Men and Women in U.S. Armed Forces Treated Worse Than People on Welfare

This past week or so has been a little trying for me and my family. I saw first hand how a nation takes care of its own. Oh sure, you may think I am referring to the welfare state. People who get money from the taxpayer to help pay their rent, their food bill, their energy bills, their phone bill and maybe even help pay for a car. Sure it is important to help those who really are in need and are down on their luck. Sure it is important to give these people a hand up.

All to often, however, what we taxpayers end up giving via our various layers of government is nothing more than a hand out. But these are not the people I am referring to.

I am referring to the people who risk their very lives to provide us with safety and freedom. I am talking about those who volunteer to lay down their lives so that the rest of us may live our lives fully and in peace. I am talking about our military veterans. I cannot tell you how many times I have heard people who do not know the truth talk about all the “free” health care that the military gets. Truth is, its not so free. Never has been. There is always a price. A double price. A financial price for sure but also a human price. A sacrificial price. Let me be boldly clear on this. A nation that does not take care of their own Military Veterans will not remain a nation for long.

You see, every time in history when a nation forgets or mistreats those that actually do the fighting to keep the enemy at bay will soon not have those individuals willing to sacrifice everything. Then you end up with a draft.

A conscription of those who do not wish to be a part of the military and who do not wish to sacrifice everything they have including their very lives, in defense of the homeland. This is when you have desertion in large numbers on the battle field. The non-volunteer soldier thinks that what they do will not be rewarded or appreciated by the general public so they decide not to risk their own lives for such ungrateful citizenry and they flee.

Today, in the United States, we are doing this to our men and women of the military. Those that populate the Army, the Navy, the Marines, the Air Force and even the Coast Guard. These people put everything on the line yet they get little pay in return. They often get poor medical treatment at substandard facilities. We have seen the news reports of how bad the VA Hospital system is yet you probably think they are still getting their care for free. Well, they don’t get that substandard care for free. Yes the vet has to pay at least a portion of his care out of his own pocket. His own pocket!

Yet the welfare mother gets far better treatment at the local clinic. Their welfare benefits sometimes are greater than the compensation given to our military. In fact, we treat our military with such disdain that often times, young military families are forced to apply for and obtain Food Stamps and other welfare programs. These are ambitious and well trained individuals who eventually see the light and realize that the citizenry do not care for them at all. They are treated worse than dogs in some cases. They decide they will not put their lives and their families’ lives in jeopardy for such an ungrateful mass. They decide to leave the service, often as early as they can. Taking with them their experience, their training and their dedication and never to return.

You may say that they volunteer to do the job and that they know the risk. But let me ask you, what will you do when nobody, and I mean nobody is willing to volunteer to do that job? Will you volunteer? Why not? Most likely it will be because you know how poorly you treated those who came before you and thus you would never subject yourself to such treatment.

You elect the officials who treat our military vets with disdain and dishonor and only you can elect officials who will reverse that trend. After all, if you don’t start believing that our veterans deserve all we can give them, you soon won’t have anything at all to keep because you won’t have a free nation that allows you to have what you have.

So let me ask you, if you won’t volunteer to keep you, your family, your neighborhood, your state, your nation safe and free, then who do you think will? Maybe we should demand better treatment and pay for those that do volunteer and so we will always have those that will volunteer.

The alternative, well lets just say, you would not volunteer for the alternative.

RELATED VIDEO:

RELATED ARTICLES:

After Deaths of Veterans, Federal Agencies Stonewall Probe of ‘Candy Man’ Doctor

Study – Are Veterans Subjected to Social Indifference?

31 replies
  1. Esteban
    Esteban says:

    The military is overwhelmingly male, the welfare state is overwhelmingly female. Where do you THINK the money is going to go? Same place it always does.

    Reply
      • you are sad
        you are sad says:

        20+ ? if that is you, I’m guessing you could never achieve E9. Everyone in the military has an opinion, and sometimes it’s not all heard, but that’s why there is a chain of command, so the lower in ranks, can voice. You however, are probably just a sad boot. That’s how you make yourself look.

        As to the person saying the military is mainly male, than you have never served as well.. in certain units, yes. but the demographics, with race, and sex, is almost the exact as the US in general. we’re overwhelmingly diverse, to be exact.

        Reply
      • Josh
        Josh says:

        I don’t have a right to an opinion? You sound exactly like the type of people that make the military so unbearable for people who are actually able to think for themselves instead of blindly following what they are told by people who have no idea what they are doing.

        Reply
    • Matt
      Matt says:

      Estonian, If you are willing to make such a bold statement about the Military then why don’t you get off your ass and actually do something with your life. It is no one’s fault that there are more men than women. It is the women that do not want to serve. You have no right to say anything about the Military only because you will not get up and say “sleep tight America, I am on watch tonight.” My point is shut your mouth about something that you do not understand and never will because you are ungrateful.

