Monday, July 6, 2009

Wait, there are women soldiers?

You would think that at some point you would stop being shocked by the awful things that happen to women in this country, but that never seems to happen. While I was looking at Jezebel today I saw that they posted a link to a piece about how the military is treating female veterans. (Hint: it's not that great. Surprising? I know).

Evidently, even though women have been serving in the military for decades, they are pretty much ignored when it comes to veteran services. Women struggle just as much as their male counterparts when they return from war, and that battle is only made more difficult by the fact that there are increasing numbers of female vets who are also single mothers. These women are often homeless because the majority of programs run by Veteran Affairs only serve men.

This is just ridiculous. These women have served their country and face all of the same problems that men do, and their sacrifices and dedication should not be so undervalued. A little good news is that the Obama administration has allocated a huge chunk of money to creating homes for veterans, male and female. Honestly, there is just a whole world of things that should be done to help veterans, and hopefully creating this housing will help a group that desperately needs it.
Photo courtesy of www.flickr.com/jcolman