Another Veterans Day passes, reminding us of the dedication our young men and women serving in the military.

They serve with honor and pride and fight with dedication. But then they return home – some injured and broken – as the same people who sent them into harm’s way and called them “heroes” turn their backs to them. They are dumped into the laps of organizations like Wounded Warriors to beg for help.

It’s the kids from middle- and lower-income families who are left to clean up the mess created by some politician sitting behind a desk in Washington, D.C.

These kids fight in deserts and jungles and places we don’t want to think about. They get up in the morning wondering if this is their last day on earth, or if they will ever see their loved ones again. And, if they do return home, they are no longer a matter of concern. They are expendable.

Where are the people who sent these brave kids into harm’s way? Why isn’t Wounded Warriors a federally funded program? Why is this a political issue?

At the very least, we owe these kids the assistance and the money they need to fix what we broke when we sent them into these horrific places.

It’s time to ask our local and state representatives what they are doing to help our Wounded Warriors, and what they are doing to bring these kids back to where they were before we sent them over there. We all owe them that!

Doug Davis

Windham