California Rep. Jeff Denham was one of five lawmakers who visited Afghanistan last week.: Photo by U.S. House of Representatives.
Last week, members of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee traveled to Afghanistan to take stock of the developing legacy that will affect U.S.service members for decades to come.
Regardless of the length of the conflict, it is clear that the government remains committed to providing for Veterans on their return to civilian life.
Rep. Jeff Dunham (R-Calif.), who made the trip with three other members of Congress, told one newspaper, “It’s obviously going to be a huge expense… the one thing that is defined is that we have to take care of the Veteran.”
Meeting the monetary cost of this commitment will be a formidable challenge in the coming decades. As of 2010, more than 513,000 Veterans returning from service in Iraq and Afghanistan had applied for disability benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Around 1,600 of these have had one or more limbs amputated as a result of combat wounds, but far more – over 400,000, according to the advocacy group Veterans for Common Sense – are suffering from brain trauma or post-traumatic stress disorder.
Over the next four decades, as the true extent of these disabilities becomes apparent, compensation and medical expenses could approach close to $1 trillion.
The committee members, who visited several military installations and were briefed by Gen. John Allen, commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, remained unfazed by these daunting figures.
“I want to make sure our veterans are taken care of, once they get home,” Denham said.
To learn more about the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, click here.
For more information on Veterans benefits, please visit www.vetlawyers.com.
President Bush has expressed the belief that history will be the true judge of the War on Terror. Photo: By David Shapinsky of Washington, D.C.
Only 34 percent of post-9/11 Veterans believe that the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have been worth fighting, according to a recent Pew Research Poll. Veterans are more supportive of the wars than the general public (28 perecent are supportive), but 84 percent of Veterans still say the American public has little or no understanding of the problems that those in the military face. Most Americans agree (71 percent).
Even so, both the general public and Veterans agree that the U.S. should not return to the draft (75 percent and 82 percent respectively).
Former President George W. Bush weighed in on the survey saying, “I hope history proves them wrong.”
In defense of the wars, he added, “I happen to think it was worth fighting. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have put them into combat.”
The former president believes the conflicts should be judged in a more historical context.
“The only way for there to be peace is for free societies to emerge,” he said. “And you know, history takes a while to unfold.”
While post-9/11 Veterans and President Bush may disagree on the merit of the missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, both are extremely proud of the armed forces and the Veteran community.
“I love these guys, love the women in service. And to the extent that I can help them, I will,” President Bush said. “To the extent that I can herald their courage, I will.”
The White House announced Friday that Dakota Meyer will be awarded the Medal of Honor on September 15. The White House ceremony will be held nearly two years to the day that Meyer braved enemy fire multiple times after fellow members of Marine Embedded Training Team 2-8 were pinned down in a fierce ambush. The incident happened Sept. 8, 2009, in Ganjgal, a village in eastern Afghanistan’s volatile Kunar province. Meyer, who left active-duty service in June 2010 as a corporal, is credited with braving enemy fire multiple times to find three Marines and a Navy corpsman who had gone missing in the battle and to pull Afghan soldiers his unit was training from harm.
Only two living recipients, both Army soldiers, have received the award for actions in Iraq and Afghanistan: Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta and Sgt. 1st Class Leroy Petry. Cpl. Jason Dunham is the only Marine to receive the medal for the current conflicts, and he received it posthumously after throwing himself on a grenade in Husaybah, Iraq, in 2004 to save the lives of fellow Marines.
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