Senior Veterans Failure could be cause of Mistreatment from Civilian Authorities

For years now veterans have been complaining that civilians does not get the mindset of a vet and some have went as far as to plug in former military members in certain section of their businesses hoping to put an end to that argument.  Still the issues of vets seem to survive and many even multiply and grow larger than they once were.  The newest crop of veteran’s organization has stepped up to solve one or more of the issues but still cannot seem to make a dent in the much larger issue.  The largest issue is the missing link between military life and the civilian world.  The largest issue is losing that “Esprit de Corps” that many feel when they serve with a group of others that they know will have their backs or watch their six.  The largest issue is hearing that there is support of the troops but failing to see this support in the area most needed and the key to their transition.  The veteran needs to see, touch and feel that support that has guided them throughout their years of service.  The veteran needs to see, touch and feel that the days, months, and years served to protect this nation is seen as worthy and valuable.

The newest veteran groups focuses on money as a measure of value and the older veterans groups focuses on healthcare but neither group tends to focus on the one thing that restores the pride and love for a country to a bunch of proud men and women who achieved such a high level of patriotism that they were willing to give their very lives for a country.  “Give a man a fish and feed him for a day, teach him how to fish and feed him for a lifetime”.  Stop accepting and repeating that the skills learned while serving in the military is less than those skills learned while sitting in a classroom.  Stop accepting and telling veterans that while your willingness to risk your life is appreciated, your survival of that willingness and return to the civilian world is not.

If I spent 2 to 6 years in some class and received a piece of paper that said I satisfactorily completed all that was required to receive to be awarded a diploma or degree, no one questions it and accepts it as all the necessary educational proof needed to get a job but if I spend that same amount of time and complete that same requirements but only present a DD-214, it is not enough.  If I spent 2 to 6 years in a class, got that degree or diploma and applied for a job in middle management based on that degree or diploma, I would get that job but if everything was the same except instead of a classroom I was on a battlefield or stuck on a military base, that same employer would only offer me an entry level position.  Seeing oneself as equal takes on a completely different meaning after seeing, feeling and touching something like that.

Senior veterans owe it to those that come after us to set the proper example and fight for them to get those benefits that we were never allowed to receive.  One of the best things that we can do is make sure that the days, months and years spend defending this country does account for something and they can earn the same equality via educational degrees and diplomas as those who choose to attend traditional educational facilities instead of getting their education through practical means and the university of hard knocks.  Do those who look to us as models deserve any less.  Imagine the pride of discovering that your ancestors received a degree or diploma now imagine the pride that fills a veteran of that same type of paper tells him/her that they can now serve, protect and provide for their families as they served and protected this nation without having to sacrifice more than they already have to do so.  Because many senior veterans are not demonstrating this to civilians, civilians have no true idea what to do for any veteran.