Attention Congress: Honoring veterans goes beyond Veterans Day
Fort Richardson National Cemetery
My thoughts today turn to the special veterans in my life. This year, those thoughts are sadder with the passing in July of a special man, Vietnam Veteran, and dear friend Maurice Bailey.
Mo's wife, Ann Bailey, accepting the flag.
Mo served as leader of the Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA), Wasilla Chapter and was founder of the Veteran’s Aviation Outreach, whose primary focus was to help the forgotten vets across the state especially in Rural Alaska. Bailey was also awarded the Alaska Governor’s Veterans Advocacy Award in 2007.
From Senator Mark Begich’s comments on Mo’s death:
“Mo’s tireless efforts on behalf of rural veterans were instrumental in connecting them with much-needed services and support from the VA and other providers,” Begich said in the statement.
Vietnam Veterans of America, Wasilla Chapter
From Senator Lisa Murkowski’s comments:
Mo reminded us through his daily life how one person can truly make a difference in the lives of others. His was a life of service, humility and grace. A disabled veteran who battled the VA bureaucracy to obtain the benefits he earned through his service in Vietnam, he gave his all to ensure that Alaska’s rural veterans could overcome vast geographic challenges and obtain their earned benefits.
It was a year ago today that all of us (including Mo) were preparing to see President Obama at Elmendorf. Thanks to Mo’s many friends and admirers, he was able to shake hands with the President. He said that was one of the highlights of his life.
I miss you, Mo.
One thing I loved about Mo is that while he was charming and friendly, he knew which politicians were sincere in their support of the men and women of the armed services and which were just using a photo op with him to gain votes. Today, we’ll see just about every politician shower those who served with praise. However, what laws they support tomorrow may be another thing entirely.
This brings me to another veteran of whom I’m exceedingly proud — Paula Frueh, my dear friend and godmother to my daughter.
Paula at the Scottish Highland Games
While many were fighting for women’s rights in other ways, Paula was part of the Women’s Army Corps (WACs) in the last years before it was incorporated into the regular Army. Here is a part of their credo that reminds us how women have always served in the military, whether they received credit or not:
I am an American soldier. Since the earliest years of our Nation, I have taken part in its defense.
I marched with General Washington and the Continental Army, suffering with them the cold, harsh conditions of war. Sometimes, disguised as a man, I shouldered a rifle and fought the enemy.
During the War of 1812 and in the War with Mexico, I cared for the wounded. I was on the battlefields of the Civil War, serving the North or the South. Whatever my task – soldier, spy, courier nurse or doctor, I performed my duties with courage and devotion.
After a number of years as a stay-at-home wife, Paula did what thousands of veterans do upon coming home from battle and leaving the active military…they become federal employees. I met her as a result of my years of federal employment and met many other brave veterans on the job. Currently, veterans make up about 30% of the federal workforce.
I say this because it seems there is a renewed effort as a result of Tuesday’s election to slash the Federal civilian workforce. Doing so is the equivalent of making big cuts to veteran’s jobs.
At a ceremony at the Interior Department in advance of Veterans Day, top officials reviewed some of their agencies’ progress in meeting the goals of an executive order issued by President Obama last November to encourage the hiring of vets into federal jobs.
…
Berry said that in the first nine months of FY 2009, 23 percent of new hires were vets; in the same period in FY 2010, 25 percent were vets.
The new Republican majority in the House looks ready to jump on a bandwagon begun by one faulty, incomplete USA Today analysis published in August. It’s conclusions have been refuted by many other publications, experts and even members of Congress:
“Simply put, there are far more people proportionally in the private sector earning lower wages than in the federal government, because the government has outsourced so many low-wage jobs,” Kaufman said. “Our federal workforce has also become far better educated in the last twenty years, which also translates into greater earning power.”
I wonder how many of these members of Congress pushing for a reduction in federal pay and federal workers are out making pretty speeches at Veteran’s Day ceremonies? Veterans and those civilians who want to aid our military personnel struggling to return to civilian life should remind them that we judge our representatives by their actions.
I salute all veterans from all parts of the service today. Please keep them in your thoughts.
That brings us up short. Thanx!
We always listen to Imagine, by John Lennon on Veteran’s day and hope against hope that one day the message gets through, if not in our lifetimes at least at some point in the future.
Why does America continue to ask so much of the men and women that serve our country yet serve them so poorly when they return from service? I cannot resolve this in my mind. If we are the country that we proclaim to be we should be much, much better at taking care of those that found themselves in a position to represent us, either in peace or war.
Every year I get to mention my uncles: one at the battle of the bulge, and another with the purple heart in the pacific. One other was too young and was shipped out anyway, just a cook. WWII took a lot from my family, and then we did the best we could for anyone who came back. They all got the love and honor that we always had for them, as in out hearts now.
Thanks, AKM, for giving me a chance to say thanks to my family and to those others who feel loss and sorrow. I personally give to Fisher House, Inc., which provides assistance and a compassionate home envrionment forthe families of our wounded heroes being treated at military and VA medical centers.
