I traveled to Washington, D.C. in March as Oregon state captain for VoteVets.org, a political action committee dedicated to assisting veterans. We met with politicians and political candidates in the House and Senate to discuss their actions that deal with veterans. I was invited to be the state captain because I am a four year combat veteran of the United States Air Force, have experience with many aspects of the military and have an interest in policy affecting the military and veterans’ affairs. Nearly all of the representatives that accompanied me to Washington are Iraq and Afghanistan veterans like myself. It was the perfect time for us to go to the nation’s capital and promote helpful legislation on behalf of the increasing numbers of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.
Shortly after I arrived, I was welcomed by other vets and spoke with retired Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton, one of our V.I.P.s for the event. General Eaton and I discussed our similar experiences in the military. We commiserated about the sinking feelings one experiences while participating in a combat landing in a C-130 transport aircraft. We laughed about it, while realizing we were both lucky to laugh. Two of the members of our group received severe head trauma and traumatic brain injury during such landings.
We listened to Randy Beers, a former assistant Secretary of State and National Security Council member, who is also a veteran. He noted that our generation (the younger veterans of this war) is extremely important to the future of politics, because we have experienced the product of U.S. foreign policy in the form of war.
We spent the next day learning the art of dealing with politicians and lobbying for veteran’s rights. The theme was “transitioning from the military into politics.” The group discussed strategies for communicating with members of Congress as well as the media.
Next we met with key members who work on legislation dealing with the military and veterans, including Sens. Jim Webb, D-Va., and Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., who are responsible for supporting very important bills such as Senate Bill 22, a World War II-style GI Bill that will provide much-needed extra assistance to honorably discharged veterans who pursue a higher education.
The House counterpart of the Senate bill is H.R.2702. I am very happy that our local members of the Oregon delegation, Rep. Peter DeFazio and Sens. Ron Wyden and Gordon Smith, have signed on in support of this legislation.
We wrapped up the day by meeting with Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. Kerry greeted us warmly and said, “You remind me of my generation coming back from Vietnam – only you guys look pretty sharp” (our group was wearing suits as proudly as if we were wearing our military uniform). Kerry emphasized our extremely important role in supporting America by pushing for legislation that will take care of our military and veterans.
On the way home I truly thought that we had accomplished something in the very brief time our group was in Washington. I encourage readers of all political persuasions to treat our military and veterans for what they are – America’s heroes.
Shannon Smyth was deployed overseas from 2002 through 2006, serving in Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar and Jordan. He is currently preparing for law school at the University of Oregon.