Success really can start in Fayette County
Fayette County has from time to time been used as the brunt of jokes demeaning to residents here and even has had politicians referring to their constituents as “morons.”
It’s a sad thing that this happens, but thank God for election day because it gives the residents the chance to “Kick the bums out.”
But I am here to publicly thank two of our elected officials for a job well done. U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Hollidaysburg, and U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., delivered as promised to myself and my partner in this undertaking Mr. Lanny Golden the Dignified Internment of our Veterans Act of 2015.
This act will insure that the forgotten veterans who have been placed on shelves and in closets or somebody’s basement will now be given the dignified burial in a place of honor alongside of their fellow veterans. This disgrace has been a problem for our country for many years and conflicting laws across the country kept over 47,000 veterans from receiving the dignified gurial they deserved and also earned for answering the call for their country when they were called to serve.
When the issue of unclaimed veterans first started here in Fayette County five or so years ago, our State Rep. Deb Kula, a Democrat, stepped up to the plate when asked by myself (a Republican) and Mr. Golden. Debbie carried the ball and got it passed in both the Pennsylvania House and Senate, but it became bogged down in a Senate committee and was in danger of failing.
I personally called on our then Lt Gov., Mr. Jim Cawley ( a Republican), and asked him to help get the bill out of committee and passed so that we could begin to address the problem of the unclaimed cremains.
I was very happy to see that it only took two day for Mr. Cawley to get the bill moved out of committee and passed here in Pennsylvania. We did the first burial shortly after and everybody was feeling very good about themselves for a Job well done. But this was not the final answer.
At the time there were only seven or eight states addressing the problem and more needed to be done. So having success on the state level, Lanny and I decided that this was a national problem, and we decided to try and do something about it. We started with Mr Shuster and Mr Toomey (both Republicans) and the process began again.
I will say that Mr Shuster and Mr. Toomey literally bent over backwards to help us with our problem and did all that was possible to make our wish a reality. Lots of phone calls were made back and forth between us and success finally arrived, The Dignified Internment of our Veterans Act of 2015 was passed in both Houses of the Congress and will become a law of this land.
What’s still hard for me to believe is that we started this here in Fayette County and made it all the way to a federal law. I hear so much here in Fayette County that it has to be a Democrat or the Republican way of doing something or it just don’t happen. But The Dignified Internment of our Veterans Act of 2015 proves that the mix of Democrat and Republicans can work together for the betterment of our county as well as our country.
When you have elected officials that truly care about what their constituents have to say and are not of an “elitist” attitude, things will get done for the betterment of the public good with the public’s best interest at heart.
Isn’t that what our government was originally setup to do? It is a shame that we have moved so far away from this concept in our elected officials, But thank God that we do still have a few that really care.
Lanny and I are not done yet. We plan on addressing the problem of PTSD that has plagued many vets and may have been the underlining cause of many vets getting less then an honorable discharge.
In the days before PTSD was recognized problems that would now be recognized as caused by PTSD were looked at as less then honorable acts and could have caused some to be discharged with a dishonorable discharge and the loss of any VA benefits.
An example of this could be considered when maybe a soldier was returning to his base from a mission in the field and the effects of the day’s battles could have been playing heavily on his mind. This used to be called battle fatigue or shell shock among other names, but today could be referred to as PTSD. Maybe his commander or somebody unknowing approached the soldier and said or did something to set him off and the results were a dishonorable discharge for the soldier. Now because of his less then honorable discharge, he receives no VA benefits and spends the rest of his life dealing with the demons in his mind alone with no help what so ever.
I am sure that this is a large part of the reason we have so many homeless vets today. So with the help of honorable elected officials and a concerned public, maybe we can pull off another one and again, it can be said that it “Started here in Fayette County”!
Ron Metros is a resident of Uniontown.