{"id":10586,"date":"2022-08-18T06:01:00","date_gmt":"2022-08-18T10:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/?p=10586"},"modified":"2022-08-17T15:43:15","modified_gmt":"2022-08-17T19:43:15","slug":"gordon-veterans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/gordon-veterans\/","title":{"rendered":"How Well Does the U.S. Care for Its Veterans? An Expert Weighs In"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A new book by Suzanne Gordon \u201967 chronicles the impact of military service\u2014and how we aid those who wore the uniform<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Beth Saulnier<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As an undergrad on the Hill, Suzanne Gordon \u201967 was an avid antiwar activist who opposed U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Today, she\u2019s a prominent <\/em>researcher and journalist<\/em><\/a> covering veterans\u2019 affairs, with a focus on healthcare.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Gordon’s work has appeared in national media, including the New York Times<\/em> and Washington Post<\/em>. (Photo provided)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>
\n

A co-founder of the Veterans Healthcare Policy Institute, Gordon is the author of <\/em>Wounds of War: How the VA Delivers Health, Healing, and Hope to the Nation’s Veterans<\/a>, published in 2018 by Cornell University Press. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

She majored in Romance studies in Arts & Sciences and served as the longtime co-editor of a Cornell University Press <\/em>book series<\/em><\/a> on the culture and politics of healthcare work.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gordon\u2019s latest book\u2014out this summer from Duke University Press and coauthored with two colleagues\u2014represents years of research and interviews with dozens of former military personnel. <\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Titled <\/em>Our Veterans: Winners, Losers, Friends, and Enemies on the New Terrain of Veterans Affairs<\/a>, it explores how serving in the military can impact people, and the issues that many former servicemembers face in rejoining civilian life.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Says the <\/em>New York Times in a capsule review: \u201cThis chilling account explores the physical, economic, and psychological consequences of military service on veteran health and takes a critical look at the many players involved in shaping veteran life in the United States.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You and your coauthors aren\u2019t veterans; why devote your work to veterans\u2019 affairs?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s ironic, because I’m an antiwar activist; I\u2019m very concerned about the human cost of the military adventures we get into, but we must care for the people who serve in them. To me, it’s an outrage that the politicians who support these wars don’t want to pay for their human consequences. Veterans\u2019 benefits should be included in any decision to engage in combat\u2014but many in Congress refuse to give adequate money to take care of the people who sacrifice for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And this book was a collaboration with veterans; it couldn\u2019t have been written without the many who shared their experiences with us. We spent years talking with veterans, hanging out with them, going to VA [Department of Veterans Affairs<\/a>] hospitals with them. So I see our book as reflecting the realities of the veteran experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the most common misconceptions about veterans\u2019 issues?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are so many. First of all, I don’t think a lot of people understand what a veteran is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do you define a veteran, then?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many people think a veteran is someone who was in combat. But I define it the way we do in the book: anybody who served in the active-duty military. Another common misconception is that all veterans are eligible for benefits. In the VA, access depends on the status of your discharge, whether you have a proven service-connected disability, or whether you have a sufficiently low income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, a lot of people think the only injuries that people in the military have are due to combat. But the military is a series of very dangerous occupations, even if you never leave the continental U.S. People always talk about \u201ccombat veterans,\u201d but the problems that veterans have are not just from combat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People always talk about ‘combat veterans,’ but the problems that veterans have are not just from combat.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

What do you see as the major issues facing veterans?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a mental health crisis and a debt crisis, with predatory lenders near bases and even on naval ships. One in four women in the military experience some form of sexual harassment or assault\u2014including rape or even murder. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But fundamentally, one of the biggest issues is that society often blames veterans\u2019 problems on the VA as opposed to the root cause, which is unsafe practices in the military that could be changed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Obviously, you need a force of arms to defend your country. But you don’t need to send people into elective wars. You don’t need to make the harms worse, like with burn pits and faulty equipment. And you certainly don’t need to expose women\u2014and even some men\u2014to sexual trauma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the book, you underscore how much we fund the active military compared with support for the personnel who served in it. Could you talk about that?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Department of Defense budget rises and rises; politicians fall over themselves to give the Pentagon more money. But when it comes to the VA and the budget for healthcare or benefits, it’s like pulling teeth. They may raise the budget, but grudgingly, and it\u2019s never enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, almost four million veterans have been impacted by various toxic exposures during various wars, including burn pits. Senate Republicans almost killed the bill that would have expanded coverage<\/a> for many of the military personnel who suffered from burn pits and other toxic exposures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And again, \u201cIt’s too much money.\u201d You see this constantly\u2014since the Revolutionary War.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking of the Revolution: one striking takeaway from your book is how shoddily the U.S. has treated many of its veterans since its founding. How so?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/figure>
\n

