Support our Troops - The Right Way

As I was driving to class this morning, I saw another one of those yellow "Support our Troops" magnetic car ribbons on the bumper of the vehicle I was behind.

In our society, the men and women serving in our nation's military are among the most respected and revered of any in our country. But there are times when I worry about the kind of message that we are sending them.

In the upcoming national budget, our nation's veterans are getting the shaft. Over the next two years, it is planned to have their benefits cut yet again despite the numerous amount of soldiers coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan with severe battle wounds.

Moreover, not only are they getting the shaft on benefits but sometimes many of our wounded soldiers are treated in harsh and extremely bad conditions. A recent expose by Dana Priest of the Washington Post even went as far as saying that our vets have to deal with mice and deteriorating facilities while they undergo treatment.

It sickens me to hear this because our troops deserve so much better. We are the richest nation in the world and it is an absolute shame that our nation's finest are treated like this. If we truly support the troops then we need to do it in the right way.

In a recent interview, Chris Matthews asked a soldier about the recent political debate about the Iraq War in Congress and the effect it had on him as an American soldier. He stated that the ability and the privilege to have debate was exactly what the military was fighting for and said that debate should be occurring.

These men and women serve our country so that many of us do not have to but that in no way relieves us of our duties as Americans to think. Instead of overdone "Support our Troops" speeches from the Congress and White House, lets give them the proper funding and benefits that they have so rightfully earned.

Even though I will never see the person with the magnetic car ribbon ever again, I truly hope that they are with me on this. I hope that they have not put our troops in the back of their mind like they have the magnet on their car.