Every once in a while you will learn that some journalists are the crown jewels of their profession. Three such jewels are Dana Priest and Anne Hull of the Washington Post and Bob Woodruff of ABC News. These journalists uncovered the deplorable conditions under which our wounded soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan are treated in the Walter Reed Army Medical Center's outpatient facilities and the deplorable treatment given Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans by the Veterans Administration.
Dana Priest and Anne Hull conducted an intensive investigation of the outpatient facilities at Walter Reed after getting a complaint from a soldier wounded in Iraq. What they found is appalling. The building used to house outpatients was found to be infested with rats and roaches. The walls were covered with black mold. There were holes in the ceiling and walls. The place was found to be in a terrible state of disrepair. For inpatients, once the outstanding initial treaatment phase has been completed, the quality of care given the wounded at Walter Reed and other military hospitals starts going down the tubes. There is a reluctance to recommend discharge from the service and there is a lot of foot dragging in determining disability rates.
To their credit, the two Washington Post staff writers did not immediately go to the Defense Department with their findings. Had they done so, the army likely would have covered up the deplorable conditions or, at best, would only have disciplined some low level hospital staff persons. Instead, Priest and Hull published their findings in the Post before contacting any officials, much to the chagrin of the Bush administration and of the Defense Department.
After their story was published, repairs to the outpatient facilities were started and the Secretary of the Army fired Walter Reed's commanding general. Then Robert Gates, the Secretary of Defense, forced the Secretary of the Army to resign. Now, President Bush is calling for a commission to look into the treatment of our wounded veterans and Congress will hold hearings on the same matter.
Bob Woodruff, who was critically wounded by a roadside bomb in Iraq, has uncovered a mountain of ineptness with the Veterans Adminsistration medical programs which is robbing military veterans of the proper medical care they should be receiving. Woodruff, who is quick to point out that he owes his life and remarkable recovery from a traumatic brain injury and other wounds to the excellent care he received at our military hospitals in Iraq, Germany, and in this country, found such care lacking for wounded veterans once they had been discharged from the service.
Woodruff found that the Veterans Administration was totally unprepared for, and overwhelmed by the number of troops wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. Wounded veterans were subjected to bureaucratic red tape, making it hard for them to receive proper medical treatment. Those seeking treatment are required to fill out a pile of paperwork and to provide proof they were wounded - one brought his Purple Heart. There were instances of totally blind patients being placed in front of eye charts during their medical examinations. Veterans were sent to military base clinics for specific medical problems only to find that these clinics did not have the capability to treat those problems.
Is the Bush tax cut, which really benefits only the top one percent among taxpayers, responsible for the shoddy practices of the Veterans Administration? If so, should that tax cut be rescinded and some of the added tax revenue used to beef up the Veterans Administration? Hopefully, the investigations resulting from Woodruff's work will ensure that the wounded troops, who have been discharged from the service, will receive the medical treatment they deserve.
Priest, Hull and Woodruff are truly the crown jewels of their profession. Our veterans have been well served by these three journalists. The Washington Post can be very proud of Priest and Hull. Likewise, ABC can be very proud of Woodruff's work, following a long recovery from the wounds he suffered. Our nation should also be very proud to have these three journalists in our midst. We are all the beneficiaries of their diligent work.
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