McCain fails to support the troops with Veterans Education Bill
Letters to the Editor
Lux Gurusamy
Issue date: 6/6/08 Section: Ed-Op
Dear Editor,
I seldom come out of my content life to write anything for The Triangle, though I never miss an opportunity to read every edition of it. But the fret over the new Veteran's Education Bill which was approved by the senate May 22 made my blood boil enough to come out and vent my anger.
The new Veteran's Education Bill, which would give full scholarships to young woman and men who serve this county in the military after their first three years, is supported by Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and opposed by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and the Department of Defense. McCain's and the DoD's argument is, if this bill becomes a law then all the young men and women who serve this country would leave the military early to pursue education.
As a veteran of the Kosovo conflict and the Iraq war and as a student of Drexel University, I am insulted by McCain's view. With one single statement, McCain disvalued my service to this country.
In my four years of service to this nation, I never came across a single soldier who would rather leave the military because there is a "better life" waiting for him outside. I served this country because I felt the need for it. I signed my four years of life away to Uncle Sam because I felt if I didn't, no one else would.
I can digest the fact that the DoD would be opposed to this bill. But to hear this nonsense excuse for opposing this bill from a senator who was a prisoner of war, who built his entire career with his military service, who actually benefited from veterans' education benefits and who one day might be the president of this county is just depressing.
Our country is great because we had great generations of men and women who understood the necessity to address the needs of the young. Young veterans of World Wars would come home after two to three years of service and start a new life using VA education benefits. They never asked for it, but it was given to them anyway.
McCain, I wish you could stand at the airport terminal to receive a soldier who survived his first two years of military life in Iraq and tell him that he can't have what his parents and grandparents had. Why don't you tell him you felt he would not serve if he could go to college? If you can't find him then ask me - I know who he is.
Lux Gurusamy
Senior
Civil/Appropriate Engineering
I seldom come out of my content life to write anything for The Triangle, though I never miss an opportunity to read every edition of it. But the fret over the new Veteran's Education Bill which was approved by the senate May 22 made my blood boil enough to come out and vent my anger.
The new Veteran's Education Bill, which would give full scholarships to young woman and men who serve this county in the military after their first three years, is supported by Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and opposed by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and the Department of Defense. McCain's and the DoD's argument is, if this bill becomes a law then all the young men and women who serve this country would leave the military early to pursue education.
As a veteran of the Kosovo conflict and the Iraq war and as a student of Drexel University, I am insulted by McCain's view. With one single statement, McCain disvalued my service to this country.
In my four years of service to this nation, I never came across a single soldier who would rather leave the military because there is a "better life" waiting for him outside. I served this country because I felt the need for it. I signed my four years of life away to Uncle Sam because I felt if I didn't, no one else would.
I can digest the fact that the DoD would be opposed to this bill. But to hear this nonsense excuse for opposing this bill from a senator who was a prisoner of war, who built his entire career with his military service, who actually benefited from veterans' education benefits and who one day might be the president of this county is just depressing.
Our country is great because we had great generations of men and women who understood the necessity to address the needs of the young. Young veterans of World Wars would come home after two to three years of service and start a new life using VA education benefits. They never asked for it, but it was given to them anyway.
McCain, I wish you could stand at the airport terminal to receive a soldier who survived his first two years of military life in Iraq and tell him that he can't have what his parents and grandparents had. Why don't you tell him you felt he would not serve if he could go to college? If you can't find him then ask me - I know who he is.
Lux Gurusamy
Senior
Civil/Appropriate Engineering
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 6
pat
posted 6/08/08 @ 9:36 AM EST
John McCain spent years being tortured by the North Vietnamese because he would not leave without his fellow POW's whom he cared about so deeply. To suggest that McCain doesn't care about the troops is absolutely outrageous. (Continued…)
Lux Gurusamy
posted 6/09/08 @ 4:23 PM EST
Pat:
I never questioned McCain's patriotism. I simply question his "brain".
You want to give a soldier, who joined the service in his twenties, the full scholarship after 10 years? He/ She will be in his thirties with his 10 years of battle fatigue. (Continued…)
Lux Gurusamy
posted 6/20/08 @ 5:13 PM EST
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/06/mccain-now-supp.html
Thank you.............Sen McCain
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