How VA Abandons Our Veterans

When I did the latest video, PTSD Final Battle of War, I should have included the other battle they have to fight and that one is against the government. You'd think that they would all be taken care of since all we hear of our elected is how much they deserve the support of the nation but then again you'd have to be one of the people in this country who never had a father, uncle, brother, mother, sister or friend who served and needed the VA. After all, if they are not personally attached to you in some way, why should you care? You should if you've ever read one single history book about this nation and the men and women who were responsible for this nation being what it is. I'm not talking about the abyss this administration is taking it into,but the all of it's history. From the Revolutionary war all the way up to Iraq and Afghanistan today, they were the ones who were willing to risk their lives and they have been the ones who have been neglected simply because they survived but came home with wounds.

Ask John McCain what that's like since he's been reaping the benefits other veterans fought for and then decided that the rest of the veterans didn't need the same kind of care. He did vote against everything being done for veterans after all. He has also been an adversary instead of one of the biggest cheerleaders for expansion of veterans services. After you read this, maybe you should think of emailing him and the rest of the people who voted against our veterans. They had plenty of time to get this right for them but didn't. Talk is cheap but the veterans are finally catching on that while words of support my help their ego, the rest of their lives pay the price for failures of leadership when it comes to their needs.kc

Aug 28, VCS - VUFT Lawsuit Update: How VA Abandons Our Veterans
Joshua Kors


The Nation

Aug 28, 2008
September 15, 2008 edition - Army Sergeant Juan Jimenez had one of the most dangerous jobs in Iraq, ushering top Administration officials through the war-torn streets of Baghdad. He returned home with two Purple Hearts and shrapnel lodged in his right arm. Today he is gravely ill.

What Jimenez didn't realize is that before he could receive benefits for his wounds, he'd have to prove that those wounds came from war. Three and a half years later, the sergeant is still making his case. The Department of Veterans Affairs isn't convinced. And it won't give him his benefits until it is.

The VA requires all veterans to prove their wounds are "service-connected" before it writes them a check. Jimenez thought that hurdle was merely a formality. The Army sergeant had been struck by two roadside bombs. The first sliced into his arms; six months later, a second bomb sprayed scrap metal into his face, knocking him unconscious and leaving him brain damaged. He began having seizures and suffering from memory loss. The blast left a persistent ringing in his right ear. The stress sparked nightmares, flashbacks and acid-reflux disease.

"I'm a different person now," Jimenez says glumly. "I come home; I lock myself in my room. I don't really talk to anyone. I used to be fun." Now, he says, he can't even have a bowl of cereal. It gives him heartburn for days. "That second bomb, it killed me--it just left my body." Sick, suicidal, the sergeant sought help from the VA.

The VA's diagnosis: too much caffeine. "They said I was drinking too much Red Bull. That's what was causing my problems."

Jimenez got mad. At that point, he did something few veterans even consider: he sued the VA.

The sergeant is a member of Veterans for Common Sense (VCS), one of the most prominent veterans' groups in the country. In July 2007, executive director Paul Sullivan filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of Jimenez and the thousands of veterans in his organization who were wounded in Iraq and, he says, were rebuffed by the VA when they sought disability and medical benefits.
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http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/articleid/11032