No Soldier Left Behind

D-Day 1944 (Hartford Courant)

The 70th anniversary of the D-Day Normandy invasion follows a series of weeks dominated by military controversy.  Unlike today's commemorations, the latest outrages in the VA scandals take the spotlight away from our military heroes who deserve far better.    Before our short attention span news cycle takes us somewhere else, we need to get to the bottom of these matters.   Having a few heads roll and saying we acted should not be accepted as sufficient by the American public.   No major player in a position of power can claim the high ground or have sole responsibility for the low ground, since problems in the VA have been rampant for years.     Unlike World War II, we rely on a much smaller segment of our society to carry the burden of U.S. commitments overseas.   The postwar GI Bill made a world of difference to returning servicemen.   We owe today's heroes nothing less in the form of sweeping changes that will shake the VA system to its very foundation.

Next came word of the prisoner swap that ended Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl's five year imprisonment with the Taliban in exchange for five dangerous Guantanamo detainees.   The right has relentlessly been attacking the Obama administration for letting this happen while the President defends it as part of our "no soldier left behind" pledge.   To me, a commitment is a commitment, whether the circumstances of Bergdahl's disappearance give him hero status or not.   Dealing with characters we consider shady is not unprecedented.   Just ask Israel when they exchanged 1,000 accused terrorists for one Israeli soldier.   I'm disgusted at the wild accusations that have spread to the point of vilifying Bergdahl's family.   Let the justice system get the answers.

Finally, some folks are so bent on laying all blame for everything on Barack Obama.   No, Obama was not the first President since D-Day to never attend a commemoration at Normandy.   He's been there before, and he's there today.   People blinded by hate will fall for the most inaccurate myths.