jamescripps2

Berta, I never filed a claim before October 2005. I understand that Nehmer class claims only have to do with previouslly denied decisions and therefore would not be applied to my claim. Am I right about this?

The decision has now been posted to the BVA website. The citation Nr. is 0941553. It has been more than 100 days since the BVA decision and I still await a rating decision. I just hope that the rating decision and the EED are right the first time around. http://www.index.va.gov/search/va/va_searc...=&UA=Search

that is ok guys, I have always worked alone, even as a game warden at Fort Gordon. In a message dated 11/12/2009 5:00:12 AM Central Standard Time, wamoom2@peoplepc.com writes: With just one voice… For years he got the runaround His story was denied He was called a liar and much worse So many times he got shot down But he bounced back inside He knew he had to fight ‘til he was heard With just one voice Speaking up for others Broken lives are healed As the truth’s revealed With just one voice Sisters and brothers Reach out a helping hand Rise up and take a stand And it all began With just one voice For all who served and sacrificed He’d do his best, he vowed They deserved to get what they were due He’d bare his soul, he’d risk his life And he would not back down For what was right and true, he followed through With just one voice Speaking up for others Broken lives are healed As the truth’s revealed With just one voice Sisters and brothers Reach out a helping hand Rise up and take a stand And it all began With just one voice He’ll keep speaking out for all prisoners of this war To claim those rights they’ve fought and fallen for With just one voice Speaking up for others Broken lives are healed As the truth’s revealed With just one voice Sisters and brothers Reach out a helping hand Rise up and take a stand And it all began With just one voice… © r.moomaw

Wings, you are missing the whole point here. The reason for my wanting Steve Jones to return to his job is a selfish one. First of all Steve was on my six, and now I have his six.1 We need Steve to represent us veterans. If the commissioner accepts the proposal I might have to sell Steve on the idea as well. You commented on his brilliance, and that is the kind of talent needed on our side, to help veterans win their claims. We had it but now it is slipping through our fingers. I don't know just what Mr. Jones infraction was that caused him to loose his job, and I don't care. What I do care about is the veteran community's loss of such a powerful resource of advocacy. Steve is driven to work for veterans and our cause. Can you imagine the repercussions if he were hired by the VBA to work against us? We have too many of Steve's caliber already working against us, and that is the problem

Mr. Keys, Commissioner, Tennessee Department Of Veterans Affairs. As you should know by now, I have won the first claim of Agent Orange exposure inside CONUS. I won the claim with the help of Steve Jones. I do not think that there exist another VSO anywhere who possesses the ability and expertise of Mr. Jones. He is the best that there is and a true advocate for all veterans. Steve's ability is defined by the victory in my own and other cases won. To us veterans he is not only our advocate and VSO, but our hope. I do not know what the infraction was that caused Steve to lose his job but I do know that he is vital to our efforts as far as claims development goes. Please give consideration for PTSD and veterans preference in the case of the man and judge him for what he has accomplished, especially in my own landmark case. Without Stephen jones our local veteran population will suffer, please do not tax us in this way and show some compassion for our needs. I do know that there were political and other internal issues involved, and that is an internal situation that can't be resolved by letting go the best that you have, or should I rephrase that to, " the best that we have, and have ever seen." Give us some hope and reconsider the situation. The veteran population depends on you Sir, and this situation and injustice happened on your watch! You will begin to receve Email, phone calls, and letters respectfully asking for your reconsideration. There will also be some political pressure, not to force anything, but meerly to voice our concerns and wishes with respect to our own best intrest. We are asking you, not only to please re-employ MR. Jones, but to please place him in the position of Director OF Claims. I understand that here may be some lack of qulification isues, but he can be educated to suffice. We know that you are capable of working out the kinks, and we as honorable veterans we will do whatever is ask of us to help make this thing happen. Please give us the voice that we deserve in our own government representation. I will be involved in National TV and radio broadcast in the near and forseeable future. I would like to be able that there is a chance that we might get reconsideration. I also posess the skills needed to bring together large groops to rally for our single cause. There will be not only local interest but as the decision in my claim was landmark, there will be national attention. I am formitable and up to the task at hand. You Sir have the chance to play the part of the hero, or you can be the villan, I don't think your popularity will withstand the latter. If you would like to discuss the matter any further, you have my contact information. How can we avoid this thing? Can you name a replacement with equal talent? We await word from you Sir. Yours in faith James M. Cripps. 3070 Petway Rd. Ashland City TN. 37015 615-952-3213 home 615-417-0730 jamescripps9@aol.com Write, Email, call better yet, do all three! Department of Veterans Affairs 215 Rosa L. Parks Avenue Nashville, TN 37243 615-741-2931 TN.Veterans@tn.gov John A. Keys Commissioner __________________________________________________________________ Governor's Office Tennessee State Capitol Nashville, TN 37243-0001 Phone: 615.741.2001 Fax: 615.532.9711 Email: Phil.Bredesen@tn.gov

