Kantian Ethics: The Wounded Warrior Project

Throughout history, war has been one of the few constants that has never changed, because of this many have tried to aid those affected by it. In America, the Department of Veterans Affairs(VA) was created in order to specifically help veterans as they return from their service overseas. However, a few decades ago, the VA seemed to have failed in their goal during arguably one of the most important wars in American history. The mission statement, originally spoken by President Abraham Lincoln was: “To care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan” by serving and honoring the men and women who are America’s Veterans.” The mission statement brings up values of integrity and loyalty to America’s veterans, however

In today's society where opinion matters, people have been extremely vocal about the lack of support the government has provided to our veterans. Many feel as if the government should do more, while others feel as if they are doing enough. Everyone will have a difference of opinion no matter if they have severed in the military or not. No matter how one may feel, is extremely important to take care of our veterans. As they have sacrificed their lives, time, and family to protect our country. Contrary to one's belief, the government provides a substantial amount of programs, which support the veterans. Honestly more could be done. On any given day you could see women and men standing on the corner holding signs implying they are homeless veterans and will work for food. A few programs the government offers our veterans are funding for mental health services, The Wounded Warrior Project and Vocational Rehabilitation and Education, which will be discussed throughout this essay. When you research the programs, they make it sound as if all proceeds are going towards the best treatment and care money could buy.

Numerous accusations on the mismanagements of volunteers and donated funds didn't end with 9/11, but escalated following Hurricane’s Katrina and Rita. When the overwhelming numbers of donations specifically received for the relief efforts of 9/11, the executives made the wrong choice by going against donator’s wishes of how to use those funds. Also, the ARC didn’t update their donation system and was once again bogged down by the overpowering donations that poured in for Hurricane’s Katrina and Rita. On top of all that the ARC failed to get a grip on the financial disasters at its local chapters - unscreened volunteers walked away with ATM cards loaded with donated funds and some manager’s padded their own bank accounts with fundraiser donations (Holguin). For an organization that is supposed to help the country in disaster relief, the ARC has added monetary complications as the icing on the cake.

You know the commercial with Trace Adkins in it? Yea, that is the Wounded Warrior Project. In this paper you will find many facts about the organizations and things that say good and bad things about it. This organization is one of the few that I would consider donating to. The Wounded Warrior Project has several critics but they continue to keep their reputation high by providing help to thousands of military veterans in many different ways.

For as long as there have been wars, there have been warriors who survive — and yet become as much casualties of battle as those who died (Blair). Founded in 2003 in Roanoke, Virginia, by a group of veterans and friends the Wounded Warrior Project took action to help the injured service men and women of this generation. The mission of the WWP is to honor and empower wounded warriors who incurred a physical or mental injury, illness or wound, co-incident to their military service on or after September 11, 2001. The vision of the project is to foster the most successful, well-adjusted generation of wounded service members in our nation’s history. The project has three purposes: to raise awareness and enlist the

An ex-military veteran, Sgt. Bradie Frink, lost his job for 26 months due to the fact that the VA thought he was trying to blow the whistle on them. Bradie, who served our country, was only trying to change his beneficiary policy so that both of his children would benefit from it. The VA has been under scrutiny for not providing benefits guaranteed to many of our ex-military personnel. These whistleblowers were then quickly unemployed due to the attention they brought on the VA.

In recent years, the Veterans Benefits Administration has found itself defending against a tsunami of negative public opinion, unrelenting media coverage and has suffered from a contentious relationship with the U.S. Congress. While the administration has made enormous strides in reducing the claims backlog, improving quality and undertaking the largest technological transformation in its history, the agency as a whole has not transformed its leadership practices and has neglected to learn from its failures. This has resulted in an erosion of trust both within the Veteran population and with external stakeholders alike. In order to restore the trust and respect of Veterans and reestablish public trust, the agency must transform itself into a learning organization, practice sound financial stewardship, focus on incremental improvements, act with a sense of urgency and reduce potential exposure to significant media events.

The Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) began in the year 2003 after many veterans and their friends discovered the necessity to send items of comfort to service members who are wounded and coming back home from Iraq and Afghanistan. From that time, the WWP has developed into a full rehabilitative effort to help warriors as they shift back into a life of a civilian. Using an approach that is holistic, the WWP serves soldiers as well as their families through nurturing the body and mind, and promoting economic engagement as well as empowerment. Through this, service is offered to service members and veterans who sustained a mental or physical injury, sickness, or wound at the time their military service on the 11th of September 2001 or after that date.

