Other veterans rights being taken away at VA over POW MIA table?

Air Force veteran wants to force his rights by taking away from others?

What part of the Constitution keeps getting missed by those who want to force everyone else to comply with protecting their "free expression" of lack of faith?

Last I heard, Congress did not make a law establishing a religion. 

Vietnam veterans however, did in fact establish the POW MIA table and the ceremony. They established honoring those who served, risked their lives and did not make it back home to enjoy the freedom they sacrifices their lives to provide to others. 

Yes, the same folks who are so terrified they are not being represented for their non-beliefs, they want to make sure that no one else has the right to express their own beliefs...as protected by the whole part of this...

The Bill of Rights – Full Text

Amendment IThe Bill of Rights – Full Text Amendment I Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

The missing man table consists of the following elements:

• A small table set for one, symbolising the isolation of the absent service member. The table is usually set close to, or within sight of, the entrance to the dining room. For large events, the missing man table may be set for six places representing each of the five armed services (Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard), with the sixth symbolising the civilians who died during armed conflict.^[8] The table is round to represent the everlasting concern the survivors have for the missing.^[9]
• One or more head covers may be placed upon the table represent the armed service of the missing persons.^[10]
• A white tablecloth to symbolise the pure intentions of the service members who responded to the country's call to arms.^[11]
• A single rose in the vase symbolising the blood that service members have shed in sacrifice to ensure the freedom of the United States of America. This rose also represents the family and friends who keep the faith while awaiting the return of the missing service members.^[12]
• The red ribbon represents a love of country that inspired the service members to serve the country.^[13]
• A slice of lemon on the bread plate that represents the bitter fate of the missing.^[14]
• Salt sprinkled on the bread plate that symbolises the tears shed by waiting families.^[14]
• An inverted glass to represent fact that the missing and fallen cannot partake.^[12]
• A Bible represents the spiritual strength and faith to sustain the lost. This may be omitted in official displays.^[15].
• A lit candle symbolises a light of hope that lives in hearts to illuminate the missing's way home.
• An empty chair to represent the absence of the missing and fallen^[16]

But even they left it out here.

Manchester VA Medical Center, veterans battle over Bible display

New Hampshire Union Leader
By MICHAEL COUSINEAU
May 7, 2019

MANCHESTER -- A Bible once owned by a prisoner of war -- and on display at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center -- has launched a battle over religious freedom.

An Air Force veteran filed a lawsuit Tuesday looking to remove the Bible displayed on a POW/MIA table.

This Bible on the POW/MIA table at the Manchester VA Medical Center has sparked a controversy. DAVID LANE/UNION LEADER

“We would all be outraged if the MVAMC only provided care to Christians, or denied care to non-believers, or those who worship their God in other ways,” attorney Lawrence Vogelman wrote in the seven-page lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Concord.

“The placement of a Christian Bible on this sacred table is just as objectionable,” he said.

Curt Cashour, press secretary for the Department of Veterans Affairs, called the lawsuit “nothing more than an attempt to force VA into censoring a show of respect for America’s POW/MIA community.

“Make no mistake: VA will not be bullied on this issue,” he said in a statement.

Cashour also apologized to veterans for the VA temporarily removing the Bible a few months back.
read more here

What part of "nor prohibit the free expression" do they not get?

Bible at center of dispute over display at Manchester VA Medical Center

Group says inclusion of Bible gives preference to one faith over another
Andy Hershberger
News Reporter
Feb 27, 2019

MANCHESTER, N.H.
A Bible that was on display at the Manchester Veterans Affairs Medical Center is at the center of a controversy.

 The Bible was carried by a prisoner of war in World War II and then made part of a memorial at the Manchester VA until a veterans group objected and it was removed. Now, there's an effort to put it back.

VA officials said they consider the Bible to be an historical artifact, but people on both sides of the debate said they believe it represents something much more

The Missing Man Table is intended to honor the nation's missing veterans and POWs, but a spokesman for the Military Religious Freedom Foundation said the organization received complaints about a Bible that was originally part of the memorial.

The group asked the VA to remove it, calling its presence intolerable and unconstitutional.
read more here

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Cornell Law

No one is stopping atheists, or anyone else, for believing what...or not believing...as they choose to. So why do they feel they have the right to "prohibit the free expression" of others to do the same?

They complain about everything because they believe in nothing, and that is OK. It is their right. The problem is, most of what they complain about has to do with what people raised funds to do, or began as an act of love, as with the POW MIA Table service.

In the case of the Manchester Bible, it was donated by a WWII POW veteran! So who protects the rights of Christians to "freely express" what they believe in?

As for the monuments the atheists, and freedom from religion crowd want taken down, they do have the right to build their own. But, since they believe nothing, here's a thought. Put up a statue of Ron Reagan.