      Reply
    • Daniel
      Daniel says:

      All of you sound like you need a true reality check.
      I got ten years in the Navy and I’ll say it’s the best thing that ever happened to me and my family.
      if you served with me before me or will after me I tip my hat to you my brothers and sisters. If you haven’t then shut the fuck up. If you have and didn’t like it that’s fine but blasting a veteran is so Low! You guy’s sound ridiculous barking like little girls about a problem that is nobody’s fault but of our elected officials. FYI Reminder to all you non Vets. We even defend that right so you can talk the way you do. So you can continue sounding like straight bitches every time you say something negative about a Soldier or Marine or Airmen or Sailors

      Reply
    • Ed bonfrancesco
      Ed bonfrancesco says:

      I am soo insulted by on Obama’s experiment on how do we force a square peg into a round hole. I am a former CCT operator Special operations command. This is not only a bad idea it is a disaster in the making, which is why you do not make a physics professor your Secretary of defense….Ass Charter who is going to our JSOC operators killed in his social experiment. I spent 2 tours in Fallujah and thank god I never had to work under you. WOMEN HAVE NO PLACE AS SPECIAL OPERATORS. You cannot compete with male operators– not fair but true. We cannot afford to lower standatds, don’t be selfish ladies lives are at risk–is it worth a statement….js

      Reply
  2. Josh
    Josh says:

    As a vet, I will tell you that you don’t know the half of it. I spent almost 7 years in the Army and got totally sh*t on. I will never ever go back and I will tell everyone I know that wants to, not to.

    Reply
      • Josh
        Josh says:

        7 years is nothing? Two tours, one Iraq and one Afghanistan, is nothing? That’s insignificant to you? Maybe you don’t understand because it seems to me like you have no idea what you are talking about. It takes a special kind of person to take any length of Honorable military service and belittle it. I put forth all of myself and all of my effort into my military career and it only took 7 years for me to figure out how ridiculous the military is. My wife is currently still serving so it’s not like I haven’t stopped dealing with it. You have no idea what I’ve done or accomplished so before leaving a one sentence reply and feeling self-righteous, maybe you could explain to me what your reasoning is?

        Reply
      • Vet
        Vet says:

        “me” whoever you are..you are the idiot who probably never served so do not talk like you did. Though I do not necessarily agree with Josh’s exact statement how dare you belittle anyone who served. That is exactly what this article talks about. It does not matter if you did 4 or if you did 20+. What ever the time you served it should be appreciated. I believe many have the intentions of doing more than they do, however, due to the life, substandard healthcare, ungratefulness of the country etc most get out sooner. Another piece of this issue is the ignorant people who do serve longer and move up in ranks do not listen at all to the lower ranks because “unless you have serves 20 you have bo right to an opnion” They do not care to improve the system, make it better etc. That is the problem with the military. A lot who serve 20+ are the ones we do not need to serve 20+. The young educated good men and women who we need to serve 20+ who have good ideas suggestions to improve what we have end up getting out.

        Reply
        • Matheau
          Matheau says:

          The smart one won’t stick around that long to deal with the nonsense. As you said it does seem like the turds stay in and the ones that would make great leaders get out!!

          Reply
  3. valerie roman
    valerie roman says:

    all i can say is this article is so true my husband and i served in the military now that we are out getting medical help is rediculous. first off we have to pay for our prescription drugs unlike those lazy good for nothings collecting welfare they get their nmeds free trough medicaid. the financial guidlines for vets is rediculous we live paycheck to paycheck and sometimes cant afford our meds but nobody will pay for them like they do for the people on welfare the government takes better care of the lazy who dont want to work more than the vets that gave thier families up to protect the freeloaders.

    Reply
    • Joe
      Joe says:

      Valerie are you talking about?? If your income is that low then apply for social welfare benefits like snap or Medicaid. The VA should also pay for some of your meds

      Reply
      • matt u
        matt u says:

        If you look at the guidelines in most counties, the lowest ranking SM (E-1) without special pay, and zero deployments, still makes just enough to not qualify for social finacial assistance. In the almost 13 years I have been serving in the U.S Army I have helped Soldiers pay bills and buy diapers out of my own pocket. Most Service Members that are living comfortably either have a second job, deploy a lot, or have some sort of side hustle like selling candles. Unfortunately, the general public has a highly misinformed view of the fiscal identity of our service men and women. I wish those that choose to speak on this topic would take the time to experience the lifestyle before they judge us. Until then, your opinion is bias and lacks substance.

