Why is it the U.S. Military can't help these Marine Corps Veterans?
These men willingly gave up the best years of their lives for the service of their country. They endured horror that few, if any, of us can possibly imagine. Fighting a fanatical, relentless enemy, death was all around them on that lonely island in 1945. Yet they perservered, as Marines always have, and always will, until the island was firmly in American hands. If you have never read about the battle for Iwo Jima, you owe it to yourself to rectify the situation. One casualty figure states that 22,000 American serviceman died or were wounded on the island. Over 23,000 Japanese soldiers perished in the epic struggle. Those casualty figures far outweigh those of D-Day, the invasion of France.
The debt our nation owes to these men can never be repaid. The least we can do is provide them transport to a place where so many of their friends still remain.
UPDATE: Looks like we pulled through for these guys.
4 comments:
From the Fox article: ...ranging in age from 85 to 97...
I'm glad we came thru for these guys. But I'm amazed they survived the 130 flight. I've been in 130s and they ain't no place for old guys. To say the VERY least.
No kidding, Buck! I've flown in those birds a time or two myself, and passenger comfort was not on the list.
But, I daresay, those men, regardless of age, have been through things far tougher than flying in a C-130.
It's symptomatic of government operations. Governments do nothing well, and that includes military operations. Our armed forces are the best trained and best equipped, but I don't have to tell any of the regulars here how badly they operate on a day-to-day basis.
In general, we are not doing well by our veterans.
I know two folks--one who served in the U.S. and cleaned up after Katrina, and one who went to Iraq twice--who cannot get access to their GI education benefits.
I can't tell you how sick that makes me.
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