On my own I worked on the claim for three years. I gathered pertinant evidence and traveled thousands of miles. Consumed time translated into thousands of hours. The objective was not only to win my own claim, but to set the precedent for other veterans. I am also heavily involved in HR-2254 and AO outside vietnam. I was denied three times at the VARO. After the claim was denied the second time I decided to go at it with a different aproach. I wrote the President OF The United States, The Sesretary Of The Department OF Veterans Affairs, my two Senators, and all of the Congressmen. The VARO Service Center Manager called me to complain that because of what I had done, he had to revue my entire claims foulder! I felt that it could be that I had struck a nerve, so I stirred the pot some more and turned the heat up on high. I put the VA in all of the newspapers and then gave them a spot on the Channel 5 News Investigative Reports. On November 11 2007, I was working with the DAV, greeting all of the veterans who came to the Golden Corral for the free Veterans Day meal. Up stepped a seven foot, one hell of a man, he extended his hand and said, Hi I am Stephen Jones and I just went to work for the Tennessee Department OF Veterans Affairs as a VSO. Come and see me sometime, just ask for the big guy! This fellow was the epitemy of "AN ARMY Of One." I looked up at him and welcomed him home and thanked him for his service. After the third denial and a year after I had met Steve, he came through the door at a Vietnam Veterans Of America meeting. He ducked to clear the door header and just stood there like a parascope, searching every inch of the room. When our eyes met he shouted across the room as he pointed at me, "I want your claim! I said, "why would you want my claim?" Mr. Jones said, "because I have red your claims foulder and I can win it." Hell, that was a no brainer for me. Paul Bunyon saw the pot boiling but he wanted to poke his nose in it anyway. What did I have to loose? I said,"OK, you got it big guy! We were one hell of a team and withought Steve I would still be punching away. It was as if he held that BVA Judge in a trance on the day of the BVA video conference hearin. I had only seen that kind of performance on the TV and in the movies, but there stood Steve, toe to toe with that Judge and he never stuttered or stammered at all during the one hour and fifteen minute hearing. Although it took more than a year to get the decision, I knew that we had won when the hearing was over, and so did Steve. Now here we are! I won my claim and MR. Stephen Jones Got Fired and lost his job. I don't know what the infraction was, but I do know that whatever it was it couldn't have posibily tiped the scale of justice enough to overcome the greatness of the victory for all of us veterans. We as honorable veterans can't allow this sort of thing to happen to a brother true hero for our cause. Can you not see his pride in the way that he writes? I will take the point if the Hadit members will cover my six. Contact all of your friends and anybody else who is a friend of a veteran so as to support Steve in this misscarrage of veterans justice. You have been bitching, now you have the chance to get your back up and make a difference. Hell, just do it! The contacts are listed below, lock arms with me and lets save this veteran who has saved the pain of so many of us. Give him a lifelong Hadit welcome home and a base of operation from which to inform all of us who support each other, and have done so for so many years through thick and thin. What are we made of, and what do we stand for? We will be judged and judge each other by what we can do for our brothers and sisters in arms. Not only do we need to ask for the return of Steve's Job and his honor to be restored, but we need him in the position of "Director OF Claims"! That is what we will ask for. And that is what makes us tick! Don't be afraid. Think before you speak, but speak what you think. Those that matter don't mind. Those that mind don't matter. James M. Cripps Write, Email, call better yet, do all three! Department of Veterans Affairs 215 Rosa L. Parks Avenue Nashville, TN 37243 615-741-2931 TN.Veterans@tn.gov John A. Keys Commissioner __________________________________________________________________ Governor's Office Tennessee State Capitol Nashville, TN 37243-0001 Phone: 615.741.2001 Fax: 615.532.9711 Email: Phil.Bredesen@tn.gov __________________________________________________________________ PS The following is correspondence that took place in the heat of the battle, just before they went over the edge of the cliff. (1) What is the disposition of my claim at this time? (2) Is there enough sci... Discussion Thread Response (Department of Veterans Affairs) 02/13/2008 03:14 PM Dear Mr. Cripps: Again, we have not denied you a VA exam. If we see that a VA exam is nessary one will be requested. We are processing your claim as promptly and accuratly as possible. Once a final decision or even if a VA exam is determed to be needed we will inform you of that decision. You are more than welcome to have the VA Medical Center evaluate you at any time you feel you need treatment; however, if it's not service connected you may be billed for the service. Thank you for contacting us. If you have questions or need additional help with the information in our reply, please respond to this message. If at some future time we can help you on a different subject, you may submit a new inquiry at https://iris.va.gov, call us toll free at 1-800-827-1000, or visit our web site at www.va.gov. Sincerely yours, Jerry W. Mitchell Manager, Veterans Service Center E-mail us at https://iris.va.gov 320/218/cal Veteran/Inquirer 02/11/2008 02:58 AM (1) I have provided enough evidence to the VA so as to trigger VA's duty to provide a C&P examination. Duenas v. Principi, 18 Vet. App. 512 (2004) If the case is not decided in my favor and is sent to the BVA without a C&P exam it will be remanded. (2) Again I ask what reasons or basis am I being denied a C&P exam? (3) VA has developed specific procedures to determine whether a veteran was exposed to herbicides in locations other than Vietnam or along the demilitarized zone (DMZ) in Korea. VA's Adjudication Procedure Manual, M21-1MR, Part VI, Subpart ii, 2.C.10n., directs the RO to send a detailed statement of the veteran's claimed herbicide exposure to the Compensation and Pension (C&P) Service via e-mail and request a review of DoD's inventory of herbicide operations to determine whether herbicides were used or tested as alleged. If such review does not confirm the exposure, a request should then be sent to the U.S. Army and Joint Services Research Center (JSRRC) for verification. Prior to any further adjudication of the claim, the veteran's allegations of Agent Orange exposure should be investigated and developed as prescribed in M21-1MR. (4) Is my case in compliance with the above VA directive with at this time? (5) I respectfully request that a copy of this correspondence be placed in my C file. 26 455 135 Response (Department of Veterans Affairs) 02/08/2008 10:01 AM Dear Mr. Cripps: Currently, we are still in the process of reviewing your case and a final decision has not yet been made. Once we have finished reviewing your claim we will make a decision and inform you if their is enough medical evidence of record to grant in your favor or not. If we see that a VA exam is nessary based on a review of your Service Treatment Records and a review of your current conditions we will possibly set up an exam or not. Thank you for contacting us. If you have questions or need additional help with the information in our reply, please respond to this message. If at some future time we can help you on a different subject, you may submit a new inquiry at https://iris.va.gov, call us toll free at 1-800-827-1000, or visit our web site at www.va.gov. Sincerely yours, Jerry W. Mitchell Manager, Veterans Service Center E-mail us at https://iris.va.gov 320/218/cal Veteran/Inquirer 02/05/2008 04:20 AM (1) What is the disposition of my claim at this time? (2) Is there enough scientific and medical evidence of record at this time to establish the etiology of my chloracne and to provide a nexus? (3) Upon what reasons or basis have I been denied a C&P exam in order to help me prove my case? This is an IRIS. I expect an answer within the allowed time frame. This Iris is to Jerry W. Mitchell, Manager, Veterans Service Center, who signed, and who is therefore the responsible party for the answers to my two most recent IRIS. As the VA claims process is dependent upon a certian level of competence and integrety being maintained by the person and the agency involved. The afore mentioned empowerment by the Secretary Of The Department Of Veterans Affairs seems to need some tidying up. As I mentioned before, I have fired a shot across your bow. Now I am ranging. (1) What, may I ask, is your education level? (2) Did you pass your Civil Service Exam on your own, or did you have points added to your score due to Affirmative Action or Veterans Preference? (3) Is it that you just can't spell, or is it that you just do not possess adequate work ethics and enough professional pride to use a spell checker. Could it be due to the fact that you do not respect the veteran, for whom you work? (4) Did you happen to be personally involved in my most recent decision? Jamec M. Cripps. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Delicious ideas to please the pickiest eaters. Watch the video on AOL Living.

