Veterans will be taken care of under Obama administration

Editor,

On Thursday you printed a letter from Andres Saenz in which he shared his opinions about not voting for Barack Obama. You had already printed another letter from him in the week preceding classes resuming. I realize you want to share more than one perspective, but if he is the only Obama hater writing you, then that speaks for itself.

I believe any readers who are concerned about the military should find out what many veterans are saying. Saenz appears to be upset at Obama for not serving in the military, but he can still educate himself regarding where Obama stands on veterans' issues. For reasons that don't make sense, John McCain was against the recent GI Bill, even though the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, the Disabled Veterans of America, the Blinded Veterans Association and the Paralyzed Veterans of America were for that legislation passing. McCain did not show up to vote. Presumably, he did not think it was important. Obama did show up to vote.

There are many veterans speaking up for Obama. Recently, Sen. John Kerry helped write legislation to develop a Military Eye Trauma Center of Excellence and Registry. Close to 1,500 soldiers have lost partial or complete use of one or both eyes. We need to track this to make sure these individuals' medical needs are not lost in the system.

Obama wants to take care of veterans by increasing funding for the Veterans Affairs because he believes those who put themselves in harm's way and serve should be taken care of when they come back.

There are huge differences in the way active-duty soldiers, reservists and guardsmen are treated when they come home. In the Iraq war, more than 3,800 Army soldiers have been killed, several hundred Marines and not many more than 200 Navy sailors or Air Force members. This is because the most dangerous duty is performed on the ground. All the Navy and Air Force members are willing to be involved with the same risks, and they train just as hard and are often in the theater of war, but, at present, these wars have not involved their lives in the same proportions. So whether they are active, Reserve or National Guard, these wounded veterans who are mostly Army and Marines need to be taken care of when they return home.

I am honorably retired military service, and although I did not serve in Iraq or Afghanistan, I support Obama for president because he will look after the veterans, and because McCain's voting record in Congress demonstrates he does not seem to care about veterans anymore.

Laurie Castro

UNM student