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For those who were drafted or volunteered for the Armed Forces, the expectation of being provided proper medical care was earned for having served our country honorably. The recent exposure of falsified and manipulated reports of waiting times for veterans needing medical care cuts to the bone of not only veterans, but also the families of those veterans.

Even if an American doesn’t support a war, that lack of support rarely is reflected upon the soldier who, for their own reasons that may be little more than the hype of “glory” in battle, is willing to put himself in harms way. Overwhelmingly, most enlist because they feel a duty to serve and protect the United States.

We have ex-servicemen and women who were physically wounded in past and present conflicts. Many more these days come home with psychological wounds due to multiple tours in countries that neither appreciate, or desire our occupation.

Nothing gives the appearance of having used young men and women as cannon fodder more than neglecting them when they need care – immediately upon their return, or decades later.

Although President Obama said investigators at the Department of Veteran Affairs have not connected veteran deaths in Phoenix, Ariz., to long waiting times at the VA hospital, an agency report linked 23 deaths in multiple states to delayed treatment.

While speaking to the press on Wednesday, Obama was asked how it could be possible, as recent allegations assert, for up to 40 veterans to die while waiting for medical treatment at a VA facility in Phoenix. Obama did not go into much detail, saying action couldn’t be taken until all the facts were in.

He also stated that, so far, the inspector general [IG] assigned to the VA has not made the connection between death and waiting times, and that he’s waiting for the conclusion of other investigations.

“I think it is important to recognize that the wait times generally — what the IG indicated so far, at least, is the wait times were folks who may have had chronic conditions, were seeking their next appointment, but may have already received service,” Obama said. “It was not necessarily a situation where they were calling for emergency services. And the IG indicated that he did not see a link between the wait and them actually dying.

“That does not excuse the fact that the wait times in general are too long in some facilities. And so what we have to do is find out what exactly happened.”

As noted by the Weekly Standard, though, an internal review at the VA has found nearly two dozen veterans passed away in numerous states while waiting for treatment. The review found deaths linked to waiting times occurred in states such as Virginia, Georgia, Florida, Iowa, and Arizona – though at a different facility in Prescott, not Phoenix.

“Delays in endoscopy screenings for potential gastrointestinal cancer in 76 veterans treated at Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals are linked to 23 deaths, most of them three to four years ago,” a USA Today report on the review reads.

“The delays occurred at 27 VA hospitals with deaths at 13 of the facilities. The worst record was at the William Jennings Bryan Dorn veterans hospital in Columbia, S.C., where there were 20 cases of delays and six deaths, according to a VA report.”

It is conceded that the VA is underfunded and understaffed. Pressure from those in charge, on those who actually care for veteran patients, to provide medical care without long delays is obviously the reason hospital administrators manipulated reports.

That fact just highlights another situation.

For more than a decade our U.S. Presidents, Congress, and Senate has approved spending on wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that so far have cost $2 Trillion, according to The Washington Post.

That’s $2 Trillion dollars that have been added to our national debt, but could have been used to care for veterans, rather than protecting corporate interests.