All states do not treat this nation's veterans the same

All states do not treat this nation's veterans the same.
by Chaplain Kathie
Wounded Times Blog
July 17, 2012

How well a veteran is cared for after they served this one nation should never be left up to the judgment of the governors year to year. Texas has problems with claims and taking care of their veterans and so does Florida. Too many states are not living up to the debt they owe veterans but the majority of the citizens remain silent on what is being done to them instead of demanding what needs to be done for veterans.

The American public in general should take a dim view on any politician treating veterans like this.

Politicians keep talking about the deficit but never seem able to understand this is a bill the country owes veterans. Some even dare to consider the VA as a "welfare" program.

Backlog of benefits claims for Texas veterans has doubled in two years
By Jeremy Schwartz
July 16, 2012

TEMPLE — Pending benefits claims for Texas veterans have doubled in two years, the most visible indicator of what state officials on Monday described as a mounting crisis at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

"It's a monumental problem," James Richman, the director of claims representation and counseling for the Texas Veterans Commission, told a Texas Senate committee reviewing the state's massive backlog. "It's an implosion, a perfect storm."

According to the VA, pending claims in Texas have mushroomed from just more than 46,000 in July 2010 to nearly 90,000 this month. More than 76 percent of pending claims in Texas have been sitting for more than 125 days, significantly more than the national average of 66 percent.

State officials painted a picture of a bureaucracy overwhelmed by an influx of aging World War II veterans, Vietnam-era service member claims based on exposure to Agent Orange, and Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, who are filing disability claims at rates higher than their predecessors. The hearing Monday, held at the William R. Courtney Texas State Veterans Home in Temple, was a chance for legislators to gather information ahead of next year's legislative session, when officials probably will ask for more money to hire additional claims counselors.
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Every state is different. This is an example of it. A study was done after Chicago Sun Times did an article on the issue in 2004. This is the result of the investigation. Review of State Variances in VA Disability Compensation Payments

Veterans Affairs Regional Office List is where you can find information on your own state.

STEP 3 – Learn about VA Services and Benefits
VA provides health care and other benefits to OEF/OIF veterans returning from the armed services.

Here are some of the benefits VA provides:
Access this Web site for more information on specific VA benefits available: http://www.oefoif. va.gov.

• Five Years of Enhanced Health Care. Your service member/veteran is eligible to receive enhanced VA health care benefits for five years following his or her military separation date. Whether or not your family member chooses to use VA health care after separation, he or she must enroll with VA within five years to get health care benefits later on.

• Dental Benefits. He or she may be eligible for one-time dental care but must apply for a dental exam within 180 days of his or her separation date.

• OEF/OIF Program. Every VA Medical Center has a team standing ready to welcome OIF/OEF service members and help coordinate their care. Check the home page of your local VA Medical Center.

• Primary Health Care for Veterans. VA provides general and specialized health care services to meet the unique needs of veterans returning from combat deployments.

• Non-Health Benefits. Other benefits available from the Veterans Benefits Administration may include: financial benefits, home loans, vocational rehabilitation, education, and more. Access http://www.vba.va.gov/VBA for information on these benefits.

• Benefits for Family Members. VA offers limited medical benefits for family members of eligible veterans. These include the following programs: Civilian Health and Medical Program of VA (CHAMPVA), caregiver support groups, counseling, and bereavement counseling.

Potential Co-Payments

Some veterans must make small co-payments for medical supplies and VA health care. Combat veterans are exempt from co-payments for the care of any condition potentially related to their service in a theater of combat operations. However, they may be charged co-payments for treatment clearly unrelated to their military experience, as identified by their VA provider.

Conditions not to be considered potentially related to the veteran’s combat service include, but are not limited to:

• care for common colds
• injuries from accidents that happened after discharge from active duty
• disorders that existed before joining the military.

This is a report on the Texas VA budget

Drastic cuts proposed in Texas Veterans Commission budget March 16, 2011
By RICARDO S. SANCHEZ LTG U.S. Army (Retired)

"NEVER LEAVE A FALLEN COMRADE" is part of the ethos embraced by America’s military. This commitment to our fellow warriors is embraced by every young man and woman in uniform and it exemplifies the commitment we make to defend our democratic values. Texas is on the verge of abandoning scores of Veterans if proposed budget cuts are approved.

