Veteran Classes

What, who is a veteran? By simple definition a veteran is anyone, male or female, who serves in the Armed Forces. That is what and who a veteran is but that is not the way people, including some veterans view veterans, nor, it appears is that the way our VA system and, perhaps, other agencies in our nation view veterans. Why is this? More importantly, what do such views create in our nation and within our veterans ranks? It causes divisions, prejudices, disdain, wannabes and inequality among veterans, to mention but a few negatives that are created by this diversification of veterans. It creates, as the recent Veterans Commission Report so obviously points out, "classes of veterans."

Classes of veterans is not something new. Veterans being divided into classes has been going on for many, many years, if not from the very beginning of our United States Armed Forces. Some of the classes we find ourselves put into were, at the onset, I feel, perhaps meant only as jokes or inter service play, but they have turned into something that could destroy us as a united veteran community. Our government, media, and, yes, our service organizations play a big part in this division of veterans. For example, when those of us who served in Vietnam returned home and went down to join various veterans organizations we were told that we did not qualify for membership because we "did not fight in a war." Who told us this? The veterans of WWII, who for the most part ran such organizations. Those known as the "Greatest Generation." The term, "Greatest Generation," in and of itself created a division of veterans. Some Korean veterans were also a part of this division, although they, like Vietnam vets, did not, in the technical sense, fight a war. Their war was known as "The Forgotten War." Thus, at the end of Vietnam we had 3 classes of veterans in the service organizations, the WWII vets, the Korean vets and the Vietnam vets who no one, it seemed, wanted to associate with. Then along came Desert Storm.

Desert Storm vets were a new class of veterans. The went and fought a very short war but they won. The Vietnam vet was not allowed to "win" the Vietnam War, although we won it militarily it was the politicians who lost the war, if you can say it was lost at all. Desert Storm troops returned home heroes and were welcomed by all the other classes of veterans. Yet, some of them did not accept Vietnam vets because, as I heard one Desert Storm vet say, "hey, we won our war, you guys lost."

There have been many small wars since WWII, Korea and Vietnam and with each one the veteran community has been further divided along lines of "what war were you in?" This division goes even further when you hear the questions of, "what unit did you serve in?"; were you on the front lines?"; "did you serve in combat?" and other such questions which serve to divide us as a veteran community. These are normal questions and are asked by most veterans to other veterans in a seemingly harmless manner, and it is harmless unless it creates prejudices, disdain or other negative reaction and serves to divide us as a unite veteran community - remember the definition of veteran above.

Now we are engaged in the War On Terror and we find ourselves creating, via the media and government services, creating, yet, another class of veteran. We appear not to creating such a division of veterans, we seem to be united in our support of our troops, but in reality a division is being created, a class of veteran formed. It is being formed by our government and by the agencies run and controlled by our government, namely the Veterans Administration.

No you say? One only has to look at the 2007 Edition of the Veterans Benefits Manual to see these divisions, these classes being formed right under our noses.

For example, on page 18 of the above manual, under the title of. "Gulf War Veterans May Receive Disability Compensation for Chronic Disabilities," you will note the following (quoted in pertinent part):

"Gulf War veterans may receive disability compensation for chronic disabilities from undiagnosed illnesses, medically unexplained chronic multi-symptom illnesses defined by a cluster of signs or symptoms."

"The following are examples of symptoms of an undiagnosed illness: chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, skin disorders, headache, muscle pain, joint pain, neurological symptoms, neuropsychological symptoms, symptoms involving the respiratory system, sleep disturbances, gastrointestinal symptoms, cardiovascular symptoms, abnormal weight loss, and menstrual disorders."

On page 17 of this same edition of the above manual under the title of "Presumptive Conditions Considered for Awarding Disability Compensation, Prisoner of War," we note the following:

"For former POWs who were imprisoned for any length of time, the following disabilities are presumed to be service connected if they are rated at least 10 percent disabling anytime after military service: psychosis, any of the anxiety states, dysthymic disorder, organic residuals of frostbite, post-traumatic osteoarthritis, heart disease or hypertensive vascular disease and their complications, stroke and residuals of stroke."

Now I am not saying that these veterans are not deserving of this service connection and compensation, what I am saying is that by the way this manual is written, i.e. noting these conditions for certain "classes" of veterans serves to divide us along periods, conditions and places of war time service. I know for a fact that many of these conditions listed under certain classifications of veterans also apply to other veterans of other periods and places of service, yet, they are not included in the "presumptive" category for purposes of service connection or compensation. You need to ask the question, WHY? Why for example are only former POWs presumed to be service connected for "anxiety states, post-traumatic osteoarthritis, heart disease or other listed illnesses when those who served in other periods and theaters of war, also, suffer from these illnesses? I know many veterans who suffer from PTSD, for example, who also suffer from heart disease, or as listed under those who served in the Gulf War, fibromyalgia and other illnesses listed under that category of veteran.

The simple truth, at least to me, is this, these classifications of veterans and illnesses serve to divide veterans and, thus, keep us from helping one another to gain those compensations earned by our service. As long as we are fighting among ourselves based on who served when, where and how, we can not unite to fight for the rights we have earned and secured by our service. The VA and others, keep us divided so that we do not focus on the true problem, that of acquiring what we have earned and have a right to receive. Plain and simple, United we stand, divided we are placed into classes, thus we lose as the class we are - Veterans!