In 1917, as the United States entered World War I, Congress established a system that addressed Veterans benefits which included programs for disability compensation, insurance for service members and Veterans as well as rehabilitative treatments for those that were disabled (www.va.gov). Three years later, 3 separate federal agencies: the Veterans Bureau, Bureau of Pensions of the Interior Department and National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers were charged with administering these benefits and services (www.va.gov). Then, in 1930, President Herbert Hoover signed an Executive Order which consolidated these agencies to a federal administration level and created the Veterans Administration (www.va.gov). Almost seventy years later, in 1989, the Veterans Administration was then renamed the Department of Veterans Affairs (www.va.gov). The purpose for establishing the Department of Veterans Affairs (“VA”) has always been, since inception, and remains to this day, to provide a comprehensive system of assistance for Veterans (www.va.gov). As noble a purpose as the VA was intended, the VA could not escape the bureaucratic dysfunction that has rocked the very core of the military community, the nation and the Western allies with outrage and an immediate call for remedy.

The assignment being completed within this report asks the author of said report to answer to a few analysis and review questions pertaining to the Veteran Affairs Administration in the United States, especially as it pertains to their claims processing dilemmas and issues. The author, in order, is asked to analyze the organizational design of the Veterans Administration, analyze the agency's global and international linkages, analyze their human resource goals and frameworks, analyze their training programs and offer two actions the agency can undertake to attract and maintain a qualified workforce. The author is asked to provide five relevant and credible outside sources outside of the sources that support this assignment's content.

Lincoln made a promise stated, “To care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan”. This quote is being neglected by us as Americans in trying to provide for our veterans. Do the research and you will see that veterans who have served for our country are living homeless. Also, thousands of veterans are forced to buy food stamps and they struggle to feed their families. Veterans in hospitals who suffer from PTSD attempt to commit suicide more than you would think. In this essay, I’m going to explain how our government can help provide better housing, food benefits, and ways we can help provide better mental health facilities.

The Wounded Warrior Project was started in 2003 by John Melia in Roanoke, Virginia. John was severely wounded in a helicopter crash while serving in Somalia in 1992. John, along with his friends and fellow veterans, all inspired by the stories of the first wounded troops returning from Afghanistan and Iraq decided to assemble backpacks for wounded veterans at two military hospitals. These backpacks contained items like clothing, toiletries, hygiene items, CD players, and playing cards. Wounded Warrior Project continues to provide these packs to warriors and their families while in the hospital. The WWP continued to serve more veterans and grew to a point where in 2005 we established ourselves as a corporation and were granted $2.7 million by the United Spinal

“There is no possibility of thinking of anything at all in this world, or even out of it, which can be regarded as good without qualifications, except a good will.” (Kant, pg.7 393). No other thing that may appear good can be unqualifiedly good, as even “Talents of the mind…Gifts of power…[Other] qualities…Have no intrinsic unconditional worth, but they always presuppose, rather, a good will, which restricts the high esteem in which they are otherwise rightly held.” (Kant, pg.7 393-394). So Immanuel Kant introduces the public to his Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals, which results not in simply a grounding work, but one that is utterly groundbreaking. This opener, wholly devoted to the establishment of the importance of will and intention, notes the guiding characteristics of a good will. As enumerated previously, Kant recognizes the plausible potential positivity of plenty concepts, but remains of the mind that none of these are good in themselves without the efforts of a good will to guide and restrict them in a manner that perpetuates their positivity.

In the late 18th century one of the most influential philosophers by the name of Immanuel Kant introduced the third major ethical philosophy, Deontology. The basis behind Deontology is that people are duty bound to act morally by certain standards despite the outcome. Determining whether a person’s actions are morally right involves look at the intent of the actions. Like other ethic theories, Deontologist applies the golden rule of treating other people the way you would want them to treat you. Deontology can be broken down into three different theories: agent-centered, patient centered, and contractualist. Each branch of Deontology can be traced back in some way to Immanuel Kant. Can Deontology be applied to today’s society?

German philosopher Kant was first to introduce the Kantian ethics; hence, the named after him. According to Professor Elizabeth Anscombe, Immanuel Kant was Unitarianism’s rival; he believed actions that are taboo should be completely prohibited at all times. For instance, murder should be prohibited. Even though nowadays a person cannot be punished if death is involved as a self defense, from Kant’s perspective this is still prohibited, although sometimes these actions bring more happiness to the big majority of people than sorrow. Kant stated that before acting, one should ask his/her self: am I acting rationally and in a way that everyone will act as I purpose to act? Is my action going to respect the moral law or just my own purpose? If the answer to those questions is a no, the action must be abandoned. Kant’s theory is an example of the deontological theory that was developed in the age of enlightenment. According to Elizabeth, these theories say that “the rightness or wrongness of actions does not depend on their consequences but on whether they fulfill our duty.”( Anscombe, 2001) Kant said that morality is built based on what he called “Hypothetical Imperatives”, but rather principles called “Categorical Imperatives” he referred to it as the supreme principle of morality. (Texas A&M University, n.d.) Cavico and Mujtaba reported on their book that Kant stated that morality