Letter: Trump not a veteran, VA patient

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Editor,

I enjoy reading Current (Noblesville), though I strongly disagree with your editorial/political stance. That said, I wish to comment on the Aug. 9 piece titled “Nation’s Veterans entitled to better.”

Having been (and being,) served by the Veterans Administration Hospital program as both an inpatient and outpatient since 1982, in five separate V.A. Hospitals located in three different states, I feel qualified to address the current status of V.A. Hospitals.

The experience of being required to wait for eight hours to have a prescription refilled would be unsettling to anyone. Certainly a call ahead to the hospital pharmacy might have eliminated the need for a wait. Likewise, I’m certain the V.A. pharmacy could have arranged for a phone call when the refill was ready. Actually, the V.A. pharmacy could have arranged to mail the prescription refill to the patient. So, the lengthy wait can hardly be blamed on the V.A. pharmacy. Oh, civilian pharmacies routinely have a 24-hour layover for prescription refills. So, the unsettling experience can be laid at the feet of the patient, not the V.A.

Citing Donald Trump’s address to the VFW convention, and his promise of “sweeping authority,” to reform the V.A., is also specious at best. Trump is NOT a Veteran and not a V.A. patient. In fact, the Donald avoided military service on five different occasions when summoned by the Selective Service Administration.

I am a Veteran. I served in the U.S.M.C. for six years and in the U.S. Army Reserve for over five years. As a V.A. Hospital patient, I have been marvelously served by the V.A. for nearly 34 years. That service has been exceptionally good. I would venture to say far better than comparable civilian hospital and doctor care.

It strikes me that the only reason for your article … was to afford yourselves an opportunity to tout Trump. Not to help Veterans, not to inform your readers of pertinent news, not to do anything except spout political propaganda.

You do a disservice to journalism and to our nation’s Veterans, when you use your position as a reporter of news in such a despicable manner.

Michael Gillard

Noblesville 


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