Veterans Day offers the nation a chance to reflect upon and appreciate the sacrifices veterans have made to protect the country.
This Veterans Day, “Thank you” is not enough.
Veterans continue to face severe obstacles when they adjust to civilian life.
Many veterans face homelessness or receive inadequate mental health services through the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The U.S. Department of Urban Housing and Development reported that just over 37,800 Veterans were experiencing homelessness in a single night in January 2018.
In a 2018 report, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine found that many veterans who suffer from PTSD and depression have difficulty receiving treatment.
For veterans who served in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan “(there) is a substantial unmet need for mental health services,” the report said.
The VA’s report on mental health reported veteran suicide rates increased 25.9 percent from 2005 to 2016.
Clearly, organizations that are meant to help veterans are failing them.
Institutionally, veterans need to be treated better.
Stealth bomber fly-overs, flag displays and veteran spotlights at sporting events do not advance practical reforms for veteran care.
In 2014, USA Today reported at least 40 veterans died waiting to receive treatment at a VA facility in Phoenix. Schedulers at the facility falsified wait times on official documents and hid records of the actual wait times.
USA Today also reported VA facilities across the nation were found to falsify wait times.
The VA has seen little improvement since then.
To make matters worse, in 2018, nine VA hospitals received a low score of 1 out of 5, including two hospitals in California, Loma Linda and Fresno.
Healthcare and housing services dedicated to veterans do not properly address the severe problems veterans face.
In an April survey by Pew Research Center, “a majority of people (75 percent) said that if they were making the federal budget, they would increase spending for veterans’ benefits and services.”
Those calling for the increased spending have not said where it will come from.
Veterans for Peace — an anti-war nonprofit organization founded by veterans — found U.S. taxpayers have paid over $4.6 trillion to the total cost of wars since 2001.
This money could be used to improve the Veterans Health Administration, update low-performing VA facilities, supply adequate mental health services and provide adequate housing for veterans.
The U.S. government should spend less money on new wars and more money on lifting burdens off of veterans.
