Do We Really Appreciate Our Veterans?
Tuesday, November 12, 2013 @ 3:45 AM
It is rather sad that once a year we acknowledge the sacrifices that our armed services have made, but it seems that apart from a week or so, that special treatment quickly gets relegated to the back burner.
We have thousands of military personnel who should be treated better by way of pension benefits and other services and yet each year we find them falling further and further behind.
We are offering up a very good pension to those members of our police services and fire departments and yet our armed services, who put their lives on the line on a more consistent basis, when they are
serving, receive pensions that are an embarrassment, or should be, to the general public. That is not intended to suggest that the police and fire fighters do not risk their lives, but I think it would be fair to say that the military is a notch above.
There remains today service personnel who are not receiving a pension, there are servicemen ( and women) including many First Nations vets who have been swept aside without receiving the kind of recognition that they so richly deserve.
We have seen the lives destroyed of many returning vets, the impact felt by their family and friends and yet we do not appreciate the level of danger and difficulty that many of these people have had to endure.
We, as a society do not do ourselves proud in the manner that we look after our armed services personnel in Canada, other than one week a year.
What a pity.
I’m Meisner and that’s one man’s opinion .
Comments
I agree with Ben. This has been an issue in the USA as well as Canada. It seems to be an issue regardless of what political party is in power in Ottawa.
On the surface it seems to be a **no brainer** People in the armed forces should be entitled to a decent pension, and of course other services, medical, etc; if needed.
Probably part of the problem is that in Canada your Canada Pension Plan is based on your earnings and the amount you pay into the plan, so if the Armed Forces pay low wages (which they do in a lot of cases) then it would follow that you would get a little less in Canada Pension, and of course the standard Old Age Pension.
Not sure what type of pension they get when they retire from the Armed Forces, however it is probably tied into the Canada Pension.
One would assume that Canadians joining the Armed Forces would be aware of what they get paid, and what they would get for pensions etc; going in, and therefore it should be no surprise to them. But it seems that it is.
Soooo. Who goes to bat for the Armed Services?? The Government?? The Legion?? The Ombudsmen?? Our elected MP’S??
Seems no one really stands up for them.
This issue, and the Armed Forces, budget and expenditures in general should be looked into.
Sooo the question is. Who will bell the cat???
The Harper government is about to close 28 Veterans Affairs offices across the country. So says CBC.
Harper said you wouldn’t recognize Canada when he was done with it. I believe the CBC is on the Conservatives hit list so in due time you won’t need to worry about it reporting on their doings. IMHO
Well stated Ben and so very true.
I donate money to the Nechako Branch on the Hart, of the PG Public Library, for bookplates in memory of our veterans. The bookplates are placed in many new books. “We Shall Not Forget.”
I was born in 1944 when my father was in the RCAF during WWII. I will never stop being thankful to those who made the ultimate sacrifice or who are permanently disabled, due to injuries received in battle, in order that I can live a peaceful freedom today. I am thankful throughout the year.
Here in Abbotsford there were only three of us from the Korean War the remainder were peace keepers from such places like Bosinia, the Golan Hights . There were no World War II veterans on parade. The average age for Korean Veterans is 80 years so the World War II veteran is past the parade age. So compensation for World War II veterans is just talk
Let us not confuse veterans of former conflicts with those who have served in Afghanistan. There appears to be some question as to compensation for those that have been injured. Those that are in our armed forces their pensions are based on their pay scale the same as those of us in civilian life that are on pension.
The war in Afghanistan is s different war. We have been there for nine years and lost 128 men and women in the war. In Korea we lost 517 men in three years and World War II 40,000 in four years. So this begs the question maybe we should be looking at the leadership that our soldiers are under and why are we there in them first place. Like all religious wars can we win?
Cheers
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