Day 93, Walk for Warriors

Beloved, Let Us Once More Praise The Rain
by Conrad Aiken (Excerpt)

Beloved, let us once more praise the rain.
Let us discover some new alphabet,
For this, the often praised; and be ourselves,
The rain, the chickweed, and the burdock leaf,
The green-white privet flower, the spotted stone,
And all that welcomes the rain; the sparrow too,—
Who watches with a hard eye from seclusion,
Beneath the elm-tree bough, till rain is done. ..

A gentle rain accompanied my early stroll through the neighborhoods of sleepy Bainbridge, Georgia this morning. There were stately old homes that stood on moist ground, whose brick sub-structures bore the green skirts left by decades of afternoon downpours. One block off Shotwell Road revealed smaller, modest homes with dogs in the yards and a mattress or a couch waiting for disposal. Bainbridge seemed to be hanging on through a steady decline toward oblivion.

The County Library stood as a bastion of something more positive. It is a single story building probably built in the late seventies, with large spaces and plenty of books and an inviting computer area, the cubicles of which were populated with interested people of all ages. Like so many rural libraries I have visited over the last nine-five days, there was a significant area dedicated to the enrichment of children. This development is exciting and bodes well for the future education of children in these many small towns across the span from Arizona to Georgia.

The two main commercial routes within the town were studded with fast cash houses, pawn shops and fast food restaurants. Behind the CVS Pharmacy is the town’s only laundromat. It is a rundown shack with tables stacked against the windows and an interior that would rival a scene from one of the Hoarder shows on television. I decided to wait to wash my clothes in an adjoining town; a favorable ambiance of a laundromat has become an important requirement for me.

On the far west side of town is Earl May Lake. It is a municipal lake that seems to serve the public well. There is a large grassy area at the east end of which is a well constructed Performance Arts Theater. The citizens of Bainbridge come there frequently to listen to outdoor concerts and to watch dramas put on by college and high school students. With the backdrop of the lake I can imagine how families will be drawn to the park for a very pleasant Independence Day celebration.

I saw a grandfather and his grandson sitting next to the lake waiting for the fish to bite. “Hey, how’s the fishing today?”

“Jus fine. Jus fine. Little Chandray hea done brought in a blue cat already.”

“Good job, Chandray. Did it give you a good fight?”
The skinny eight-year old hid beneath his Atlanta Braves cap and muttered, “Ah guess so.”

“Chandy, the man talkin’ to you. He a little shy. We gonna catch a bunch a fish today, ain’t we Chandy?”

“We always do, Grampa Billy.”

“What else you think you might catch on a day like today?” I asked as a gentle wind disturbed the former glassy conditions on the lake.

“Oh, we gonna catch some fine crappie fo shor. I hope Chandray brings in another cat. He’s a pro at that,” he said laughing a contagious laugh.

“I’ll bet he is. You gentleman enjoy a great day of fishing and have a happy Fourth of July.”

“Well thank ya, sir. And you er uh, do the same. Y’all oughta bring a pole down hea and sit yoself down. That’s my recommendation for y’all.”

“I could think of nothing better. I’ll be seeing you,” I said waving goodbye to the happy pair of fishermen.

I wandered off into the trail system of the park that covered a total of four miles before a rain became steadier and less pleasant. I made it back to the motel for a hot shower and settled in with a good book; a recent biography of Earl Warren.

Despite Bainbridge’s drift into decay, I enjoyed walking its streets and sliding onto the small college campus of Bainbridge University on the outskirts of town. The branches of the moss covered oaks drooped sleepily over the streets; a permanent garment defining the place. The downtown sector of perhaps four square blocks is the reminder of a more prominent past. Some of the buildings were built one hundred years ago when the cotton and timber industries still thrived in a world that had little regard for the concept of a living wage. Now they sit in repose waiting for a resurrection that will not easily come.