It feels like I have been in a briar patch for 40 years. My acneform condition,( Chloracne) was diagnosed on my separation exam and within one year of my last exposure. It covers my whole trunk. Many ruined clothes. I can only wear a white shirt one time and it is junk. Many surgeries at the VA and outside to remove cyst and leasions.

The Heart Disease was granted as a residual of diabetes.

On November 2, 2009, I won the first ever VA claim for Agent Orange exposure, "inside the Continental United States." The claim was granted for Chloracne, Diabetes and Heart Disease with ICD implant, as due to Agent Orange exposure at Fort Gordon GA., in the years 1967-1969. You will be able to read the Board Of Veterans Appeals detailed decision along with the supporting evidence at WWW.va.gov in a couple of months when it is posted. From the web site choose Board of Veterans Appeals, then click on Decisions. Next type in the search box Docket No.08-11 937. Due to the AICD implant, Class 3 CHF and a LVEF of 25% there should be a 100% P&T award. Other than a $15.00 Medicare copay, here and there, no money was spent on an IMO, so take heart, you don't have to be rich to win! James M. Cripps, Vietnam Veterans OF America Tennessee Agent Orange Committee Chairman.

I am not service connected yet. My income and assets are above the va requirement, but below the geographagal requirement, so I do not pay copays on treatment. I am required to pay medication copays. I had a pacemaker implanted in 1997 by an outside cardioligist. In 2006 my pacemaker battery died. The VA replaced the pacemaker with the very latest pacer/defibulator at no cost and no copay. No complaint here.

