ve-te-ran – (n) a person who has served in a military force, especially one who has fought in a war: a Vietnam veteran.

Text of a video speech given as part of the Disabled American Veterans Virtual March on Washington event – July 27, 2011

First, I’d like to thank the DAV for organizing this event.  It’s an honor and a privilege to attend with my fellow veterans and their families and friends, and I appreciate the opportunity to speak out about the potential cuts to our benefits.  I have a wife and three children, and my disability benefits are our sole source of income right now.  Any reduction, delay or suspension of my benefits could prove catastrophic for us.

These are terrible times.  Our government is less than a week away from defaulting on our national debt for the first time in our nation’s history.  Republicans in Congress are refusing to find a compromise to prevent this from happening – the only option they have offered Democrats, including the President, is a series of extreme spending cuts, including cuts to so-called “entitlement” programs like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and yes – veterans retirement and disability benefits.  The sticking point is that they refuse to consider any type of revenue increase at all.  Not only are any tax increases off the table for them, they won’t even consider closing some tax loopholes used by the biggest corporations and wealthiest Americans to avoid paying their fair share.

The irony of this situation is not lost on me.  I am a Marine Corps veteran of Desert Storm – I was sent to the Middle East in the early 90’s to defend Saudi Arabia’s oil fields from Sadaam Hussein’s aggression.  Saudi Arabia is an obscenely rich country, but they had not invested a nickel in their own defense because they knew that if a threat arose, the U.S. would send me and my brothers and sisters into harm’s way to protect them.  To protect the oil.  Fast-forward to today and we find Congress refusing to raise taxes on the big oil companies, who post record-breaking quarterly profits over and over again, and who actually receive American tax money in the form of subsidies every year; and instead Congress is considering reducing the benefits I earned serving my country in a war zone.  See the irony here?

I can’t say I’m surprised this is happening.  The rich and powerful have always sent the poor and working class to fight their wars for them.  The propaganda is always framed so that the military is told it is fighting to “protect democracy,” but in truth the wars are always about protecting and furthering the cause of capitalism.  It is just overt now.

One major contributor to our nation’s current economic problem is undeniably the ten years of unfunded wars we have been fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.   The US government has asked tens of thousands of men and women to risk life and limb to fight in these conflicts and now, after they return home, they are being asked to pay for these wars as well.

Enough is enough.  The rich elites and corporate giants of this country have squeezed enough blood and treasure from this stone!  It’s bad enough that they want to pay for their bad decisions on the backs of the elderly, the sick, the underprivileged and the working-class, but we veterans need to stand up – to stick together – to tell conservative members of Congress, “Hell No!  You never stood tall and served your country in the field of battle!  You weren’t there when the smoke and fire were thick and the bullets were flying!  You were home drinking brandy and smoking cigars while we were bleeding and crying in the desert.  So get your filthy, fat, soft, self-serving paws off of my benefits!  You may have every one else confused and scared, but we’re United States veterans, and we stand together!”

Thanks again to the DAV.  Love to my brother and sister veterans, and those still on active duty.  Peace.