Changing the population's view of Veterans

2014-11-12T15:05:05-05:00

Tomas Young served as an infantry men in support of the Global War on Terrorism. Shortly into his first deployed he was hit by a sniper bullet resulting in him being paralyzed from the chest down. While an awful injury that resulted in him having to live the rest of his short life in a wheelchair, the problem I have with his story is not that he voiced his disagree with the wars but the fact that the US Media covered it so thoroughly resulting in the population only hearing negative things about what we did over there.

Young was quoted as saying he wished the government would "check all the boxes" before sending armed forces into combat. He spoke up about the issues he was having receiving pain medication from 2 different VAs. Sadly, he passed away on Monday at the age of 34.

While he and I didn't see totally eye-to-eye on everything, I do agree with him that the government should be ready to fully support the men and women who volunteer to put our lives on the line for the betterment of the nation.

What I don't agree with only speaking negative of our situations. These ideas have been beaten into everyone's head. And while I do not want to paint a false image of what we are going through; I question what can we as Veterans do to help showcase that while there are men and women like Young suffering as a result of their time in the military, there are ways that other Veterans are working to better the situation. No change will happen over night but there are several people here trying to make a difference.

How do we help spread that word as well?

Tomas Young, Iraq War Veteran and Antiwar Activist, Dead at 34

Tomas Young, an Iraq War Army veteran who was paralyzed by a sniper's bullet and became one of the first veterans to oppose the war, has died at age 34.

Response by CW5 Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 12 at 2014 3:16 PM

2014-11-12T15:16:32-05:00

I agree, SGT Ben Keen. And while I don't have any specific examples right at hand, there are many similar cases where the wounded Soldier struggles through and becomes productive again - in some way. We should take those stories and publicize them, applaud them. When I say we should publicize them, I mean the media, and I think they do a fair job of that. This unfortunate story happens to be a case of the other side of the coin, but I think the media does report the good news stories as well as these sorts of stories.

Response by Capt Richard I P. made Nov 12 at 2014 3:24 PM

2014-11-12T15:24:18-05:00

SGT Ben Keen We must do what we learned in the military. Ductus Exemplo, Deeds Not Words, be the change we want to see in the world.

Trivia: one of those is a military school motto and one is a Dalai Lama quote.

Response by SPC David Hannaman made Jul 13 at 2015 11:19 AM

2015-07-13T11:19:56-04:00

There's a saying about the news "If it bleeds it leads". We're a curious people... we're hungry for the sensational exception. Catch a cop doing something bad and it's replayed over and over, but ignore the thousands of times they help people every day.