Works for veterans

The recent Voices letter about French Hill voting against a veterans’ bill got my blood boiling. Let me tell you what French did for this veteran.

For 10 years I meticulously wrote the Army and supplied service numbers and unit numbers in an attempt to acquire my father’s World War II records. Time and time again I was told by the Army that his records burned in a fire in the St. Louis records storage. Finally in desperation, I contacted French’s office and went down to see his staff who handle veteran issues. They were courteous and extremely interested in getting my dad’s records.

Within three weeks I had a CD with 405 pages of medical and service records. Those records detailed the action he saw in French Morocco, Algiers, Tunisia and then on into Sicily, where he was wounded and taken out of action. He was a machine gunner who lasted nine months in the heaviest fighting in North Africa and Sicily. The average life expectancy of a machine gunner in combat in WWII was 60 seconds. From those records, Congressman Hill secured my father the Purple Heart, which he should have had years ago.

If French Hill voted against any veterans’ bill, I can tell you it was because rogue amendments were added to the bill, which most likely changed the entire purpose of the bill. When that happens, often the only option is to kill it by voting against the bill. French Hill is an honorable man who has given far more than he has received from his position, and deserves to continue representing us. WR CORLEY

Benton