Fifteen Minutes for a Veteran

The doorbell rang. It was 8:00 on Sunday night. He stood quietly at our front door with two pieces of paper folded in his hand. He looked down at the papers, then up at me. He seemed tired and worried.

"I stopped at the ministerial place but no one was there. Then I remembered Mary and I came here because I didn't know what else to do."

This veteran had driven from Rosebud Reservation. Because he lived over 75 miles away from his medical appointment he was entitled to receive a discounted rate for his motel room before his surgery the next day in Rapid City. He needed to get his voucher from the Hot Springs VA and he was going to stay in a motel in Hot Springs because it would be less expensive than one in Rapid City. When he went up to the VA he was told that he was 15 minutes too late to receive his discount for the motel. He had to have his appointment by 10:00 and they had scheduled him for 10:15.

"She told me at the desk that she had to save the VA money." He sighed, "I can't drive back to Rosebud tonight. It is too far to make my appointment tomorrow and I can't afford full price for a motel. I thought you could help."

I made a call to another veteran who knew the ropes. He made a call and called me back.

"Tell Alfred to meet me at Motel 6" was the message.

One veteran helps another. Is this the story now days? The VA schedules a veteran fifteen minutes too late to receive a motel discount. The VA saves some money. Who gets the money? I suspect it is not the taxpayers. I can't imagine our senators or representatives being treated in a similar fashion....

"I'm sorry, Senator, you will be losing some of your health care benefits because we have to save the taxpayers money."

Do you think one senator will help another? I really don't know the answer to my question, but this I do know, when a veteran is in trouble, there will likely be another veteran to come to his aid. They learned in the service to work as a "band of brothers" and that spirit follows them throughout their lives.

Hello, to our politicians out there! You ask for their service and then snip away at their benefits. My question to you is, "Is this the only way you know to save money?"

Really? Get real!