Joseph J. Heck: “Thank you all for what you are doing to try to make sure that our returning veterans can transition to civilian life.”

I find it unacceptable that we would place the additional burden of years of concern about the legitimacy of a bonus payment, or student loan repayment, on those who volunteer to serve.

But without aggressively maintaining their skills, who knows how many patients our specialists can optimally treat? Maybe 80 percent? Maybe? But 80 percent is a B-minus. And is a B-minus really the best that we can do for the young men and…

We need to think of new ways to bring talented individuals into our armed services.

For those of us that serve voluntarily in any capacity, being the military or any other--the Peace Corps or any other public service--we do it voluntarily because of the common goal and interest and principle that binds us as a country.