We paid Revolutionary War soldiers in nearly worthless paper currency, and many went into debt. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the Civil War, there was a huge debate, exactly the same as you hear today: \u201cWe can’t afford it; these people are weak and dependent; you should pick yourself up by your bootstraps; veterans wouldn’t want us to mortgage the country\u2019s future by helping them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s a total resistance to paying for the costs of war, whatever that war is. During the Revolution, active-duty servicemembers didn\u2019t have boots, warm uniforms, or blankets. In the Iraq War, we didn\u2019t give them decent helmets to protect against traumatic brain injuries.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Obviously, if you’re in combat, people are going to shoot at you or bomb you; there are certain things you can’t prevent. But there are others you can<\/em> prevent, and the military does not do enough to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You mentioned that benefits depend on how someone is discharged. How does that work?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can’t get access to benefits if you have an \u201cother than honorable\u201d discharge\u2014and since 1980, 600,000 people have received these discharges and don\u2019t get VA benefits, even though they have serious mental or physical problems. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

People who have a traumatic brain injury or PTSD and self-medicate by getting drunk and then get into a fight\u2014they\u2019ve received these punishing discharges. Many women who reported sexual assault by a higher-up have received this kind of \u201cbad paper\u201d discharge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ve written extensively about the virtues of the VA healthcare system. Why do you admire it?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Study after study shows that the VA delivers better care than a profit-driven system, by almost every measure\u2014from mental health to cancer care to chronic disease management. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s because it’s a national system that\u2019s integrated, with electronic medical records and physicians, nurses, and other staff who work in teams. They communicate\u2014they don’t just put notes in a record\u2014and talk about complex patients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And veterans have complex problems. When the average 65-year-old goes to the doctor, they have three to five presenting problems; the average Vietnam vet has nine to 12.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What about the headlines about crumbling VA facilities and months-long waits for an appointment?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The picture of the VA as antiquated, with long wait times and so forth, is the product of a decade or more of propaganda, funded by ultra-conservative foundations and think tanks, and increasingly supported by the hospital industry, because they want to tarnish its image. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the reason is very simple: money. They want the tens of billions of dollars that we spend on the public sector to go to the private sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How has ending the draft changed who becomes a veteran?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since 1973, we\u2019ve had an all-volunteer military\u2014but many call it an \u201ceconomic draft,\u201d where poor people are drawn to the benefits. Increasingly, recruitment campaigns place less emphasis on patriotism and more on a good job, healthcare, and a college education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We increasingly recruit from certain areas of the country\u2014the South, Southwest, and Mountain West. It becomes almost a family business: your granddad and dad were in the military, and now you are. So the consequences of this all-volunteer army is a huge civilian-military divide, where the burdens of service are not equally shared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since 1973, we\u2019ve had an all-volunteer military\u2014but many call it an ‘economic draft,’ where poor people are drawn to the benefits.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Overall, what are some potential solutions to the issues we\u2019ve discussed?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We need people in Congress who support a more judicious foreign policy\u2014one that doesn’t see taking up arms as the solution to every problem\u2014and who question the huge expenditures on the military at the expense of everything else, including the care of veterans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We need to have a real debate about our country’s priorities and how we spend our money. The very fact that we use economic incentives for recruitment from poor communities should tell us that we need other ways to help those communities resolve their economic and social problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We need to bring veterans, not just traditional veterans\u2019 service organizations, into the debate and try to solve this military-civilian divide\u2014so veterans don’t feel excluded, but feel they really are part of the American community they have served so well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Top image: Illustration by Cornell University<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Published August 18, 2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new book by Suzanne Gordon \u201967 chronicles the impact of military service\u2014and how we aid those who wore the uniform<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":10611,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"alumni_hub_syml_posts":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[225],"tags":[],"cornell_year_post":[451],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-10586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ask-the-expert","cornell_year_post-451"],"yoast_head":"\nHow Well Does the U.S. Care for Its Veterans? An Expert Weighs In - Cornellians | Cornell University<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A new book by Suzanne Gordon \u201967 chronicles the impact of military service\u2014and how we aid those who wore the uniform\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/gordon-veterans\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Well Does the U.S. Care for Its Veterans? An Expert Weighs In - Cornellians | Cornell University\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A new book by Suzanne Gordon \u201967 chronicles the impact of military service\u2014and how we aid those who wore the uniform\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/gordon-veterans\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cornellians | Cornell University\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Cornellians\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-08-18T10:01:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/08\/Veterans-3b.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Beth Saulnier\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@WeCornellians\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@WeCornellians\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Beth Saulnier\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/gordon-veterans\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/gordon-veterans\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Beth Saulnier\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/32fea64e8c64bb984ed5809675634100\"},\"headline\":\"How Well Does the U.S. Care for Its Veterans? An Expert Weighs In\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-08-18T10:01:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/gordon-veterans\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1609,\"commentCount\":12,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/gordon-veterans\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2022\\\/08\\\/Veterans-3b.