Stop Class Warfare on Vietnam Veterans

Stop Class Warfare on Vietnam Veterans
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
September 4, 2013

Twenty-nine years ago this month I married my best friend. I have been by his side in the worst of times as PTSD threatened to destroy him as well as our family. It was during a time when Vietnam veterans were forgotten about and families were ignored. We didn't have the Internet or support groups and as far as the press was concerned, we were only newsworthy when a veteran was arrested. No one cared except us. Not that finding other families was easy but eventually we found others just like us. Or at least we thought they were. Our attitude was just like Vietnam veterans. All veterans should be treated equally no matter what war they fought in, no matter where they lived and we proved it. Service groups around the country were taking care of all veterans.

By the time Gulf War veterans were coming home, the Internet was just taking off and showing up in more and more homes. They turned to the Vietnam veterans for help and guidance. When troops were sent into Afghanistan in 2001, almost everyone had a computer but by the time they were sent into Iraq in 2003. Then came laptops and cellphones followed by tablets. What did Vietnam veterans do? Caught up with technology and reached out even more to the new generation.

What did some people decide to do when they started their own charities? They decided to shut their doors to other veterans. Wounded Warrior Project won't help older veterans. The IAVA won't help older veterans. As a matter of fact Paul Rieckhoff slammed Vietnam veterans in 2009 by saying "Unlike during the Vietnam War, today's military is a professional, all-volunteer force."

Larry Scott of VAWatchdog reported how he also managed to start the class war going on in Washington over war veterans.

IAVA became a lobbying powerhouse on Capitol Hill. Even though Iraq and Afghanistan vets make up just 3% of the veteran population, and IAVA membership is just a few thousand of that 3%, IAVA became a loud voice.

Rieckhoff's agenda has always been a divisive force in the veteran community.

Because of Rieckhoff's work, we now have a two-tiered VA system, with vets from Iraq and Afghanistan getting priority treatment for health care and first-in-line status for disability claims ... while the other 97% of veterans just have to wait.

In fairness, Rieckhoff has worked hard for his constituency, and it has paid off ... to the detriment of other veterans.

Now, we see Rieckhoff's feelings about other veterans, especially those who served in the Vietnam War.

Today, it is reported that a GI in Iraq killed five fellow soldiers. Rieckhoff issued a press release about this, and said, in part:

"Unlike during the Vietnam War, today's military is a professional, all-volunteer force."

Now with all that was achieved for all veterans because of Vietnam veterans, our families are getting shafted yet again by Congress. Our disabled veterans are not worth as much as the newer veterans. When we act as caregivers, we are not worthy of the same compensation as the caregivers of the OEF and OIF veterans.

This is the article that has us furious.

Some veterans’ caregivers helped by federal benefit, but program raises question of fairness

By Associated Press
Updated: Wednesday, September 4, 2:34 PM

WASHINGTON — John Thomas Doody was in a coma and on a ventilator, but his mom refused to follow a doctor’s advice and put the Iraq war veteran in a nursing home.

Chris Ott quit her job, moved the family to Tampa, Fla., so her son, known as J.T., could be near the Veterans Affairs hospital. She spends most of her waking hours trying to meet his many needs. He was shot while serving with the Marines in Fallujah and suffered an infection and series of strokes during his recovery. She says he’s paralyzed and nearly blind but has made dramatic improvement over the years.

To ease the financial burden, Ott relies on a relatively new federal program that pays her a stipend of about $2,000 per month, trains her on how to care for J.T. and provides at least 30 days of respite care each year.

Once every three months, a VA inspector comes by her house to check on her and J.T.

“Now, I can still love him and hug him and kiss him and talk to him and laugh with him. Oh yeah, I still have my son,” she said.

The extra help has eased one family’s financial hardship. Yet there’s a question of fairness. For every family receiving the caregiver benefit, many more make do without.

For example, Pauline King of Anna, Ill., is not eligible for the stipend even though her husband, Jerry, a Vietnam veteran, needs help with bathing, dressing and going to the bathroom as a result of multiple sclerosis.

When lawmakers created the program in 2010, it limited participation to veterans who had served since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
read more here

Wounded Warrior Project should rename themselves to be "Only OEF and OIF Veterans Matter" since this is how they feel about this.

"The advocacy group was instrumental in pushing Congress for the enhanced benefit for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans."

At least the DAV is fighting for all veterans to be treated equally.

But other groups say it’s simply not right to treat one generation of veterans differently from others.

“It’s a matter of fairness. It’s a matter of principal,” said Adrian Atizado, assistant legislative director for Disabled American Veterans. “We leave no one behind in the military. That is no one, no matter when they served or what branch of service.”

If this is ok now, what happens when the next war comes and another group decides they matter more than the others?

UPDATE
Take a look at a caregiver not worthy of this benefit.

Vietnam veteran holds onto wife
BY STEPHEN LANCE DENNEE/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
September 4, 2013

Jerry King, a 63-year-old Vietnam veteran who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1978, holds onto his wife, Pauline, 59, as she lifts him into his wheelchair at their home in Anna, Ill. Jerry King's disease was determined by the Department of Veterans Affairs to be service-connected, but the current VA program that provides aid for caregivers is limited to veterans who served after Sept. 11.