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 Vallarta Living | Veteran Affairs | May 2006 
One of the Costliest Military Engagements in US History
 David Lord - PVNN
| | Mary Gillis stands on a corner in the downtown crossing district of Boston protesting the U.S. war in Iraq Monday afternoon. Gillis, a certified public account spends one afternoon a week in protest of the war and has been holding up her sign in downtown crossing since last June, except for the last few months when she had been too busy preparing other people's income taxes. (AP/Stephan Savoia) |
If Congress passes the emergency spending request that's before the Senate, the cost of military operations since the 9-11 terrorist attacks will top $439 billion, with $320 billion of that for the Iraq war alone, according to a report this week by the Congressional Research Service.
Even with a significant reduction in US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan over the next several years, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that total war spending could top $811 billion by 2016.
For comparison, the 1991 Persian Gulf War cost about $89 billion in today's dollars, while the Korean War cost $455 billion and the Vietnam War cost $655 billion, according to Steven Kosiak, an analyst with the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, an independent policy research group in Washington.
"This war is turning out to cost far more than anticipated and not simply because we had to stay in Iraq with far more troops and far longer than the Bush administration expected," Kosiak said. "Compared to past wars and earlier projections of war costs made by the Congressional Budget Office and others, this war is turning out to be very expensive." - from a Knight Ridder news item.
Brooks Army Medical Center is my destination today. I will drive one thousand miles north starting this morning to visit an Iraq Veteran I have never met. The 23 year old is having serious problems dealing with the loss of both his feet and the burns that cover sixty per cent of his body.
I know that he is in a good deal of pain because the skin grafts that keep cracking, and I have been through that agony. He survived the explosion that killed his buddies, their tank having been blown by an I.E.D.
The strength it will take to rebuild his life is beyond what I can describe in this article. My own gunshot wound and the resulting loss of the right calf is nothing compared to this young patriots wounds. I know his pain as I too have slept and wept in the beds and wards that have never been changed since World War II.
I will bring with me the best wishes of all veterans here in Puerto Vallarta, and I know that regardless of the general disgust over the war, we all stand together for our brothers and sister that have the duty to fight the wars our President and lawmaker/politicians send them off to.
It is interesting that we always send them so far from home under the Political direction of those that have no direction themselves, either in leadership of our Nation or control of their emotions. They wave the banner of war just for the thrill of the show.
Let them visit Brooks Army Medical Hospital ward 5-C,let them pin the medals and make the speech and then watch them walk to the next bed, and the next, mumbling some phrases. In the end, they wash their hands of the misery and pain, leaving America's finest to recover on their own.
They will return to the floor of Congress and cast their vote to deny veterans the funding for the VA hospitals as part of the Nations annual budget, leaving it each year as a discretionary item to be funded from the surplus of taxes collected.
As National Service Officer, I make a difference in claims awards and money paid to you.
Power of Attorney Representation: Data indicates that veterans whose claims are represented by veterans service organizations receive, on average, $6,225 more per year than those without representation.
Enlisted versus Officer: On a national level, data indicates that enlisted veterans average $1,775 more per year than veterans who served as officers.
Military Retirees versus Non-Military Retirees: Data indicates that military retirees receive $1,438 more per year than non-military retired claimants.
Veterans, share your story with me. I would appreciate you sharing any experience with the Department of Veterans Affairs, I will record and respond to successes and failures and opinions.
 David Lord served in Vietnam as combat Marine for 1st Battalion 26th Marines, during which time he was severely wounded. He received the Purple Heart and the Presidential Unit Citation for his actions during the war in Vietnam. In Mexico, David now represents all veterans south of the U.S. border all the way to Panama, before the V.A. and the Board of Veterans Appeals. David Lord provides service to veterans at no fee. Veterans are welcome to drop in and discuss claims/benefits to which they are entitled by law at his office located at Bayside Properties, 160 Francisca Rodriguez, tel.: 223-4424, call him at home 299-5367, on his cell: 044 (322) 205-1323, or email him at mophmx@@yahoo.com or david.lord@yahoo.com.
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