Sen. Barack Obama praised West Virginia's military veterans and stressed the need to care for injured veterans when he spoke at the Charleston Civic Center on Monday.
Sen. Barack Obama praised West Virginia's military veterans and stressed the need to care for injured veterans when he spoke at the Charleston Civic Center on Monday.
"I want to thank the people of West Virginia - particularly those who have worn the uniform of our country," Obama said as he greeted hundreds of enthusiastic supporters. "More of you are veterans here than in almost any other state in the nation.
"So many Guard members from this very armory have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan on tour after tour, year after year."
Obama believes the federal government must do much more to help returning soldiers suffering from brain injuries and from post-traumatic stress disorder.
"We have to understand that for far too many troops and their families, the war doesn't end when they come home," Obama said. "Only half of the returning soldiers with PTSD receive the treatment they need. ... We have to do better than this."
Today, Congress is debating a new 21st Century GI Bill introduced by Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., a Marine who was Navy secretary during the Reagan administration. Republican nominee John McCain opposes the bill.
Obama expressed great respect for McCain's service to the country. "I know he loves it dearly. ... But he is one of the few senators of either party who opposed this bill because he thinks it is too generous."
Political leaders who opposed the Iraq invasion and the ongoing 5-year-old war have also been outspoken in demanding more money to help veterans - money to help pay for college educations and money to care for their injuries.
Ironically, leaders backing the disastrous war often seem far less interested in healing the physical, mental and psychological wounds that will haunt so many soldiers during the rest of their lives.
Sen. Barack Obama praised West Virginia's military veterans and stressed the need to care for injured veterans when he spoke at the Charleston Civic Center on Monday.
"I want to thank the people of West Virginia - particularly those who have worn the uniform of our country," Obama said as he greeted hundreds of enthusiastic supporters. "More of you are veterans here than in almost any other state in the nation.
"So many Guard members from this very armory have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan on tour after tour, year after year."
Obama believes the federal government must do much more to help returning soldiers suffering from brain injuries and from post-traumatic stress disorder.
"We have to understand that for far too many troops and their families, the war doesn't end when they come home," Obama said. "Only half of the returning soldiers with PTSD receive the treatment they need. ... We have to do better than this."
Today, Congress is debating a new 21st Century GI Bill introduced by Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., a Marine who was Navy secretary during the Reagan administration. Republican nominee John McCain opposes the bill.
Obama expressed great respect for McCain's service to the country. "I know he loves it dearly. ... But he is one of the few senators of either party who opposed this bill because he thinks it is too generous."
Political leaders who opposed the Iraq invasion and the ongoing 5-year-old war have also been outspoken in demanding more money to help veterans - money to help pay for college educations and money to care for their injuries.
Ironically, leaders backing the disastrous war often seem far less interested in healing the physical, mental and psychological wounds that will haunt so many soldiers during the rest of their lives.
The shameful neglect of wounded veterans is a growing failure of a war whose long-term financial costs could top $4 trillion, according to Joseph E. Stiglitz, a Nobel Prize-winning economist.
Obama specifically pointed to the "deplorable conditions" at places such as Fort Bragg in North Carolina and Walter Reed Army Hospital just outside Washington, D.C.
"How can we let this happen? How is that acceptable in the United States of America?
"The answer is, it's not. It's an outrage. And it's a betrayal of the ideals that we ask our troops to risk their lives for," Obama said.
More than 4,000 Americans have died in Iraq. More than 30,000 have been wounded. Many more suffer mental traumas.
On Monday, Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, a superdelegate, endorsed Obama, as did Keith Roark, chairman of the Idaho Democratic Party. Obama now needs fewer than 150 votes to win the Democratic nomination.
"There is an election here tomorrow. I'm honored that some of you will support me," Obama told his Charleston audience as primary contests are coming to an end.
"When it's over, what will unify us Democrats - what must unify us as Americans - is an unyielding commitment to the men and women who've served this nation and an unshakable fidelity to the ideals for which they've risked their lives."
Obama offers West Virginia and the nation hard work, intelligence and wisdom. His inclusive, uplifting way of communicating with people of all backgrounds will help restore the United States' place in the minds of people around the world, and here at home.
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