11-03-2025
We served when we were young. Now Trump administration ready discard veterans.
I'm writing this as a voter, a veteran and a veteran who uses the services of Veterans Affairs. The proposed cuts to the VA are short-sighted, devastating and ultimately an insult to all of us who served.
My need of the VA medical facilities at this point are minor, but I ask that you do this — go to a VA medical hospital, sit in the lobby, don't make this about yourself, but observe.
Watch the veterans come into the facility in wheelchairs, leaning on canes, leaning on the arms of someone helping them; observe those whose hearing means they have to watch your lips to understand what you say.
Watch the young ones who walk in without assistance but understand you don't know the pain they're dealing with inside. Again, don't make this about yourself, Senator, but take some time to understand. Don't grandstand in front of a camera. Just observe.
Try to understand what it's like for those of us who answered the call when we were young, only to be told today our service didn't matter.
More: Mass layoffs at Veterans' Affairs will begin early as June, memo says
We were young then, and we served, sometimes reluctantly, but we served.
Try to understand the needs of recent veterans who left home to serve this nation in war only to be told the wounds they suffered don't matter to those in power. To be discarded now is a betrayal of all this country is supposed to represent.
Bob Gibson, Prospect
Re: "Ghosted by our representatives" (March 5), I have written my concerns to our senators and like Cheryl Gordon, I have not heard from either of them. This is such a difference from our previous senator, Sherrod Brown.
My father was a combat infantry man in the 99th division fighting in the Battle of the Bulge during World War II. He was wounded and received a Purple Heart. There were other medals and citations that he was entitled to but did not receive. Sen. Brown's office contacted me promptly and got the medals for me, including the Bronze Star. Whenever I reached out to them, they promptly responded. Not so with our current senators. What I have gotten from them is crickets. Sure do miss Sen. Brown.
Jim Schwarz, Canal Winchester
March is Women's History Month; a time to celebrate the contributions women have made to the state of Ohio and the country. But this year, the celebration is tainted by extreme Republican candidates whose race to the bottom of the barrel, extreme politics will harm countless Ohio women.
Billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy, who voted no on Ohio's abortion rights amendment, holds dangerous views on access to critical health care. He encouraged the Supreme Court to block access to mifepristone and favored a six-week abortion ban.
When a 10-year-old girl was raped and forced to leave Ohio for an abortion, Ohio Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Dave Yost doubted her story on national TV and refused to apologize. This past year when a judge struck down Ohio's six-week abortion ban, Yost appealed the ruling anyway.
This month, it's important to take time to recognize the women who came before us.
But as chair of the Ohio Democratic Women's Caucus, I'll also celebrate by working hard so candidates like Ramaswamy and Yost, who are a clear and present danger to Ohio women, never have the chance to implement their extreme agenda.
Cynthia Demsey, Pepper Pike
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Mass Veterans' Affairs layoffs a betrayal vets don't deserve | Letters
