Statement by By James L. McCormick, Executive Director Government Affairs Vietnam Veterans of America, Captain O3E US Army Retired Silver Star, Bronze Star V, Purple Heart recipient and a Cold War, Gulf War, and Operation Iraqi Freedom Veteran
When lawmakers step in front of microphones to discuss veterans’ issues, the script has become painfully predictable. The focus is almost always on Iraq and Afghanistan—Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, traumatic brain injury, and improvised explosive devices. These challenges are real and deserve attention. But they are not new. They have existed since modern warfare evolved, despite being repeatedly portrayed as unique to post-9/11 service.
Let me be clear: I am a Cold War, Gulf War, and Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran. My service spans multiple eras. I am not speaking from the perspective of one generation over another, but from lived experience—and from a growing concern that generational lines are dividing an already shrinking veteran population. These are difficult conversations, but they are necessary.
What is just as necessary—and far too often ignored—is the reality that by elevating one generation exclusively, Congress has created an unintended hierarchy of veterans. In that hierarchy, millions of Americans who wore the uniform before September 11, 2001, have been pushed quietly to the margins.
The numbers do not lie. Of the approximately 18 million veterans living in the United States today, nearly 12 million served before 9/11. Vietnam. The Cold War. The Gulf War. Decades of deterrence missions, forward deployments, and quiet service that kept this nation secure. Yet when congressional hearings are convened or legislation is drafted, these veterans are routinely absent from the conversation—overshadowed by more recent conflicts that dominate media narratives and political attention.
This imbalance is not merely symbolic. It has real and lasting consequences.
Pre-9/11 veterans face challenges that are different, persistent, and often more complex. Vietnam veterans—many now in their seventies and eighties—continue to suffer from the long-term effects of Agent Orange exposure. Cold War veterans were exposed to radiation, contaminated water, and toxic sites long before the Department of Defense acknowledged such risks. Gulf War veterans fought for decades to have Gulf War Illness recognized at all. Yet advocacy efforts and funding priorities remain disproportionately focused on the so-called “signature wounds” of modern conflicts, as if toxic exposure and delayed-onset illness somehow began in 2001.
The divide extends well beyond healthcare.
Aging veterans face rising housing insecurity, age-related health challenges, and employment difficulties as they transition into retirement. They meet barriers created by a VA system increasingly dependent on digital platforms many older veterans were never trained to use. These problems are not lesser—they are simply less visible. And visibility, rather than actual need, has become the currency of modern advocacy.
What makes this especially troubling is that today’s post-9/11 veterans benefit directly from battles fought by those who came before them.
Vietnam veterans—often returning home to hostility and indifference—forced the government to recognize PTSD as a legitimate medical condition, leading to its inclusion in the DSM-III in 1980. Gulf War veterans fought relentlessly for recognition of toxic exposure and unexplained illness, laying the groundwork for today’s toxic-exposure legislation. These veterans did not just fight for themselves—they fought for generations they would never meet.
Yet that legacy is rarely acknowledged.
Part of the problem is visibility. Post-9/11 veterans—including myself—have had two decades of sustained media coverage and public sympathy. Their advocacy organizations are well funded and politically connected. Too often, that narrative has emphasized a victim image rather than the warrior ethos that defines military service. In contrast, Vietnam-era, Cold War, and Gulf War service has faded from the national consciousness, often remembered—if at all—through outdated or incomplete narratives.
There is also a dangerous assumption embedded in modern advocacy: that recent wars represent a fundamentally different form of service requiring fundamentally different care. Warfare evolves—but sacrifice does not. A soldier on the DMZ, a sailor submerged on a Cold War submarine, or a Marine exposed to toxins in the Persian Gulf made commitments no less profound than those who deployed to Fallujah or Kandahar.
Moving forward, Congress must widen its aperture.
This is not a call to reduce support for post-9/11 veterans. It is a demand that advocacy reflect reality. Congressional hearings must include veterans of all eras. Legislation must be evaluated for its impact on aging veterans, not just the newest ones. Improving quality of life for aging veterans—and making aging with dignity the norm, not the exception—must be a national priority. If we are fortunate, all of us will one day reach our seventies, eighties, and beyond. Ensuring a future that does not become harder with age should be America’s commitment to those who served.
Funding decisions must acknowledge that two-thirds of America’s veterans served before the Twin Towers fell. Too often, funding battles favor narrowly defined programs that help few while neglecting millions—often driven by slogans and legislative pushes that do not address the real scope of veteran need.
Every veteran signed a blank check to this nation—payable up to and including their life. Congress has rightly recognized the importance of veteran advocacy. Now it must ensure that recognition extends to all who answered the call, not just those whose service fits today’s political narrative.
The 12 million pre-9/11 veterans are still here.
They are still watching.
And they are still waiting for their turn to matter; we must do better and must stop dividing our veterans by eras and combat vs non-combat service.
It all counts, it is all equally important, and rest assured that VVA shall continue the mission into the future to ensure that “Never Again Will One Generation of Veterans Abandon Another.”
