On Sept. 2, 2021 Newsweek ran a story entitled “‘War on Terror’ Cost U.S. $21 Trillion, Its Conflicts Killed Nearly One Million, Reports Show.” Disabled veterans understand the implications of this massive waste of federal revenue in the lives of Americans. They live in a grossly under-compensated life situation daily.
In 2021 a totally disabled veteran with no dependents is compensated at the ridiculous rate of $39,097.92 annually. The National Average Wage Index (NAWI) for 2019 was $54,099.99 dollars per annum and the median income in 2019 was $68,703. In 2020 the per capita gross domestic product of the USA was about $62,000 a year, among the highest in the world.
Disabled veterans were harmed on at least a financial level by all this crazy spending on the war machine since the end of 1945. In fact they have been asking various administrations and Congresses for fair compensation since the end of WWI in 1918. That was 103 years ago. Where is it?
In my opinion, the basic reason for their gross under compensation situation is because they are only compensated for projected loss of wages due to their disabilities. They are not compensated for their low quality of life. This is not a modern paradigm for fixing compensation for the disabled in America. It must be changed for them if for no other reason than basic fairness.
I ask you to pass legislation this year to compensate them fairly, especially the totally and permanently disabled among them who should be compensated at least at the level of the NAWI.
It is the minimum that we can do for people that have been harmed in the armed forces experience to assure our national security. Pay them fairly now.
Merlyn Sheldon, York, Pa.
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