        Reply
  4. Sarge
    Sarge says:

    It’s all pretty true actually. I’ve seen both sides of the fence. Growing up, my parents relied heavily on help to raise me and both of my sisters, and growing up I joined. Still am in, 7 years. 2 tours. 1 of which had heavy combat. And it’s true, the VA does have substandard medical staff and conditions, but charge you as if you were going in for heart surgery at Boston medical. Too be honest, I signed up cause it’s my dream as well to make sure that there is no draft in the future. I’d hate to see some poor person that didn’t want to be here, put in front of a firing line because they went AWOL while serving overseas. But, it’s my opinion of what u believe, others will see it differently and that’s fine. You have that right. I didn’t join to take your freedom, just joined to help protect it and support it.

    Reply
  5. Christopher Murphy
    Christopher Murphy says:

    The problem with Veterans treatment,socially and medically, began during the Vietnam” police action”. Our elected officials lied then, just as they’re doing now. We have no business policing any state/ nation. We can’t run our own country. It’s all about money. We as a nation had better start calling the warmongerers to task for their actions and the horrifying consequences. We do have the draft. Only now they call it” selective service”. Push comes to shove, and they’ll sacrifice every able bodied man and woman for their wants. Then they’ll sacrifice the not so able. If they gave a fuck, we wouldn’t be having this discussion. Face it people, either we the people take OUR country back, if it’s even possible anymore, or get ready to think of the last 40 years as the best years of your lives. Shits only going to get worse unless we do something drastic. And soon!

    Reply
  6. Tony
    Tony says:

    I was in for 8 years in the infantry and if you tell me that i have no right to say anything after 2 combat deployments go f*** yourself you prob did 20 years in some easy mos if you even know what that means im 100% disabled at the age of 28 so you have no right to talk and we are all vets we need to stop bitching at each other and start supporting each other if all the vets would stand up and say thats it we had enough and would ban together and go to the closest va or congress things would change

    Reply
  7. Tony
    Tony says:

    Women dont sign up thats why there are more men than women but the number of women is growing and there’s a good reason why woman shouldn’t be allowed in the infantry it has nothing to do with me being sexist it has everything to do with their mind set, their upper body strength, men are more will to risk their lives for women sometimes if there is a sniper like in Saving Private Ryan sometimes you can’t go out and help your buddy if its a woman men are more willing to jump out there i did not see a women for 16 months i would love to work with women and that brings more problems jss are nasty they dont have showers and the list goes on we went to camp liberty once every 3 months (the big base) so the problem list is long i have no problem with women in the military just not in the infantry

    Reply
  8. Zach
    Zach says:

    There’s a lot of truth to this. I’m a soldier living at sgt campbell. I’ve been in for four years now, and am counting down the days until I can get out. I represent a huge demographical portion of soldiers in the army: 21, single, e4, deployed. The reason I have no intention of reenlisting is the ridicules standard of living forced upon me. Let me explain.

    When I say this, I don’t mean to say that I’m broke, because I’m not. I have a decent amount of income, and I don’t have to pay rent because I live in the barracks. We get 30 days of annual vacation. Why am I complaining? Because nothin is as it seems. i make 1700$ a month after taxes after four years, and three promotions. but you have to understand, we dot work 40h/week. I work from 5:30 am to 5:30 pm. That’s a 12 hour work day. This means I make roughly 8$ an hour. Since I’m an Infantryman, I spend a lot of extra time in the field. I’ts common to spend 14 days straight working. 24 hours a day. No showers, hot food, and only minimal sleep. I don’t get paid over time. I made roughly 2.38$ an hour for those two weeks of exhaustive, physically damaging work.

    It’s not just that. Medically yes, we have free healthcare. But you also need to understand the physical stress we put ourselves through. We just recently did a 25 MILE ruck march. Carrying over 45 lb’s of gear. Activities like this often cause temporary injuries (twisted ankles, pulled muscles, broken bones, ligament/tendon damage, joint pain, blisters, hot spots, etc). So we have no choice but to make use of the doctors. On top of that, our brigade (well over 500 men), has two assigned doctors. Two. For 500+ people. The average wait time for an illness is well over two hours. I personnaly have three friends that were injured (non-combat related) in Afghanistan. None have received an mri, or X-ray since coming back to the states. It’s been SIX months. The doctors are booked over a month in advance for non “acute” Injuries. And there is no alternative. I can’t just go to a random “doc-in-a-box” without a referral…which you won’t get.

