As war veterans they give their life due to lack of health care. Over 2200 veterans lost their lives last year due to lack of access to care coverage according to a Harvard research report issued on November 10th. That figure is more than 14 times the number of deaths (155) suffered by U.S. troops in Afghanistan in 2008!

Using their recently published findings in the American Journal of Public Health that show being uninsured raises an individual’s odds of dying by 40 percent , they arrived at their estimate of 2,266 preventable deaths of non-elderly veterans in 2008.

The report continues, and I am quoting verbatim: “Like other uninsured Americans, most uninsured vets are working people – too poor to afford private coverage but not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid or means-tested VAcare,” said Dr. Steffie Woolhandler, a professor at Harvard Medical School who testified before Congress about uninsured veterans in 2007 and carried out the analysis released today [Tuesday]. “As a result, veterans go without the care they need every day in the U.S., and thousands die each year. It’s a disgrace.”

“Its a disgrace”??

Its so unacceptable that a “disgrace” cannot describe the palpable anger I feel towards anyone and everyone who is responsible for the status quo and lack of healthcare for each and every veteran from “deployment to grave”

It is an indictment on American society that it even abandons those that give their lives to protect it.