The Letter I Sent to Senator Jim Webb

To The Honorable Jim Webb
January 25, 2007

Dear Sir,

Thank you.

My ex-husband, was a Vietnam Era Vet, though he never served in country, he did serve on a mission that is still classified. He is the father of my two oldest children and he died in a motorcycle accident last summer.

After the war he was able to start his life due to the GI Bill. I know that he would be very pleased to know that these new vets will be able to start their life with help from a new GI Bill.

Unfortunately he also had two things that these new vets will suffer and are suffering from. While on that classified mission he suffered a head injury, which left him in a coma. He awoke half a world away at Wilford Hall in San Antonio. Decades later, this hospital is where he died.

He also had PTSD. Had it been treated effectively and vigorously when he came home, I believe his life would not have been so troubled.

It is my hope that you and other Senators and Congresspersons who have served, especially in war, will make sure that these service persons will have full and abundant “after” services and therapy when they come home and rejoin our communities.

Veterans from every war have needed these services. In wars past many took to self medicating, becoming alcoholics, crippled by depression or violent toward their families. While we did not know then what we know now about PTSD, trauma, shock, etc. there is no excuse for us to withhold, deny or under fund these necessary services to those who have given and sacrificed so much, just because their country asked them to. We owe them.

Thank you for your service then and now, and please thank your son for me.

3 Fast Issues

1. WOW! How about that! The Dixie Chicks are #1! Mr. O'Reilly, how do you like your crow cooked? Not only are they number one on Billboard and Amazon.com, but they are also the most popular group on Rhapsody.

2. I've been thinking . . . wouldn't it be something to have a "National Sing-a-Long" protest? On a given day people meet at their various state capitals and sing these protest songs, including "Dear Mr. President" (Pink), "Lives In the Balance" (Jackson Browne), "Asshole" (Jim's Big Ego), and "Not Ready to Make Nice" (Dixie Chicks), no speeches, just songs, sort of like a Flash Mob. And these four songs a singable by many voices, neither too high or too low.

3. A few weeks ago, now, my ex-husband, a Vietnam Vet, had a motorcycle accident. His wife, who was on the bike with him, just broke her leg. He on the other hand, well, he is lying in a coma, and not expected to ever wake.

Now I have written about the PTSD he suffered as a result of his tour on Americablog comments. I have written about the violence in marriage, also on Americablog comments. What I haven't written is that he and I reconciled last year.

Even without the domestic abuse, we would probably have never made it. What we each wanted out of life was irreconcilable. The directions were almost diametrically opposed. In divorce and our subsequent marriages to others we both got what we wanted.

Now he lies in a hospital bed on full life support. I play a supporting role to my 2 kids from that marriage, now adults. I also am trying to support his wife. While there is a living will there is also hesitance based on what one thinks that they are seeing. Thoughts of the Terry Schiavo battle have often come to mind and his wife, his biological children, step children, sister and brother all weigh their emotions, reality and dreams and hopes that they are not ready to give up yet.

And I mourn. It feels kind of strange, there is no manual on how an ex is supposed to mourn their one time spouse. Yes, I have an understanding spouse who knew that I would mourn, even more than I thought I would. But I’m in a margins, my kids, his wife and that family are the ones in the spotlight, on the hot seat and making decisions that I hope I never have to make. Being in the background has curses, and it’s blessings.

It's a strange time.

Snippet from Yesterday

Yes, I've been away. By need I have had to devote a lot of time to assisting in fighting a development in my town, which has taken a number of twists. And it has also taken my time from other things.

But here is an impression of yesterday:

"But the image of him falling is something I’ll never be able to get out of my mind. I fired, and there’s Harry falling. And it was, I’d have to say, one of the worst days of my life, at that moment." - VP Dick Cheney on shooting an acquaintant in his hunting party, Whittington - appearing on FoxNews with Brit Hume 2/15/05

I have not been able to get this statement out of my mind.

Since I heard it I wonder and have wondered how many US Service men and women who have been sent to an illegal and useless war, who've watched friends, enemies and the innocent die, can say this and feel this way. Given that my exhusband is a Veitnam Veteran and that during the 1980's I became very good at spotting other Vietnam Veterans (something in their eyes), I say very many, most, if not all, have felt or feel this way.

One thing is for sure, Cheney will get top notch PTSD counceling, both public and private, if he feels the need. Our service people who've had to deal with more death, more images of people going down will be lucky to get half that.

David E Fablog

P.S. Jasmine, lost your phone #, please call.

Republicans show how they really feel about our service men and women

Being the ex-wife of a Vietnam Veteran I already knew they felt this way, so this really isn't any surprise. Whenever cuts, empty or broken promises have come to veterans, especially disabled veterans, it's usually Republicans who are doing it. Democrats usually restore benefits.

But this isn't even in the usual realm of subterfuge.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 10 /U.S. Newswire/ -- A proposal to end the long-standing practice of veterans groups addressing a joint session of the House and Senate Veterans' Affairs Committees is an insult to all who have fought, sacrificed and died to defend the Constitution, according to the Disabled American Veterans (DAV). And in a strongly worded letter to House Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Steve Buyer (R-Ind.), the DAV has urged him to continue the joint hearings as an invaluable tool in formulating public policy toward America's veterans.

Chairman Buyer recently announced that veterans service organizations will no longer have the opportunity to present testimony before a joint hearing of the House and Senate Veterans' Affairs Committees.

"The tradition of legislative presentations by veterans service organizations dates back to at least the 1950s. And the timing of this announcement -- just before Veterans Day -- could not have been worse," said DAV National Commander Paul W. Jackson.

Veterans Lash Out at Loss of Voice on Capitol Hill
Veterans Day Outrage