Philadelphia lacks the infrastructure to care for soldiers returning home and the city’s commission on veterans wasn’t active until the 21st Century.
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The conversation in America about “boots-on-the-ground” is disappointingly disproportionate to the one anchored in veterans’ care, more specifically, the municipal infrastructure to provide a high quality of life for soldiers when they return home from combat.
The terminology itself, “boots-on-the-ground,” is dehumanizing and seems to minimize what individuals actually experience in a war zone, as Governor Martin O’ Malley rightfully reminded a national audience this past Saturday at the Democratic Presidential Debate when he, quoting a mother whose child served two duties in Iraq, said “My son is not a pair of boots on the ground.”
“They are American soldiers,” the former governor stated.
American soldiers should be, says Vietnam Veteran Mr. Ari Merretazon, a Recoilless Rifleman in the war now living in Philadelphia, the most regarded individuals in society.
“There’s no greater citizen than those who fight for their country,” said Mr. Merretazon, age 69, who was drafted when he was a teenager. “The highest position one can hold in society is a veteran.”
The reality, however, for veterans in Philadelphia – and around the country – is anything but celebrity and fanfare. In 2009, 30 percent of the homeless populations in Philadelphia were veterans, which was higher than the national average of 23 percent. And nationwide, in the same year, only 25% of homeless veterans had received VA homeless services due to lack of funding and lack of public awareness of the programs available
“Every time I think of the way veterans are treated in this country I break out in tears,” Mr. Merretazon, a fully disabled yet employable veteran, admitted in an exclusive interview with Techbook Online hours following a ‘Vet Session’ at City Hall held in response to the Inspector General report’s about the Philadelphia VA Regional Office.
One report published September 28th, 2015, alleges the administration’s inappropriate use of position and misuse of relocation program and incentives. Other reports – like those referenced in a presentation by Mr. Merretazon and Pointman Soldiers Heart Ministry, the veterans advocacy group of which he’s affiliated – detail how the administration manipulated dates on claims, thus making some veterans ineligible for their benefits.
Early this month, Ms. Diana Rubens, Director, Philadelphia VA Regional Office, was, along with St. Paul VA Regional Director Ms. Kimberly Graves, subpoenaed to testify in Washington, D.C., before the House Veterans Affairs Committee about malfeasance in their workplaces; both invoked their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
“A watchdog is needed at the VA,” Mr. Merretazon, who’s also lobbying for a Philadelphia Director of Veterans Affairs whom would serve as a liaison between the VA and veterans and their families, said.
Ahead of the Philadelphia Primary Election in April, Mr. Merretazon recruited me to co-moderate a candidates forum on ‘The State of Veterans Affairs.’ Prior to my questioning of candidates, Mr. Merretazon provided lengthy commentary on the matter, emphasizing the point that the city, which is known to have the most students-turned-soldiers (from Edison High School) die in the Vietnam War, is no friend to veterans.
He did, however, make sure to mention that At-Large Philadelphia City Councilman Mr. David Oh, a Republican and veteran, was considered an ally. Mr. Oh was the only elected official present yesterday at the hearing, and, according to Mr. Merretazon, he, contingent upon the effective organization of the community, pledged his support for a bill which would create a ballot initiative inquiring of the public whether or not the Home Rule Charter should be changed to create a Department of Veterans Affairs which answers to the Mayor.
The current system upholds the function of the Veterans Advisory Commission, a resolution based, appointment populated body which advises the Mayor and City Council on the general state of veterans affairs, as the rule of law. What Mr. Merretazon wants is an appointed liaison, under law, who works between the veteran and the VA in respect to benefit claims and benefits timely received. Mr. Darrell Clarke, the current Philadelphia City Council president, told Techbook Online months ago he’s happy with the system as it stands today, and doesn’t see a need for a change.
Mr. Clarke’s view is unfortunate, considering the current system for veterans in Philadelphia is, in my opinion, quite derogatory and dilapidated, though the bureaucracy would demand recognition for recently producing a first-ever parade for soldiers, even though its inaugural celebration comes more than fifty years after the establishment of the Philadelphia Veterans Advisory Commission, whose public record from the mid-20th Century to the beginning of the 21st Century appears to be non-existent.
Mr. Merretazon and his team had five cars in the parade, but their participation, he said, wasn’t a form of patriotism, but rather to celebrate a “political victory.”
“There was nothing happening for veterans in Philadelphia before Pointman Soldiers Heart Ministry’s advocacy and ensuing testimony at the 9-11 hearings on September 11th, 2012; the timeline proves it!,” Mr. Merretazon exclaimed.
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After the formation of the Philadelphia Veterans Advisory Commission in the late 50s, the next reference of it on the public record was, according to Mr. Merretazon’s meticulously aggregated notes, December 13, 2005, when Philadelphia’s Committee on Law and Government held a public hearing (Resolution 050869) and heard testimony concerning reestablishing, restructuring, and reviving the body.
Then in 2009, a resolution in City Council was adopted authorizing the Committee on Legislative Oversight to hold public hearings to examine current issues affecting veterans in the Philadelphia area and to coordinate with the Veterans’ Advisory Commission and veterans’ organizations to identify and implement programs to address specific needs and concerns.
Mr. Merretazon said the hearings never happened, and, per my research, I echo his assertion as true.
City Councilman Mr. Curtis Jones, Jr., told me earlier this year that when he came into office in 2008, the only thing the city offered veterans were flags, so what’s in place today, he suggested, was an improvement.
“The problem is that they don’t see Veterans in the special light they deserve. That’s the biggest social issue! They don’t see us as special, so they do anything special for us. The system does more for a dead veteran than they do a live one. There’s never been a real needs assessment of the veterans’ community done by the City. They just don’t care. We don’t deserve this treatment, but to the City, we’re nothing special, just toilet paper soldiers; once they’ve finished with us, they threw us away.”
‘The Modern Day Civil Rights Movement,’ a free 6:30pm panel discussion at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia preceding Grammy Award-winner Mr. Christian McBride’s Nov. 21st 8pm concert at the Merriam Theater, will be moderated by Christopher “Flood the Drummer” Norris.
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