I love this country, don't you? Yeah FREEDOM RINGS!

You know, a friend and I were discussing whether one person could make a difference. If I get a response to this, I will be able to tell her that there really is hope after all. I am a true patriot, not a politician. I was raised to honor my country as a young lady. And pride held swiftly along side the honor my parents instilled, by thier own actions being example. I have never written a letter to our nations leader in my entire life. I do so for the first time this evening, out of great pride. If my words offend, I apologize. I do not intend them to. On occasion we type to find that the phrase wasn't in proper context. If you feel that, I say in advance that I am sorry. I write this with pride and total respect to you. YOU ARE MY HOPE for the CHANGE we have needed a LONG time now. Bless your heart for collecting the crap left from others before, to turn it into something GOOD! And you will.... I have prayed for you and your family. Don't worry, I will continue.... hehe, you will need it.... I have some concerns to bring up. I know you hear MANY. I do promise not to complain. I feel complaining is nothing more than a person venting frustration to keep thier own sanity. You are not a psychologist. *grins* Some even look at complaining as a hobby. I see those type as none other than "negative people gone mad!" Just so you know, I am going to express a few concerns that I have felt the impact of personally. And I would be honored to do whatever I have to do to help FIX THE PROBLEM if needed. American's have a DUTY to offer assistance when they feel a deep hearted problem is in the midst. Otherwise I would just be complaining.... Well, that is not going to fix anything. So I offer MYSELF to assist as it is my AMERICAN DUTY. We should all do something to better our country every day, so here I am. I am 39 years old. I was raised so different than most American people. The area I was raised was one of poverty standards that MANY Americans my age have never known. I had no bathroom until I was 15. Lived in a 4 room house with my parents, brother and sister. No doors for privacy. I say this so you know that I am young, but raised in old fashioned ways. I am the daughter of a Vietnam Veteran, who retired as a coal miner. The man had every cancer plus many more from the agent orange. He died young and an un-named hero to the USA. But those of us who loved him, knew he gave his life like others, for the country he loved. I am NOT angry or bitter anymore over losing him. I was, but I knew that humble man would have never wanted fame for his hard work and HIS DUTY to his country when they called. He was the "old school" type. "My country needs men, I have to go!" Yep, he was so proud that I even "type lightly" the words to describe him. If I said someting in a way that stubborn man didn't really feel, he would rip me UP on side and down the other like a drill seargent. hehe, I loved that about him.... My childhood, I wouldn't change a single thing about it. Other than having more years with my father. He always worked hard, even through his sickness. The VA denied the health problems us kids had. And that is ok, we do what we have to do to get through. We never wanted a free ride. The hard times made us stronger. None of us were in the armed forces, DAD WAS! I had a really hard time watching him endure doors closing in his face when he was sick. He battled for YEARS and eventually won his case. The last several years he was 100% permanent and totally disabled. You should realize that is NO EASY FEAT. And after he died, I realized he had every illness PLUS MORE that the agent orange was proven to cause. We have this huge VA service as a benefit to our veterans. Why do they receive HORRIBLE care? My dad was battling Non-hodgkins Lymphoma. They stopped treatments on him once. He ended up with tumors everywhere. He ended up in civillian healthcare to get treatment. I ask you today, to PLEASE give our veterans real health benefits. Ones that are at the level of civillian, and overlooked and decided by REAL physicians who understand the illness at hand. I am not a doctor, and know MORE about cancer terms than those who decide at the VA whether a patient has an approved cancer. My dads non-hodgkins went in remission for a short period. We knew when it did come back it would be an aggressive cancer. It came back as Acute Lymphcitic Leukemia. Lymphocitic and Lymphoblastic are the SAME basic cancer. Chronic was approved, but Acute wasn't. The only difference between those is the rate at which the cancer is attacking. We have a new generation of soldiers coming home. They promised it would not be another Vietnam. The VA has not changed. These young men and thier families are in for the nightmare of a lifetime if things don't change. I ask you to calculate how much funds go into the VA. Please consider putting that into the civillian health care instead. Allow these soldiers to have healthcare and the dignity they deserve. There is NOTHING I have seen that was more degrading than our heros being neglected. But I would see the lazy "work the system." Our vets deserve SO MUCH BETTER! These people need real doctors, real healthcare, and the decision on thier medical needs should not be decided by someone who has no medical understanding. Civillian doctors work with the govt. All it does is adds more people pushing papers, red tape, and time that these vets have less and less of every day. I work for the federal government. If I had a dime for everytime I heard,"We can't do that!" I would be a millionaire. So what are you going to do, pass it off for someone else to change? Or are we going to fix it? Let me know if you need me!