Military families | A Pioneer's Journey

Book given to U.S. veterans in 1919 to help them readjust to civilian life (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Before Christmas I decided to write to Congressman Paul Ryan. It was important that I express my feelings about Washington’s broken promise to veterans who have shouldered a very heavy burden for a very long time. I debated vehemently with myself for weeks over whether or not to publish my opinion, reluctant to push that button and add more anger to the online atmosphere. After careful consideration, I’ve decided it’s time to show my unwavering support for my extended family, the U.S. Military. I spent the Holidays in quiet reverence and reflection, but now the ceasefire is over and I will no longer remain silent.

During Christmas Break, my husband and I watched a documentary about the surge in Iraq. His Brigade Combat Team was instrumental in this operation and suffered massive losses. Grateful for surviving, my husband has never looked at the world the same since this deployment. While watching the documentary, I kept asking myself over and over: we upheld our promises to serve this country; why has our government broken its promise to us? Very telling statements by Congressman Ryan — that veteran pension earnings are “benefits”, implying an opinion that we haven’t actually earned them — reveal genuine disrespect for service members and the inability to understand how to care for veterans adequately. The fact that so many colleagues backed Mr. Ryan’s bill indicates this same attitude is running rampant in Washington.

I actually sent Mr. Ryan a handwritten letter because our printer is broken. Printers are expensive; has anyone else noticed that they seem to be more expensive than in past years? Contrary to certain opinions, money does not grow on the trees in military families’ back yards. But when it comes down to it, the money is not the thing. The fundamental difference between veterans and politicians is that politicians may worry about who deserves handouts while veterans concern themselves with upholding promises made. It is the principles, the ethics, intrinsic to breaking promises, ruining trust, and devaluing America’s veterans, that reveals the characters. Ugly characters. That is the thing that must be addressed.

A serious problem lies in the very ethics behind the budget bill. This idea has been presented and accepted, that we take wealth from one entity and distribute it to benefit another entity. Sure, it has been gift wrapped in a glittering concept that by doing this we are “saving” America from another government shutdown and possibly larger catastrophes in 2014. Is anyone really benefiting after this is all said and done? The idea is now acceptable that our government can and should skim from the earnings of veterans who have given everything to protect our country and the American way of life! Where will it end? Who else will be arbitrarily targeted in the coming years? Agree with me or don’t, but until we lose the right to speak against abusive governance, I will be one opinionated American. Below are excerpts from my letter to Congressman Ryan, with further thoughts on the matter.

Congressman Ryan,

I am deeply disappointed with your attitude toward the military members who will be affected by your budget plan. In statements regarding the plan, you have insinuated that military members, who do not pay into their pensions, are perhaps creating an unfair burden to the “hard-working taxpayers” and that it is only “right and fair” that we make further sacrifices on top of our selfless service to this country. You assume that we will continue working after retirement from military service and cite that we receive ample benefits and pensions considerably more generous than those of many civilian counterparts. The truth is that we are not protected from politicians like you and we can lose our benefits and hard earned pay on a whim, as you have so masterfully demonstrated.

It is no secret that civilian counterparts doing the same or similar jobs tend to earn higher wages than service members. Military spouses, regardless of their education and work experience, are often resigned to taking jobs paying substantially lower wages than their civilian counterparts because they are not ‘geographically stable’. Service members are also not guaranteed lucrative careers after retirement; while there are programs in place to help them transition into the civilian workforce, as a group veterans are in no better position than anyone else. Service members and military families are not given unfair advantages over civilian counterparts, and any allusions to this are purely myth.

…If you are wondering about the ridiculous pink paper and handwritten message, my printer is broken. Printers are expensive, funds are pretty thin, and being a military family – despite what you believe – we simply can’t afford a new one right now. We tighten the belt every year to put away savings, and our family will be directly affected by your budget plan.

I really wanted him to understand the reason behind the silly pink paper. Being a military family means making sacrifices and often doing without the creature comforts that make life so convenient. Military families live paycheck to paycheck like most every other family in the United States, and we struggle to make ends meet like everyone else. I have no qualms writing a letter to a member of Congress on ugly pink paper if that is all I have. Reality is — and isn’t — funny, don’t you think?

