Caring For Our Wounded

The outrage regarding the disgusting conditions being encountered by wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center continues to flow unabated. This revelation has cost the Secretary of the Army and the commanding general at Walter Reed their jobs. Congressional hearings are being held that will continue to probe for the root causes of this grossly unacceptable treatment of men and women wounded in combat. The Secretary of Veterans Affairs, a member of the Cabinet, may be the next to be held accountable.

This story was broken by The Washington Post and today the Post published a follow up story that is equally disturbing but, sadly, may no longer be surprising given what we’ve learned about conditions at Walter Reed. This story recounts the input, admittedly unverified at this point, now being received from wounded veterans from around the country. The message is simple: the problem isn’t confined to Walter Reed.

As I did with the first posting on this story on February 18, I won’t try to digest the latest reporting but will provide a link to the story and encourage everyone to read it: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/04/AR2007030401394.html.

The first reports on the Congressional hearings are also emerging and they paint a story of substandard care, neglect and bureaucratic indifference. If anyone can read the testimony offered today before a House committee and not grind the enamel off their teeth in anger, then I probably don’t want to hear about it. It makes me sick. The testimony is recounted in this New York Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/05/washington/05cnd-medical.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

I feel like every American has a duty to read and follow this story until the mistreatment of wounded and disabled veterans in DOD and VA facilities is adequately addressed across the country. It appears that the focus of the investigation is being directed primarily to the outpatient facilities and medical holding units rather than to the acute care units. I’ve been complimentary of the acute care my son received at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego, but the linked story relates a sickening experience by one Marine who was discharged from that facility with an open wound and sent to a room in an outpatient barracks that was infested with fruit flies. His mother removed him and checked him into a hotel.

One Iraqi vet lies nearly immobile and unable to speak in a VA hospital in the Bronx. His aunt testified today that nurses in that facility "fight over who's going to have to give him a bath -- in front of him!" Her nephew was left unattended in a shower of scalding water until he suffered third-degree burns on his legs. He couldn’t move himself away from the water.

Perhaps it’s time for these men and women to be awarded additional Purple Hearts for wounds suffered in the course of recovering from the war, along with other combat awards for having the guts to endure conditions at home that in some instances seem as bad as those they faced in Iraq or Afghanistan.

No politician in Washington, DC should be allowed to utter a word about supporting the troops if s/he isn’t on record as having demanded that all necessary corrective action be taken immediately and having taken specific steps to ensure such action is underway. And by “steps” I don’t mean “speeches” or “letters”, I mean on-site inspections and personal intervention in individual cases from their home states and districts. It’s time for each of them to step up to the firing line and be held accountable on this one.

There is no excuse for failing these men and women.