MY NEW HERO
Ashley Joppa-Hagemann
Security officers removed an Army Ranger’s widow from former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s book signing at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Tacoma, Washington. Ashley Joppa-Hagemann, whose husband committed suicide in June before his ninth deployment, said her husband joined the military because of 9/11, and she said “it was his (Rumsfeld’s) lies that cost my husband his life.” Her husband had been diagnosed with PTSD but had not received help despite requesting it. Joppa-Hagemann introduced herself to Rumsfeld by handing him a copy of her husband’s funeral program and blamed Rumsfeld for not providing enough support for soldiers returning home before security officers removed her and anti-war veteran Jorge Gonzalez from the event. Watch a local news report of the incident here.
In the aftermath of 9.11, many brave Americans joined the military, believing that it was what they needed to do in order to serve their country and make it safe for their fellow Americans. Anyone serving in the military deserves not only our respect and appreciation; they also deserve the very best care that we have to offer. If we are to send our sons and daughters into harm’s way, it must be with the recognition that many will die, and many of those who survive will return temporarily or permanently diminished- emotionally, physically, or both. We simply can’t expect that human beings exposed to the rigors and horrors of combat won’t be deeply and profoundly impacted- perhaps permanently and irrevocably- by the experience. That being the case, it would seem incumbent upon us to ensure that our government provides those returning from war zones with the best care, therapy, and TLC that we have to offer, without limitation or hesitation. After all, if someone willingly risks their life and/or well-being for the Greater Good (in this case, the safety and security of the American homeland), then how can anyone with a functional conscience not be willing to do whatever needs to be done for that person once they are safely out of harm’s way?
Sadly, the answer to that question appears to be that the Bush Administration, and now the Obama Administration, was, are, and continue to be willing to cut corners on the care we provide our veterans. The Bush Administration wanted to essentially shunt the wounded and the damaged off to the side and address this issue on the cheap. Besides things like not providing for sufficiently armored Humvees, they skimped on other equipment and on post-combat care to military personnel who desperately needed it. This happened in large part because most Americans were too busy putting yellow ribbons on their SUVs to notice what wasn’t being done for those fighting our wars. Justin Haggeman served eight tours of duty, and had just been ordered to prepare for a ninth deployment when he committed suicide. That anyone could seriously expect a human being to survive eight deployments intact, much less a ninth, simply defies comprehension…and it certainly displays a horrific lack of compassion and concern for those being repeatedly sent back into the meat grinder.
Ashley Joppa-Hagemann should have her husband by her side. By any reasonable calculation, anyone who’s been deployed eight times deserves the admiration of a grateful nation and the ability to return to living his life. Justin Hagemann had done his part- and then some. The political calculations of the Bush Administration are what created an environment where young service members could be treated like interchangeable parts by people who had come no closer to combat than a snowball fight. That the Obama Administration have continued the same inhuman policies largely unchanged is something any decent American with a conscience should be livid over. The Hagemanns…like so many other Americans…deserved better from their government and their country.
The sad thing is that it takes a public protest like the one Ashley Joppa-Hagemann engaged to draw attention to the criminality of those behind the war in Iraq. How and why those who lied their way into the war have escaped accountability is a travesty of justice. That people like George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz, Donald Rumsfeld, and so many others have not been tried for war crimes simply defies rational explanation. That the Obama Administration will not pursue war crimes charges can and should be seen as a slap in the face of Americans who’ve lost loved ones in Iraq. The message being very clearly sent is that the lives of those who died for the lies of the Bush Administration are not worth pursuing justice over.
Ashley Joppa-Hagemann may never get justice. With any luck, though, she (and all of us) can hope that there will be a very special place in Hell for those responsible for creating the conditions that led to her husband’s suicide.
WE DESERVE BETTER…and Lord knows our sons and daughters certainly do as well.