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Ask the Expert\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/gordon-veterans\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/gordon-veterans\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/gordon-veterans\\\/\",\"name\":\"How Well Does the U.S. Care for Its Veterans? An Expert Weighs In - Cornellians | Cornell University\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/gordon-veterans\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/gordon-veterans\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2022\\\/08\\\/Veterans-3b.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-08-18T10:01:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/32fea64e8c64bb984ed5809675634100\"},\"description\":\"A new book by Suzanne Gordon \u201967 chronicles the impact of military service\u2014and how we aid those who wore the uniform\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/gordon-veterans\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/gordon-veterans\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/gordon-veterans\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2022\\\/08\\\/Veterans-3b.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2022\\\/08\\\/Veterans-3b.jpg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1080,\"caption\":\"An illustration of a person in military uniform\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/gordon-veterans\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How Well Does the U.S. Care for Its Veterans? An Expert Weighs In\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/\",\"name\":\"Cornellians | Cornell University\",\"description\":\"Cornell's alumni publication\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/32fea64e8c64bb984ed5809675634100\",\"name\":\"Beth Saulnier\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/321760a8edb5153d2c562bbadd61cc5ebb987bda75fb59074266c35cc35beae1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/321760a8edb5153d2c562bbadd61cc5ebb987bda75fb59074266c35cc35beae1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/321760a8edb5153d2c562bbadd61cc5ebb987bda75fb59074266c35cc35beae1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Beth Saulnier\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/author\\\/ess8\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How Well Does the U.S. Care for Its Veterans? An Expert Weighs In - Cornellians | Cornell University","description":"A new book by Suzanne Gordon \u201967 chronicles the impact of military service\u2014and how we aid those who wore the uniform","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/gordon-veterans\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How Well Does the U.S. Care for Its Veterans? An Expert Weighs In - Cornellians | Cornell University","og_description":"A new book by Suzanne Gordon \u201967 chronicles the impact of military service\u2014and how we aid those who wore the uniform","og_url":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/gordon-veterans\/","og_site_name":"Cornellians | Cornell University","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Cornellians","article_published_time":"2022-08-18T10:01:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/08\/Veterans-3b.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Beth Saulnier","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@WeCornellians","twitter_site":"@WeCornellians","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Beth Saulnier","Est. reading time":"8 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/gordon-veterans\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/gordon-veterans\/"},"author":{"name":"Beth Saulnier","@id":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/#\/schema\/person\/32fea64e8c64bb984ed5809675634100"},"headline":"How Well Does the U.S. Care for Its Veterans? An Expert Weighs In","datePublished":"2022-08-18T10:01:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/gordon-veterans\/"},"wordCount":1609,"commentCount":12,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/gordon-veterans\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/08\/Veterans-3b.jpg","articleSection":["Ask the Expert"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/gordon-veterans\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/gordon-veterans\/","url":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/gordon-veterans\/","name":"How Well Does the U.S. Care for Its Veterans? An Expert Weighs In - Cornellians | Cornell University","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/gordon-veterans\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/gordon-veterans\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/08\/Veterans-3b.jpg","datePublished":"2022-08-18T10:01:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/#\/schema\/person\/32fea64e8c64bb984ed5809675634100"},"description":"A new book by Suzanne Gordon \u201967 chronicles the impact of military service\u2014and how we aid those who wore the uniform","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/gordon-veterans\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/gordon-veterans\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/gordon-veterans\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/08\/Veterans-3b.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/08\/Veterans-3b.jpg","width":1920,"height":1080,"caption":"An illustration of a person in military uniform"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/gordon-veterans\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How Well Does the U.S. Care for Its Veterans? An Expert Weighs In"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/#website","url":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/","name":"Cornellians | Cornell University","description":"Cornell's alumni publication","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/#\/schema\/person\/32fea64e8c64bb984ed5809675634100","name":"Beth Saulnier","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/321760a8edb5153d2c562bbadd61cc5ebb987bda75fb59074266c35cc35beae1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/321760a8edb5153d2c562bbadd61cc5ebb987bda75fb59074266c35cc35beae1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/321760a8edb5153d2c562bbadd61cc5ebb987bda75fb59074266c35cc35beae1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Beth Saulnier"},"url":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/author\/ess8\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET","POST","PUT","PATCH","DELETE"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/68"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10586"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10586\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10699,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10586\/revisions\/10699"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10586"},{"taxonomy":"cornell_year_post","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cornell_year_post?post=10586"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=10586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}