We, the undersigned, are Vietnam veterans who are currently receiving medical and mental health care through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals and clinics. Every one of us stepped up to the call of duty to our country, and many more than once. We swore an oath to protect and defend the Constitution of these United States. We put our lives on the line with courage. We defended the freedoms we all take for granted in America.
Today, we are asked to accept that our care for trauma and many life altering conditions, a result of our service, is being severely undermined by the cost cutting of an administration that regards our treatment as “wasteful.” The thousands of folks who work at the VA hospitals and clinics across the country are being dismissed without thought for the impact on all veterans everywhere.
How do we explain this betrayal? How are we supposed to feel when the promises to care for us are broken? We fervently beg our elected representatives to stand up for us as we stood up for them. Do not allow this decimation of services, staff and benefits that we earned with our sacrifice.
God bless our country. Thank you to all our veterans. And thank you to the health care workers, the clinic staff, and the thousands of unsung heroes who work every day to help veterans. We appreciate the commitment and dedication of all of them.
We kept our oath. Now you must keep yours.
John Schrage, William H. Woods, Brian McAveer, Calysto Cabrera, John Ey, Steve Stewart, Byron Dare, Gary Mason, Lynn Witt, Carl Svendsen
-Vietnam Veterans in Durango
