It’s human nature to compartmentalize the needs of war veterans, forgetting them except on holidays, like Memorial Day celebrated two days ago. Our politicians do it. Look at how many in Washington, D.C., raced to sponsor legislation in support of our troops before the holiday.

Rep. Jerry McNerney was one of them, but the Pleasanton Democrat has set himself apart by continuing a crusade to provide the best medical and psychological care for servicemen and -women returning from battle. One aspect is keeping the Livermore Veterans Affairs Medical Center open; it’s proposed to be closed with a new VA medical clinic built in French Camp or Stanislaus County.

McNerney has asked the VA to maintain and expand the services at the Livermore center and perhaps at the French Camp clinic to care for a new generation of veterans afflicted with post-traumatic stress disorder.

About 20 percent of the 1.5 million Americans serving in the Iraq and Afghan war zones are expected to struggle with stress when returning to civilian life. The suicide rate of soldiers has risen from 12 to 17 per 100,000, alarming military psychiatrists. The VA’s inspector general says few VA hospitals have the staff, trained workers or capabilities to screen and service such mental health needs.

The pastoral setting of the campus in southern Livermore is picture-perfect for medical and psychological treatment for veterans shocked by the horrors of war. It has a 120-bed hospital for long-term care and 30 beds for sub-acute inpatients.

This opportunity for PTSD care should not preclude the VA from maintaining clinical services at its quarter-century-old hospital/clinic in Livermore. Also deserving of similar services is the Central Valley where, because of home prices, more returning soldiers, Marines, sailors and airmen are living. It makes sense to expand the French Camp VA clinic that is a neighbor to San Joaquin General Hospital so northern San Joaquin Valley veterans can have comprehensive treatment without driving over the Altamont Pass. This care should include nursing home beds.

Are there enough medical and mental health patients and enough budgetary patience from the government panel considering realignment of VA facilities to have VA hospitals in Livermore and French Camp There are if Livermore becomes the western mental health center for veterans who return with PTSD and French Camp assumes more of the Livermore VA hospital’s traditional role.