The Texas Blue Series on Veterans Issues

Earlier this year, the Washington Post broke a story about Walter Reed Army Medical Center in which serious problems were laid bare. Negligence was cited and immediate calls for action occurred throughout the highest levels of government. “The war in Iraq has divided our nation, but the cause of supporting our troops unites us," said Senator Carl Levin, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Armed Services.

The Washington Post continues to report on developments in Walter Reed as they happen. Despite the finger-pointing and blame-shoveling that went on when the problems came to light, Senator Levin was essentially correct. Caring for our armed forces when they return home from war is not a partisan issue. Caring for the families of those wounded or killed in war and offering them support is not a partisan issue. It is a governance and policy issue that must be addressed by both parties and both chambers of Congress, although the responsibility for leadership now falls to Democrats.

Congress held numerous hearings on the matter. Congressman Bob Filner, chair of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, has taken a personal role in working to address the difficulties veterans face. Congressman Chet Edwards led the Veterans Affairs Appropriations subcommittee that he chairs to increase resources for the VA, drafting and approving appropriations that increase the VA budget by $6 billion — the largest single increase in the VA’s 77 year history. This increase was proposed despite an overarching veto threat by the Bush Administration.

These are all signs of progress, but there is more work to be done. Throughout the month of June, The Texas Blue will be exploring and discussing veterans’ issues. The idea for such a series came from retired Army Reserve Brigadier General Richard Lynch, who also happens to be a radiologist and the father of The Texas Blue publisher Karl Lynch.

General Lynch told me about a conference he was co-hosting with Dr. Bart Billings at Camp Pendleton. The National Tri-Service Combat Stress Conference had its fifteenth annual meeting in May, and medical professionals, military leaders, and lawmakers from all over the United States convened to discuss new treatment facilities, new mental health treatment methods, combat stress, and new challenges faced by today’s soldiers in current combat environments.

As I continued to speak with General Lynch about veterans issues and read through the materials from the conference, it occurred to me that I didn’t know very much about the subject. I watch the news, I read up on legislation, and I write about politics. I had read the coverage of the Walter Reed scandal and lamented the problems vets were having. But when it came to what kinds of challenges are regularly faced by veterans when they are wounded, how those challenges differ for Guard and Reserve forces, and what the culture of wounded veterans and their families must be like, I, like many Americans, was ignorant.

Throughout the course of doing research for the interviews and topics in this series, I recognized that there is much more to be learned, and much to be communicated by those that have been personally touched by the war.

There are a number of stories about people and organizations who have taken it upon themselves to raise awareness on these issues. For example, I learned about Tonia Sargent, a woman who not only aided her husband, Marine Corps Master Sergeant Kenneth Sargent, as he recovered from a traumatic injury he received in Iraq, but has also become a force for aiding other families of veterans navigate the VA system and get help.

I learned about the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America and their legislative agenda, in which they ask Congress for things that seem like common sense, things that should already be happening but are not. They address issues from the GI Bill all the way to health care and even contractor waste.

We present the series this month in the interest of informing our readers on this subject. We will speak with and feature writings by military officials, lawmakers, veterans, and families of veterans. The first step along the way will be this Wednesday’s episode of Who’s Blue, which will feature Congressman Bob Filner and a discussion of his work as chair of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs. This week we will also feature an article by Dr. Jeff Mitchell, a faculty member and Clinical Professor of Emergency Health Services at the University of Maryland and world-recognized expert on combat stress.

Thanks for reading. We hope you enjoy it and find it informative and, as always, comments and discussions are welcome.