I was offended when I read the March 31 article about changes to disability benefits for veterans.

Why is it that the government always picks on the weary? We veterans gave our lives and left our wives and children behind, not knowing if we would come back alive. Is this our reward for saving our country? Some of us came back in body bags, or crippled or dealing with the effects of Agent Orange.

Why is it that people just didn’t care for us while we were in Vietnam? People here in the states went about their business while my brothers were getting shot at, blown up with booby traps or hurt by stakes dipped in poison.

It is nice to see that today’s veterans are coming back and being welcomed. When we came back, we should have kept our weapons on us for safety’s sake.

In 1968, I was stationed at a secret base in Thailand used by planes to fly bombing missions in Vietnam. Back then, the U.S. government denied that planes were flying out of Thailand into Vietnam. Vegetation was kept low by using Agent Orange. I am now 100 percent disabled from the effects of being in contact with Agent Orange and will be in a wheelchair in a couple of years.

How dare government officials cut disability benefits? Instead of helping us, they want to hurt us again, just like when we came home. They haven’t changed at all.

Edward Quinn, Livermore Falls

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