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November 11, 2009

Forum: Honoring all generations of veterans

By GENE A. CRAYTON

Today is a day to celebrate all generations of veterans and their families.

We will celebrate them all: those few left who fought in the "Great War" of World War I, the "Greatest Generation" of World War II, our heroes of Vietnam, Korea and the Gulf, and the latest generation of Iraq and Afghanistan. In many instances they suffered life-changing injuries for our freedoms.

And let's not forget all the veterans who served in peace time and those who placed themselves into harm's way in answering our country's call in the numerous other, sometimes forgotten, conflicts.

Together, all generations of veterans represent our nation's indelible commitment to sustaining and advancing freedom and democracy. Together, we are also a network of leadership, support and inspiration for each other.

For those of us who have served and live with our sacrifices every day as paralyzed veterans, we need you now more than ever. We need you to help ensure that we don't just live free, but live free with dignity and empowerment. Here are just some ways you can help:

-- If you are grateful to our veterans and their families, please take a minute to thank them for their service. It means more than you might imagine. Your word of thanks could be the encouragement they need to take the next step to living an even more full and productive life.

-- If you're a leader, from our president and Congress to our mayors and county officials, use your leadership to do something good every day for veterans. We appreciate the fact that the Obama administration and Congress have worked together for a historic budget increase for Veterans Administration health care and the recent enactment of the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act of 2009, which makes the health care programs administered by VA an advance appropriation. This means our veterans will get the health care they have earned in a timely manner.

But we need to continue to make history for all our veterans. While the good news is that the number of troops coming home now with paralyzing injuries will be in the hundreds rather than the thousands, as from previous wars such as Vietnam, the challenges they will face will be enormous. These brave men and women need our leaders to step up more than ever to help and empower them.

-- If you are an architect or a builder, please make America more wheelchair accessible.

-- If you are in a position to hire people, help veterans with disabilities return to the work force. Paralyzed Veterans of America's (www.pva.org) vocational rehabilitation program, a public-private partnership, is empowering hundreds of veterans with the services and counseling they need to get good jobs and careers, and matches them with employers who have vacancies.

This Veterans Day, as we honor all generations of veterans, please take a minute to think about the opportunities to make every day a day for veterans. We honor you for always caring about us.

About the author: Gene A. Crayton, U.S. Navy (Ret.), is president of Paralyzed Veterans of America.

About the forum: The forum is a periodic column of opinion written by Record-Eagle readers in their areas of interest or expertise. Submissions of 500 words or less may be made by e-mailing letters@record-eagle.com. Please include biographical information and a photo.

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