RSS 2.0 FeedMay 27, 2011, Weekly editorial
Memorial Day Thoughts
This next weekend is the first long weekend of summer. We look forward to community parades, wreath-laying ceremonies, air shows and even a PT boat at the beach. It will be fun, but also a time to reflect somberly on the sacrifices our veterans have made.
It is they who know best the pain of their comrades in arms who died during or after their military service. And all veterans also have given up a part of their lives for us, sometimes living on with chronic emotional suffering or physical problems.
We can best honor the dead by caring for the living.
This editorial page has been dedicated each year for several years now to calling for a special “gold card” for veterans that could be used at any medical facility where they can get the best care available. It would mean we would not need special veterans facilities that must stretch and shrink with the times.
Yes, it would be an expense, but there are other expenses that are less important than returning our veterans to health so they can be productive citizens. Also, our young men and women would be more likely to agree to serve if they knew they would receive any care they need.
Our former staffer Jack Rice first proposed this idea, and it is still waiting for someone in power to take it up and run with it.
