By: Keith Kappes
Columnist
Carter County Times
As a former soldier myself, I try to keep up with what military veterans are saying about the agency they alternately describe as their best friend and worst enemy – The Department of Veterans Affairs – the VA.
In fact, the latest outcry about what the federal government does or doesn’t do for American vets reminded me of that great poem, “Tommy,” written a century ago by Rudyard Kipling, the English journalist, novelist, poet and short-story writer.
His biting criticism of the alleged failure of Britons to appreciate their soldiers during peacetime led to many changes affecting British Army soldiers over the years. It might qualify as a cautionary tale today for the VA and our men and women in uniform.
Two verses near the end of Kipling’s poem explain the oft-expressed frustration of soldiers throughout history who sensed they are only valued during wartime.
It reads like this:
While it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ Tommy, fall be’ind,”
But it’s “Please to walk in front, sir,” when there’s trouble in the wind
There’s trouble in the wind, my boys, there’s trouble in the wind,
O it’s “Please to walk in front, sir,” when there’s trouble in the wind.
For it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ Chuck him out, the brute!”
But it’s “Saviour of ‘is country” when the guns begin to shoot;
An’ it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ anything you please;
An’ Tommy ain’t a bloomin’ fool – you bet that Tommy sees!
In that spirit, a Kentucky veteran wrote this stinging sentence in a recent article in the Lexington Herald-Leader. I’m sure his bitter disappointment is shared by other vets.
“Imagine going to war to protect your country and coming home to find your country no longer protects you.”
About 15 million U.S. veterans are dependent on the VA for health care. Many are complaining that the announced VA staff layoffs, budget cuts and a new policy of zero tolerance of certain political beliefs will result in a wider gap between what veterans deserve and what they get.
I can’t imagine what our forefathers would think of a policy directive that says vets voicing the wrong political message would have to wait the longest at VA medical clinics and hospitals.
That’s certainly not the America I swore to defend.
Contact Keith at keithkappes@gmail.com.
