that people are surviving (more than I'd want to survive...) wounds that were 100% lethal in the not so distant past...it is sufficient.

The military trains (myself included) a large number of non-medical people in tactical combat casualty care (stop the bleeding, start the breathing, etc.), which allows more people than ever to survive long enough to be evacuated to the trauma surgeons, who do the Lord's work as far as I can tell.

We are failing the veterans once their fight is over. I've had nothing but trouble out of the VA on a personal level. GI Bill, getting an appointment at a VA clinic, and finding competent staff at the clinic has been an exercise in frustration. I'm fortunate that my problems are minor, and I have the financial means to get private healthcare sans VA.

The government has routinely proven itself incapable of managing large scale healthcare programs efficiently, much less effectively. They should turn the VA medical department into a scheduling center that coordinates care with private/public entities, and not continue the pain while screaming for MOAR MONEY. At some point, we have to realize that money won't fix a broken system, it just increases the bureaucracy managing it poorly.