When someone pushes to have it taken down, they can defend how they have the right to do it protected by the Constitution. Then maybe they'll value that right for everyone too!

All Veterans Want is Promise Keepers, Not Bumblers

Promise Keepers or Bumblers?
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
December 24, 2017

Looks like Santa just may have his hands full of coal for every member of Congress! When you think that this bunch just managed to pull off a Bill to fund the futures of billionaires and millionaires, these same folks didn't use that same energy for our veterans.

(Guess they also forgot that the majority of our veterans are in fact on Social Security and Medicare, also facing cuts.)

AP reported that, "NH veterans want more, better medical services" and that is true. The thing is, they wanted what was promised to them on the day they became "Veteran" instead of civilian. What part of that do people not get? They are not civilians!

The Manchester VA is the subject of this report, however, it is the same story all across the country.

"Veterans offered a long list of services they felt could be provided by the Manchester center, with many seeing the need for additional mental health and substance abuse services at a time when the state is struggling with an opioid crisis and military personal are returning home."

When anyone talks about sending veterans into the mess the rest of us deal with, they are blinded by the need for fast fix. What they fail to see is that Congress has had the responsibility of providing for our veterans since 1946.  

Jurisdiction of the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs

1. Veterans' measures generally.
2. Pensions of all the wars of the U.S., general and special.
3. Life insurance issued by the government on account of service in the Armed Forces.
4. Compensation, vocational rehabilitation, and education of veterans.
5. Veterans' hospitals, medical care, and treatment of veterans.
6. Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief.
7. Readjustment of servicemen to civilian life.
8. National Cemeteries.

Whatever is wrong with the care our veterans receive after all these years is because Congress failed to deliver on their end of the deal.

Veterans did their jobs. When does Congress?

Doctors Warn Manchester VA is Endangering Patients

UPDATE
Stars and Stripes July 17. 2017
"WASHINGTON — The director and chief of staff of the VA hospital in Manchester, N.H., have been removed from their posts following a news report of dirty conditions, long patient wait times and substandard care, Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin announced Sunday."

At a four-star veterans’ hospital: Care gets ‘worse and worse’
Boston Globe
By Jonathan Saltzman and Andrea Estes, Globe Staff
July 15, 2017

So far, 11 physicians and medical employees — including the hospital’s retiring chief of medicine, former chief of surgery, and former chief of radiology — have contacted a federal whistle-blower agency and the Globe Spotlight Team to say the Manchester VA is endangering patients.

MANCHESTER, N.H. — This is what the US Department of Veterans Affairs says a four-star hospital looks like:

One operating room has been abandoned since last October because exterminators couldn’t get rid of the flies. Doctors had to cancel surgeries in another OR last month after they discovered what appeared to be rust or blood on two sets of surgical instruments that were supposedly sterile.

Thousands of patients, including some with life-threatening conditions, struggle to get any care at all because the program for setting up appointments with outside specialists has broken down. One man still hadn’t gotten an appointment to see an oncologist this spring, more than four weeks after a diagnosis of lung cancer, according to a hospital document obtained by the Globe.

Remarkably, leaders of the Manchester VA have confirmed many of the problems, from the fly-infested operating room — “an episodic issue,” said one administrator — to thousands of patients waiting indefinitely for specialist care, which the leaders blamed on the private company hired by the federal government to set up veterans’ appointments outside the hospital. read more here

But as Congress has a habit of doing, they just talk about fixing the VA. When you read this part, be prepared to grab your head first. It will explode like mine did!

“They ignored him basically for 20 years and allowed this thing to grow and grow and grow,” said Abramson, who recently wrote the VA in Manchester and in Boston that his client intends to sue for negligence.

And as for the VA, this is the statement that came into my email.

VA Announces Immediate Actions at Manchester VA Medical Center
07/16/2017 04:55 PM EDT


WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs David J. Shulkin, M.D., announced actions the department is taking immediately to respond to whistleblower concerns at the Manchester, New Hampshire, VA Medical Center (VAMC) detailed in an article in today’s Boston Globe.

The VA Office of the Medical Inspector and the VA Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection are being sent in beginning Monday to conduct a top-to-bottom review of the Manchester VAMC, including all allegations in the article.

In addition, effective immediately, the department has removed the director and chief of staff at the facility, pending the outcome of the review.

Alfred Montoya, the director of the VAMC in White River Junction, Vermont, will serve as the new director of the Manchester VAMC and the new chief of staff will be announced shortly.

Dr. Shulkin said, “These are serious allegations, and we want our Veterans and our staff to have confidence in the care we’re providing. I have been clear about the importance of transparency, accountability and rapidly fixing any and all problems brought to our attention, and we will do so immediately with these allegations.”