Thank you, Hoosier Veterans

By MIKE BRAUN
Guest Columnist

Indiana is a place that reveres those who chose to serve our country, or were chosen and answered the call of duty.

It’s not a coincidence that the center of our capital city is a monument to Hoosier veterans. About one in every 20 Hoosiers served in the Armed Forces – that’s something to be proud of.

Veterans Day is an opportunity to reflect on the sacrifices of our fellow Hoosiers who served. It’s a reminder that we owe our freedom to those who put their lives on the line to protect it.

I’d like to tell you a little bit about my father.

My dad, Amos, was a tailgunner in a B-17 plane during World War II. He was an Army Air Corps Staff Sergeant and flew 32 missions in the European theater of the conflict. His unit supported the air strategy that paved the way for the Normandy invasion, as well as flying missions in the Battle of the Bulge – the single deadliest battle of the entire war for our country.

Twenty-five aircraft were assigned to his unit. By the end of the war, only six planes returned home. The rest were lost to collisions, crashes, or shot down by enemy fire.

On average, only 17 out of every 100 gunners made it back from their first mission. That probability dropped with every additional mission. Nearly half of all the B-17 gunners were killed or missing in action by the end of the war.

He returned from Europe highly decorated to a hometown that honored and celebrated his service.

I’ve always been so proud of that.

My father made sure to instill in his kids a respect for those who had served, because he had seen firsthand the terror and suffering they endured to secure a safer world for the next generation.

I’m sure many of you have similar stories in your family that are a point of pride in your home.

Today, there are only around 100,000 veterans of WWII still with us. I’ve never missed an opportunity to meet those veterans on the Honor Flights that come to Washington, D.C. to view the monuments built to their valor and the memory of their comrades who made the ultimate sacrifice.

These Honor Flights also bring veterans of the Korean War and Vietnam War to D.C. to see their monuments. The sheer number of names on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall is a sobering sight, and a reminder that those Americans who served in that conflict have never received the full respect that they deserve for what they did for us.

In the Senate, I’m proud to have been able to lead legislation that’s making veterans lives a little easier.

One piece of legislation we passed is the VA Spina Bifida Act. Exposure to the chemical Agent Orange in Vietnam led to the spina bifida birth defect in some veterans’ children. My bill ensured that VA health benefits would continue for those children even after their veteran parent’s death. We succeeded in making this bill law last year.

One law I authored that I’m particularly proud of is the Wounded Warrior Access Act. I heard from veterans that it was difficult to get files from the VA that they need to access their benefits. Before our bill, they had to either travel to a regional VA location or wait for a physical copy to come in the mail to access their claims information. That was a pain for many veterans who depend on VA health care, and a very serious hindrance for veterans struggling with disabilities.

Our bill directed the VA to create an online tool for veterans to access their claim files electronically, streamlining the process and making the benefits they’ve earned easier to access.

My office has closed over 10,000 constituent assistance cases for Hoosiers. A big portion of those are for veterans and their families, and my office has also taken the lead on holding special veteran events where they can get help with a federal agency and see job opportunities available to veterans.

On jobs for veterans, we also passed a bill called the Hire Veteran Health Heroes Act, which requires the VA to work with the Pentagon to refer members of the Armed Forces with health care occupations for jobs with the VA during their separation from service. The idea is to help the shortage of medical personnel at the VA to improve services for veterans, and also address the issue of some veterans struggling to find jobs applying their skills learned during their service. It’s a program I hope Congress can use as a starting point for helping veterans get hired in other concentration areas in addition to health care.

This morning I spoke to an assembly of students at my alma mater, Jasper High School for Veterans Day. It was a great reminder of how integral veterans are to our state and our nation’s story.

Many of those students have parents or close relatives who served in the War on Terror in Afghanistan or Iraq, and I am heartened that they are growing up like I did, with a profound respect for those who served.

This Veterans Day, let’s all take a moment to thank the men and women in our lives who put themselves in harm’s way so we might continue to live in the greatest country in the world.

Mike Braun currently represents Indiana as one of the state’s two U.S. Senators, and he was recently elected to be Indiana’s next governor.