Commemorating the U.S. Marine Corps
Today, November 10: celebrates 248 years of professional bad assery — The U.S. Marine Corps birthday.
No need to thank me for my service. Call or write your U.S. Representative and Senators and tell them to raise the pay of currently serving members of the military to salaries that are competitive with civilian jobs. Put an end to forcing service members (and their families) to pay co-pays and fees for medical and dental care. When I was active duty I never paid for any dental or medical care — ever. Most people have no idea what people in the military deal with, either in combat zones or at home in one of our many domestic bases and the foreign bases not in war zones, like in Germany, South Korea and Japan, including Okinawa
And stop screwing around with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and fill the 30k-plus un-filled medical jobs that hamper the delivery of medical services across America and stop cutting benefits of our newer vets who are only guaranteed five years of coverage if they have service-connected injuries — and for the past 2 decades (at least) requiring vets to cough up co-pays for meds and some other services.
In his second inaugural address, President Abraham Lincoln said of veterans “To care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan.”
The Department of Veterans Affairs is updating the 16th president’s words, saying, “To fulfill President Lincoln’s promise to care for those who have served in our nation’s military and for their families, caregivers, and survivors.”
I understand why they have changed the words: to include all vets, making it gender-neutral. The military is already diverse and has far more equality than the civilian world. That’s right —Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
November 10 is the Marine Corps birthday. November 11 is Veterans’ Day, the date that commemorates not only vets, but the official end of World War I, November 11, 1918.
Once again, don’t thank us for our service. Show your thanks by advocating for veterans and the men and women who are currently wearing the uniforms, and their families by calling or writing to your representatives and Senators in Washington, D.C.
I have more years behind me than I do ahead of me so any changes are unlikely to make a difference in my life, but it could be a life saver for the men and women who follow.
Semper Fi.
Tim Forkes started as a writer on a small alternative college newspaper in Milwaukee called the Crazy Shepherd. Writing about entertainment issues, he had the opportunity to speak with many people in show business, from the very famous to the people struggling to find an audience. In 1992 Tim moved to San Diego, CA and pursued other interests, but remained a freelance writer. Upon arrival in Southern California he was struck by how the business of government and business was so intertwined, far more so than he had witnessed in Wisconsin. His interest in entertainment began to wane and the business of politics took its place. He had always been interested in politics, his mother had been a Democratic Party official in Milwaukee, WI, so he sat down to dinner with many of Wisconsin’s greatest political names of the 20th Century: William Proxmire and Clem Zablocki chief among them. As a Marine Corps veteran, Tim has a great interest in veteran affairs, primarily as they relate to the men and women serving and their families. As far as Tim is concerned, the military-industrial complex has enough support. How the men and women who serve are treated is reprehensible, while in the military and especially once they become veterans. Tim would like to help change that reality.