By Capt Joseph R. John, on Veterans Day November 11, 2015 

On September 23, 2015, an endorsed Combat Veteran For Congress, Cong Kerry Bentivolio, SFC/MI-ANG (R-MI-11) (Ret) (Disabled American Veteran), who is the only Congressman to ever serve combat tours in Vietnam and Iraq, began his walk and biking for 570 miles, to travel from Walled Lake, Michigan to Washington DC, in hopes of waking up the American people and Congress about the urgent need to help Veterans in the Republic, to support Veterans Issues, and to request that their Congressional representatives provide Veterans with the health care benefits they were promised, before they went into harm’s way in defense of the Republic.  Cong Bentivolio also wanted to call attention to the fact that 23 Veterans/day are committing suicide, and that 300,000 Veterans have died across the nation, while waiting to get an appointment to see a doctor in VA hospitals.  

“I saw it firsthand when I was in the service. A fellow Soldier died in a stateside military medical holding unit that I was also in, and nobody noticed for four days,” Bentivolio said. “More than 300,000 American military Veterans likely died while waiting for healthcare, and nearly twice as many are still waiting, according to a new Department of Veterans Affairs Inspector General’s Report.”

Cong Bentivolio, served as Congressman from 2013 through January 2015, said “talking about the issue has not gotten the Veterans any closer to getting the aid they need.  It was time for action”, he said.

“We have a lot of World War II Veterans who are dying at 80 or 90 years old, but we have Vietnam Veterans who can’t make it past 70 years of age. We have Marines that were stationed in Camp Lejeune in the ’50s and ’60s and they found out all the water they drank was contaminated,” Bentivolio said. “Congress said they were going to take care of those guys but they’re not.”

While at home in Michigan, Bentivolio said he realized he could not sit at home and do nothing while Veterans were not given an opportunity to receive the care they need.

“Everybody’s lives matter. We have to put our priorities right. Take care of the Veterans and Soldiers. If you can’t do that, don’t bother asking them to serve anymore,” Cong Bentivolio said. “More Soldiers are dying from self-inflicted (wounds) or suicide than on the battlefield.”

At the same time 300,000 veterans have died over the last 7 ½ years because they couldn’t get an appointment to see a doctor at a VA Hospital, and 23 veterans are committing suicide each day because they are not receiving proper psychiatric care, yet millions of Illegal Aliens and hundreds of thousands of Muslims refugees who have been resettled in cities across the nation are not waiting in line for medical appointments with doctors, they are immediately receiving free medical care courtesy of the Obama administration.  

Remember a Veteran and thank him or her for their service!  Please click on the link to listen to a moving tribute:
   Just A Common Soldier

Illegal Aliens and Muslim Refugees are receiving free medical coverage without having had to join and serve in the US Armed Forces, and they haven’t had to go into harm’s way in combat against enemies of the United States. The Obama administration is providing excellent medical care for millions of Illegal Aliens violating US borders, and Muslim refugees arriving from the Middle East who are not even American citizens.  After 7 ½ years, Obama is still not taking care of Veterans who are American citizens, Veterans who defended their country in combat and were promised that medical care would be provided for them.  

On this Veterans Day, we encourage you to forward this E-mails to those in your address book who support Veterans and want to see them receive the medical benefits they were promised they would receive for serving their country in the US Armed Forces.  Entering members of the US Armed Forces are being paid below the new minimum wage of $15/hr that the Obama administration is demanding students still in high school receive working in the service industry and at fast food restaurants like McDonalds.

We wish all Veterans a Happy Veterans Day, and encourage all Americans to remember to thank a Veteran for his service, because at one point in their life, they wrote a blank check made payable to “The United States of America” for an amount “up to and including their life.”

Copyright 2015, Capt. Joseph R. John. All Rights Reserved. This material can only be posted on another Web site or distributed on the Internet by giving full credit to the author.  It may not be published, broadcast, or rewritten without permission from the author