All the Kings Horses

Why anyone would join the military after recent revelations about how our war wounded are treated is beyond me, especially after the Bob Woodruff special. Rarely do I plan an evening around television (unless it's a baseball game), but I made sure I was home to watch that night. It was a heartwrenching show, and you have to be soulless to not have felt some anger at the way the brain damaged kids were treated.

But really, does this surprise anyone? Soldiers aren't treated like people - they're mechanical entities that can be discarded when no longer useful. And they are - just ask anyone who has ever tried to deal with the VA.

Just look at this mammoth building and you can understand the bureaucratic nightmare that is involved in getting anything done. It's not equipped to handle the massive casualties from Iraq who are kept alive because of modern technology. One has to wonder how many armless, legless, or brain damaged troops would have died from their injuries had they suffered them during Vietnam. Without this technology, what would the death toll be for this mess in Iraq? Frankly, I think it would be better to die than to trust the VA to put my brain back together again.