Forgotten, But Not Gone

Today is Tuesday, 4 December 2012.

Special to Delta Mike Zulu.
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"Use 'em up, throw 'em away" has long been the reality behind the lip service to American war veterans.  Change may be coming.

Students of the Veterans Legal Clinic at Yale Law School have filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of Vietnam veterans who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and were given other-than-honorable discharges.  The suit demands that they receive upgraded discharges.

("Vietnam Veterans, Discharged Under Cloud, File Suit Saying Trauma Was Cause", by James Dao, in today's The New York Times)

PTSD was as obvious as the nose on your face at the time, but not "formally recognized" until 1980.  Should veterans suffering from it be retroactively diagnosed?  DOH!  If so, should current policies to protect those suffering be applied retroactively?  Double DOH!

If the suit is successful, how should treatment be financed? 

Begin by stripping all officers of all their taxpayer-donated extensive privileges.  Let them live in enlisted-grade barracks, dine with the enlisted personnel they claim to admire and love so much, drive their own personal vehicles (and no mileage allowances!), forfeit fancy pensions and other benefits, etc.

Let a special tax be levied on all civilians who hypocritically spout support for the troops, while ignoring their suffering.

Far past time to put monies where mouths are.