Lawmakers have tried before to square the volumes of Maine laws pertaining to veterans’ benefits, from property tax breaks to burial in a veterans cemetery. But despite the effort, scattered throughout Maine are veterans who fall through the loopholes in these laws, confused and sometimes bitter that, while they served their country, they did not serve at the right time.

The Legislature’s second session, just begun, is much like so many other in which a dozen or more tweakings of laws affecting veterans are proposed, a few will pass, but the overall problems of inconsistency and fairness remain. This is the case with what qualifies a veteran as a veteran for purposes of issues such as property tax relief.

For instance, veterans of both world wars, Korea and Vietnam are included in all benefits programs, regardless of whether they served at the front or at the Fort Dix motor pool, with the exception of the early days of the Vietnam War, where service in the Republic of Vietnam is required. Some programs cover veterans of the Gulf War, the expeditions to Panama and Grenada; some don’t. Peacetime veterans – if peace can be defined as Somalia, Bosnia, Lebanon and Checkpoint Charlie – are left out. And where does the end of the war in Iraq begin?

The reason the numerous tax breaks and exemptions exist is to honor veterans for service to their country. The benefits often extend to widows and, if another proposal passes in the Legislature, to widowers. But the question remains of what defines service. As many troops in Iraq are discovering, making yourself available to go to war includes a commitment to ending up in unexpected places for far longer than might otherwise be anticipated. Does that willingness to go to a war zone count as service? Most people would say that it does and benefits are, mostly, extended to this group. Does a willingness to go when no war is being fought at the current time count equally if the results – stateside motor-pool duty – are the same? Maine says no, drawing an odd distinction that is further complicated by the draft, which removes some of the willingness.

Extending veterans’ benefits to those who served during what the state, for its own convenience, defines as peacetime will come with a cost. Considering the service these men and women rendered, the sacrifice they were willing to make, lawmakers should view it as a bargain.