OFFE Veterans' Newsletter

April 2016

INCULCATING OUR VETERAN-ISM, the OFFE CALL to ARMS by Francisco Juarez

Veteran advocates documented discoveries describing who, when and how special interests are rapidly moving towards accomplishing dangerous "game-changing" ends for a clueless Veteran community were brought into brighter light, this morning, when I read this ZOCOLO story, Goggle it.

This article, written by Molly Uphill Manning, describes, in part, how Americans lined up in front of the New York Public Library at 5th Avenue and 42nd Street in January of 1942, to donate books to WWII soldiers overseas.

ZOCOLO, April 11, 2016 “It may be difficult to appreciate the significance of a book drive held nearly 75 years ago. But this was no ordinary campaign. At the time, books—vehicles for new ideas—were being banned and burned in Europe by the German Army."

When I read the words "-vehicles for new ideas-", recent, personal, thoughts came to mind.

I remembered telling myself that books, in general, are appreciated more by the generations that live with or immediately follow the writer. My hope, that my children and grandchildren will read what I write, came forward. It reminded me that I have held on to, and I intend to publish, what my mother and my uncle wrote before they passed because I believe that our messages are meant to outlast us and to contribute to a better future for mankind.

Who, more, than our own (fellow citizens) do we want to benefit from the history we leave?

Regarding communication, I've read that, of today's U.S. society, 85% have adopted some use of cyberspace to live by. Smart phones and smart-homes are being churned out even though health concerns are being raised. "Living on the grid" has more meaning than ever, and, this whole Internet era has created challenges for the "pre-millennial" generation members who are challenged by the technology. Many are frustrated because they cannot, effectively, hand off what we consider to be valuable information and meaningful sentiment.

Before I go any further, I will admit that, like any of the “haves” (as opposed to the have-nots), I would not be able to get my thoughts into print or reach as many readers without this “8th Wonder of the World" facilitates. However, there are still many of us who refuse to abandon the feeling of there being so much more to the notion of “learning to drive in a 1952 stick-shift pickup truck than in a self-parking vehicle that tells you how to drive”. To date, I still use a number 2 pencil and a 99 Cent Store composition book to begin my work.

The sending and receiving of information (data) over the Internet and through cyberspace does have its dark side and that is the bone that Veterans want picked as soon as possible.

I've met advocates who agree, there is an element of learning that is missing from the delivery of data to a computer or a hand held device, then "parroted", as gospel, by those who would take your "HOME" because they have unlawful interest in it.

This is to say that the full sentiment of this ZOCOLO story, for example, cannot be "Googled". That must come from the heart, and, because it cannot, many more feel that cyberspace has surgically removed the brain and the heart from society’s ability to debate. The honor that Veterans received before cyberspace had more meaning before Bill Gates created DOS. Some will tell you that the difference began with magnetic bumper stickers, also, a by-product of cyberspace.

While this claim opens a big can of worms, that big fat worm with the red, white and blue rings around it, the moral obligation to honor and care for all Veterans, is on the proverbial hook, being used as bait by powerful special interests, right now, to catch the second largest Cabinet budget in recent presidential administrations.

This has become apparent to the Veteran advocates, like OFFE, who have attempted to raise unfiltered awareness and concern about this travesty. The trails that these "watchdogs" have followed, violations of land-grab, missing records, 5301, secret patient lists, to name a few, now come full circle, back to the Veteran Affairs headquarters in Washington, DC, and that senior level of career bureaucrats that maintain a close and cozy relationship with the special interests that are poised to take down the VA while Secretaries come and go.

Those who feel they have to defend technology will say that cyberspace has given much more visibility to our patriotism than before.

Older folks will say that the new patriotism is hollow and, like the Nano second, is too "rushed".

This observation is why Veteran advocates believe that the moral obligation that held the "HOME" at VA, WLA, intact for over a century, should not be "boldly transformed" by Secretary McDonald's settlement plan into a misrepresentation of what it was "permanently" intended to be.

OFFE believes that it is why the misinterpretation, put together by special interests and voiced by the current VA Secretary, has gone unchallenged in Congress.

Of far greater concern is obtaining the honest answer to this question, why is the entire VA System, today, at the hands of the current administration, being "stealthily" dismantled under the guise of "fixing a broken system". We’ve gone from saving a "HOME" to saving an institution that bears our name, "Veterans".

The irony, throughout all of the corporate jockeying to capture this perceived prize, is that carnage, that which has created the disabled combat Veteran, is still carnage.

The combat Veteran of today, that manages to come "HOME" from multiple tours, those men and women (more women in combat than ever), 99% born into this cyberspace era, suffer from the same symptoms as the Revolutionary and Civil War Veterans. Yet, because of the special interests courting their support and influencing "cookie cutter" change within an institution built upon sacred trust, they will not enjoy the same gratitude, honor or respect that was "permanently" given by the grateful nation of the 1800's.

War, contrary to popular belief, is not natural. Our teeth are, except for the incisors, flat. What is a natural social phenomenon, however, is the historical pattern of carpet bag representatives feeding our nation's defenders to the powerful special interests as political fodder, nothing more, to be taken advantage of, as in today's situation, caused because our population is in decline.

Sacred Trust should remain as strong as it started down to the last Veteran.

"This is no ordinary campaign", the special interest feeding frenzy has been going on for over twenty years around the "biggest and the busiest" and the buzzards with "insider" information are now circling over a system that is being killed off by intentional, poorly managed stewardship of a once valued moral obligation.

Whether cyberspace can spread this OFFE Call to Arms or not is not the question. It positively can.

The important question is, does cyberspace society care enough to move to stop the dark side or do we have to send books to our troops in combat?

If you care about the quality and integrity of our government’s principles and policies you want to follow these editorials. All editorial replies are welcome and may be edited. Send all editorial comments to: westsideservice@yahoo.com, attention Francisco.

Operation Firing For Effect (OFFE) is a bi-partisan Veterans Advocacy group, and subsidiary of Veterans For Veteran Connection, Inc., a 501(c)19 non-profit corporation devoted to the protection and improvement of entitlements and services earned by our men and women in uniform. 
 
 
OFFE does not endorse political candidates running for office. OFFE does report on issues of importance to our former military personnel and their families and that includes ‘News’ from both sides of the aisle. OFFE will grant equal time to any candidate (regardless of political affiliation) who wishes to share and explain their position(s) on ‘Veterans’ Affairs’.