George Pelecanos Quotes

We have to make sure the Hell the veterans come home from is not the Hell they come back to.

Well, look at what people are doing for returned veterans now. The wounded warriors. They're working hard to make the wounded veterans feel that they are loved and welcomed home, unlike Vietnam. It was not a very kind, gentle world then. I think we are kinder and gentler.

It is essential that we provide the best possible care for our wounded and disabled veterans.

I want people to take the initiative to find veterans that need help, veterans that are suffering and in need of assistance reintegrating from combat back into society, into normal family lives and jobs. We need to take a real 'boots on the ground' approach to helping veterans in need.

Much as soldiers come back, they've been in combat or the edge of it and suddenly that adjustment back to civilian life is a real challenge.

Our nation has kept faith with its veterans. Funding for veterans healthcare and benefits is strong, and has increased more than 75 percent in the last decade.

Our greatest privilege and responsibility as leaders of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs is to provide our veterans with a system that cares for their wounds and ensures that they have an opportunity to succeed.

Respecting our veterans includes providing them the ways and means they so desperately need to reintegrate into our lives and serve us again as productive members of our civilian community.

I think for the wounded, ill and injured warriors, they need the best possible care that we can give them - a continuum of care that not only started on the battlefield and extended all the way to the wonderful medical facilities that we have here in the United States - but beyond.

When you join the army, you are asked to lay down your life for your country. That is a tremendous oath to take. In return, a good country should offer that soldier every possible means it can to allow that soldier to stay alive and, upon return, healthy - both mentally and physically.

I know from personal experience the issues veterans are facing, issues around PTSD, making sure our military officers and enlisted can transition to new careers.

It is also our responsibility to fulfill our promises to our veterans, to help those in need, and to support their strength and resilience. Ensuring that we take care of them and their families is a responsibility entrusted to all of us.

The first responsibility that we have to our veterans is to make sure those that need urgent care are getting care on time.

It's very strange getting out of the military, when you've lived in Iraq, and people you know are going overseas again and again. Some of them are getting injured.

I've never had to spend any time in the VA hospital, so I really can't speak for those guys.

Post-military service can be a period of anxiety and uncertainty. So many men and women return and ask themselves: what now? The Labor Department is here to help answer that question with an array of programs designed to clear pathways into the middle class.

It's not just: you get off the plane, you're back home, everything's fine. Maybe the physical danger ends, but soldiers are still deeply at risk of being injured in a different way.

I did three tours in Vietnam. I guess a total of about almost two years.

There was a huge, tremendous amount of disabled veterans and the Veteran's Administration just wasn't geared up for it. I know for a fact that it's getting better and better.

I think our veterans certainly deserve and have earned the best health care in the world.

I'm pretty upfront about my love and admiration for the military. One of the perks of making movies is that you get to sort of follow your own passions, and I believe quite passionately that we don't pay enough attention and respect to our veterans. Not just our wounded veterans, but all veterans.

For many of the brave men and women who have fought on the front lines, returning home means trying to navigate a complicated and bureaucratic Veterans Administration benefits system.

I cannot say how touched and impressed I have been by the sight of these noble brave, and so sadly wounded men and how anxious I feel to be of use to them, and to try and get some employment for those who are maimed for life. Those who are discharged will receive very small pensions but not sufficient to live upon.

Part of ending any war responsibly is to support those who fought it

Our veterans have been fighting abroad for our freedom; the last thing they should have to do is fight for a job at home.