…My husband and I are OIF and OEF veterans. Between us, we have worked with and personally know thousands of service members… We are all hard-working, tax paying citizens who have served our country with loyalty, pride and honor. The family members of these heroes sacrifice more than they are given credit for; spouses often forego lucrative careers because of numerous moves, and watch their children grow up without the service members…due to multiple deployments, long training sessions, and late work days. To insinuate that we are in some way creating a burden to the rest of the country, or that we have an unfair advantage, or that we are not as hard-working because we have not traditionally been required to contribute to our retirement pensions — and that the “right and fair” thing to do is to take away from us — is ignorant and disrespectful.

The term “right and fair” is so off-putting that it is difficult for me to imagine that Congressman Ryan did not actually intend for this statement to be condescending. If we veterans are being fed a guilt trip instead of being given basic respect, it isn’t terribly far-fetched to imagine how much worse things could become for everyone.

…It is also selfish and exploitative to assume that the military is a reusable and disposable force that can be worked over and over…This is your assumption, correct? That we will just keep working and earning money that we may or may not be allowed to possess?

The military has already been labeled a burden. Apparently military families who have been making constant sacrifices throughout the War on Terror Era still present an inconvenience because of our very existence . Yet possibly most unsettling is the concept of the ‘disposable workforce’, which has surfaced on more than one occasion since I wrote this letter a few weeks before Christmas. It was scary when, in September/October of 2013 we military families faced the possibility of going without any pay during the government shutdown. We were spared but I can imagine how detrimental this was for the DoD civilians! Until then I never imagined that the government could just take away our pay, indefinitely, on a whim, due to its own dysfunction, and let its best and most loyal face the ugly consequences. A government that plays with the idea of allowing its military families to face poverty and hunger does consider these individuals to be disposable and I dare it to prove me wrong.

…You do not deserve to serve this country or to run for office if it means riding on the backs of the military members who have worked, fought, and given their lives to insure your freedom and security… Military members should be given an immediate and public apology for your insensitivity. You were quick to pat yourself and colleagues on the back in public; I find this cowardly considering whose money you are using to clean up your mess. I also find it cowardly to put your bill and yourself on a pedestal while devaluing veterans publicly.

I want you to remember, as you go to your posh holiday parties…there are military families with barely enough money right now to buy one nice Christmas dinner, and they, NOT YOU, have been holding up this country through sacrifice, love and service…You have no comprehension of what the military has done for you. Stop being so proud and think about the ethics and consequences of your actions. Where does it end, once the idea becomes acceptable to take away the wealth of the ones who fight to protect your land and your livelihood? Your victory in Washington is a loss of trust between veterans and a government we swore to serve faithfully.

Regards,

—G

When I joined the National Guard in 1998, I joined under the impression that my government would always back me up, because I promised to serve my country loyally when I took my oath of enlistment. When I became an Army spouse in 2004 I was still under the impression that our government was supporting the Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, Airmen, and Guardsmen of America. I will find it very difficult to ever trust politicians again, but I will always be loyal and reliable to my military families.

If you are interested in this topic, any and all of the related articles are incredible. I particularly like The Right Thing and Why Should Our Military Suck It Up.

http://www.militaryspouse.com/articles/why-should-our-military-suck-it-up/
U.S. Military Personnel & Veterans Struggling To Pay Bills Get 1 Percent Pay Raise (fggam.org)
The Right Thing (jqpublic-blog.com)
How Congress broke faith with our troops (msnbc.com)
http://www.arizonadailyindependent.com/2013/12/24/veterans-facebook-post-to-paul-ryan-goes-viral/
Veteran’s Response To Paul Ryan’s Military Retirement Cuts Goes Viral (freepatriot.org)

Okay, I knew that my paranoia after the shutdown in October was not in vain. I knew that the government was gunning for military families in some way or another, because we are all so entitled and so rich! I saw it coming; we service members just weren’t miserable enough. A “fair” solution was found, to coin the term used by a certain Congressman. Because it wouldn’t be “fair” to the rest of the country if the New Greatest Generation wasn’t struggling a bit harder. We just have it too good.

Please excuse the biting sarcasm. I don’t aim it at my readers, civilians in general, or the citizens of America. I love this country and the people, mostly. In all honesty, I am not sure how I feel about the military retirement pension reduction that was so easily and triumphantly created to “prevent” future sequestrations and shutdowns. Maybe the cuts to the military pensions will help. It would be great, right? I aim my frustration at politicians who don’t seem to understand that service members do struggle just as much as everyone else. Reading various statements justifying the decision, it almost seems like we’ve been identified as not having contributed enough to America’s survival, targeted because we’ve been too well taken care of, so certainly we can spare some of our wealth. A Paul Ryan quote, from the Huffington Post really rubbed me the wrong way:

“We think it’s only right and fair that they pay something more to their pensions, just like the hard-working taxpayers that pay for those pensions in the first place,” Ryan said.

