system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[ELI5] Why do Americans overwhelmingly support the troops; yet veteran affairs, benefits, and programs are depressingly lacking?

I have a feeling the TL;DR will be "Because politics" but I'd like a more satisfactory explanation.
Also, due to my terrible wording, i'm not asking as to why we support the troops. i'm asking why we don't actually put money where our mouths are.
gpt
because they are confused.  They believe that a politician saying "I support the troops" means "I want to help the troops" when it really means "I support the military industrial complex and war in general."