Supporting the Troops

A couple stories in today's Washington Post illustrate how difficult supporting the troops and their families has become.

One article notes that the Defense Department has terminated access by Veterans Affairs physicians to the military medical records of service members sent to the VA for care.

Another article describes the financial hardships placed on the surviving daughter of a single mother killed in Iraq and the grandparents who are raising her. The grandparents do not qualify for next-of-kin payments and the daughter will not receive benefits until she is 18. In the meantime, bills pile up.

All the blather in Congress about supporting the troops by funding the war in Iraq is pretty meaningless when you see how bureacratic snafus that could be easily addressed with some foresight and thought wreak havoc on service members and their families.