VA care — don’t criticize so quickly

I have read some local comments about lousy health care given our veterans, both in the service and after their discharge. I don’t question that problems exist here and there, but the whole system should not be painted with a broad brush of blame without some careful examination. Let me tell you my own story.

I was a Cobra helicopter pilot in the Vietnam War, shot down in a firefight on Dec. 17, 1969. I was trapped in the wreckage with a broken back, legs paralyzed, too weak to break out on my own.

Two fellow pilots, barely old enough to buy a beer, risked their lives to drag me out and away from the aircraft in case it blew. They stood guard with just pistols even though the enemy was nearby, until I was picked up by a medevac helicopter and taken to a hospital.

The medical crews in the Vietnam War were outstanding, working themselves into exhaustion and mental fatigue on an endless stream of broken young bodies. Dustoff (medevac) helicopter pilots like Alan Walsh of Peachtree City risked their lives every day to pick up wounded, sometimes through enemy fire, to get them to hospitals quickly, a major factor in keeping up morale of troops in the field. In a radical departure from prior wars, wounded were treated quickly and of those who lived the first 24 hours, 99 percent survived.

Donna Rowe of Marietta was a captain in charge of the triage unit at Third Field Hospital in Saigon. Donna will stand toe-to-toe with you and tell you with fierce pride that her unit did not lose a single patient in her year of command, not one. They might have died before they got to her unit, they might have died later in surgery or from complications, but she and her staff moved heaven and earth to keep our wounded troops alive while in her triage unit, and she scored 100 percent.

In my case, the surgeon in Vietnam told me before he put me under that he didn’t know if I would ever walk again but that he would try his best. His best was superb; I learned to walk again and if only I knew his name I would find him just to shake his hand.

That was a long time ago, but don’t casually criticize military health care and expect me to be silent. My guess is you would find the very same commitment and high level of skill in our medical units in Iraq and Afghanistan today.

I spent time in Army hospitals in Vietnam, Japan and Ft. Benning, I returned to civilian life in 1971. Continuing medical issues led to a VA hospital stay of many weeks in East Orange, N.J.

Back then, VA hospitals were not pleasant places, in keeping with the anti-war and anti-military mood of the country. There were long waits, unpleasant attitudes, doctors and staff who seemed to wish they worked elsewhere. I’m sure some of the medical staff were dedicated but I couldn’t leave the VA hospital soon enough and I never looked back.

Even though the VA would provide care at no cost for my service-connected injuries, from that point forward I funded my own health care through private health insurance and private doctors and forgot about the VA.

As I get older and arthritis thrives on the injured areas of my spine, my condition has deteriorated and I felt the need to return to the VA system just last year, in 2006.

To my complete surprise, in the intervening 35 years since my unpleasant VA hospital experience, our country made a commitment to excellence in VA health care, and now, for example, the Regional VA Hospital on Clairmont Drive in Decatur is one of the finest hospitals in the country. In Atlanta, many VA doctors are Emory doctors, among the very best.

Who knew?

When I first met my assigned primary VA physician last year, he told me his priority was to make sure I received the very best care, and he has proven true to his word. I have been examined from head to toe, had x-rays, physical therapy, surgery discussed with a specialist as a future possibility, a new regimen of medication and even hearing tests and hearing aids since like most helicopter pilots I lost part of my hearing with the noise of engines and fired weapons.

At every department of the VA hospital I have visited, I have found a surprising commitment to my welfare as a veteran, and an attitude of health care excellence. I am sure in such a large place there are problems here and there, but my rediscovery of the VA has been a pleasant surprise. I would give the Atlanta VA hospital 4 out of 5 stars.

Recent criticism of poor veteran patient treatment at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, D.C., has started a stampede to point fingers at the system, led by the keystone cops in our herd mentality media, competing to uncover any controversy and completely unable to practice the lost art of digging for the real truth and achieving the perspective of a balanced inquiry.

Don’t get me wrong, I think the problems at Walter Reed warrant immediate and aggressive corrective action, and other components of veteran care should be examined to make sure our nation provides excellent care to wounded veterans.

But just as one kind of national mood made veteran care lousy a long time ago, a knee-jerk reaction now might overlook the fine care many veterans are receiving while politicians posture, point fingers and throw victims over the side to make themselves look good.

We should investigate objectively, fix the system where warranted, do it right, do it rationally and without turning good people into scapegoats.