NEW YORK (MintPress) — New York is still celebrating Sunday’s Super Bowl win by the Giants, and the city is getting ready for Tuesday’s giant ticker tape parade to welcome the team back home. But not everyone here is cheering.
The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), the country’s first and largest nonprofit organization for service men and women who fought in those wars, has posted a new online petition calling for a parade to mark the end of combat operations in Iraq and honor its vets.
“Now is the time to remember those we’ve lost, respect those who’ve served, and respond to the issues they’re facing at home,” reads the petition, which is addressed to President Obama, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and mayors and government officials around the country. “Stand with IAVA Members nationwide to organize a single national day of action.”
“I am as big a fan as they come, but why do the Giants get a parade in the Canyon of Heroes and not our nation’s military?” asks IAVA Founder and Executive Director Paul Rieckhoff on the group’s website. “If that does happen, what does that say about us as a society and our priorities? So far, the petition has gained more than 17,000 signatures.
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Road blocks to parade for vets
Yet many officials are opposed to a public celebration for the time being. Mayor Bloomberg has already said there won’t be any city parade for Iraq war veterans in the near future. In a recent appearance on WOR Radio, Bloomberg revealed that military leaders in Washington “think a parade would be premature while we still have so many troops in harm’s way around the world.”
Instead, it has just been announced that the White House plans to hold a formal dinner to honor Iraq war veterans and their families. The theme, according to Pentagon spokesman Douglas Wilson, is the common fighting man or woman. “The intent is for those invited — with guests, numbering more than 200 — to represent the 1.5 million who fought in a nine-year-war that left nearly 4,500 dead and 32,000 wounded,” he said.
“That dinner is a nice effort,” says the IAVA’s Rieckhoff. “ The problem is what do you tell everybody outside that 200 who want to be a part of this.”
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Tough times ahead
The IAVA argues that a parade would be more than a celebration; it would also be a way to connect vets with resources they have earned and desperately need. The Veterans Administration has treated more than 210,000 returning soldiers for post-traumatic stress disorder but acknowledges it’s a bigger problem since many suffer in silence. The IAVA estimates that one in three recent vets, more than 700,00 of them, is affected by PTSD.
There are also severe physical wounds that need to be treated. Because of advances in combat medical procedures and better body armor, wounded soldiers are far more likely now than in past wars to come home alive. Thousands, in fact, are coming back with catastrophic injuries such as double and triple amputations and spinal cord damage, and they need specialized long-term care.
In addition, vets are returning home to broken marriages, strained relationships with family members, and few employment opportunities. Official figures state that unemployment among recent vets is more than 13 percent, compared to the national level of 8.3 %. The IAVA’s Rieckhoff has said that there is a 20 percent unemployment rate for members of the organization nationally, and that in some states, such as Michigan, it is more than 30 percent.
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IAVA demands
As it moves into 2012, the IAVA has called on President Obama to rally support for what it calls the “New Greatest Generation”
“Our military and America are at a crossroads, and we need America’s support now more than ever,” says the IAVA’s Rieckhoff. “ We want the President to put Congress and the country on notice that our troops are coming home—and we have a bargain to uphold.”
That bargain includes three concrete pledges from the Obama administration: A commitment to end veterans’ unemployment, a promise to protect the post-9/11 GI Bill, which offers incentives for further education and other critical benefits, and a focus on suicide.
“The President, Congress and the entire country must make the investment to help them reach their potential as America’s next doctors, politicians, CEOs and teachers,” said the group in a press release.
In the meantime, a New York City style ticker tape parade would be welcomed.
Source: MintPress