Iraq and Afghanistan Veteran Organization

This post is near and dear to my heart since I am a Marine Corps veteran and a veteran of the Iraq War.

As the wars continue to go on, there are an increasing amount of veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan leaving the services and continuing their lives as civilians. However, as can be witnessed in all over, the services being offered to these veterans are either non-existent or very poor.

Disability claims take months if not years to process, VA clinics (not the main hospitals) are in bad need of repair and personnel, VA funding needs to be increased and laws need to be adjusted to reflect current times or even be created.

These are just a few of the problems facing the support network. This doesn't even include the problems facing the veterans themselves. Veterans are coming out needing financial assistance, support groups, psychiatric care, medical care, legal assistance, etc. There are networks out there set up by the government and private companies to provide these services but not enough to the point where the veterans are no longer in need. In the news you hear about the poor services being offered by the VA. Just the other day I read in the newspaper that there are already 1,500 homeless veterans that were in the wars. This is unbelievable. These men and women put their lives on the line for their country, whether they wanted to or not, and this is how they are treated afterwards. It's downright despicable.

New organizations have emerged that state to represent the new group of veterans emerging from these wars. However, I don't believe they actually address the direct needs of the veterans. Without divulging names, I will give a small assessment.

One organization 9actually started by a couple of friends I served with) began as a company that said it was for veterans but actually seemed to be a political group that was a supporter of the war. It ran negative TV ads about politicians that were against the war and positive ones about politicians for it. When it was discovered that it was a political cover and not an actual veteran organization, they changed their tax status to not-for-profit and changed their organizational mission to state that it was a politically neutral organization fighting for the rights of veterans. I don't know what has come of them lately nor do I believe they have accomplished much since then. I don't really follow up on them anymore since I found out their original intentions. It's almost as if they used the veterans to promote their own agenda.

The other organization has been more active and not as politically biased but has still not really addressed the issues at hand. The organization has been more active in Washington pushing for veterans rights (a good thing) and does hold some functions at its main office. It seems to be doing a decent job for those veterans that have heard of them. However, that is the problem. The company hasn't reached out to all veterans. Most of my friends have never even heard of them. The organization should have a list of every veteran coming out of the services and mailing them information. Hell, I get it from the American Legion, VFW and other older organizations, so why not them? Additionally, it doesn't offer services such as legal support and VA help like the older groups do. In fact, it hardly offers any support other than to redirect them to an organization that can help. So, all it really seems to be is a lobbyist for Iraq and Afghanistan veteran issues. Finally, it doesn't even have meeting places for the veterans. The only actual buildings are for administration and they are located in NYC and Washington, D.C., nowhere else that is convenient for all the veterans that live all over the country.

One could always state that the veterans can go to organizations such as the VFW, VVA, American Legion and such but who wants to? The veterans of today see these organizations as old timers. They are perceived as a bunch of old guys sitting in a building, drinking and telling old war stories. These new veterans don't want that. They want a group where they can socialize with guys/gals their own age who experienced similar situations. They want other activities to do other than sit at a bar and drink. These organizations don't seem to be up to date. The one thing that they are useful for are the benefits they give their members (i.e. assistance in legal, medical and other veteran related issues) and they also advocate for veteran rights.

So, what I propose is for a group of veterans with the capability of putting together and running a company to create a not-for-profit organization that is for the veterans and actually addresses their current needs. It needs to be an organization that can not only advocate for their rights in Washington but it also needs to help them on the spot with their current needs. It needs to be an organization that makes itself known to all veterans. It needs to be able to assist veterans in every state and make itself available to every veteran of these wars. It needs to provide assistance from their own personnel, not redirect them to someone else. It needs to create a membership that is made up of our generation of veterans and will provide the social atmosphere necessary to instill the sense of camaraderie they once felt in the service. Finally, it needs to be for the veteran and keep that objective in mind. It should not have an alternative motive. It should not be politically aligned to one party or another. It doesn't matter if we support the war or not. We are veterans through and through and signed up willing to make the ultimate sacrifice. Don't use us for our votes or our money. Instead, just give us what we need: support.

Hopefully, there will be an individual or individuals out there that will be willing to make something like this happen. I would be more than willing to work with people to make this a reality.

Let me know what you think. I really would like to hear everyone's thought on this. And please don't turn this into a political debate.

Regards,

Bob