I know that caring for our nation’s vets is a massive task, and I know that even the best system is going to allow for exceptional cases at the fringes. But it’s been a long time since I heard anybody arguing that we have anything like the best system, and the Walter Reed debacle really called into question how committed our government is to “supporting the troops.”

This morning yet another unfortunate story found its way to me. Soldier breaks back during training, needs surgery, system won’t approve it. The wife in this story, Sarah, turns out to be somebody I know through one of my online groups, and I’m trying to imagine her pain as well as his.

Clearly our troops need more support, so maybe today I’ll make time to go buy one of those Chinese-made yellow ribbon magnets for my car. Maybe if they hang a really big one on the side of Walter Reed….