An Open Letter to the Citizens of the United States

Dear The Citizens of America,

My name is Olivia and I am a student at Summit Shasta High School. I wanted to write to you, ladies and gentlemen specifically, because in my English class we are discovering factors that lead to war, such as lack of money, conflicting countries, and government corruption. We learned how it has affected the past, present, and how it will affect our future generations, if we do not take care of these issues at hand. A recent discovery that my class found, was that American veterans, our veterans, have been treated poorly under the circumstance that we do not support them well enough. Ultimately I want to address to you that we can all do better to support our veterans, who are suffering from lost, devastation, and something they cannot take back from war: themselves.

First, in order to fully understand the reason why we should help our veterans more, we need to understand what is happening to them after war. This is important because our veterans are sacrificing themselves for us, and in order to prevent us from experiencing the terrible suffering and pain that will happen, they need to be there to protect us. War has caused an overpowering impact on our soldiers, causing lifelong effects which has damaged our veterans hearts and the people around them. An example of this was when Brandon Ketchum, a USA Veteran, experienced a traumatic event which scarred him for life. “The rest of the morning was spent picking up body parts, still warm, in perfect condition, like they had just fallen off the owner. My Marines were crying and I yelled at them, calling them demeaning names and to man up. This day caused so many feelings & emotions in me that I wrote my dad about the event and how much it was tearing me apart…” says Ketchum in a USA Today report. Another quote regarding Veteran abandonment says, “In addition to the complex set of factors influencing all homelessness — extreme shortage of affordable housing, livable income, and access to healthcare — a large number of displaced and at-risk veterans live with lingering effects of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance abuse, which are compounded by a lack of family and social support networks,” states The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans.

Ketuchum’s story and other hidden veterans’ stories need to be heard in order to make a change in how we treat our veterans. People who experienced these things like Ketchum should have total support in aiding their mental and physical state when coming back.

I know what you’re thinking: the Department of Veterans Affairs has it covered; they’ve been working with each veteran, caring and protecting them. While the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is supporting the veterans in a beneficial way, we, the citizens of the United States, are not providing our veterans with full respect and care. This issue can be seen as minor, but I stress that without caring for our veterans, we will have helped ruin a life that could be rescued from internal torture. Therefore, I implore to you that we must take action to help these veterans coming back from war. For example, raising money for the veterans finances, give job opportunities for them, and also protest to cause an awareness for these veterans during their rough time back. Providing care and even saying ‘Thank you for your service’ can make our veterans feel proud about our country.

Second, taking care of our veterans will play a vital role in helping to relieve our soldiers suffering. This is important because it will make a difference in a person’s life, which America fully supports. A group called the Veterans Support Foundation, or VSF, has started a program which enables anyone to help our veterans throughout the rest of their lives as a regular citizen. An anonymous veteran quoted this onto their website, “Thank you, so much, from the bottom of my heart for what you have done for us. May God bless you and your family, and allow you to continue with what you do. Our lives have been blessed because of your devotion to this cause. Thank you, again, my friend.” To affect this person with much care is truly beautiful. This is why we should help our veterans coming back from war; not only to feel better about ourselves, but to make a difference and help in someone’s life.

I appreciate that you read my stance, and I hope for the best with you and with our veterans.

Thank you for your time,

Olivia G.Q.