Yeah, because military members don’t pay any taxes, we all live in mini mansions, we each drive an Infiniti gassed by the farts of fairies, and we all sport purple crew cuts and glitter covered jackboots. You want “right and fair”? Let’s do some Military Math. What is the value of a Warrant Officer father missing his first daughter’s birth? A First Sergeant mother not being home for Christmas? How about a child going an entire school year without both parents because they are dual military and both deployed? Is that worth 1% of the service member’s retirement pension? What about scraping brain and skull fragments out of a Humvee? Or watching your best friend get killed? Or are all those things simply not adding enough “right and fair” value to everyone’s American Experience?

I will concede that Mr. Ryan perhaps did not mean to be snide and condescending, but insinuating that military members are creating dead weight, with those hard-working taxpayers bearing the brunt of the burden, is disrespectful. Service members do pay taxes as well as bills and other out of pocket costs just like civilians, so justifying a 1% pension reduction through the excuse that we have somehow been unfair towards the hard-working taxpayers is just plain rude. Times are hard everywhere, including the Army post where I live, and military families are stretched thinner every year. No one here is going to ride into a magical golden sunset at retirement.

The politicians are definitely Utilitarians, offering as a sacrifice to appease the rhythm of happy commerce the retirement savings of this rag tag group of service members who have spent the better part of their adult lives earning those pensions in the throes of never ending war. After all, it is better to take wealth from one small group that has so much to give and disburse it for the greater good, right? Nevermind what it looks like (Communism). I had a feeling that this was coming, because I saw that gleam in their eyes while I watched them fuss over their budget notes on the news these past months. They were looking for a pig to bleed. Oink, oink.

So the question remains: does this matter, and how much? It depends on who you ask but yes, it does matter. The soldiers who have gone to the Middle East for the last decade have been called the New Greatest Generation, but are we being treated as though we really did anything special? I see the politicians patting themselves on the back victoriously over this budget deal, but where is the heartfelt apology and gesture of gratitude to the service members who will now be sacrificing money that they “supposedly” earned through years of dedicated service and loyalty to the nation? This remains to be seen.

I know that my family will be fine. We will never be rich. We figure out ways to survive. We go from one year being the King of the Hill to being the Underdog the next. We get knocked around by life, the Army, and the government, constantly losing and gaining monetary wealth depending on the mood of entities larger than us. Our cupboards get thin, but never completely bare. We never are and never will be rolling in money, so excuse me for saying this but it doesn’t feel “fair”, and I don’t like the word “fair” used so casually to describe disbursement of military pension money, especially when military personnel had no say in the decision process. I take offense at the word “fair” being used to undermine the character of military members. Don’t tell me that it is “fair” to take money away from soldiers. Ever. Who better than a service member would know that life isn’t fair?

If Congress is willing to play with the idea of not paying the military for an indefinite period of time (and no, they didn’t go through with it in October, but it still scared me), they clearly have no qualms about taking our paychecks hostage and using our pensions as emergency funds. But instead of apologizing for their poor decision making and subsequent hijacking of the military pensions, the catch phrase of this “solution” is that we military members ought to “pay something more…like the hard-working taxpayers”. A guilt trip for those who have served with loyalty and dignity…Well, you’re welcome. It comes down to the fact that regardless of how I feel (angry? bummed? livid?cheated? anxious? depressed? defeated?) we may or may not see that 1% returned to us. The money doesn’t matter anyway; it’s the principle.

You know what I really want? It would be a genuine apology to my husband and every other member of the U.S. military, from every single member of Congress. NOW. I want them to personally apologize for treating our military like pawns in a game and using us as their backup plan when they can’t get their tangle of piss poor planning unsnarled. And I want a personal and heartfelt show of appreciation from those overpaid, snake oiled used car salesmen. We are the New Greatest Generation, and we deserve to be treated with dignity and respect! It starts with a simple gesture. It should never be lauded as a victory when you arbitrarily take wealth from your hardest working and most courageous citizens to clean up your mistakes because you lack the courage to do so yourself. This is called cowardice.

— G