Our country doesnt have a sterling record of taking care of our Veterans. Except for the WW2 vets who were able to take advantage of the GI Bill in volume unsurpassed by any other conflict veterans. Now theoretically we have this hiring preference for vets.
What’s in between. Late forties, early fifties. Late Sixties, early Seventies, the eighties. Late 20th Century to Early 21st Century. Veterans benefits have been manipulated throughout all these years. Until the WxPost reported the conditions at Walter Reed.
Many of our politicians have voted against Veterans Benefits within committees, where they think no one is watching. “There is something wrong in Denmark.” Besides the legacy responsibility for Veterans, the Federal Budget is responsible for the retirement funds of Federal Employees. Legacy Costs. Now consider how many former military got jobs with government, Federal, State, Local, then there is what we have lovingly referred to as double dippers. Look at all that money.
Politicians and the public scream about legacy costs, when its “Unions”. Think about the “legacy costs” of the government, Fed, State, local. Then remember the GOP chooses to reduce SS benefits. What is their solution to these costs?
I had some historically great observations and got kicked out. Veterans benefits, legacy costs, governments’ cost of doing business.
Thank you for telling these stories.
We need these reminders of how good people really are.
God bless these honorable men and women who have served our country so well. Thank you.
Ahh, Maurice Bailey.
I was never intimate enough with the man to call him Mo, at least not to his face. Once or twice he had mentioned to me about his service but just in a matter of fact way, it was later sitting at our early morning coffee club were some of the other pilots told a few of his military tales, and some others.
Maurice was one of those rare men who took what he knew to be the last years of his life and gave and gave. An enigma really, in an age of selfishness, who first served his country and gave up his youth, and then once again to give up the last years of his life to fight for his neglected brothers in arms.
If only we were all as brave and bold as Mo and all the women and men in uniform that dared to give so much …
M. Paul
Amen to that. i wish i had known Maurice but i have known others with that same spirit of loving generosity. may they rest in peace.
Thank you all for your comments….I appreciate them all….
oops.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-11-11-navajocode11_ST_N.htm?csp=34news&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+usatoday-NewsTopStories+%28News+-+Top+Stories%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher
better late than never…i guess.
/www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-11-11-navajocode11_ST_N.htm?csp=34news&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+usatoday-NewsTopStories+(News+-+Top+Stories)&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher
My condolences for the loss of your friend and a great man. Heroes are not just found on a battlefield saving lives and serving their country in time of war. Heroes are ordinary people facing extraordinary circumstances giving their hearts and energy to serving those they others with the same ferocity of spirit, the same selfless spirit as the hero of every myth in every culture.
If members of Congress wish to be regarded as heroes to the American people, they will cut their own salaries and benefits first before slashing the support and services of ordinary people struggling to survive. Veterans benefits, social security benefits, Medicare and Medicaid are all ways our country expresses its thanks to those who served our country in myriad ways, whether or not they are military veterans. We all serve our country in our own way, even if it is only trying to do the right thing by paying our taxes, providing for our family, paying our bills on time and serving our communities. That said, veterans like police officers, fire fighters and paramedics put their lives on the line for others and thereby earn a special thanks from their government because they serve us all in times of dire need and emergency.
If those who wish to slash services and the meager payments made to veterans and all others who qualify for assistance because they also want to give tax cuts to the most wealthy, tax loopholes for the biggest corporations, and special privileges to themselves, they should be willing to sacrifice in kind. After all, they are drawing from the same federal well. Their salaries and benefits come our tax dollars. If those who have put their lives on the line, if those who are too old or disabled to take care of their own needs are to suffer cuts in money and services, then those who hold the purse strings and make those decisions should be made to take equal cuts in salaries and benefits, privileges and services.
To do otherwise, is to deeply disrespect those who sacrificed so much already for this country.
We must ask ourselves if we are a compassionate country that values its citizens or if we are country ruled by the bottom-line. Do we care about each other or just money. It’s a simple choice. We can all make sacrifices in order to ensure that the least amongst is provided for, but the key is just that: all of us must take cuts, including our federal Representatives and Senators. It is high time for them to put their money where their mouths are.
Gosh, bubbles, we are on the same wavelength again. Scary but nice.
LOL. yes.
I wonder how many of these members of Congress pushing for a reduction in federal pay and federal workers are out making pretty speeches at Veteran’s Day ceremonies?
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all of them. before they make that move i suggest they reduce their federal pay by double the amount and that we begin by reducing the numbers of their staff.
i also suggest we halve the pay of SCOTUS since it is clear that they are in the pay of their corporate masters and their wives; i.e. Virginia Thomas, are in the business of collecting monies from secret sources. monies that cannot be monitored.
so by all means let us begin to reign in federal pay by starting with said politicians.
I support you wholeheartedly…best thing I’ve heard in a long time, b. You are one cool cookie!!!
I wonder how many members of Congress or the Senate would be willing to take a cut in pay. After all, they work part time, have better benefits than any of us, medical care for life, and all kinds of other perks. They should be willing to lead by example.
As the old subway poster (post-Vietnam) said, “Sad but true, veterans still need jobs.”
More interesting would be to know how many members of the current congress are themselves Veterans.