Letters to Pete: “I lay awake at night. Dreaming of a country that does better for veterans…”
By Sara R., NE
Every day, Pete Buttigieg receives letters from Americans who believe we need a new approach to solve our nation’s biggest challenges. This is one of them. The following letter is transcribed as it was received on October 7, 2019.
Hi Mayor Pete. I hope I can be informal and call you that rather than Mayor Buttigieg.
No doubt that you receive hundreds of communications each day. I hope that this finds its way to you eventually.
I am in need of hope for and with our nation. And there is something about your energy and spirit that creates calmness, promotes resiliency, and instills hope. While I have never had the opportunity to meet you, I am confident that you are the one that can bring peace and light to our country because of this spirit that comes through. I don’t have much to give, but I am trying to donate small amounts to your campaign when I am able because I believe in your vision for our future and I am fearful of an otherwise different result.
Each day, I am surrounded by Americans that have lost hope — both in my personal and professional life. My dad is a Vietnam veteran. He served in the Army as a green beret and received the Purple Heart when he led his platoon over a landmine. His men were killed behind him and he suffered severe injury — from the back of his head down to his ankles. But even worse — he has suffered from significant mental illness for many years. as long as I’ve been alive. PTSD and mental illness due to war combat literally changed the entire course of our lives. My dad is now permanently in assisted living and confined to a wheelchair because of the shrapnel in his back and knees. He’s also suffering from dementia and still has not been able to fight the demons left behind from years of depression and PTSD. He’s only 71. He receives care from our nation’s VA system, but it’s not working. The assisted living facility staff is doing the best they can with what they have and are very generous people. But it’s not enough. Like so many others, my dad waits months to see specialists and even longer for psychiatry appointments. When he does see his doctors, they are so behind in schedules that they only spend a few minutes with him. It took him nearly a year to qualify for an electric wheelchair. Until that time, he was not only confined to a wheelchair, but also to his room because his arthritis caused by the shrapnel was so severe he could not wheel himself out of his room.
But my dad is one of the lucky ones. He has veteran friends in assisted living that wait much, much longer than him. And that don’t have family going to a different kind of battle on their behalf each day. A battle with VA, with insurance companies, with assisted living, with Medicare, with society. I lay awake at night. Dreaming of a country that does better for veterans (and for ALL). And celebrates our veterans. I mean really celebrates them. By offering quality care and resources so that they can age with pride and dignity and LIFE. And ensuring adequate and speedy mental health supports for veterans and their families.
Our family was destroyed by combat. I again lay awake imagining how my childhood and early adulthood may have been different with a mentally strong father. A dad that was proud, rather than overcome with feelings most of us will never understand. A dad that was able to identify and confront his mental illness to feel whole again. A dad that was able to stay employed and coach softball and manage money and take vacations and be friendly to neighbors and not yell so loud that it knocked pictures off the wall. A dad that was able to find happiness and joy in life. And how that would have changed the course for my mom and my three siblings. Because now, while my dad is receiving mental health support he so-badly needed all those years ago, the family is still fractured. The wounds from childhood still exist. And I’m determined to prevent this cycle from happening to young veteran families, fighting an endless war both in combat and at home.
I choose my career to help people, because I was a broken kid. I wanted to help children have something that I never could — a happy childhood. I work in a children and family well-being advocacy nonprofit organization. And I fight like hell each day so that everyone in Nebraska has equitable opportunities to not only survive, but succeed and THRIVE in life. It’s becoming increasingly more difficult. And I am sorry to say, that I lose a little bit of hope each day when I am reminded about how the majority of us have to work so hard to not only belong, but thrive in Nebraska and in our country. So much of the change must start with our federal government, and I’m losing faith that those of us in shadows will ever truly be heard again. I always had a purpose in my life and my career because I always saw hope, no matter how challenging it became. I start to feel hopeful again when I think about a nation led by you. Mayor Pete. You lead with a message of resiliency and optimism. I see myself in your. You are confident and in-touch with the realities facing so many of us all across the country just trying to get by. You are also a dog-person. And I tend to trust dog people.
I see the polls and I am asking you to please not give up the fight for those of us desperate for healing and hope. For those of us that are watching from the sidelines, hoping for a chance to not only play but also score big for our nation’s people. There are so many like me — with the fight and the drive to not only make a difference, but MATTER to the path ahead for the United States. And I am grateful for your run at the Presidency. Thank you for serving our country — as a veteran. And as a beacon of hope and light.
With Respect,
Sara R., NE
Taking care of our nation’s veterans is the duty of not just the government but every American. To learn about Pete’s vision to serve those who serve, read our plan.
