SOLDIER: Feds slight his service

After reading the article in Guest Opinion written by Barbara Hornby, telling of her hero husband, Edward Hornby, a vet exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam and their lifelong battle with our grateful government and the VA for any kind of compensation despite fathering a son born with Spina Bifida, a recognized symptom of Agent Orange exposure.

According to the government this is presumed to be the cause of their son’s disability and yet this same government denied every claim, including his final claim submitted two days before his death. To say this is a tragedy is a gross understatement. This poor man went to his grave, betrayed by a government he and his family sacrificed selflessly for. THIS is just one of many other examples of why many of us are not in favor of laying out the red carpet for refugees.

Had we shown Edward Hornby the same compassion we so willingly shower on non-citizens (for sake of political correctness), he may very well still be among the living. If this is the gratitude shown to those sacrificing EVERYTHING to battle wars we shouldn’t be because of our government’s greedy, corrupt justifications, is it any wonder enlistment numbers have plummeted? How proud to be an American can one be when, after war they are welcomed home by essentially a spit in their face and a kick to the groin? To the government, VA that failed this man; you’re a disgrace, not worthy of this man’s honor or sacrifices made.

MARCIE GILLESPIE

Coeur d’Alene