Why Walter Reed suprises you

Was it really that surprising to find out what was happening at Walter Reed? Was it even more mind boggling to hear some of the answers the generals gave when asked by the congressional committee the other day. No,not to me it was. I wasn't surprised to see that this country cares for its injured vets in the same way it cares for its destitute. No sir,I wasn't even shocked by the comments made by Generals Kiley, Weightmen and Schoomaker as they faced the congressional committee that is investigating the conditions that were so courageously brought into the public eye by the Washington Post.
Kiley's remark that he doesn't do barracks inspection should have had him fired right on the spot. You are the chief surgeon of the army at a time of "war" and you can't find the time to visit your wounded patriots! Hell sir you lived right across the street from them! Just think what a visit by the army's top medical surgeon would have meant for those wounded and recovering. It would have, at the very least, conveyed a feeling that those "at the top" gave a shit and would have opened your eyes to the conditions they were recovering in and based on your testimony your eyes needed to be opened. But then again you don't do barrack inspections.

And as for you General Weightmen and your statement to the committee that, "We did not fully recognize the frustrating bureaucratic and administrative processes some of these soldiers go through. We should have, and in this I failed." Yes you did. How could you sit there and say that you didn't recognize the bureaucratic and administrative processes facing these brave men and woman and their families when you have spent your entire career in the military, which has always been one of the biggest bureaucratic and administrative monsters in recorded history. I guess you had just been hired from off the street and that the army places those they hire off the street right into the rank of general. Well I know at least this much; the army doesn't hire their generals off the street, and that in this case it might have been better for those mistreated vets had they done so. Last but not least, General Schoomaker. General the emotion you displayed when advising the committee's chairman, Rep. Tierney that you have daughter and son-in-law going over to Iraq, touches my soul, and I pray that they remain safe in their service to this country. However sir, ever since the day of the first recorded battle one thing is certain, and that is that rank has its privilege. As a four star general I am certain that if, God forbid, anything happened to those you love so dearly, they would not have to, no, would never have to endure the treatment that those less connected have had to endure. You are the top guy over there and you should have at least paid a visit to these medical facilities. Generals Patton and MacArthur did and their war was slightly larger.

You know it is really ironic that as I write this I just happen to be watching an interview with reporter, Bob Woodruff. As we know, Bob Woodruff was seriously wounded and nearly died while reporting from Iraq. He is currently telling his remarkable story of recovery that was made possible by the brave men and women of our army medical units and by the technology that allowed him as well as those seriously wounded in combat to have a remarkably high survival rate. Woodruff spoke with high praise for the treatment and care he and his family received from the army medical staff in Iraq and in Germany. He went on to say that the treatment he received was no different then that received by those soldiers who were wounded in battle. That is true, however, the treatment and care, or lack of, they receive when state side might make some of them wish they had just simply been killed in battle.