By: MAJ (RET) Montgomery J. Granger @mjgranger1
One hundred and sixty-one years ago, in his second Inaugural Address, President Abraham Lincoln, on behalf of the federal government, demonstrated sympathy and took responsibility for veterans of the Civil War, their widows, and their orphans when he said, “let us strive on to finish the work we are in…to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan.”
The US Veterans Administration took the latter portion of that quote as their motto. It remained so until recently when it was changed to reflect the modern diversity of veterans. It now reads, “To fulfill President Lincoln’s promise to care for those who have served in our nation’s military and for their families, caregivers, and survivors.”
The result of that mandate is decidedly mixed.
As a veteran and US Army retiree, I have had several occasions to visit the local VA center, hospital, and satellites for care. The most recent visit was today with my wife in an effort to seek care for a service-related malady. While I have always found the medical care at least adequate and often above expectations, the facilities are severely lacking.
The current administration’s priorities seem clearly focused on everything and everyone except those who bore the battle. Ukraine, invaders (not immigrants, migrants, or lawful asylum seekers), college loans, etc., etc.
Their priorities are so skewed that VA funds have been used to pay for health care for non-citizens, people who have not only not borne the battle but whom we don’t even know to be loyal to our country.
Similarly, some sanctuary municipalities may be choosing between housing for veterans and housing for aliens. What a choice!
Caring for veterans should be a no-brainer.
These men and women signed a blank check for everything up to and including their lives so that we may enjoy life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We all owe a debt of gratitude and care to those who were willing to give their last full measure for our posterity.
What price is too much, and what care is too great to satisfy this promise?
Enough!
Let’s settle this long-festering wound on America’s honor. Let’s go all in on doing the right thing for all veterans, their families, and caregivers.
Let’s adopt the Disney Business model for VA facilities and care.
What would that look like?
If you’ve ever been to a VA facility, hopefully it’s been to one of their super-duper newer conglomerations, with LED lighting, modern construction materials and standards, working heating, ventilation and cooling, convenient access and appealing aesthetics befitting the sacrifice of their clientele.
Unfortunately, some facilities are about one hundred years old and seem to befuddle younger managers and supervisors.
The building I visited today will be 100 years old in 2027, and it looks it. An engineer’s report from 2017 identified $450 million worth of necessary upgrades and renovations. The price tag for an all-new facility was $1 billion. In actuality, about $21 million worth of work was done over three years.
One of the major ongoing complaints from veterans with mobility and accessibility challenges is parking. My wife and I had to walk over a quarter mile to the main building, from where we managed to find parking and over two miles total for all the services I needed to visit.
In contrast to the investments in care for veterans, Joe Biden has given Ukraine over $74 billion dollars just in the past year. Why? Is it for a purpose nearer and dearer to the American taxpayer’s heart than caring for our own veterans?
Furthermore, although a larger sum was struck down by the US Supreme Court, Joe Biden “has managed to erase more than $127 billion in student debt so far.” Why? Is this for a purpose approved by the American people, most of whom pay our own debts?
The US also spends about $70 billion on foreign aid each year and more than $18 billion on the UN alone.
My point is that it’s not a matter of having the money, but rather, a matter of priorities.
To replace a nearly 100-year-old VA facility would have cost $1 billion in 2017 dollars. What would it cost today? Does it really matter?
In my opinion, the VA could improve in myriad ways, but where the rubber meets the road is the facilities and their access.
Imagine, if you will, a Disney business model for the VA. This is something I know about!
I was probably three years old on my first visit to the House of Mouse in Southern California circa 1965 and have been dozens of times since then to Disneyland and Walt Disney World, Orlando. My wife and I have been Disney Vacation Club Members since August 2001. I even owned Disney stock up until mega wokeness took over, prompting me to sell it all.
And the best job I ever had was as a Davey Crockett (war) canoe host at Disneyland in 1986-87.
I know the Disney philosophy. At Disney University, they sat us in a screening room, made us watch The Man and the Mouse, flipped on the lights, and then asked: What product does Disney sell?
Why, happiness, of course!
How does Disney sell happiness?
By treating every person who walks through the front gate as if he were a guest in your home.
Back in 1986 that carried some weight. I have no idea what they tell new employees now! But what I experienced today was pretty darn near that old philosophy, with many friendly, helpful, and kind attendants at my local VA.
Beyond the pleasant attitude, I have seen the infrastructure, the tunnels, the logistics, and the magic at Disney parks, resorts, and cruise ships. Why can’t the VA borrow some imagineers to fix its own infrastructure?
There is no good reason why it should take law after new law to fix the VA, which, despite all those laws, never actually does get fixed. The model is there. The examples exist. The vision awaits reality.
Here’s one idea: if we kicked out the current residents, we could renovate the UN facilities in New York City and make it into a model facility for veterans!
Such a facility could provide high-rise apartments for the most needy veterans, with in-patient and out-patient care, rehab, job training, recreation, and, dare I say it – happiness!
You’ve heard about laughter being the best medicine, but love heals.
Am I saying money equals love? Sort of. If expressing love through a hug would heal vets, I’d say let’s start hugging! And although that surely wouldn’t hurt, why can’t Sleepy Joe & Co. give hugs to the Ukrainians, other foreigners, invaders, and the UN, and give the money to the vets?
That dream would actually only cost a fraction of what Uncle Joe gives away to others now without a blink.
The epiphany struck me as my wife and I were making it back to the car among the cracked concrete sidewalks, peeling paint, hole-filled roofs, and crumbling parking lot asphalt. “This should be Disney!” I exclaimed.
The fact that it is not Disney should make every American ashamed.
MAJ Granger was the ranking US Army Medical Department officer with the Joint Detainee Operations Group, Joint Task Force 160, from February to June 2002 at Gitmo. He is the author of the memoir, “Saving Grace at Guantanamo Bay,” and narrator of the short documentary YouTube film, “Heroes of GITMO,” based on his book.