The VA

Criticism of the VA and their lack of good "whatever" always seems to play well on the evening news. They have lots of shortcomings and are an overwhelmed HMO. And, there's two sides that most don't get: the claims section is not the medical side. However, with that slight bit of support for VA, what fascinates me are the vets themselves. They may or may not be a reflection of society. I don't think so. In front of me are a couple of guys who are like a history book. They know the units and they love to give commentary. as if it is the military channel: talking about the various units--5th Special Forces, 8th Infantry, 509 Airborne, Marine Force Recon. Need I go on? 

The VA is like a zoo. Today, mostly old vets and in fact, looks like mostly Vietnam vets. The guy beside me has his clothes in a plastic bag and is one of the "don't smell him, treat him" types.  Sometimes I don't know how I feel about VA. I go there because It is as close as I can get to soldiers. In my mind's eye, I have this unrealistic view that us vets are like a fraternity. We have been soldiers. We have similar experiences. 

But, I don't know. Fellow Vietnam vets, so called Swift Boat vets, sunk John Kerry when he was running for president. Think about it: Kerry lost, we got George W. We also got two useless wars, similar to Vietnam. Impossible to have decisive victory under any circumstance. As Vietnam vets, we should have known better. We have to figure that if Kerry had been elected, he had been a soldier and we would have avoided useless wars. As vets we f..ked up, let's face it. We were simply used for politics. Doesn't speak very well for us vets being a fraternity.