Everett, Wash. Published: Tuesday, November 11, 2008
EDITORIAL
Veterans have earned our gratitude, and more
In parades and gatherings throughout the United States today, a grateful nation will say thank you to the military veterans who have served and sacrificed for our freedoms.
Though sincere and heartfelt, such expressions are inherently inadequate. More is owed to our veterans -- and their families, whose sacrifices are too often overlooked -- than we can ever fully repay.
That is why we must try to come close, in our own personal ways as well as in public policy.
We all know veterans, perhaps including some who are serving now. Go out of your way to thank them, not just on Veterans Day, but throughout the year. Thank their families, too, acknowledging the difficult job military spouses and their children have getting through the long, often agonizing periods of deployment.
And we must never forget the more than 20 military members with ties to Snohomish or Island counties who have sacrificed their lives in the ongoing wars in Iraq or Afghanistan -- or those who did so in previous conflicts.
Lawmakers, at the federal and state levels, must keep working to ensure we keep the promises we've made to our veterans, and honoring their service in meaningful ways. That means building on progress that's been made in recent years, like offering significant college tuition discounts to veterans in our state, and full tuition waivers to the spouses and children of veterans killed or totally disabled in action. At the federal level, Congress must keep working to update the GI Bill so veterans have full access to the college education they need to be competitive for good-paying 21st century jobs.
Meeting veterans' medical needs is a promise that must be kept, as is being done with the anticipated opening of a permanent VA clinic in Mount Vernon next year, greatly improving access to care for veterans used to driving all the way to Seattle.
Keeping that promise also means anticipating and meeting future medical needs. In an address during a Veterans Day ceremony at Naval Station Everett on Friday, U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen of Everett noted that the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have yielded a signature injury -- traumatic brain injury -- which the VA must be ready to diagnose and treat. Post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental-health issues will also require concerted attention, given the number of troops who have been deployed to these wars multiple times.
