I was reading the local paper last week, and a letter to the editor sprang up at me. In it, a volunteer for the VFW chapter in Farmville wrote that the Veteran’s Hospital in Richmond does not have enough socks for their patients, many of them long-term care patients. The injured soldiers’ feet get cold due to the limited activity most of them can stand. Their feet get cold, hence the socks.
I can’t relate to you how upset this has made me. In fact, that is why I have waited to write about it. It was said that the VA hospital ‘couldn’t afford’ socks. I wonder if somewhere in the multi-billion dollar war budget there might be room for some socks. Everywhere you look, facilities are falling down. National Guard units can’t do their jobs (Katrina) because their equipment is being used in the war. At one point a few years ago, I read that the soldiers in a particular Guard unit were expected to share one pistol among them for target practice. Will we be protected? Will our soldiers be treated humanely?
I welcome today’s news that Virgil Goode has signed on late to the GI Bill measure that our Senator, Jim Webb has authored. Now let’s see if we can afford some socks for the men and women who will never be the same, who are bedridden by their injuries and who deserve socks woven with gold thread for the job they do and did for us.
This is just disgusting. Call your Congresspeople and your Senators to get some action on this. It is a national disgrace.
This comment from the VFW member was totally taken out of context. The VAMC is NOT having a shortage on socks. May 8th is National No Socks Day (not specific to the VAMC). Do an online search for “No Socks Day” and you will see for yourself. The socks for each veteran was for fun. FUN, not because the government cannot afford them or that they were even needed. Many volunteer groups ask regularly what our veterans need and were given a wish list. The socks with the attachment of the “No socks day” fun was on the lsit. Please do not bug your congress people or senators with something fictional. Please contact me with further concerns on this matter. Thank you and have a blessed day!
[...] Was Wrong, and I Apologize In my diary of Wednesday, May 14, 2008, I stated the premise that the McGuire VA Hospital was accepting socks for soldiers that would [...]
Somehow i missed the point. Probably lost in translation
Anyway … nice blog to visit.
cheers, Carey.