Vet pleads guilty to falsely claiming medals to collect for PTSD

by
Chaplain Kathie

Why? Why do they do such terrible things? Six years of my husband's life were torture because his claim would not be approved until his Bronze Star Award was corrected with the right social security number on it. Because of people like Steve Bennest, it didn't matter we had all the paperwork to verify it was real and it was on his DD214. It didn't matter because of people trying to take what they did not need or deserve. Six years! Did Bennest ever think of what veterans with PTSD were going thru or their families, when he was trying to take what he thought was his?

We spent six years of battling to have my husband's claim approved, borrowing money, swallowing our pride, trying to save our house with the mortgage company twice with forbearance agreements, trying to hang onto his job that was killing him because we needed money to live at the same time I had to fight my husband to keep trying to prove his claim was real. How many times did he gave up because of the extra stress? How many times did he wanted to die because of lost hope of healing and justice? I lost count. How many times did I think about giving up and getting a divorce because it was all just too damn hard?

When veterans have PTSD, they are the last to admit it and it's extremely hard to get them to go for help, yet this man had no problem at all faking it. Too many have died because they either didn't go for help or couldn't get it when they did.

This comment was on my YouTube page from a veteran with PTSD. He's just one of hundreds I've been contacted by over the years.

We are silent There's a reason we are silent
We don't want people to know we're crazy. It might be a wound but it's a sign of being mentally weak. I deal with what I got handed but I don't want anyone to know who doesn't need to.

Re: There's a reason we are silent Re: There's a reason we are silent
Then why me? I don't mean to whine or get pity. I just want to know what is different about me compared to the other 2/3 of soldiers. And how can you say it's not being crazy? I'm not right anymore and if your heads broke and you act crazy then your crazy. Looks like a duck sounds like a duck it's probably a duck.

Re: Re: There's a reason we are silent Re: Re: There's a reason we are silent
I don't think I deserve help. My faith was never strong. I'm Jewish and I don't even feel right for asking for forgiveness. And until I beat my problem I can't even consider forgiving myself for being this weak.

I'm sorry I'm kinda wasting your time here. I just feel like what I have is a fight and that it's my burden. I shouldn't have bothered you to begin with. Please take care and thank you for trying.

What your doing is tremendous and I can't thank you enough for helping my brothers.

How can that not break your heart? This is what they are like. The real ones anyway. They don't feel as if they deserve to be helped or have someone fighting for them. They suffer because they served and then they wonder what's wrong with them when they should be wondering what's wrong with the rest of us because they are left to fight for themselves. I'm crying now just thinking about him and all the others, just like my husband, suffering instead of healing, fighting to have their claims honored, because of people who thought they could get away with faking it.

I look at my husband now and know that once they hear the VA has accepted responsibility for the wound they carry in their soul, they begin to heal. Just having the words show up on a letter saying their claim is approved goes a long way in easing the burden they carry. Knowing what is wrong with them is because they served their country replaces the stigma with honor.

If you want to have sympathy for this man I suggest you have it for the veterans that had to suffer and still suffer because of people like him. Lord willing he will open his eyes one day and see what damage he's done to so many that did not deserve it. People like him make the service officers look twice when all the paperwork is not right and then the veteran feels as if they have just been sucker punched when they were telling the truth.

Vet pleads guilty to falsely claiming medals

Man sought compensation for stress disorder
By PAUL SHUKOVSKY
P-I REPORTER

A Sumner man who falsely claimed to be a Vietnam-era war hero pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Seattle to making false claims of military service, awards and decorations.

Steve Bennest, 57, in making an application to the Veterans Affairs' Seattle office in support of a compensation claim for alleged post-traumatic stress disorder, falsely asserted that he had been awarded a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star. Bennest served in the Army between 1969 and 1972, but did not earn either of the medals, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Bennest faces a maximum penalty of one year in prison and a $100,000 fine.

But defendants who reach plea agreements with the government rarely have the maximum sentence imposed upon them. click link for more