The Texas Legislature is considering a 20 percent cut in the near $14 million in state funds which the TVC receives to provide veterans services across the state. This cut is, on average, disproportionate to the reductions other state agencies face. If approved, this will drastically reduce the TVC’s ability to provide services. With the proposed drawdown of U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan over the next two years, our returning veterans will need considerable assistance to ensure they access the benefits they have earned. Now is not the time for Texas to curtail the funding for veterans services.

Every day, the counselors and staff at the Texas Veterans Commission work tirelessly as advocates on behalf of our state’s true heroes to ensure they are not left behind.

The TVC staff — 84 percent of whom are veterans themselves — has made astounding progress in the last year helping Texas Veterans access their benefits. Note the following direct impact of TVC efforts:

H 170,795 benefit cases filed, resulting in over $2 billion in monetary benefits from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to Texas veterans and their families;

H 34,038 jobs found for veterans generating $1.8 billion in wages;

H 67,015 veterans approved for post-9/11 GI Bill education benefits totaling $397 million;

H $9 million in grants, funded mostly from the Veterans Cash lottery ticket, to 38 community and faith-based grantees offering a range of services to Texas veterans and their families.

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Florida Gov. Scott wanted to cut the state VA Budget as well.

Scott Administration Offers Budget Details to House Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee
Legislators from both sides of the aisle have questions and concerns about governor's proposals
By: KEVIN DERBY
Posted: February 9, 2011

A day after Gov. Rick Scott unveiled his budget, the House Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee met to hear how his proposed budget would impact state health facilities in the next two years.

Chaired by Rep. Matt Hudson, R-Naples, the committee listened Tuesday to a presentation from Jane Johnson, a policy coordinator from the Office of Policy and Budget and, while Republicans remained firmly in control of the committee, they did have more than their share of questions about the proposed budget.

Noting that the health and human services appropriations consumed $18.4 billion in FY 2002-03, Johnson pointed out that they were more than $28.5 billion in FY 2010-11. Under Scott’s budget proposal, the costs would increase to $29.17 billion in FY 2011-12 before lowering to $28.01billion in FY 2012-13.

Of the $29.2 billion planned by the Scott administration for health agencies in FY 2011-12, more than $22 billion would go to the Agency for Health Care Administration, almost 76 percent of the entire amount allocated. Department of Children and Families would take 9.5 percent of the total with almost $2.8 billion, just ahead of the Department of Health which would have more than $2.75 billion. Persons with Disabilities would get almost 3 percent with $842 million while Elder Affairs would have 2.4 percent of the total with $690 million. The state Department of Veterans Affairs would end up with $45.5 million, around 16 percent of the total allocated. read more here

Deplorable conditions for America's war heroes at Haley VA

WINK investigates VA hospital for poor conditions
Jul 16 2012

FORT MYERS, Fla.- A WINK News investigation team uncovered claims, almost two years ago, of dirty and deplorable conditions at the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital in Tampa.

The family of injured Cape Coral soldier Corey Kent brought pictures to Senator Bill Nelson and demanded change.

The VA promised better care for veterans, but there are new claims the hospital is again neglecting to give veterans proper care. Those vets contacted the National Coalition for Patriots organization, who then contacted us.

We got our hands on the new pictures from inside the James A Haley VA hospital showing what the organization calls deplorable conditions for America's war heroes.

WINK News spoke to one vet and his wife on the phone Monday. For the past year, he's been treated at James A. Haley VA hospital. He says the conditions and his care are horrible and something's gotta change.
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Fort Lee investigating death of soldier in barracks

UPDATE

Army identifies soldier found dead in Fort Lee barracks
By: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Published: July 18, 2012

The Army has identified a soldier from Texas who was found dead in his barracks room at Fort Lee.

