Dear Readers,

Did you watch Boothbay's Memorial Day parades?

If you did, you saw a bona fide slice of Americana. Veterans, some who could still fit in their old uniforms, marching in tribute and remembrance of those who are no longer with us.

As one of the marchers, I noticed our ranks are getting smaller. Some of the regulars, especially the World War II vets, are no longer with us.

Others, like John Druce and Dr. John Andrews, are still around, but they no longer march, opting instead to ride the bus from town to town. Many of them are getting up in years.

In case you missed it, veterans are back in the news. It seems some Veterans Administration hospitals may have been cooking the books to hide the fact they delayed seeing some vets for so long that they expired before seeing the inside of a VA hospital.

The VA has ordered an investigation, but only after the head of the nation's biggest veterans organization, The American Legion, called for the firing of the top VA officials. That triggered calls for action by officials on both sides of the political aisle who promised “action.”

This time, the Democrats are in charge of the White House, but the political party doesn't seem to matter. It was just seven years ago, under the Republican watch, that reports of maltreatment of injured veterans at Walter Reed Hospital surfaced.

Again the VA officials dragged their feet and downplayed the media reports as overblown. As the story played out, the initial reports were grossly underplayed. Things were much worse.

A few heads rolled and everyone promised to do better in the future. That was in 2007. In 2014 the VA is again in the hot seat.

Here in Maine, some of our Boothbay vets tell me they have had nothing but good treatment by the VA health care workers at the Togus Veterans Medical Center in Augusta. Druce called and urged me to write a big story praising the Togus workers. “I am pleased with them,” said Druce, a World War II Marine.

Ronald Rainfrette, a Vietnam-era vet from Lincolnville, who is a top official with the Maine American Legion, agrees with Druce.

“I am up there (at Togus) a couple times a week and I have had few complaints,” said the Legion's second vice commander.

“I talk to the staff and the vets waiting for service. They seem pleased, and the place is clean,” he said.

Rainfrette agrees with the Legion's leaders who called for the resignation of retired General Eric Shinsecki, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs over the latest VA healthcare scandal.

But it is not a partisan political issue, he said. Both parties seem to forget their promise to “honor the troops” when soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines take off their uniforms.

Vietnam veterans remember it took 40 some years for the VA to acknowledge that Agent Orange, a toxic herbicide we sprayed on the jungles, was the cause of illness and death in many vets.

World War II vets marching to Washington to claim a promised bonus found that their complaints were met by Army troops lead by none other than Gen. Douglas MacArthur.

Maybe our current political leaders, those who claim to be outraged by the current VA scandal, will reform the system and get it right this time.

I sure hope so. But, based the way our nation has treated its veterans beginning in the 18th century, I wouldn't bet the farm on the eventual outcome.

How soon they forget.