September 28, 2009 - This weekend I experienced the honor of spending quality time with scores of fellow war veterans and their families, including a dozen recently returned Iraq War veterans.  

This opportunity arose because I was a guest speaker at the Veterans and Military Families for Progress (VMFP) conference held at the Sheraton Hotel in Arlington, a stone's throw from the Pentagon severely damaged on 9/11. This year's event was led by Matt Cary, my good friend.

At our table for ten during the evening banquet, nine of us shared the pleasure of conversing with former Senator Max Cleland, a personal hero of mine who I met shortly after my return from Iraq in 1991. His autobiography, Strong at the Broken Places, remains a timeless inspiration.

Max served in the Vietnam War, where he was severely wounded, losing three limbs in a grenade blast, only to return home and become an advocate for veterans, serving as Administrator of VA under President Jimmy Carter and as a U.S. Senator from Georgia.

With his easy and humble style, Max soon established an instant rapport with everyone, most especially our younger combat veterans, and they eagerly lined up to have their picture taken with a rock star. He is. Max established VA's highly successful Vet Centers providing free readjustment counseling services to combat veterans - offices widely credited with saving tens of thousands of lives, marriages, families, and hope.

Max lit up the room with his humor, welcoming home all veterans. His sincerity shined like the brightest beacon in Boston. After he was introduced, he was asked what else he had done. "I survived the war, and I told my story," the veterans' advocate said.

Sitting at the next table were six recently discharged Iraq War veterans, I could hear and feel their happiness about returning home and meeting fellow veterans mixed with the ambivalence and anxiety that comes with readjusting and assimilating into a country fighting two wars, yet not engaged in the wars.

The new veterans ate and drank, plus they said they enjoyed the company of fellow veterans and people fighting with them and for them. All of this was fresh new ground for them - and there will be a lot of that. I suggested watching the poignant and inspirational film, "The Best Years of Our Lives," to let them know they are not alone, as veterans of prior wars share the visceral memories of war and coming home.

Returning Veterans, a Poem for You

The recently returned veterans mentioned fallen friends, yet none had heard of Archibald MacLeish, a World War I ambulance driver, U.S. artillery officer, Librarian of Congress, and member of the esteemed Cosmos Club, who penned this beautiful poem in 1941:

The Young Dead Soldiers Do Not Speak

Nevertheless they are heard in the still houses: who has not heard them?

They have a silence that speaks for them at night and when the clock counts.

They say, We were young. We have died. Remember us.

They say, We have done what we could but until it is finished it is not done.

They say, We have given our lives but until it is finished no one can know what our lives gave.

They say, Our deaths are not ours: they are yours: they will mean what you make them.

They say, Whether our lives and our deaths were for peace and a new hope or for nothing we cannot say: it is you who must say this.

They say, We leave you our deaths: give them their meaning: given them an end to the war and a true peace: give them a victory that ends the war and a peace afterwards: give them their meaning.

We were young, they say. We have died. Remember us.

VCS Speaks Amid Other Honorable Guests

During my presentations with Thomas Bandzul, our VCS associate counsel, VMFP conference attendees were surprised to learn VA's claim backlog was nearing one million, with veterans waiting six months for an initial claim decision and four more years for an appealed decision.

Veterans and family members were concerned VA hospitals already treated 425,000 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans. And then the next day, I shared the troubling news of how another 29,000 patients flooded into VA during the first three months of 2009, boosting the total to more than 454,000 - that means more than 320 new, first-time Iraq and Afghanistan war veteran are treated by a VA doctor every day.

First up was Joan Evans, recently confirmed as the Assistant Secretary for Congressional Affairs at VA. She spoke eloquently and poignantly from the heart about her husband's service in the two wars. After her comments, she answered questions from veterans and family members about the significant challenges facing VA.

Next up was Michele Jones, who shared her passionate motivation as a veteran to assist fellow war veterans. She works as a special assistant to Secretary Gates at the Pentagon after retiring as a Command Sergeant Major. I was truly impressed by both, and believe service members and veterans are in good hands with the new Administration.

Thank you Matt, Max, Joan, and Michele. The combined efforts of so many empowered veterans, advocates, and government leaders working to improve VA and DoD for our service members, our veterans, and their families remains a bright colorful array of lights at the end of two long tunnels of war we eagerly anticipate.

Thank you, Veterans for Common Sense