Memorial Day, The Military and Social Security

This seems like a good time to remind our..cough..beloved politicians that a whole shitload of military vets and disabled/deceased soldiers's families( wives and kids) live on and depend on Social Security, Disability and that pesky government health care  that all politicians get btw). Just a few facts for those dispshits in charge to ponder when taking an axe to entitlments and the like, thanks to VoteVets:

Some highlights of the report, which can be found here: http://strengthensocialsecurity.org/veterans-report

    Social Security currently pays benefits to over 9 million veterans-about 4 in 10 veterans.
  
Over one-third of America's 54 million Social Security beneficiaries are either veterans or family members living with them, such as their spouses.
  
Of the 13 to 14 million veterans-or 6 in 10-who are not Social Security beneficiaries, the vast majority will become beneficiaries in the future.
  
The vast majority of the Active Duty community's 1.4 million members, 700,000 spouses and 1.2 million children, and the Total Selected Reserve community's 1.1 million members, 400,000 spouses and 650,000 children, are eligible for Social Security's disability and life insurance benefits if a service member becomes severely disabled or dies.
  
Indeed, approximately 771,000 veterans receive Social Security disabled worker benefits, averaging $1,100-$1,200 per month.
  
Social Security's young survivors' benefits are particularly important to the 4 in 10 active duty members who are married with children and the 1 in 20 who are single parents.
  
As of January 16, 2011, the number of American servicemen and women killed on active duty in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan was 5,860, leaving behind an estimated more than 4,000 children

After we help those brain-dead fucks in DC digest those facts, we can all enjoy the three day weekend we call Memorial Day Weekend.

Memorial Day means living on War Time for some of us.

I have a beautiful, intelligent, college-educated niece who is stationed in Afghanistan. To be specific, she is stationed in one of the hotspots in Afghanistan, a base outside Qalat. She will be coming home to us for two precious weeks starting next week. We will have a party in honor of her birthday and take her to Las Vegas because in her short 22 years of life, she has never been there.

I know that today is supposed to be a day when we honor those killed in action. I pray I will never have to honor my beloved niece that way. With over 3400 dead soldiers in Iraq alone, we will have many American's honoring family members who have died in George Bush's wars today around these United States. I find myself sitting and waiting for her emails every evening when I know its daytime in Afghanistan. It's living on War time for me..and apparently I am not the only one that thinks that way.

Please take the time to read a NYT editorial written by a father who's son died protecting others in the Iraq War. A short two paragraph excerpt is below:

EVERY evening at 10, beeps emanate from the top drawer of my dresser. The sound comes from a watch that has resided there for just over three years. The 20 beeps signify that another day is dawning in Iraq. The watch belonged to my son, Specialist Martin Kondor, who was killed in action with the Army on the morning of April 29, 2004, in the city of Baquba, north of Baghdad. Martin was 20 years old.

Since his death, three Memorial Days have come and gone, and while most people think of Memorial Day as just a day off from work, an occasion for a backyard cookout or a chance to score a good deal at a spectacular sale, for families like mine, Memorial Day has a more somber meaning. For us, the day is a further reminder that our loved one is gone forever.

Tags: Iraq, Memorial Day