    Now lets talk about housing/food. Yes it’s free, but again. No it’s not. The army has two programs fr dealing wit this. BaH, and BaS. Basic allowance for housing, and basic allowance for sustenance. They both change based upon the average cost in your bases zipcode. Ft Campbell BaH is roughly 950$/month and BaS is 300$. I get neither. I live in a room that’s roughly 6×12. I have ateo closets, a barroom I share with one other person, and a mini fridge. No freezer, stove, or oven. I have a half sink, ONE 1×1 cabinet, and a 10 year old microwave (the only buttons that work are add minute, and start. Half my lights are blown, and I have no way to replace them because they’re some weird army design. We haven’t had AC at all this year. It’s almost July….in the south. I have a tiny twin sized bed that takes up half the space I have in my room. It’s common for our hot water to be out for days at a time, and I have black mold in my bathroom I can’t get rid of. Not to mention if I could even convince a grl to come back here, she has to leave by 11 pm on the weekends, and 9 pm on the week days because apparently every soldier is a rapist. (Thanks female soldiers. Don’t get me wrong there’re bad eggs everywhere. But enough crying fucking wolf).

    Don’t even get me started the the DEFAQ (food place). Extremely poor quality, same menus every week, and retartedly small portions. And they’re not even open half the damn time. You want me to walk 3 milestone another DEFAQ for fucking food? Fuck you. Long story short. The armies been a major let down for me. I’m a great soldier, valorusly decorated in Afghanistan, competent leader, and skilled at dealing with the daily dog and pony show involved with the 101st. But fuck this. I’m going to college. I would never reccomend enlisting in the army to anyone unless (like me), you need to escape where you come from.

    Reply
  9. Lanna
    Lanna says:

    The true human cost of America war machine should end … This how I feel as a Canadian.. America is too violent .. This article is also an opinion piece where not everything needs 2 be defended with facts 2 back up your own personal experience. Seriously. Many don’t want to see or can’t because they are indoctrinated into the a military culture of control, order & violence with the hopes for a better future down the road??? Really? After your have PTSD & have mental issues from everything u experienced & now u r treated like damaged goods waiting in line 4 substandard medical care you pay for? I wonder how can people truly speak & criticize the military if this is your bread and butter??

    Reply
  10. cory vigil
    cory vigil says:

    7 years is nothing. Get the f out of here. Just because you do 20 doesn’t mean your better than a veteran that does 4. I have 8 years in and 4 deployments. I’m no better than a cook in the military. Check yourself and be humble because without that cook, I don’t eat. It’s very sad that veterans on here are arguing about their time of service.

    Reply
  11. Reason
    Reason says:

    Folks,

    Being new to the military, it’s still very clear that there are just as many types that join as do not, and almost equally represented as far as Army LDRSHIP goes. However, it would seem to me that a couple folks on here, don’t really know what the acronyms they are using mean and/or are being dishonorable at the worst. To those priors on here, don’t retaliate instigators like this. You have met enough priors to know how they all feel and how most act, and the above is not it. I doubt some of these folks know anything.

    Also, no one forces anyone to stay in, so to brag about 20 years vs 4 is nonsense. I respect the soldier who stays in and deploys because of the sacrifices he makes with the up and down benefits that accompany, as well as what his family goes through, but that soldier could get out if he/she wished.

    I think this article explains things well, but remember we all join for different reasons. Some for the flag, some for money and career predictability, some for the lifestyle. We need to take care of those who go down, and for those we bring back in worse shape than they left. We’re the symbol of what men and women should be as far as patriots, but we’re no better or necessarily stronger for it.

    As someone who will be a Physician here in a couple years for the Army, I hope to help, as do many of my fellow classmates. Stay strong, and at least don’t blame your docs, they are working with what they got.

    Thank you Doc for posting this, and God Bless.

    Reply
  12. Medic75
    Medic75 says:

    A lot of sad freedoms of expression here. If you do something in the military like college which they pay for you won’t have this issue. Lazy soldiers make lazy civilians. Besides just complaining people need to take ownership of their lives. Everyone can, few will. Yes, welfare is a mess and well not be fixed but if you gain skills you don’t need it.

    Reply
  13. Female Vet
    Female Vet says:

    As a female SM with over 8 years in, 2 tours, and multiple mobilizations, I have to agree with this. While I love serving my country, and have awesome support from my family and friends (the ones who really matter), the benefits the military SM member is given is truly sad. The political leaders of this nation are trying to make things worse; change medical benefits, change retirement benefits, plus the number cut in general. There have been multiple times I have questioned whether I will be re-uping at the end of this term. It is still a question I can’t answer. Guess we’ll see in 2018.

    Reply
  14. Holly
    Holly says:

    Thank you to the men and women who have served or continue to serve in our military. OUR military, people… mine & yours regardless of your political views. The poor treatment of our soldiers & veterans should concern you regardless of your general view of “war”. Our disregard for their well being is a direct relection of each and everyone of us & highlights our selfishness, lack of respect, ignorance, and short-sightedness.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *