Respect the Veterans

Currently the VA system is severely overwhelmed. We have veteran's waiting 2 years to get a prescription for prosthetics. We have veterans whose teeth have been blown out of their head unable to get dentures becasue all 23 of the necessary forms have not been filled out.

The Drs. and nurses at Walter Reed medical center do fantastic work, but the bureaucratic nightmare for release is driving some veterans to the brink.

You can read more about the system in crisis here.

The Washington Post Story (Part 1, Part 2)

A caller on The Randi Rhodes Show had a brilliant idea of a way for us to help this problem. Our fearless leader thinks all we can do to help the country is to go shopping and pawn off the cost of this war to our grandchildren, but we can do something else. The caller's idea was for us to call upon our governors and ask them to claim our veterans currently stuck waiting release from the VA system. Have local public hospitals and private benevolent hospitals care for them, and to get students (high school, college, law school, med shcool) help them fill out the reems of paperwork. Also, on the day our veterans are due back to our state have a welcome home parade. Let them know they are not forgotten, even though an amputee was not allowed to see the president because he had no pants, only shorts (after all he has no need for slacks since he has no legs.)

Here is the email I sent to our Gov, and CC to my members of congress. Please take a similiar action. Show you care:

I am writing to ask you to claim all Illinois veterans currently stuck in the bureaucratic black hole that is currently overwhelming the VA system. I am writing to ask you to request state run hospitals and private benevolent hospitals provide state assisted pro-bono care for our veterans. I am writing to as you to provide our veterans a welcome home parade; to ask you to ask high school and college students, law students, and medical students, to volunteer to help our veterans fill out the necessary forms. I am writing to ask you to step up and help, as our VA system is currently overwhelmed.

Thank you,
Justin Thornburgh

Cc: Gov. Rod Blagojevich
Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn
Sen. Dick Durbin
Sen. Barak Obama
Rep. Jan Schakowsky

Go to House.gov and Senate.gov to find out your congresspersons info.

go to (your state).gov for your state's leadership contact info.