Allan Appel file photo
At a recent Veterans Day ceremony on Long Wharf.
(Opinion) I am a U.S. Army veteran, and I am anxious.
Like many others, I signed up to serve a country that promised to care for its veterans. Now, we are watching the Trump administration systematically dismantle the VA, stripping away the very services that keep us alive.
The numbers are staggering: $2 billion in funding slashed, 875 critical contracts eliminated, including those covering cancer care and toxic exposure treatment, and plans to fire 80,000 VA employees. They call this “looking out for the taxpayers,” but these veterans are taxpayers. What they’re really doing is leaving us to fend for ourselves.
For many veterans and their families, the VA is not just a healthcare system; it’s a lifeline, and that lifeline is being cut. My wife, a retired sergeant, sustained a traumatic brain injury during an Airborne operation. That injury led to epilepsy, a condition requiring constant, life-saving care. We rely on the VA to provide the treatment and medications that help her manage her seizures the best she can. Now, we live in a continual state of anxiety as billionaires and bureaucrats dismantle the very system that provides her essential care.
Speaking directly with employees at the West Haven VA, I’ve heard a clear message: They are already overwhelmed. My own provider told me that morale is at an all-time low, staff are burned out, and the last thing the VA needs is fewer people to handle the ever-growing demand for care.
Make no mistake: these cuts will mean longer wait times, overburdened providers, and fewer resources for veterans struggling to get the help they need. Veterans’ care is not some luxury — it’s an earned benefit, paid for with years of service, deployments, and sacrifices that most Americans, especially those currently in power, will never understand.
When the VA fails, the consequences extend beyond veterans. Many who rely on VA healthcare are at high risk for homelessness, mental health crises, and addiction. If they lose access to care, cities and states will face a wave of veterans with nowhere to turn. Emergency rooms will become their only option for medical care, putting more strain on an already over-extended healthcare system.
The VA is also one of the largest employers of veterans in the country. Slashing 80,000 jobs means thousands of veterans suddenly unemployed, pushed out of the very institution meant to support them after service. This administration talks about respecting veterans, but cutting their healthcare and firing them from their jobs isn’t respect; it’s abandonment.
On March 3, I was at the West Haven VA Medical Center with about 150 veterans and VA workers, standing together against these cuts. A reporter pulled me aside and asked what I thought about the Trump administration’s claim that they were looking out for taxpayers. I answered honestly: “I am the taxpayer. These veterans are the taxpayers. So no, I don’t think they are quite looking out for us as they are looking out for their profit margin.”
That simple truth seemed to resonate because it captures what so many veterans are feeling. We paid into this system with our service and sacrifice. We upheld our end of the bargain through deployments, time away from family, and the physical toll on our bodies. Now, the benefits we earned through that service are being reduced under the guise of “fiscal responsibility.” This isn’t about saving taxpayer money — it’s about breaking a promise made to those who served.
If veterans were truly a priority, the government would expand services, hire more providers, and ensure no veteran slips through the cracks. Instead, we’re told billions must be cut, jobs slashed, and services scaled back. These cuts aren’t some abstract political debate; they represent a real, immediate threat to veterans, their families, and their communities.
Every day, my family lives with the trepidation of what might happen next, not just for our sake but for the sake of veterans across the country. We aren’t wealthy. We don’t have the luxury of simply finding another doctor, another system, another safety net. The VA is our safety net, just as it is for millions of other veterans.
If America truly values its veterans, now is the time to prove it.
To all my brothers and sisters, veteran or not, struggling to get by: We are the taxpayers, and we deserve better.
Matthew Watson is a father of five, a resident of Beaver Hills, an Army veteran, and a member of the Ward 28 Democratic Town Committee. He is currently a law student at Northeastern University School of Law and a graduate student in government and political communication at Johns Hopkins.