It's encouraging how fast the government wheels turned when we found out that our veterans, who would sacrifice their lives in the name of our country, weren't receiving the care they deserve. Both in Washington, D.C., and in Minneapolis, action is swift to correct a bad situation.
What is a tragedy, however, is that the situation went on as long as it did before it was discovered -- especially at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
It's inconceivable, especially with the large number of soldiers returning to the United States after suffering injuries in Afghanistan and Iraq, that such abhorrent conditions at Walter Reed went on so long undetected. Stories of wounded service members and their families placed in dilap-idated living conditions, receiving less than minimal medical care and outpatient care and battling excessive government red tape is not only wrong but criminal.
Congress this week has begun hearings on the issue, and President Bush was swift in demanding corrective action, as well as announcing Tuesday the appointment of former Sen. Bob Dole and former Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Sha-lala to lead his administration's investiga-tion into Walter Reed. Meanwhile, top brass at the facility have resigned.
Democrats rightly blamed part of the problem on the lack of preparedness, after all this was only supposed to be a war of a few months, not several years and counting. And the president rightly notes that "we have a moral obligation to provide the best possible care and treatment to the men and women who served our country."
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But while the investigation continues into what went wrong, we hope that it directly leads to action that will prevent it in the future. It is a wrong that must not be repeated.
Likewise in Minnesota, Gov. Tim Pawlenty was swift last week in ordering changes at the state-run Minneapolis Veterans Home when state health inspectors found many problems, including medication errors leading to the deaths of three veterans in January. He ordered day-to-day operations at the home to be run by a consultant, which was hired Monday, and that the state Health Department monitor the home.
The Pawlenty administration plans its own investigation, and the Legislature is ready to consider any recommendations and will hold its own hearings. At a mini-mum, there will be a call for a long-term care consultant to advise the Veteran's Home Board, which oversees all state vet-erans homes, and creating a commission charged with governance and oversight.
At both the federal and state level, we have failed to honor our part of our nation's contract with our servicemen and women. We must ensure that it won't happen again.
