To the editor:
It was great to read an editorial regarding the care of our veterans (“Veterans deserve best medical care,” April 23 Daily Reporter, A6).
This information needs to be spread more frequently and more in depth across America.
I am a disabled Vietnam vet, and I currently frequent the Roudebush VA Medical Center in Indianapolis. The article talks mostly about the VA facilities in Northern Indiana, but it is not only there; it is across the state of Indiana and across the U.S.
The problem is getting better, but it is going to take time and, unfortunately, more money.
Now that more and more veterans are returning from Afghanistan and Iraq and other areas in the Middle East, the problems are magnifying at a horrific rate. New facilities are being constructed across the United States (one just opened in Richmond), but as hard as we try to fix the problem, there are those who honestly don’t care.
We all remember the plethora of congressmen who stood up to offer their support and praise for the care of veterans.
They promised more money to the VA budget, and things started happening.
Now, with the 2016 elections on the horizon, Congress is out to cut spending anywhere and everywhere as long as it doesn’t effect them or their business constituents.
They have just taken nearly $2 billion dollars from the VA Budget, and cut veterans’ retirement benefits. As a disabled vet here in Greenfield, I currently have three VA appointments that are 45, 60, and 90 days out, respectively.
If anyone is entertaining the thought that their congressman or senator gives one ounce of care for the veterans who fought for their freedom, you are mistaken.
Raymond Brown
Greenfield
