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Jackpine Radical lived his activism….HIS way.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026606319A while back, a disabled vet stopped in a convenience store
on his way to a boat landing to go fishing. Someone in the convenience store commented that the vet would need a paid permit to use the landing, and the vet replied that, as a disabled vet he had been given a free season pass sticker.
A guy in the store, obviously one of the regulars there, replied, "With all the taxes I pay, I should be getting a free sticker."
The vet wrote the following letter and left it for his critic:
(Name of county changed to protect the guilty):
To the man who feels the outrageous taxes he pays entitle him to a free park pass:
Your remark felt like a slap in the face. Here is why:
Yes, I got a free season pass to the (Redacted) County parks—these are available to any military veteran with service-connected disabilities rated by the VA to be in excess of 70%. When I mentioned this I merely intended to express my gratitude to (Redacted) County for this generous gesture that they make for disabled veterans.
In my case, I have a 100% disability due to severe cardiovascular disease that was caused by my exposure to Agent Orange while serving in the infantry in Vietnam.
I also have a 70% disability rating for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result of a number of combat experiences (e.g. picking up pieces of buddies to put in body bags, hoping we were getting the right parts in the right bags) as well as traumatic brain injury due to the 2 AK-47 rounds I took to my head in December 1967.
A third bullet is lodged near my spine, but is not deemed to play any disabling role at the moment.
I had lived most of my life without having sought compensation for these injuries, but as it became increasingly difficult for me to perform my work, and indeed to go about my activities of daily life, I applied to the VA for disability status about 3 years ago. The VA finally acknowledged the source and extent of these disabilities in January of this year. Of course, for practical purposes a disability rating cannot exceed 100%, which is my current rating.
These disabilities have of course been present, and in the case of the cardiovascular issue, growing worse, for my entire adult life, but I fought to keep working and functioning in spite of them.
The small compensation I now receive for the permanent and increasingly debilitating injuries I suffered while in uniform has permitted me to retire at last at age 70. So, in case you think I haven’t paid my share of taxes during my 50-plus year work history, you would not be exactly correct.
Given your expression of resentment at my receiving this consideration from (Redacted) County, I am enclosing $25, the price of an annual county park pass, so that you might use it to assuage your bitterness over the favored treatment the county extended to me.
Most Sincerely
The Freeloader
20 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
Yes....what you said.
I lose my ability to communicate when... uh.... this.... umm... things like this..
