Our soldiers’ plight

Thank you for your front-page article on Sunday (“Grieving parents publish their son’s journal,” Dec. 2). It was poignant and heartbreaking, but a critically necessary reminder of the ongoing challenges faced by those who have volunteered to go in harm’s way to preserve our country’s safety and security.

Then-President George W. Bush famously encouraged the rest of the country to go on about their daily business while our sons and daughters went to war on our behalf. For too many of the veterans who answered that call, that will never be an option. Nobody comes home from war unchanged, and while we are making great strides in treating the visible wounds of war, it is the wounds that are invisible to most people - but painfully evident to those close to our veterans - that are often unrecognized and untreated.

It’s easy to display an “I support our veterans” sticker. It is quite another thing to take seriously the responsibility we have to give them the comprehensive and ongoing care they need and deserve.

John Owen

Spokane