Expiring veterans/money

This is just a bit of news i picked up elsewhere, it’s probably in all the major news outlets here, so i won’t bother with sources. Check any magazine.

There’s 87 million euros (that’s like a kazillion u.s. dollars) of money that’s been collected by different organisations to benefit the veterans of our wars. There are roughly 67 000 veterans left, and two-thirds of them will die within the next five years, according to studies. This means, that they’d have to start giving out cash at a speedy rate, so that everyone get’s their share. This also means that people who have donated to the cause over the past decades don’t get lied to, and that the money goes where it was collected for.

Let’s get a few things straight. I don’t disrespect veterans, on the contrary. My grandfather is a veteran of WW2, and he lost 6 brothers to russian bombs and bullets. Others in my family had to go in to exile, or spent weeks in bunkers waiting for the firebombings to stop. My family has seen war.

It’s the origanisations i have a problem with. They collect money, yet they are very stringy about where it goes. My grandfather hasn’t seen much in way of support, and for instance rehabilitation has been sporadic at best. Why are they sitting on 87 million euro?

Well, one explanation is that veterans need to be remembered after they have all passed, and i agree totally. But for 87 million you get a whole lot of remembrance for a whole lot of generations. With that kind of money, we could send videos and books  about veterans to every person in the country for a few years.

Most people, including my grandfather, still live in debt, in a small apartment, in conditions less than stellar. He still has his dignity and wisdom, but i still feel we could give more. He’s 87 now, and 5 years is about what i’d give him at most.  It’d be nice to spend those last years not having to worry about bills or payments.

So how about it, guys?

I vote we stop giving any more money to these organisations that say they are benefiting veterans, until they actually start doing so. This discussion has been ongoing for a long long time, and yet, it’s still one of the most popular places to donate money. Let’s just not cheat these people out of the money they’ve rightfully earned, in the last few years of their lives.