of the young carpenter, I would hope that these veterans find a more sympathetic audience. So far, it seems we still have more to learn.Again, to my fellow bloggers, a job well done!
2 comments:
And much like the Veteranos in the Valley, Titus and Vorenus (the soldiers) fought back. And although the gore in each situation was a bit different (the bloody fight scene vs the pain/blisters), the end result was still victory.
Congrats again.
I like that Stace! I've put on a few pounds, but yeah! Vorenus huh! Now to get the wife to believe I look like Vorenus. It could happen!
Nah!
Thanks anyway. Its a matter of the heart not the body. Thanks for keeping the story going.
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