Using Veterans As Guinea Pigs

Last year it was the deplorable conditions at Walter
Reed Army Hospital, and now we find out that the VA,
(Veterans Administration), is using returned combat
veterans for drug testing.

Yesterday I was on the phone with a business
associate from Texas, and he told me the heartbreaking
story of meeting two young Army soldiers who had both
lost limbs in Iraq, and who are still waiting for their artificial
limbs. They have a lot of anger at the Army, who they feel
has lied to them numerous times during their ordeal.

Both of these heroes are now 19 years old, and when their
country called on them, they didn't hesitate, they didn't ask
for all kinds of paperwork, they didn't try to get by on the cheap.

They went and did what may be the most dangerous job in
the world. Not only that, they left a piece of themselves in
that hellhole so that people they don't even know might someday
be free.

And now they are all but forgotten, ignored by government
bureaucrats who are cowards of the worst kind. After making
sure that they will never have to get close to the battlefield,
they smugly sit around making decisions about who should
get an artificial limb, and when, and how much they are willing
to pay.

Then on top of this, the VA adds insult to injury by using vets
as guinea pigs in drug trials. And I'm sure there are many, as
yet to be discovered injustices going on to. Where there is
smoke there is usually fire, and in the military, where there is
smoke and fire, there is usually a large bomb ready to explode.

Walter Reed was the last straw for me with the Bush administration.
The drug testing is just icing on the cake. But Obama, an anti-military
guy, isn't the answer.

Maybe the best thing we can do is close the VA, and let these
heroes be treated in hospitals all over the country, where the extent
of their injuries can be seen by more than just a few bureaucrats
who aren't accountable to anyone.

Is Walter Reed fixed? If I was at a Presidential debate, I would
certainly be asking. And just what is the government doing about
putting seriously injured soldiers and their families back together?
And for god's sake, why are we using veterans as guinea pigs for
the government and large pharmacuetical companies?

I want answers to these questions. Don't you?

From the big saddle,

Jim Whelan
The Chairman of the Board

P.S. Sometimes you have to be interested in more than
just business. We all owe a huge debt of gratitude for those
who have served the country without question.

thejamesrwhelanagency.com
206 407 3124