To: President of the United States
It has come to my attention that the Obama administration is considering making veterans use private insurance to pay for treatment of combat and service-related injuries. While companies routinely shed health care costs by reducing coverage and increasing employee contributions, this same logic should not be applied to servicemen and women. Heath care benefits represent a much larger portion of their compensation after serving their country on active duty.

Our country is asking troops to go to Iraq and fight a war, lose a limb or even die, but when they return home, it is saying to each service member and veteran, "We used you, and now we dont need you."

How is it that this country can give billions of dollars to large corporations and not appropriate enough money in the fiscal budget to support the health care of those who have sacrificed so much for the freedom of this country?

We have given our blood, sweat and tears for this nation, and this is the thanks we get. When I signed on, we were told wed get "free health care for life" for wounds received during our service to our country.

I hold the President, Congress and most of all, the senior leadership in the military accountable for not standing up to the politicians who think of ways to take more and more from the ones who gave the most but got little in return.

If Washington doesnt change its thoughts about veterans soon, there wont be any more veterans because no one will volunteer. Dont expect veterans to encourage the younger generation to make the military a career. The young people of today arent stupid; they watch how the government treats its service members.

Throughout the history of warfare, no weapon has ever won a war. It was the grunt in the mud in a foreign land, the sailor standing watch on a cold sea, and the airman working on a ramp in the desert heat.

I urge you to reconsider these plans to pass additional health burdens on to this country's veterans. In more fundamental terms, I urge you to honor your commitments to those who honored theirs.

If you agree and support this, please sign forward to others. More importantly I'd ask that you write your elected officials. You can find your individual state representative by going to http://www.whitehouse.gov