Letter: Commitments to veterans should be honored first

Wednesday, May 25, 2005 | 9:31 a.m.

Richard E. Law's May 13 letter did not go far enough. I am also a U.S. Navy retiree who was promised free health and dental care for life and free medical care for my dependents for life if I served 20 years or more. I was told that those benefits would be delayed pay for work done then.

With all due respect to the terrible losses caused by the South Asian tsunami, it's puzzling to me that hundreds of millions of dollars can be found by the U.S. government at the blink of an eye for support, but dollars are not available to honor commitments to veterans of the World War II, Korean War and other eras.

The primary reason our government gives for not supporting military retirees' earned medical care is the cost. The Congress and administration place arbitrary, subjective dollar figures on the sacrifices, loss of life and maimed bodies of our warriors and their families as justification for reneging on promises and commitments made. Is there any price we should not pay for our warriors who sacrificed themselves for our nation?

If it weren't for the World War II and Korean War generation of veterans, our Congress might be speaking German or Japanese today. Our government is always at the ready to bail out the world, but it neglects the saviors of our nation. It can find millions of dollars to take care of the health care needs of illegal aliens, but cannot come up with the dollars to keep the promises made to us military retirees.

What a great nation this is.

ROY L. HELSON