When they die after war, we pulled the trigger

Can someone please explain to me how easy it is to accept the fact these men and women, managed someone to survive combat, but died back home because of it? Isn't that what we're really talking about here? They live through the worst man is capable of doing, watching out for their "brothers" and "sisters" but when they come home, the pain is so deep, they cannot fight that battle alone. We're supposed to be there for them. That's why the VA started. To take care of the wounded. For heaven's sake going all the way back to General Washington, we we've been reminded about the fact the wounded are just as much our responsibility as they are when they are sent to fight OUR COUNTRY'S BATTLES, no matter what you think about those battles.

Congress has no problems at all coming up with the money to train them, send them and arm them, (especially defense contractors) but they have not managed to use the same level of planing when it comes to then coming home. No war should ever be started until the VA is ready to take care of the wounded. They should be included in on every single funding request but above that, congress needs to stop the insanity of funding programs that are not working and make sure that when a business comes to them saying they need funding to help, they can prove it works. To have programs with no data to back up the claims is nothing more than funding research using the wounded as lab rats.

But congress is not the only problem the veterans have. The elected come and go but a combat veteran is a combat veteran for the rest of his/her life. They will see politicians elected and defeated while the state of their lives blows with the changing political party in charge at the time. Why? Do we owe these veterans for what they did for us or don't we?


William Hamilton's sister Angela left a comment on a blog post I put up about the Veterans for Common Sense Law suit against the VA.

This is my little brother and I am so happy people are getting his story out to help and encourage others and force the VA to help these people that have put their lives on the line for us.

William did what he was supposed to do and he went for help, but ended his life by stepping in front of a train. The train hit him but the lack of proper care he was given pushed him into thinking there was no reason to spend one more day on this earth. Anyone wondering why he managed to want to spend one more day deployed into hell enough so he managed to stay alive there? Anyone wondering why back home, he wanted to die? Anyone finally understanding that we pulled the trigger when we didn't demand that congress and our communities do all it takes to make them want to spend as many days as possible back home?

Troubled Veterans and Early Deaths After Iraq

By AARON GLANTZ
Published: May 28, 2011

This month, the Department of Veterans Affairs informed the parents of William Hamilton, an Iraq war veteran, that it was not responsible for his death.

Mr. Hamilton had been admitted nine times to a V.A. psychiatric ward in Palo Alto. He saw demon women and talked to a man he had killed in Iraq. His parents allege that the V.A. illegally turned away Mr. Hamilton — three days before he stepped in front of train on May 16, 2010, at the age of 26.

The agency denied the wrongful-death claim in a one-page letter: “The VA did not breach a legal duty,” wrote Suzanne C. Will, the agency’s regional counsel in San Francisco.

Mr. Hamilton’s death was recorded in an obscure government database called the Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem death file, which contains records for all veterans receiving benefits since 1973. The file provides a detailed portrait of the mental and physical wounds of veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the high rate of suicides and risky, sometimes-fatal behaviors.

read more here
Troubled Veterans and Early Deaths After Iraq

Monday, February 14, 2011


Original post
Veterans for Common Sense Lawsuit on Veteran Suicide on KGO/ABC
Veteran's suicide reveals problems in VA system
VCS Lawsuit on Veteran Suicide on KGO/ABC
Written by Dan Noyes
Saturday, 12 February 2011 10:44

Two Part KGO News Investigation Reveals VA Turned Away Suicidal Veteran in California in 2010

Part One:
February 8, 2011, San Francisco, California (KGO ABC 7 News) - Three hundred thousand of the military veterans coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, according to a recent study. But many are not getting the care they need and the results can be tragic.

New data shows that veterans are more than twice as likely as other Californians to commit suicide.

William Hamilton enlisted in the Army at 19 and served two tours in Iraq with the 82nd Airborne Division. His mother Diane says he loved the discipline and camaraderie.

"Every time he came back the commander said he did such a wonderful job," she said. Hamilton was guarding a rooftop in Mosul in 2005 with his best friend Christopher Pusateri when insurgents attacked.

Angela said...
This is my little brother and I am so happy people are getting his store out to help and encourage others and force the VA to help these people that have put their lives on the line for us. Please see the links below.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/29/us/29bcveterans.html

Here is a TV Story they did on him too

Here is the I-TEAM investigation they did back in Feb.. It was a two night report they did. They guy who wrote the article from the NY Times found that the Congressman from the I-TEAM investigation never actually did anything after the TV report aired!

First one
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/iteam&id=7947431
Second one
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/iteam&id=7949915

Please pass along so we can stop this epidemic...