Second Look at the Walter Reed Story

When Pam sent me this story about conditions at Walter Reed, I was livid after reading it. But then, after years of being lied to by the media my next reaction was one of caution. Could it really be that bad, or was this another politically motivated "Bush/America/Army bash" so typical from the main stream media?

Reading the MilBlogs, I tried to get a better feel of how accurate the story was. My experience in the military medical system is minimal. I remember being awakened after coming out of surgery and handed my sheets to make my bed at an Air Force hospital in Montgomery, AL and then years later getting "lost" in the system at Fitzsimmons, resulting in spending a week+ there, instead of a day or two. I almost ended up at Walter Reed in the late 80's but fortunately my boss refused to let them evacuate me 12 hours to DC unless they sent an aircraft. Instead, the Army decided to let the Medical Center in Vermont do the spinal surgery. Talking to a Walter Reed neurosurgeon some months after my operation I realized how absolutely lucky I was that it turned out that way.

Two things jumped out after reading the MilBlogs. First, if you have recently been "through" the Military medical system you knew the story of Walter Reed was largely true. Nowhere was that more clear that in JR Salzman's post of his experiences at Walter Reed that he posted here . What JR has experienced since he got wounded by an IED has been beyond what one can accept because of an impersonal bureaucracy. Those of us who returned whole from war can not let those who did not, men like JR Salzman, be forgotten.

What JR Salzman writes about Walter Reed is beyond disturbing. That this system needs to get fixed is an understatement. It cannot be allowed to stand. JR recently moved to the privately operated Fisher House. It, like the Intrepid Center in San Antonio, is not government funded. JR reports that Fisher house allows a soldier to recuperate with the dignity and respect they deserve. There is an obvious message here about what you really get when you receive "government funded" care as opposed to privately funded care.

Secondly, it was clear some MilBlogs had fallen victim to missing what was really important in the story, simply because they didn't like the messenger. BLACKFIVE didn't trust what the media reported (with good reason) because the media so often distorts the truth. He also points out quite accurately that a system like this is what the lefty's will ultimately give America when they implement socialized medicine in America. OK, well and good, but it missed the point. Andi's World acknowledges there are problems, attributing it to what happens when you deal with any complex bureaucracies. Yet reading both posts, I was astounded and disappointed. Both minimized the problem because they apparently didn't like the source of the message. Some of the MilBlog community has become so conditioned by having to fight from Ft. Apache all the time; they ignored the very reason that many of them had stated blogging in the first place: soldiers.

If only 25% of what was in the Walter Reed Story was accurate, that was still much too big a number. The real heart of the Walter Reed story, which Andi's World and JR Salzman's posts brought it out loud and clear, was that we have soldiers at Walter Reed who are not being treated with the dignity, respect, and the honor they deserve. The 'system' is out of control and unthinking and our wounded men and women were being victimized again by it.

Was the Washington Post and MSNBC thrilled to have another chance to bash the military? Of course they were. But these guys got some of the story right. In this case, “some” is too much. While the lefty's jumped on it as another reason bash Bush as was the case here, I was surprised that so few others did, not to bash the system or the Administration, but to fix it. While the lefty's assess blame of course they ignore the fact that the Democrats control the purse strings, and I have yet to see one of the majority rise up to fight to fix what is broken.

Stories like this make me feel too damn old. I have served in the military under both Democratic and Republican administrations. I have seen where Congress and Presidents talk of how much they honor soldier's service and then treat wounded and injured soldiers as expenses, not obligations. All the while, they piss away tax dollars on paybacks for their cronies, contributors, and altruistic give-a-way programs. Little has changed over the years. Michelle Malkin even wrote about her visit to a VA center years ago. Things like this have long embittered me.

That is why I detest both parties so much. When it comes to soldiers, the only competition between the two political parties is trying to figure out who has screwed em' more. For those of you who have not been sentenced to TRICARE for Life, or VA 'care' you probably don't realize how bad it is for soldiers who sought only to serve and now are dependent on their nation for their care for their injuries. And despite the rhetoric from President Bush, his administration has shown that when it comes to funding obligations to former soldiers, it is no better than the rest.