Support Troops

Kipling memorialized the ability of a society to forget about its soldiers once the time of crisis had passed in his poem called "Tommy Atkins."

Our country has on occasion shown a similar disregard for the welfare of our veterans as when President Hoover ordered Gen. McArthur to use force to drive a political protest of war veterans out of Washington, D.C. McArthur obliged by driving the marchers out of D.C. with fixed bayonets and ordered the burning of their encampment.

Since then we have generally done better for our veterans, a farsighted G.I. Bill after World War II providing educational benefits, which well served the veterans and the nation for a generation. I personally will be forever grateful for the education I received under P.L. 550 at the end of the Korean War, without which I could never have attended college.

Now our veterans and our serving civilians, reservists and national guardsmen both, are faced with a new crisis. With units being recycled to Iraq two and three times, many of these men and women are in danger of losing their civilian jobs and their houses to foreclosure.

Congressional action is urgently needed to prevent this. Formerly, the Soldiers and Sailors Relief Act provided some protection with respect to litigation but a second look at this problem is long overdue. Our military, active and reserve, is being subjected to a series of abuses under law which need immediate attention. Let's translate the rhetoric of "support our troops" into some meaningful legislation affording them some job protection and educational benefits to which their service surely entitles them.

Randy Ludacer
Lake Placid