Disabled American Veterans

[Mia]

many, but i think u r sol on that one. It's BS, though. If you go to serve your country and you are hurt, especially disabled, in the process you should get nice retirement pay for it.

If the USG can't afford that maybe that will help them edit their decisions on when to go to war!

If you answered this already, sorry, but how does it work? Your pay and benefits after serving in a war?

[PhanthomOps]

Hi Mia, nice to speak with you again. You ask such relevant and intelligent questions, and it is a pleasure to respond.

I will use my personal case in explination, however, first let me say that there are many organizations that have taken up the gauntlet on behalf of Veterans and Disabled Veterans. So we do have advocates who are attempting to right the wrongs.

For example:
1) Disabled American Veterans,
2) The American Legion (who helped in my case)
3) The Veterans of Foreign Wars
4) The Air Force Association
5) The Air Force Sergeants Association
6) The Non-Commissioned-Officers Association, etc.

The primary obsticle is Congress, and the fact that the monies allocated for these purposes is by "Discretionary Funding" and not "Mandatory Funding". Mandatory funding would not clear up everything quickly, however, it would get us on the right path. The only way this will happen is to besiege our Congressmen/women letting them know in no uncertain terms that unless that take positive action they will be voted out of office.

My particular case:

First, I am unable due to security reasons go into detail, however, I will give you the jist of it.

I served in the USAF from 8/58 to 10/65. I was never in Vietnam, but the surrounding areas. The missions were voluntary on my part and very bloody. I suffered a nervous breakdown, known back then as battle fatigue, now as PTSD. After psychiatric evaluation, I was Honorably Discharged, and transferred to VA care. I was declared to have a 50% service-connected disability rating. Subsequently, after a short period of treatment I entered the private sector, and spent 39-1/2 years in business management.

After loosing my position in June 2001, 9/11 didn't help at all. At the age of 60, with a BS in Business Management / Human Resources, an AS degree in Accounting and Computerized Management Information Systems and a couple of certifications, coupled with my years of experience - I was classified as "Too Old" and "Too overly qualified".
I sent out hundreds of resumes, went on countless interviews all ending in rejection.

After 9/11 I applied for the Sky Marshalls for which my Military background qualified me more than most, was turned down - again too old. and with the above mentioned numerous rejections, I started to become depressed, I began wishing I was back in combat because I wanted to do something positive, and the flash-backs got even worse.

Because I was so involved over the years: married with children; church; the Cub Scouts & Boy Scouts as a leader, etc. my mind was too active to allow me to think on past experiences, especially combat.

Long story short - in October of 2003, things got so bad that I went to the VA Hospital for help. Thank God I realized that I needed help. A friend asked me if I had ever applied for an increase in my compensation - I said no. He immediately took me to the American Legion, where I met this really nice man - who helped me to no end. My rating has been increased to 70% with 100% entitlement.

In my case, I was extremely fortunate as it only took from November 2003 to February 2004, and was retroavtive to November 2003.

Regretfully, however, many Veterans and Disabled Veterans spend years in "Bureaucratic Red-Tape". This is totally unjust as these men and women put their personal lives on hold, but in harms way.

I hope this answered your question - if not let me know.

Have a great day :) :) :)

[harumscarum]

I am actually from Waco, TX and we have a VA that has been in the news:

http://www.wacotrib.com/news/newsfd/auto/f....1123.0486.html

I can not understand how the government could ever be worried about VAs losing money. I really cant stand when people only care about things when the spotlight is on. I saw on the news a while back that only 1 person in congress has a son in the military. I am curious about how many of them are actual veterans. I really don’t think this will ever be an issue until the media makes it an issue for the politicians.

The gov will praise them when the leave but turn their backs when they come home (except for Koppel :)).

[PhanthomOps]

harumscarum:

An excerpt from a letter, concerning VA Hospitals.

Executive Producer
Primetime
ABC News
7 WEST 66th Street
New York, NY 10023

“The DAV agrees that the VA health care system has been chronically
underfunded for decades and annually receives less than needed to sustain current levels of health care services. That is the major reason why the DAV and all major veterans service organizations support legislation before Congress calling for mandatory funding
for VA health care, rather than relying on the discretion of Congress and the Administration to provide adequate funding.”

ALAN W. BOWERS
National Commander
Disabled American Veterans

FYI, the VA is in the process of closing two hospital in upper New York state, due to the lack of funds. These closures will effect many other areas as well. Also, due to the lack of funds, many of the hospitals are understaffed and overworked. Many of the Veterans have to wait three to four months just for a simple examination.

This has been going on for too long.

[PatrickHenry]

Originally posted by harumscarum, I am actually from Waco, TX and we have a VA that has been in the news: http://www.wacotrib.com/news/newsfd/auto/f....1123.0486.html I can not understand how the government could ever be worried about VAs losing money. I really cant stand when people only care about things when the spotlight is on. I saw on the news a while back that only 1 person in congress has a son in the military. I am curious about how many of them are actual veterans. I really don’t think this will ever be an issue until the media makes it an issue for the politicians. The gov will praise them when the leave but turn their backs when they come home (except for Koppel :)).

Here's a little story from down the highway in Austin:

Just before Memorial Day, Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi said, "Our active military respond better to Republicans" because of "the tremendous support that President Bush has provided for our military and our veterans." The same day, the White House announced plans for massive cuts in veterans' health care for 2006. Last January, Bush praised veterans during a visit to Walter Reed Army Medical Center. The same day, 164,000 veterans were told the White House was "immediately cutting off their access to the VA health care system." My favorite in this category was the short-lived plan to charge soldiers wounded in Iraq for their meals when they got to American military hospitals. The plan mercifully died a-borning after it hit the newspapers. <snip> In October 2003, the president told troops, "I want to thank you for your willingness to heed the important call, and I want to thank your families." Two weeks later, the White House announced it opposed a proposal to give National Guard and Reserve members access to the Pentagon's health insurance system, even though a recent General Accounting Office report estimated that one out of every five Guard members has no health insurance. What a nice thank you note. A month before the war started, the White House proposed cutting $1.5 billion from funding for military housing. The House Armed Services Committee had concluded that thousands of military families were living "in decrepit and dilapidated military housing." Progressive lawmakers counter-proposed an amendment to restore $1 billion in housing funds and pay for it by reducing new tax cuts Bush was proposing for the 200,000 Americans who make more than $1 million a year. Instead of getting $88,000 in tax cuts, the poor millionaires would get only $83,000. The House, with White House backing, voted the proposal down. <snip> Back to veterans. This year, the administration increased spending on veterans by $519 million. In 2006, it plans to cut veterans spending by $910 million.

Can you vets feel the love from the White House?