Editor,
In the early morning of Nov. 11, 2007, I woke up far away from the United States in the Middle East country of Kuwait. I quietly walked through the lines and rows of hundreds of olive drab cots where my fellow combat soldiers still slept. I remembered that many of these young men and women had still not had a good night’s rest.
I couldn’t sleep myself, so I decided to sneak out in the early dawn and run in a 5K race to commemorate Veterans Day. I ran those 3.1 miles with Marines, Air Force and Army service men and women.
Much to my own surprise, and that of the soldiers who were stationed at this camp in Kuwait, I ran and finished the Veterans Day race in first place. I remember feeling excited for the brief victory, but largely because I was there on a stopover back to the United States. Yes, we were finally at the end of our 13-month deployment to Iraq supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom, and we were on our journey back home.
As I celebrate Veterans Day this year with my friends and family, I am humbled by our service men and women overseas in harm’s way and keenly aware of the long journey back home for our new military veterans. I believe that we can do more to assist our veterans as they transition back to our communities, and continue to make improvements as our military culture changes in the 21st century.
Today, I am calling on our entire New Mexico congressional delegation, including our new senator-elect and our new congresswoman-elect, to build a better U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs here at home by focusing on the following important issues at our local VA hospital: Recognizing and supporting gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender military veterans and their families as they seek VA health care services; adapting the VA culture to respond to and eliminate the fear, stigma and shame of veterans who live with illnesses and disabilities; and updating practices and regulations for veterans who seek care for military sexual trauma.
Change starts at home. I believe we can work to honor the service of our military veterans every day and improve the current condition of our New Mexico VA Health Care Center. Our congressional delegation and our communities can champion this change through their leadership to improve the lives of all Americans.
Andres F. Lazo
UNM student
