VA Shredder, national scandal, national disgrace

Larry Scott, of VA Watchdog, was outraged the media had not reported on this story and he is not alone. Many of us, advocates working very hard to make sure that veterans feel appreciated and are really taken care of, have been faced with this startling fact that no matter what we do, no matter how hard we work, no matter what the veterans who served this country were promised, it has now been wasted.

When you think of how reports like this make veterans feel, you are only beginning to understand what far reaching catastrophic consequences come with this. Imagine if you will being a veteran with your service still fresh in your mind. You know you cannot work because you were sent to risk your life in combat. You know your family is suffering financially and the added stress on your relationship is killing you. First you are told you would have to wait until your claim makes it through the "process" and "these things take time" only to find out that while you were suffering, waiting for your claim to finally be approved, borrowing money so that you and your family do not go homeless or hungry, you find out that the VA has piles waiting to be shredded and your claim could be in it. How would you feel?

Well that is exactly what is happening to men and women across this nation and all the yellow ribbons, hand shakes and welcome home speeches won't do a damn bit of good for any of them. Where is the outrage? Where is the press coverage on CNN, MSNBC, FOX, CBS, NBC, ABC? Where is the coverage on the local news stations? There are many reports in the print media but not enough so that the general public is aware of how bad this is.

We really need to wonder why the major stations are finding it just not news worthy enough to report on this when we have a nation election along with many state elections and the people we send to Washington will be responsible for all of this all over again. Is it that the troops and our veterans just don't matter enough? Is it that while so many young men and women are serving in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Nationals Guards and Reservists, they are also joining the growing ranks of veterans who expected their service to be honored when it really matters to them but Sarah Palin's wardrobe is more "news worthy" and gets them more viewers?

It's not just the major TV and cable stations I have a problem with. It's the radio ones as well. It's time for us to stand up for the veterans and demand they report on what is going on. We are paying attention but most of America is focused on their own problems and they need to be made aware of all of this so they can do something about it. Read the reports from VA Watchdog and know how bad this all is then wonder how you'd feel if it happened to your own family. Wouldn't you want someone like you to fight? This is not only a scandal but it's a disgrace!



Senior Chaplain Kathie Costos
Namguardianangel@aol.com
www.Namguardianangel.org
www.Woundedtimes.blogspot.com
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington

VA: NEARLY 500 CRITICAL DOCUMENTS FOUND IN SHREDDER BINS

ALL VA SHREDDER SCANDAL ARTICLES HERE...

UPDATE: NEW VA FIGURES SHOW NATIONWIDE PROBLEM WITH SHREDDING CRITICAL DOCUMENTS (10-23-08)VA finds hundreds of documents critical to veterans' claims in shredder bins across the country.AND --

FILNER COMPARES VA TO "KEYSTONE COPS," TO HOLD HEARING ON SHREDDING IN NOVEMBER (10-24-08)

DAV "OUTRAGED" BY VA SHREDDER SCANDAL (10-24-08)

HISTORY OF DECEPTION: VA ATTORNEYS CONVICTED OF DESTROYING DOCUMENTS (10-22-08)

FEDERAL JUDGE FINES VA FOR SHREDDING CRITICAL DOCUMENTS ... IN 1987 (10-20-08)