Gates, Mullen Talk Care for Veterans

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, observed Veterans Day today with messages calling for the continued and dedicated care of America's wounded troops and veterans.

"As important as it is to publicly recognize the service of our troops returned from the battlefield, it is more important - indeed a sacred obligation - that we make sure they receive the care, benefits, and compensation they've so courageously earned," Gates said in his remarks. "This is one of the preeminent challenges facing our nation. Aside from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, I have had no higher leadership priority.

Since reports of substandard recovery facilities emerged last year, including at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, the Defense Department has pushed major reforms and improvements in outpatient care, Gates said.

He also said each service provides a multi-facetted approach to care.

The Army, for example, gives each soldier a case manager, squad leader, and a primary care provider, he said. Also, coordinators have been assigned to help guide troops and their families through what can be a bewildering system during a difficult period in their lives.

Mullen, in his message, said war wounds "last a lifetime, and so should our care."

"Our wounded veterans and their families deserve only the best medical care our nation can provide, care on par with the service and sacrifice these patriots have rendered," he said. "From the battlefield to regional hospitals, and rehabilitation centers to reintegration programs, our wounded, ill and injured servicemembers and their families merit a continuum of care that lasts a lifetime."

Mullen also said that history "has debunked the notion of a 'War to End All Wars' -- once applied to what had been called at its close "The Great War," but then called World War I when the Second World War exploded a generation later.

"And history has also proven that peace does not preserve itself," Mullen said. "It requires millions of dedicated men and women, like you and your families, all working in unison toward what one memorial hails as 'high idealism, courageous sacrifice and gallant achievement.'"

Gates noted that Veterans Day, once known as Armistice Day to honor those who fought and died in World War I, began in his own home state of Kansas. More than 50 years ago, he said, a shoe store owner named Al King promoted the idea of changing the holiday from one solely honoring World War I vets to a day celebrating veterans of all U.S. wars, of every era.

"What started in Emporia (Kansas) went national in 1954, when Congress passed and President Eisenhower signed a bill making the November 11 holiday the one we know today," he said.