Dear future President of the United States,

Imagine a world where a returning soldiers are welcomed home with support from their country and benefits from their government. What if our veterans received financial aid and therapy for PTSD? What if they got care for physical injuries? The veterans that serve our country deserve the best of care. They were willing to die for us, we should at least be able to give them proper financial aid, therapy for mind disorders, and physical care for injuries.

One fifth of the homeless population are veterans. This is not the proper way to treat the people who served our country. I think the government should give financial aid to our veterans. This should include health insurance, help finding jobs, money for treatments, and a starting amount of money to start their life again. After the war they might have mental or physical disabilities, and finding a job may be hard. The veterans might have a family they have to support and without a job they will be unable to do that. “For those 25-34, male veterans had a 9.2 percent unemployment rate, compared to 7.5 percent for non veterans.”(Boyle). Our veterans that come back from risking their lives for us should feel a sense of peace and calm because they know that they are financially secure.

War is a traumatic experience and it can leave a scarring illness on a soldier's mind called PTSD, or post traumatic stress disorder. The symptoms include flashback, fear, severe anxiety, mistrust, irritability, and so much more. (US Dept.) The only way to be free of PTSD is to go to therapy sessions. These can often be expensive, so veterans have to face this illness on their own. “The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that PTSD afflicts: Almost 31 percent of Vietnam veterans As many as 10 percent of Gulf War veterans 11 percent of veterans of the war in Afghanistan 20 percent of Iraqi war veterans.”(friends) The men and women who served our country should not have to go through this without our help. I believe the government should pay for therapy for all of the veterans suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

During the war, many weapons harm our soldiers. Bombs blow off limbs, bullets shoot through legs, and gases seriously harm the lungs. “The true number of military personnel injured over the course of our nine-year-long fiasco in Iraq is in the hundreds of thousands — maybe even more than half a million — if you take into account all the men and women who returned from their deployments with traumatic brain injuries, post-traumatic stress, depression, hearing loss, breathing disorders, diseases, and other long-term health problems.” (Froomkin) These medical bills are not cheap and our government should be taking care of them. They risked their lives for us, the least we can do is help them recover.

These injuries drastically change the way the veteran has to live. They could need a breathing tube or a wheelchair, but not be able to afford it. This needs to change!

The government has plans in action to help give veterans a tiny push when they get back, but we need to help our veterans stand back up straight, proud and tall, so they can rebuild their lives from where they left off. They were willing to die for us, it's time we returned a favor.

Works cited:

(Boyle)

Boyle, John. "Veterans Find Military Service No Leg up in Job Market." Citizen Times. N.p., 28 May 2014. Web. 04 Nov. 2016.

(friends)

Friends of the National Library Of Medicine. "Feature: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder PTSD: A Growing Epidemic / Neuroscience and PTSD Treatments | NIH MedlinePlus the Magazine." Feature: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder PTSD: A Growing Epidemic / Neuroscience and PTSD Treatments. N.p., 2009. Web. 04 Nov. 2016

(Froomkin)

Froomkin, Dan. "How Many U.S. Soldiers Were Wounded in Iraq? Guess Again." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, n.d. Web. 04 Nov. 2016.

(US Dept)

US Department of Veterans Affairs. "PTSD: National Center for PTSD." Symptoms of PTSD -. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Nov. 2016.