Opinion

Shame on Cook for treatment of vets

Posted March 31, 2012 5:00 am

Thank you to the members of the Illinois Senate who saw through the Cook County Board’s shameless attempt to deny service to the veterans of Cook County. It is difficult to fathom that during an election year the Cook County Board would dare to deceive one of our veteran senators with a bill, SB3181, which does little more than deny the veterans community their legal right to govern the Veterans Assistance Commission of Cook County.

Under 330 IlCS 45 the Veterans of Cook County created the VAC office to help address the needs of Cook County’s disabled and needy veterans. The VAC is a tool to be used to serve our heroes and not serve whatever political need of the Cook County Board. Maybe if the Cook County Board actually cared about veterans, Cook County veterans would not be missing out on hundreds of millions in VA benefits.

Maybe the state of Illinois would not be still hovering on the bottom of the nation of VA disability compensation and pension dollars if the Cook County Board actually worked with the VAC to help our veterans instead of crafting ways to make people forget there is a VAC.

Michael A. Iwanicki

Superintendent

Veterans Assistance Commission of McHenry County

President IACVAC

Woodstock

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