America is the home of the free for one reason: our veterans. No matter what your view of the government is, it is vital to acknowledge that the elements of government you do agree with are protected by the U.S. military, including the freedoms you exercise every day.

Recently in the media, veterans have been cruelly mocked. They are made fun of for having mental illnesses they contracted in deployment, or for having been apart of a controversial operation in a war, such as bombing a city they were ordered to. Although some of the acts committed by these soldiers are unfathomable, they were necessary during the time, whether it be for the soldiers’ own survival or all of ours. To judge and make inappropriate remarks about a veteran is disheartening. 

“You may be surprised to hear he’s a congressional candidate from Texas, and not a hit man in a porno movie,” Saturday Night Live actor Pete Davidson said in regard to veteran and Congressman Dan Crenshaw, who lost an eye on a mission in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

President Donald Trump has also made grotesque comments in regard to our troops. 

“He’s not a war hero. He’s a war hero because he was captured — I like people that weren’t captured, okay? I hate to tell you,” Trump remarked in 2015, at the Family Leadership Summit in Iowa. He was referring to GOP Senator John McCain who was captured by the Vietnamese from 1967-1973. 

At school, some students have overheard peers make concerning comments in response to the suggestion that able veterans who are in need of employment should be offered a job as a school security guard. They insinuated in an offensive manner that their PTSD would infringe on their ability to work in the event of a school shooting. It is mortifying that younger people have the gall to say this in regard to our veterans and their service to this country; veterans should not be spoken of lowly and treated as though they are incredibly fragile and incapable. 

On Sept. 11 2019,  senior Milan Parodie sang the national anthem, and senior Einav Cohen, representative from Rho Kappa, presented a speech about the 9/11 tragedy over the PA system. Multiple students were laughing at this, texting throughout it, making jokes and disrespecting the short presentation. Students should have the ability to take 5 minutes out of their day to turn their phone off and be respectful. This generation is desensitized and disrespectful, and it is unacceptable.

Veterans Affairs centers have had difficulty providing, “timely access to safe, high-quality health care for veterans; ambiguous policies and inconsistent processes; inadequate oversight and accountability… inadequate staff training; and unclear resource needs and allocation priorities,” according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. 

Our veterans deserve top tier healthcare and resources. The VA needs more funding, especially with the upcoming health issues of older veterans. Many VA center officials have failed to provide  evidence that the services and care they are providing to veterans is of decent quality and safe. The data on employees’ misconduct was unable to be analyzed, and were not credible.

“VA’s suicide prevention media outreach activities declined in recent years… VHA did not assign key leadership responsibilities or establish clear lines of reporting for its suicide prevention media outreach campaign,” The U.S. Government Accountability Office observed. “As a result, the VA may not be maximizing its reach with suicide media content to veterans…”

The issues veterans face, and their negative portrayal in the media should be amongst our biggest concerns. Veterans should not have a bad reputation, they should be praised. Our veterans are a substantial part of our country, we could not survive without them.

Recently in the media, veterans have been cruelly mocked. They are made fun of for having mental illnesses they contracted in deployment, or for having been apart of a controversial operation in a war, such as bombing a city they were ordered to. Although some of the acts committed by these soldiers are unfathomable, they were necessary during the time, whether it be for the soldiers’ own survival or all of ours. To judge and make inappropriate remarks about a veteran is disheartening. 

“You may be surprised to hear he’s a congressional candidate from Texas, and not a hit man in a porno movie,” Saturday Night Live actor Pete Davidson said in regard to veteran and Congressman Dan Crenshaw, who lost an eye on a mission in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

President Donald Trump has also made grotesque comments in regard to our troops. 

“He’s not a war hero. He’s a war hero because he was captured — I like people that weren’t captured, okay? I hate to tell you,” Trump remarked in 2015, at the Family Leadership Summit in Iowa. He was referring to GOP Senator John McCain who was captured by the Vietnamese from 1967-1973. 

At school, some students have overheard peers make concerning comments in response to the suggestion that able veterans who are in need of employment should be offered a job as a school security guard. These are rude and ignorant statements such as, “they would be on the ground shaking with us,” in the event of a school shooting. It is mortifying that younger people have the gall to say this in regard to our veterans and their service to this country; veterans should not be spoken of lowly and treated as though they are incredibly fragile and incapable. 

On Sept. 11 2019,  senior Milan Parodie sang the national anthem, and senior Einav Cohen, representative from Rho Kappa, presented a speech about the 9/11 tragedy over the PA system. Multiple students were laughing at this, texting throughout it, making jokes and disrespecting the short presentation. Students should have the ability to take 5 minutes out of their day to turn their phone off and be respectful. This generation is desensitized and disrespectful, and it is unacceptable.

Veterans Affairs centers have had difficulty providing, “timely access to safe, high-quality health care for veterans; ambiguous policies and inconsistent processes; inadequate oversight and accountability… inadequate staff training; and unclear resource needs and allocation priorities,” according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. 

Our veterans deserve top tier healthcare and resources. The VA needs more funding, especially with the upcoming health issues of older veterans. Many VA center officials have failed to provide  evidence that the services and care they are providing to veterans is of decent quality and safe. The data on employees’ misconduct was unable to be analyzed, and were not credible.

“VA’s suicide prevention media outreach activities declined in recent years… VHA did not assign key leadership responsibilities or establish clear lines of reporting for its suicide prevention media outreach campaign,” The U.S. Government Accountability Office observed. “As a result, the VA may not be maximizing its reach with suicide media content to veterans…”

The issues veterans face, and their negative portrayal in the media should be among our biggest concerns. Veterans should not have a bad reputation, they should be praised. Our veterans are a substantial part of our country, we could not survive without them.