The Army said today that foul play isn't suspected in the death of 21-year-old Pvt. David E. Vines of Beaumont, Texas. But investigators with the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command haven't ruled it out.
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Fort Lee investigating death of soldier in barracks
By: JEREMY SLAYTON
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Published: July 16, 2012

A soldier stationed at Fort Lee was found dead this morning in his barracks room.

Fort Lee officials said in a release that military police and Fort Lee emergency personnel responded shortly after 8 a.m.
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Wife protests treatment of PTSD husband at Fort Bragg

Wife says Army skimping on treating soldiers with PTSD
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C.

An Army wife staged a personal protest along a busy Fayetteville thoroughfare on Monday, trying to draw attention to what she says is inadequate care by the Army of soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

"The Army is not listening," said Krystal Reilly, as she sat at the edge of a Target parking lot along Skibo Road.

Reilly's husband, Staff Sgt. Charles Reilly, is a Special Forces soldier who has been deployed six times in the past decade. She said psychiatrists have diagnosed him with PTSD, and he's assigned to Fort Bragg's Warrior Transition Battalion, where soldiers recover from physical and mental wounds.

"Every day is a challenge. He has anxiety attacks. He has panic attacks," the 32-year-old mother of two said.

Krystal Reilly said her husband's superior officers have downplayed his threats to himself and his family. She said she believes that the Army doesn't want to pay the cost of caring for PTSD patients.
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Iraq veteran accused of attacking VFW members during his wedding reception

UPDATE Local Iraq vet charged after Andover VFW fracas

Iraq vet allegedly attacks three at bar downstairs from his wedding reception at North Andover VFW hall
07/16/2012 4:51 PM
By Matt Woolbright
Boston Globe Correspondent

LAWRENCE — A 32-year-old Iraq War veteran is facing charges after he allegedly attacked several people at the Veterans of Foreign Wars bar downstairs from his wedding reception.

Philip Brooks pleaded not guilty to numerous charges in Lawrence District Court today. After a dangerousness hearing, a judge ordered him held without bail until Wednesday. After that, if he posts $2,000 bail, he will be under house arrest.

Brooks was a medic deployed to Iraq for two tours of about a year, the first from 2004 to 2005 and the second from 2007 to 2008, a National Guard spokeswoman said.

Brooks was arrested hiding in the woods near the hotel where he was staying after he allegedly went into the downstairs bar at the VFW hall and attacked three people Sunday night. Brooks, according to Essex Assistant District Attorney Kimberly Gillespie, attacked a 79-year-old man sipping his beer at the bar and attacked a 62-year-old man and his wife.

Brooks claimed that someone in the bar had displayed a black handgun at him — a claim no one in the members-only bar backed up, Gillespie said. He was quoted by witnesses, however, as repeatedly shouting that older veterans do not appreciate Iraq veterans.
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Deployment for citizen soldiers takes the whole family

Military families feel alone, live as if bad news is imminent
By Mary Beth Breckenridge
Beacon Journal staff writer
July 16, 2012

Becky keeps her house a little cleaner when her husband is serving in Afghanistan, just in case.

She knows the odds of her husband dying or suffering a serious injury are small, yet the specter of a knock on the door haunts the edges of her consciousness.

So she clears the clutter from the kitchen table. She learns how to fix the lawn tractor. She handles the finances and takes out the garbage and lets her daughters kill their own spiders.

She wants her family to be able to run the household alone.

Just in case.

That kind of cautiousness is just one of the realities of sharing family ties with a member of the 1 percent, the proportion of the American population serving in the military.

For six months, Becky and the couple’s two daughters had to survive on the family’s savings while his military paycheck was delayed by complications with the transfer of Guard members to the regular Army. Even when the first check finally arrived, it was half what he makes when he’s home and working his regular job.

Becky, who volunteers at her church’s missions pantry, suddenly found herself on the receiving end.
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Iraq vet who hit officer says he drank to “forget”

Iraq vet who hit Springfield Township officer says he drank to “forget”
By Jim Carney
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published: July 15, 2012

Michael Plemons concedes that he had been drinking before he drove in a dark area along South Arlington Road near his home in March 2011.

