We were Soldiers Once?

June 8, 2009

Thomas Christopher Barber August 5, 1948-returned home June 8, 2009
Simple, uncomplicated words for someone who was so much more. My big brother is gone, his mortal voice silenced forever before his time. I say before his time because he was a mere 60 years 10 months old. In these days this should’ve been a man still in his prime, but his body failed him and I believe his country failed him as well.
My big brother was not a devoutly religious man, neither am I, but we both believe in GOD and Jesus Christ as our savior. He was not a perfect man, but then a perfect man wouldn’t need salvation. He was a patriotic Texan-American (the only time a hyphen should be used before American). He proudly served his country during one of the darkest times in the history of this country, the Vietnam War.
Whether that war was justified or not is irrelevant. What is relevant was that in time of need he responded without being called. He volunteered. He didn’t volunteer to obtain a position where he was out of harm’s way as some have done. He went into the United States Navy and after boot camp SEALS training. He was part of SEAL TEAM 3. He did two tours of duty in Vietnam with some of his assignments deep behind enemy lines. There are things he was involved in that are to this date classified and will probably remain so until most of us have joined him.
My big brother worked hard his entire live, had children, paid his taxes, and never looked for a hand out from anyone in hard times except maybe from his family. That was the way he was raised, to be self-reliant. He even started his own business at one point and during that time was fairly successful.
Then the real hard times came. First our uncle died at the age of 48 from an undiagnosed heart condition. Then our Grandmother died, again heart disease. Finally our Father passed away also from heart disease. He found later that he too had heart problems and underwent bypass surgery. He never really recovered fully physically nor financially from this. His marriage soon dissolved placing the final nail in his financial coffin.
After all this he went into seclusion and lived a hermit’s lifestyle. Rarely mingling with others except family. During this time he relied heavily on family emotionally as well as financially. Unfortunately this was not enough to see him through. He finally steeled himself to the realization that he would have to seek assistance through the government social services. He first attempted to gain Social Security Disability benefits. They provided him with a mere $120 a month for a very short period of time finally cutting even that small amount out. The reason? Because during the time he owned his own business he had not paid into Social Security for a period of ten years and was ineligible for the benefits. The 35 years of investing into that failed system counted for nothing at this point.
He was able to obtain assistance from the Navy with a disability payment where he received $825 a month. He was truly grateful for this but doesn’t go far in today’s high costs of living. So with great embarrassment he went to see about obtaining “food stamps”. Low and behold he was eligible but only for $14 a month because he was making too much money with his Navy pension. It became a joke amongst the family as well as a point of irritation.
No longer having private insurance he had to start receiving his health care through the VA. This is socialized medicine at its best. While what was provided was and is appreciated considering he had no alternative. The first time I accompanied him to the VA for an appointment I was appalled as to how our service men and women receive their treatment. What would take 20 minutes in a regular doctors office visit takes all day at the VA and sometimes into another day. I was totally shocked, saddened and embarrassed that our country treats these dear people in such a manner. These are the men and women who put their lives on the line for this country and its citizens. Some are irreparably harmed and this is the best we can do?
What do I tell the young man who is currently serving our country in the 101st when has seen and heard what has transpired to another warrior who had become family to him? This same young man who my big brother, on his death bed, called his “warrior son”. How do I justify to him that the country he has sworn an oath to defend with his life if necessary is worth such a cost? These questions have arisen.
We live in a country that is greater than any nation in the history of the world and yet foreigners receive better treatment from our social services than many of its own citizens, especially those who have worked hard all their lives and have fallen on hard time in their declining years. We are more concerned about the welfare of people who enter this country illegally than those who have served this country faithfully. We care more for those who despise this country and what it stands for than we do for those who love this country with all their heart, soul, and dying breath.
To those of you who deride this country, who blame this country for all the woes of the world, I say “TO HELL WITH YOU”! No country in known history has given so freely of its time, money, assistance, and blood of its young people than this one. I’ve never been an isolationist but am quickly becoming one.
What has happened to us? What has happened to the America that my big brother loved and my entire family loved? When are we going to right the wrong? When are we going to look out for our fellow country man first and others second? We as a nation are a family and family looks out for family first and all others come second.
There will be those who say these statements are coming from a disgruntled ignorant racist redneck. I say to you that you are wrong. For these words come from a hard working, family loving, GOD and Country loving, true blue, dyed in the wool Texan-American.
My big brother should never have thought of himself as a burden. Unfortunately he did, even though he wasn’t. Regardless of what he felt, if he was a burden he was a burden that I would gladly and proudly take up again if it would bring him back.
I will miss you big brother but know that one day I will see you again along with the rest of the clan in the house that our Lord has prepared for us IN JESUS’ NAME I KNOW AND PRAY AMEN.