ON THE U.S. CONGRESS: SHUT UP AND FINISH WHAT YOU STARTED

Sending men and women off to war is easy.  You pick a place to attack, make up a reason for doing so, and then have the Commander in Chief scratch his name on a piece of paper. Voila! You have a war.

Generals will follow the orders of their Commander down to the letter. They are trained not to ask why. They perform their duty only, as Lord Tennyson wrote so eloquently, "...to do and die."

But, as each year passes and new wars come, medicine, especially combat medicine, advances. The number who "do and die" reduces. Those who return home injured by war grows exponentially.  

Explosions from well-placed bombs rock the brain violently within its thin, bony shell. Legs, arms, feet, brains, eyeballs, and genitals fly off into sticky sprays of blood, tissue, uniform, and dust. Visions of war, death, fear, and panic eat into the once healthy brain of each soldier, like an unseen cancer that can never be cured, even when neither bullet nor shrapnel cuts the flesh.

Experts are often working within seconds, minutes, and hours to bind the visible wounds, staunch the flow of precious blood, and help these men and women survive death. The triage system for physical wounds is truly miraculous in nature. The invisible wounds of the psyche are left to fester in the hope they somehow heal themselves.

When stories appear, like the recent article in Army Times entitled, "VA probes reports of secret waiting list at Phoenix facility," the self-serving politicians pour forth in front of cameras like hyenas to dead carcass.

As CBS News reported, some local VA officials held back the names of veterans who requested an appointment for care until they could slot that name into an appointment that fell within a 14-day time frame. The goal was to make the officials' appointment response look more timely.

Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Jerry Moran (R-KS) have demanded the resignation of the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, retired General Eric Shineski. They make this demand without either Senator ever having served in the military. Laughably, Senator Cornyn states on his official website that his father served in World War II, as if that gives the Senator credentials of service to his country.

John McCain (R-AZ), the Senator who was a former Vietnam POW, is meeting with officials in his home state to determine what to do. Reportedly, 40 veterans died while waiting for care at the VA center in Phoenix.

The American Legion, an organization with a checkered history fighting the "red menace" in the United States, also seeks the resignation of General Shineski.

As a veteran I certainly understand, if true, that there should be outrage over VA personnel keeping two appointment lists.

On the other hand, I also keep in mind the fact that about 90,000 people or more die each year in private U.S. hospitals due to medical mistakes. This does not excuse what the VA is accused of doing to pad their numbers. However, veterans are humans, and humans die...whether they are on a clinic waiting list or in a queue for a city bus.

According to the Department of Veterans Affairs own statistics, outpatient visits have almost doubled between 2002 and 2012. The total number of patients seen has grown 50% during a period when WWII, Korean, and Vietnam veterans are dying off rapidly.

Veterans with service-connected disabilities have more than tripled, from about 1 million to more than 3 million. The Tampa Bay Times estimates the VA last year treated 6.5 million veterans in more than 1,300 medical facilities, while keeping 85 million appointments.

The number of dollars to treat this influx of patients, adjusted for inflation, has only doubled. Again, according to the VA, while the number of disabled has risen by 20% a year, the dollars to care for them has risen only 10% each year.

From experience I know the care for amputees and brain-damaged veterans is much more expensive than the average non-veteran population. Veteran's hospitals and clinics may be able to do a lot to cut the cost of healthcare, but they still have to pay the same exorbitant prices for drugs, devices, and equipment as private hospitals pay.

In 1975, according to CNN, 70% of Congress had served in the Armed Forces of the United States.  In 2011, that number was down to 20%...25 Senators and 90 Congressman.

Like most Americans, these non-serving members seem to always know how to say the right things. "Thank you for your service." "Let us not forget these brave men and women." "Let us bow our heads as we honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom." Blah, blah, blah.

You want to thank me for your service? Here is how. Quit sending kids to war. Or, send your own kids. Even better, go yourself!

What I would rather hear is that Congress, rather than voting to close down the government or rescind Obamacare again or hold their umpteenth hearing on Benghazi, would do the nation's business.  Quit talking and do more walking.

I served.  I served in war. I have a service-related disability.  I use the VA exclusively for my healthcare.* And, I see the damage done by more than a decade of war on every visit. If people are cooking the books, fire them. If veterans need to be seen more quickly, put the money in place to treat them.

Congress! You do not need an investigation. Put up or shut up, especially if you are one of the 80% who never served your country and know nothing about the toll of war.

*Bay Pines VA Medical Center, near St. Petersburg, Florida.  In my 25+ years' experience managing hospitals and clinics, I rate the the care and service at this facility the best I have received in my life.