Comment by redeux

Comment by redeux 5 days ago

As a veteran, I am aghast that this exists. What an invasion of people’s lives. To me this is far worse than when I was notified that a foreign adversary had stolen my military records, because at least they’re not publishing it on the web for all to see.

Veterans aren’t politicians, and they don’t deserve to have their lives put on display like this without their permission. Some vets signed up because they wanted to serve their country, some because they were running from people or poverty, but they were all just ordinary people trying to eke out a living.

I believe people, good people just trying to do their thing will be hurt by this information and that’s unfair. It’s just another example of people using veterans as pawns to achieve their ends.

What is the ends in this case? I couldn’t tell you. I do believe this will having a chilling effect on veterans seeking help from the VA at a time when they need it more and more.

Towaway69 5 days ago

As a person, not a Veteran, I totally agree. This data should not be public domain. Definitely only accessible to family members (if at all).

Having obtained my father’s military records, I can definitely say that I’m glad these weren’t online, searchable. Via those records I learnt much concerning my father and I’m glad I obtained them.

To get those records, I had to prove I was his son, that my father was indeed deceased and that he hadn’t said/written anything to prevent me from having his records. That should be the minimum (IMHO) for obtaining such records. This wasn’t in the USA though.

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ty6853 5 days ago

The military uses the gun of the taxman to force us to pay for them. If they're going to put me in a tiny cage for not paying up while they're galavanting around the world drone striking brown people and us citizens the least I can get out of it is the records.

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- stonogo 5 days ago
  
  Most of the people in this database were drafted. I think you're angry at the wrong people.
  
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- redeux 5 days ago
  
  This dump will give you the personal records of the rank and file. The “military” that you’re talking about is really congress and the president. It makes much more sense to go after the actions and communication of those folks than some grunts who gave their bodies shoveling shit for a chance at a future.
  
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  0134340 5 days ago
  
  Maybe OP should be going after the politicians and corporations that have used government benefits. Where's that freely searchable database?
  
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jsjohnst 5 days ago

I’m also a veteran and immediately had the same thought. Thank you for thoughtfully replying, I probably would’ve been more aggressively toned had I not read your reply first.

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floydnoel 5 days ago

same here, was having a hard time finding appropriate words. i guess serving our country came with some fine print that we never got the chance to read.
but how could a vietnam war veteran possibly consent to having their records accessible to the entire world via the internet?

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_DeadFred_ 5 days ago

If you give the government tools for hiding information, the government will abuse those tools. This is what freedom looks like. I have family members in this dataset, and they would be fine with it because they would pick freedom and this is what freedom has to look like.

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redeux 5 days ago

That’s your deviant, extremist definition of freedom. It aligns neither with the founding father’s definition nor what a typical person would say if asked to define freedom.

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- _DeadFred_ 4 days ago
  
  The founding fathers understood freedom needs public accountability. That includes how government decisions are made and how public funds are used, including at the VA. The founding fathers believed a well-informed citizenry was vital to a free society.
  FOIA deters misconduct, corruption, and waste. Even in this context, doctors diagnosis/judgement of service members has come up for discussion.
  A free society empowers the public, which is exactly what this information does.
  Transparency fosters trust. When we can look inside institutions we are more likely to trust them. For the VA, that means looking at the treatments they are providing and how they are treating those they are supposed to serve. The VA has historically had very low public/veteran trust.
  Access to information such as this fosters relevant discussions and debate. Especially for an entity like the VA which receive virtually all of it's funding from the government and needs to constantly (sadly) resell the public on the necesity of it's budget.
  Were the VA (whose purpose is medical care of our veterans and is almost exclusively funded by us the taxpayers) to restrict access to... information about medical care to our veterans would be a huge issue for a free society.
  My position is not deviant, extremist, nor alien to the concept/definition of the burdens/requirements of freedom promoted by the founding fathers.
  
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- _DeadFred_ 4 days ago
  
  You labeled me deviant and extremist, I replied with why I held my position. I think I deserve at least a reply after you made such a grose comment.
  
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tompagenet2 5 days ago

I think the people in this are deceased? Does that change your view (genuinely asking)?

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redeux 5 days ago

It’s the recency that bothers me the most. These aren’t veterans from “some distant time” where we’re merely trying to better understand history through the lens these people provided in their private effects, mostly donated by private individuals or museums.
These are people who still have young children today, people who’s widows may still be grieving. Now their parent’s or partner’s VA history is up for display, for people to use for whatever means they want? That doesn’t make sense to me.

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jsjohnst 5 days ago

Not GP, but no, these aren’t long dead people, but recently departed veterans with way too much information being disclosed than should be given the timeline.

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