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By Sandra Spangler
First Lieutenant and infantry platoon leader Paul Rieckhoff served in Iraq 2003-2004. Now Executive Director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), he has risen to prominence as an authority on the war in Iraq and issues affecting military families.
On March 17 2009, Rieckhoff was interviewed by Rachel Maddow when the Obama administration put forth a proposal that would have privatized the Veterans Administration.
In this video clip he argues persuasively on behalf of IAVA that any plan to diminish veterans healthcare benefits by turning over to third party insurance companies decisions on payment for treatment for wounds of war would be a breach of trust that would be vigorously opposed and likely to alienate the President from the veterans of all wars.
Rieckhoff agreed with Washington Democratic Senator Patty Murray who warned the administration that any such plan would be "dead on arrival." Rieckhoff was among veteran leaders invited to the White House. He described his meetings at the White House and his determination to stop any legislation that would privatize the VA. The lobbying effort proved to be successful. On March 18, one day after meeting with the veterans leaders, Rawstory reported that President Obama withdrew the proposal that his administration claimed would reduce costs.Veteran Healthcare and support is a cause valiantly defended by Lt. Paul Rieckhoff We must salute him and veteran leaders and fully acknowledge the toll that Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder takes on returning veterans and military families. We must give these veterans resources and support to bind up severe mental and physical wounds as they return from the battlefield.
Last night I viewed the film The Valley of Elah, a film full of symbolism about how the ravages of the Iraq war dehumanized the lives of the soldiers who signed up to fight.
A wrenching story is told by a veteran father in search of his son gone AWOL after returning to the U.S. after an 18-month tour of duty in Iraq. Tommy Lee Jones, who plays "Hank" a former MP investigator, was nominated for best actor for the performance.The strain,grief and constrained emotion is etched in Hank's face as he stoically and determinedly conducts his own shrewd investigation that ultimately uncovers the fate of his son, Mike. As the plot unravels through cell-phone videos recorded by lost son Mike and Hank's man-to-man insightful talks with members of Mike's platoon, viewers learn that these soldiers were turned into efficient killing machines devoid of feeling. They are struggling to deal with symptoms of PTSD as they try to transition back into American society after going through the horrors of combat in Iraq. Back home they are caught in a no-man's land in an America largely unaware of what they had to deal with to survive in occupied Iraq.
Hank courageously confronts a larger unspeakable evil as he doggedly pursues clues to uncover the truth. Once a man devoted to military authority, Hank's last gesture is to fly the tattered flag sent home from Iraq by son Mike upside down in the distress position. He has experienced a truth that leads him to know the country is in deep distress.
The movie takes its title from a bedtime story about David felling the giant Goliath in the biblical setting of the Valley of Elah, Hank tells the story to "David", the young son of the police detective assisting him, played by Cherize Theron. Hank tells the boy not to fear, that the story of David and Goliath proves that even a monster can be defeated by good timing, courage and skill. As I pondered the theme of this powerful film, I came to see that Hank, the grief stricken father, like David, fearlessly and selflessly stared the monster down up close. He did not deny each horrifying discovery; instead he deployed his well-honed skills to combat the greater evil represented by Goliath, an impersonal, self-serving military industrial war machine.
There is no adequate way to fully repay our veterans for their sacrifice. The best way to honor our veterans is to acknowledge the truth of their experience and support them in their travails.
Let us never forget.
Tucson Remembers: Korea Watch Thursday, May 28 at 8pm.
May 28 at 8:00 p.m. on KUAT6 amd HD.