He has denied little about that terrible evening.

As he steered his heavy-duty pickup, with its driver-side headlight out, between police cruisers parked on each side of the road — strobes flashing — he went left of center and hit something. It was an officer in a dark uniform with no reflective vest in an area with no street lighting.

He drove a little farther, turned around and, police say, he came back to see what he had hit.

On the pavement was Springfield Township police officer Mark Dodez, then 32, a 12-year police veteran and father of two young daughters. He is now partially paralyzed from the waist down.

Plemons tested positive for alcohol — 0.289, or three times the legal limit. He had previous traffic arrests, including four that were alcohol-related.

But there were aspects of Plemons’ life that generally were not known as his case came to trial.

He was an Iraqi war veteran.

“I took an oath to defend this country, against all enemies, foreign and domestic,” he said. “I never thought I would be the enemy.”
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Former homeless veteran lands $4M government contract for Arlington National Cemetery

Former homeless veteran lands $4M government contract
By IKE WILSON
The Frederick (Md.) News-Post
Published: July 12, 2012

FREDERICK, Md. — Allen Edwards, CEO of EBA Enterprises Inc. and a veteran who was once homeless, recently landed a $4 million federal government contract to do construction work on the Arlington National Cemetery visitors center.

The award is the largest job Edwards has won since he started his Service-Disabled Veteran Owned HUB Zone-certified small business in 2004, he said.

EBA Enterprises Inc. has four employees, but the company is using about 30 subcontractors, many of whom are veterans, to install chillers for heating and air-conditioning systems, ductwork, ceiling and tiles, and do landscaping work at the visitors center, Edwards said.
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Auditors Say Billions Likely Wasted in Iraq Work

If your member of congress was in office when all of this was going on and they are now complaining about the "deficit" ask them why they didn't complain back then. That's the problem with most voters. Paying attention to what they allowed to happen would prevent them from getting away with it today! They want to cut everything we need but had no problem with this? They want to allow firefighters and cops to have to take minimum wage while risking their lives instead of doing something to help? They want us to go without help getting health insurance to cover us when we get sick and have nothing to replace what they complain about? They allow massive layoffs of public workers at the same time they want to make sure the "job creators" keep tax welfare without them having to do anything for it? This is why I do not trust politicians on either side. One side is just as bad as the other.

Auditors Say Billions Likely Wasted in Iraq Work
Jul 14, 2012
Associated Press
by Robert Burns

WASHINGTON - After years of following the paper trail of $51 billion in U.S. taxpayer dollars provided to rebuild a broken Iraq, the U.S. government can say with certainty that too much was wasted. But it can't say how much.

In what it called its final audit report, the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Funds on Friday spelled out a range of accounting weaknesses that put "billions of American taxpayer dollars at risk of waste and misappropriation" in the largest reconstruction project of its kind in U.S. history.

"The precise amount lost to fraud and waste can never be known," the report said.

The auditors found huge problems accounting for the huge sums, but one small example of failure stood out: A contractor got away with charging $80 for a pipe fitting that its competitor was selling for $1.41. Why? The company's billing documents were reviewed sloppily by U.S. contracting officers or were not reviewed at all.

With dry understatement, the inspector general said that while he couldn't pinpoint the amount wasted, it "could be substantial."

Asked why the exact amount squandered can never be determined, the inspector general's office referred The Associated Press to a report it did in February 2009 titled "Hard Lessons," in which it said the auditors - much like the reconstruction managers themselves - faced personnel shortages and other hazards.

"Given the vicissitudes of the reconstruction effort - which was dogged from the start by persistent violence, shifting goals, constantly changing contracting practices and undermined by a lack of unity of effort - a complete accounting of all reconstruction expenditures is impossible to achieve," the report concluded.
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PTSD Marine Iraq Veteran felt like a "zombie" on medication

PTSD Marine Iraq Veteran felt like a "zombie" on medication
by Chaplain Kathie
Iraq veteran Nick Wright said medications made him feel like a "zombie" among other things needing to be addressed. We know that medications do help level things so that therapy can work but Wright also said "It's just a Band-Aid." Medications for PTSD may numb the emotional pain but they do not heal it. That is the biggest problem with most of the "treatments" the DOD and the VA are using.