Each Presidential Administration appoints a Secretary of Veterans Affairs who says, “I will do my best to repair the broken V.A. Health Care System.” Although progress is being made, there is a thousand miles to cover before we provide our service members with the quality of ongoing health care they deserve. Gen. Erik Shinseki (Ret.) promises to change the V.A. Health Care System for the better.


Shinseki pledges to fix broken veterans' system

Posted 2/22/2010 11:12 AM |

By Bob Bird, AP

Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki, center, is greeted by veterans at the Charleston Vet Center in Charleston, W.Va., on Feb. 17, 2010.

CHILLICOTHE, Ohio (AP) — Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki said he's making it a top priority this year to tackle the backlog of disability claims that has American veterans waiting months — even years — to get financial compensation for their injuries.

Among those waiting for relief are sick Vietnam and Gulf War veterans to whom the former Army commander feels an allegiance and who have long felt ignored.

"I'm a kid out of the Vietnam era, I just have enough firsthand knowledge of folks walking around with lots of issues. If there's a generation of veterans that have had a tough row to hoe, it's the Vietnam generation," said Shinseki, 67, in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press as he traveled through snowcapped mountains in Ohio and West Virginia between meetings with veterans.

Shinseki, a former Army chief of staff who had part of a foot blown off when he was a young officer in Vietnam, was unapologetic about a decision he made in October to make it easier for potentially 200,000 sick Vietnam veterans who were exposed to the Agent Orange herbicide to receive service-connected compensation.
CAREGIVING: Families of severely injured vets are strained

He said it was the right thing to do, even though the claims volume will grow and it will likely take about two years to get the average claim-processing wait time back to where it is today, about five months.

There's a chance Shinseki could also extend similar benefits to veterans from the 1991 Gulf War. A task force he appointed to look at their health is expected to release a report this week, which could eventually lead to thousands of additional sick Gulf war veterans receiving health care and compensation.

Shinseki said he's often questioned why 40 years after the Vietnam war and nearly two decades after the Gulf War his agency is still trying to resolve issues related to those veterans' illnesses.

Vietnam veterans with B-cell leukemias, Parkinson's diseases and ischemic heart disease no longer have to prove their illness are the result of their military service. Shinseki determined after reviewing a study by the Institute of Medicine that the illnesses should be presumed to have come from the veteran's war service, making it easier for them to receive financial compensation.

The VA currently presumes that twelve other illnesses are linked to Agent Orange exposure.
Shinseki said he's looking ahead to make sure Iraq and Afghanistan veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries don't have similar problems getting financial compensation.

"I'm also asking the question, how do we ensure that 20 years from now, that future secretary isn't answering questions about PTSD or TBI, sort of the signature injuries of this war in the same way that I'm having to look back and try to address these issues," he said.

In recent years, resources have been poured into clearing the backlog, but problems persist. Besides the time it takes to process a claim, there are frequent complaints about lost paperwork and inconsistency in how claims are processed.

To start looking for solutions, Shinseki's agency instigated pilot projects that he says he's watching closely. His plan is to reduce the backlog by 2015, which means a veteran wouldn't wait more than four months for a claim to be processed.
The VA and Pentagon are also working together to create a universal electronic system with the goal of solving many of the claims challenges. Some of the collaboration is expected to be rolled out in 2012, although it could take years before the system is fully in place.

Shinseki, who became the Army's chief of staff in 1999, is no stranger to change. In that role he sought to modernize and better prepare the Army for urban combat. In his current position, he's highlighted the challenges veterans face, such as unemployment, suicide and homelessness.

In small gatherings in Chillicothe and Charleston, West Virginia, he listened to complaints about the red tape veterans face and explained the work he's doing to fix the claims backlog.

"We're going to fine-tune each of the pieces and then put that engine back together again and look for better processing by the end of the year," Shinseki said during a morning meeting with employees at the VA hospital in Chillicothe.

The employees listened quietly, not touching the pastries and juice put out for them, as he told them matter-of-factly that he knew the Agent Orange decision was going to add new claims.

"This backlog I just told you I'm going to knock down, I added to it, I know that," he said.

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2010 John Van Dyke Cote’
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