Letter: Theft of vets’ files can’t be dismissed

Sunday, May 28, 2006 | 7:39 a.m.

I'm appalled at the callous approach our government's executive branch has taken toward the theft of 27 million personal veteran files by offering a paltry $50,000 reward for their return. These files are worth millions to a rogue country or organization that wishes to inflict financial ruin on the "Backbone of America," the United States military veterans.

I, as one of those affected military veterans, would be financially ruined in excess of $50,000, as an aftermath of a lifetime of work and thrift, if those Veterans Affairs stolen statistics are used in an identity theft operation. What a pittance to offer up for such a major governmental fiasco.

Also, why haven't those responsible for this national security breach of trust been relieved of their duties and placed behind bars without bail? To include VA Secretary Jim Nicholson and all those civil servant supervisors down to the thief himself. We in the military would have been.

Lastly, but not by far the final word: Why has our commander-in-chief defended these very, very inept, inefficient, hopeless VA administrators, who have been repeatedly informed throughout his regime of their failure to safeguard our personal statistics - when we were oftentimes in an extremely poor position to refuse to divulge?

Frank Walls, Henderson