After 40 years of researching Combat PTSD, experts had discovered a long time ago what is necessary in healing it is addressing the whole veteran. Mind, body and spirit.

This is more of a wound to the spirit, the same spirit/soul that lives within the human mind. Forgetting about healing it first has taken us backwards. Telling them to pop pills that leave them numb allows PTSD to gain more control so they end up needing stronger drugs, more prescriptions for more of them and when they fail to relieve the veteran, they turn to other substances. After all if medication is what they need according to the VA, and they are not working, well then, something out there must. Right?

Hell no!

For Vietnam veterans trapped in Combat PTSD hell, medications are something they've learned to live with because of how long it was allowed to live within them untreated. Even they have been helped by addressing the whole veteran and a lot of what they have been suffering from has been healed so they can live a better quality of life. When you talk to them, you understand how it breaks their hearts that younger veterans are not getting what they need today so they don't have to suffer like them 30 years from now. None of it has to happen.

The sooner PTSD is addressed, the sooner it breaks down. The longer it goes on untreated, more of the core of the veteran breaks down. It hits every part of their lives.

Area veteran trying to find his own way out of war's
Posted: 07/16/2012
Oroville Mercury Register.com

CHICO -- Nearly 5,000 U.S. troops lost their lives in Iraq, but veterans groups estimate 60 times that many may have their transitions back into civilian life disrupted by symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

In 2007, Chico resident Nick Wright left the Marine Corps after three tours in Iraq, and stepped into a quagmire of emotional issues he is still trying to sort out five years later.

Except for a few counseling sessions with a veterans group shortly after coming home, he has tried to control his symptoms by relying on an inner strength.

"I feel the only thing that can change me is me," said Wright.

Wright has rejected alcohol and drugs -- even prescription drugs offered free by the government -- believing they only mask symptoms, and often lead to even deeper emotional problems.

"I'll have a beer now and then. Hell, I've earned the right," he said. "But I never want PTSD to be an excuse for addiction or domestic violence -- or sinking so low I might take my own life."

Like many warriors freshly diagnosed with PTSD, Wright was prescribed medications to control flashbacks and help him sleep.

"I took them for a couple of months, but felt like a zombie," he said. "I felt stupid. I had no motivation.

"It's just a Band-Aid," Wright said.

Wright still refuses to discuss emotional issues with Veterans Administration counselors. Since coming home, he has minimized his contact with the outside world -- a way of life he said returning troops call "bunkering down."

"PTSD has been around for centuries, they just called it something else," Wright said.

"I don't think anyone really understands it."

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Imagine that! He doesn't think anyone understands it? Well maybe the people he has been turning to don't but there is an enormous Army understanding Combat PTSD all too well.

For a start there is Point Man International Ministries "walking point since 1984" and treating Combat PTSD the way it needs to be treated first. Spiritually with understanding, compassion, experience and leading the way out of this darkness. They've been there. Most are still there living with PTSD but it lost the ability to destroy them. You probably never heard of them other than on this blog with occasional posts because they do not spend millions on public relations campaigns any more than they ask for millions of dollars from the general public. Most of the Out Post leaders for Veterans and Home Front leaders for families take money out of their own pockets to help others just like them and it works.

I am part of Point Man for this reason. While the experts I trust have been researching Combat PTSD for 40 years, I've only been doing it for 30, plus living with it married to a Vietnam Veteran. We've heading into our 28th anniversary. He is the reason I do what I do. He's also the reason why I know none of the suffering we're seeing has to happen.

If you want to know more about Combat PTSD, go to PTSD Videos at the top of Wounded Times Blog. It will open to Hero After War, one of the videos I created years ago. There are more PTSD videos on it including the one I made for Point Man International Ministries.

Some people hear the word "ministries" and think of someone hitting them over the head with a Bible instead of holding out a hand to help them. Point Man does not try to convert anyone. We just want to stop veterans from feeling like "zombies" and start to live again!