Absolutely. It's pretty straightforward. We have to choose between employment and our injury benefits. The unfortunate reality is that just because you find gainful employment doesn't mean your injuries go away. Like I said, you can work despite your injuries.
It's the framing of disability that we get hung up on. Because we've been determined to be, let's say, 40%, 50% or 60% disabled, the thinking is that it means you should be in a wheelchair and you shouldn't be able to do a basic manual labour position, but how can you be running a company if you're disabled? It's because of the terminology and the fact that we don't understand the fundamental difference between civilian disability and military disability.
I joined when I was 19. My quality of life will never be the same. I joined because I knew what I was getting myself into. I volunteered to go to war, and I knew it would come with consequences. All we're asking is that we get some monetary compensation. I will never reach the potential that I could have achieved. All of my friends who didn't join the military are CEOs and have C-suite jobs. They have beautiful careers.
I don't get to have that career. I don't get to have that life, because I decided to serve. I'm not resentful of it, but I would really appreciate it if I, and my brothers and sisters in arms, had the capacity to go to work and find the jobs that we really wanted so that we could contribute and give back and continue to serve while retaining benefits for injuries that don't go away just because we have jobs.