I found this article giving a few points about how badly cared for are veterans are, and in some cases, the deadliness of that poor care. It was originally posted on Veterans’ Day, but I thought that some of it was worth repeating.

These figures aren’t exactly pretty. The United States government should be ashamed of itself in that it lets these men and women suffer, and in many cases die, without proper post-war treatment.

A research team at Harvard Medical School estimates 2,266 U.S. military veterans under the age of 65 died last year because they lacked health insurance and thus had reduced access to care. That figure is more than 14 times the number of deaths (155) suffered by U.S. troops in Afghanistan in 2008, and more than twice as many as have died (911 as of Oct. 31) since the war began in 2001.

The researchers, who released their analysis today [Tuesday], pointedly say the health reform legislation pending in the House and Senate will not significantly affect this grim picture.

The Harvard group analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s March 2009 Current Population Survey, which surveyed Americans about their insurance coverage and veteran status, and found that 1,461,615 veterans between the ages of 18 and 64 were uninsured in 2008. Veterans were only classified as uninsured if they neither had health insurance nor received ongoing care at Veterans Health Administration (VA) hospitals or clinics.

Using their recently published findings in the American Journal of Public Health that show being uninsured raises an individual’s odds of dying by 40 percent (causing 44,798 deaths in the United States annually among those aged 17 to 64), they arrived at their estimate of 2,266 preventable deaths of non-elderly veterans in 2008.

…While many Americans believe that all veterans can get care from the VA, even combat veterans may not be able to obtain VA care, Woolhandler said. As a rule, VA facilities provide care for any veteran who is disabled by a condition connected to his or her military service and care for specific medical conditions acquired during military service.

Woolhandler said veterans who pass a means test are eligible for care in VA facilities, but have lower priority status…Veterans with higher incomes are classified in the lowest priority group and are not eligible for VA enrollment. (Mother Jones)

This isn’t right. I believe the author, James Ridgeway, quoting these statistics said it all right here:

So after these men and women risk their lives in the military, we throw them on the mercy of the private system of medicine-for-profit, which is touted as a cherished part of the American way of life. It all gives a whole new meaning to dying for your country.

A young German soldier in pain being treated by American GI.

This photo is touching. The wounded soldier is just a kid, and this photo does nothing to soften that reality. He’s someone son, sent out onto the battlefield to fight for someone else’s ideals, here wounded, in pain, and obviously scared. An American soldier, the enemy, is reaching out and taking care of him, helping him bandage his wounds. It’s good to see that, in the midst of the horrors of the battlefield, someone could spare a moment of compassion and see the human being behind uniform.

Have a happy and safe 4th of July!

Quote from Beyrle regarding his time in the prison camps:

“I told him that he was an S.O.B., and I woke up in a German hospital with the German nurses working on me,” Beyrle recounted in an interview in May. “And I knew I wasn’t dead, because angels don’t speak German.”

After two previous attempts, third time was a charm for Beyrle and he escaped the POW camp. Alone in hostile territory, Beyrle realized that his best hope was to find Soviet troops.

“I knew two words of Russian, ‘Americanski tovarish’” — American comrade. With his hands in the air, Beyrle called out to the Soviet troops. He won their trust by using his demolition skills to blow up trees hindering the advance of the Soviet tank brigade.

Beyrle fought with the Soviets for approximately three weeks before being injured and sent to a hospital in Moscow. There he contacted the U.S. Embassy, but there was debate over whether is was actually him. Records still showed Joseph Beyrle as “deceased”. However, his identity was confirmed and Beyrle was sent home.

Joseph Beyrle passed away in 2004 at the age of 81. NBC posted this article showcasing this amazing man.