A Vietnam Vet Speaks on How We are Failing Our Returning Troops
(Guest Post by Terry Kindlon)
In 1968, as a 21 year old wounded Marine Sergeant, I got great medical care in a sparkling Navy hospital where I was treated with dignity and respect. When the Marine Corps decided that my injuries required a medical retirement I was quickly set up for a disability pension and introduced to a VA representative, right there in the hospital, who designed a plan for me that paid every single cent of my education, together with my living expenses.
While I was in college, this older, grandfatherly counselor from the VA would swing by once a month to tell me I was a nice kid, that he was proud of me and to say "keep up the good work." Same deal in law school where there were three other disabled vets in my class (including the extraordinarily talented and dedicated Ray Kelly, who's just finished a term as President of the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers) whose education was also being fully funded by the VA, and, of course, there were also dozens of regular, non-disabled vets who were able to go to law school because of the GI Bill. The VA even paid for my bar review course and sent me a check for $50 to cover the bar exam fee.
Because the VA did what it was designed to do I've been able to have a good life, to practice law, to become the father of seven remarkable kids and grandfather to four more. Not only that, but my taxes have now repaid the government's financial investment in me hundreds of times over. As equations go this is kind of a no-brainer.
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These days the Bush administration is treating our soldiers, marines and vets like sh*t, and they're treating our disabled vets even worse. In the fullness of time there will be hell to pay. They're missing the opportunity to help a lot of men and women who might benefit from an education.
On the other hand, by failing to properly treat soldiers who need psychiatric help they're really asking for trouble. One of the things I spent a lot of time doing during the '80's was representing PTSD vets in criminal cases.
Fortunately, in those days the VA made some adjustments and eventually became very responsive and set up some vet outreach programs, and, just as fortunately, a lot of the criminal court judges were WWII veterans who had more understanding and sympathy for my PTSD clients than the future neocons and chickenhawks around us who vaguely suspected we were just a bunch of baby killers and walking time bombs.
Seriously, people need to know that for whatever grief the Vietnam guys had to endure, it's nothing compared to the burdens being imposed upon the current group of American service men and women, both on active duty and afterward.
Update: Jeralyn adds:
As many TalkLeft readers know, Terry Kindlon of Albany, NY is an outstanding criminal defense lawyer who reads and comments often on TalkLeft about military service. He was a decorated Marine during Vietnam, sustained some injuries, is married to my friend Laurie Shanks, also an outstanding defense lawyer in Albany, and their son Lee, age 30, is a captain in the Marines and a military lawyer who recently returned from Fallujah, where he also served as a Judge Advocate.
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