Jul 28, 2011

1 Trillion to Care For Wounded Vets

Roughly 2.3 million men and women have served in the armed forces in the decade-old wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Paul Rieckhoff, executive director of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, told a hearing of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Wednesday that the nation faces a bill of between $600 billion and $1 trillion to care for them as they revert to veteran status.

The legacy of these wars, Rieckhoff said, reflects the "cumulative impacts of the multiple deployments, year after year -- a burden of many carried by few," illustrated by stark unemployment and homelessness statistics.

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