Depending on when you’re reading this, we’re either just a few days from electing a new president or we already know
who that person is. One of the many disappointing aspects about this year’s presidential campaign, and there were many, is the fact that issues that affect most of us — the economy, health care, security — weren’t discussed in much detail.
Among the topics that didn’t receive a lot attention were our military and our veterans. A few years ago, the scandal broke concerning how our veterans were being treated — or not treated — by our Veterans Affairs hospitals. What happened to that? Are veterans being treated better since then? Not according to a story in the Washington Times in April.
In the story, John Cooper, a spokesman for Concerned Veterans for America, said, “The VA is still struggling with a lack of accountability, an inability to properly manage a budget rapidly approaching $200 billion, and a failure to provide veterans with timely access to care and benefits. The VA is broken ….”
While there are obviously historical reasons why Veterans Day is November 11, it would nice, and maybe appropriate,
if the day fell right before Election Day each year, so the candidates would be forced to talk about veterans’ issues more, and we as voters could take that extra moment to really think about who we want as the next Commander in Chief.
This November is a special month for Town&Gown when it comes to those who served. Our monthly issue features the cover story, “War Stories,” by Mike Dawson. With this December 7 being the 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor and America’s entrance into World War II, the piece spotlights some World War II veterans who now live in Centre County or had ties to Centre County.
Then there’s our special insert, Town&Gown’s Salute to Veterans. The publication includes profiles on local veterans and stories from veteran Adam Hartswick and Daniel Murphy, whose son, Michael, graduated from Penn State and posthumously received the Medal of Honor for his actions during an operation in Afghanistan in 2005.
Thanks to Salute to Veterans, Town&Gown is donating $5,000 to help kick off the fund-raising drive to bring the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall to Centre County next October.
On a few occasions, I’ve written about veterans and the military in this space. The people who are serving or have served this country are just amazing to me — and it’s not just because of their service and what they’ve done for our country. It’s how they talk about their service and what they’ve done, in that, they don’t really talk about it. The many I’ve been honored to chat with viewed their service as simply a job they did. They don’t see themselves as many others do — as heroes.
Perhaps it’s because — as is said near the end of the movie Black Hawk Down, as Staff Sergeant Matt Eversmann, played by Josh Harnett, sits beside one of his fallen comrades — “Nobody asks to be a hero; it just sometimes turns out that way.”
