How many times have you heard Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger praise California Veterans? He always says something like, “These people who serve their Country are the true heroes. They should be respected for the sacrifices they have made, and their needs should always be taken care of.”

The truth is, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger doesn’t give a damn about California Veterans! If you are a California Veteran, and you ask the Governor for assistance, after a couple of months you will receive a letter from him, stating he is always more than willing to assist Veterans in any problems they might have. Then he will tell you to wait forty-five days, and if you have not received the assistance promised, to re-submit the request. After the forty-five days have elapsed, and you re-submit your request, he will send you on a “run around” of many people who claim they will help, but are actually are stonewalling you until you have given up. If you do not give up and you again ask the Governor for assistance, you receive another letter stating he will always assist Veterans, but could you send him more information that will help him in assisting you. So you send him the information requested. After a month has gone by, then he will tell you that he will assist you, in a couple of weeks. During this time, the Governor has Susan Kennedy destroy the information that he requested from you, and then instructs his staff to “forget” about the information and the Veteran, if they would like to keep their jobs. If the Veteran says anything about Susan Kennedy destroying the information, the Veteran will find himself in Sacramento County Jail, on trumped up charges. You will be completely innocent of any crime, yet you are in jail. Sounds a lot like Nazi Germany, doesn’t it? No this is not Nazi Germany, this is California 2008 where if you are a Veteran, you don’t even have the rights afforded by the common citizen. In California, Veterans do not even rate as second class citizens.

So the next time you hear Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger refers to California Veterans as heroes, what he really means is “zeros”, not even worth his time to acknowledge that you are even a citizen of California, let alone actually assisting you like he claims that he will. The Veterans of California, after serving their Country, are repaid by having the very rights that they fought for, denied by a Governor who cares more about his wealthy contributors, than he does the Veterans of California.

Gerald Wilcox, Veteran USAF