I am a civilian that served in combat in Viet Nam. I am now a double amputee {above knee}. And, have suffered with phantom pain for almost 4 years now. Being on medicare and Ks. medicaid I was only able to go so far. Unable to see a specialist, because they don’t take Medicare and Medicaid. Have C-legs but unable to tolerate them for therapy. Nothing has worked after trying many different meds. After doing research I now believe that agent orange caused my disease. I wish I was there with you guys and ladies to support each other.

I was stationed at Walter Reed in 1965. When the scandal broke, I sat down and wrote out my memories (some good, some bad), followed by a diatribe and a poem. I’ve had second thoughts about the diatribe, but I have yet to convince myself it’s not true.

It begins thusly… “There was this man, naked except for a diaper, rolling and twisting on the hospital bed.”

The whole thing is here -

http://consilience.typepad.com/teachers_lounge/2007/03/walter_reed_sig.html

My father was not the most wonderful dad in the world, but he left me with a philosophy I truly value and keep trying to live…

If I am not for myself, who will be?
If I am only for myself, what am I?
If not now, when?
-Rabbi Hillel

Yeah, Bob’ll fix it.  Bob can’t fix contempt.  The Bush Administration has CONTEMPT for soldiers.  AAMOF, it has contempt for ANYONE that is not them.  You just can’t force people to care.  Bush doesn’t care.  About ANYTHING.  He’s a total sociopath.  Nothing will really change until he is gone….as in deceased.

Thank you for posting this which led me to the site (http://walterreed.blogspot.com/index.html).

Reading the couragous veteran’s posts leaves me with an empty feeling in the pit of my stomach. It also left me feeling angry all over again at the chickenhawks who sent this poor GI—and all of his or her brothers and sisters—off to an illegal, poorly planned and foolishly run, unnecessary and immoral war.

Yet I am also left with a sense of amazement at the strength of spirit, the poetry in the words, the hope that comes roaring through the hopelessness.

Get well soon, dear but unknown and nameless friend. You survived the insanity of Iraq or Afghanistan. May you now survive the insanity of what America has done to you.

This story is reprehensible. I was hospital corpsman at the Naval Hospital in Charleston back in the early 60’s and there was none of this crap—no mold, no peeling paint (even though buildings),and no harassing of the patients in any way.

So this treatment at Walter Reed and elsewhere is not military—it is a culture gone badly awry.

jon
Connecting the Dots:From human behaviors to Ecosystem collapse
http://StudentsForTheEarth.org

We are starting to see changes here. Change of scenery. Change of command. But the change I would like to see is this…

Seeing it all from a recliner and on the front page of the Washington Post…

not from here.

Thanks for posting this blog site. Any veteran will laugh and cry at the same time, recoginizng that the military culture will never change. For returning injured military though it is almost criminal that the Army still takes such a cavalier attitude to recovering soldiers. We can only hope that the commission headed up by Bob Dole will change the current process and Walter Reed and other military/veterans hospitals around the country.