I had a BVA video conference hearing on September 12, 2008. I have never received any correspondence whatsoever from the BVA. On 3 December,2008 I called the Nashville VARO and asked if I had a docket number, they gave me the docket number and told me that the date was April 22, 2008.

thanks Carlie, I will do just that, and right away. Does anyone have the address where I would send the evidence to?

My claim is before the BVA. How can I send new and material evidence, (a nexus letter), to the BVA without delaying my claim?

PLEASE ask your Senators and Congressman and women to support HR 6562- if we cant get AO equity from the Haas case- maybe HR 6562 will finally give it to vets with disabilities on the AO presumptive list who were exposed to AO ouitside of Nam- and the Korean reg limits.And to their survivors and dependents.

The VA garnished my Social Security Disability check, my only source of income for myself and my wife. The garnishment was for VA medication copayments for my 17 prescriptons per month at 8.00 each. I got behind in my monthly rementance to the VA.

Well Berta, I just might be one of the hijackers too, If you really want to play detective I suggest that you compare my user name to the list of signatures on the list. There are people who are more prone to conform to the whims of human nature than others. The kind of person to whom I refer to here is the occupant of the storm cellar who, just before the tornado, slams and bolts the hatch for self preservation. He delivers up his neighbors to the wrath of the storm, and can actually justify his deed to himself. That is exactly what this disgruntled person is trying to do to fellow veterans, yet he calls us hijackers? Thamks, James Cripps

Those issues were addressed in the AO act of 1991. If the vet had boots on the ground and one of the listed diseases, inside the time limit, then there is no problem with the claim.

Berta said, This is GREAT NEWS for ANY vet exposed to AO ANYWHERE who has adisability on the AO presumptive lists. Berta, Seeing how the AO act of 2008 is written, I do not see any help for a veteran who was exposed to AO inside CONUS and has presumptive diseases. Could be that I am missing something here. The stateside AO sites listed by the DoD as a result of Lane Evans request should have been addressed in the bill. I do admit that this is a step in the right direction. How long does a bill like this take to work its way through the system? Any ideas?

You can't totally blame the VA for our misfortune in the leingth of time that it takes to adjudicate a claim. We are also responsible, we should be comming together to fight for our rights as veterans. Our letters and complaints should be filling the mailboxes of our political figures and we should be walking a picket line at every VA regional office in the nation. A convicted murderer can navigate the legal system, and seems to have much more respect for his rights than a veteran does. Where are our service orginizations in all of this? They are too busy trying to collect lifetime membership commitments from the OIF & OEF veterans while the frenzy last. This too shall pass.

You know, this topic does not seek opinions as much as it seeks the answer to, "is this treatment a strategy by the VA to again trip up all Veterans, or is it a strategy to drive a wedge between two groups of veterans? The very nature of the VA,s smug attitude in bypassing all other veterans discounts the reason for the change of heart as being a change for a more compassionate system. The way that I see it, there is no question that the timely and improved treatment to the OIF & OEF veterans is a step in the right direction for those who steped foward to defend our country. I don't think that anyone envys that. The problem is that it is being done at the expense of other honorable vets who suffered the same sacrifices. Many, if not most of the vietnam vets were snatched off the streets of poor and middle class America to be pitted against the enemy after a short basic and AIT training. 58,000 paid the ultimate price. If you want to really get sick, check and see what kind of support and benefits were given to their families. They were paid $87.00 per month and if married, the spouse got a 130.00 alotment check, and had to move back in with her parents. Even factoring in inflation, a grunt was a poor person. There was no mention of veterans benefits upon discharge. Those same people are the Veterans who fought so long and so hard for fourty years and more to move the VA to some kind of accountability, but are now being bypassed, and denied the sucess of their efforts. I do not mean to minimize the vets of other eras and conflicts, I am only familiar with my own era, someone else more qualified than myself should come along and speak for the hardships and disgust of those other veterans.

The topic of this thread would make a good stardust radio topic. Everyone should have the oportunity to hear and comment on the subject.

The way I read The rules, If an AO claim is based on a presumptive basis there is a one year from last exposure limit on the onset of the disease of chloracne. The claim is adjudicated under 3.307 and 3.309 (e) But if the claim for chloracne is claimed under a direct exposure basis there is no one year limit on the disease and it is adjudicated under C.F.R. 3.303 (d) Am I right about this?

The backlog at this time stands at 800,000. Add these 567,000 new OIF and OEF vets to the front of the backlog. Do you see the problem that I see? But who gives a damm anymore, just crawl back in your fox hole, pull your poncho back over your head and prepare to wait on another lifetime, or choose to do your part in contacting the right people, it only takes a few moments. VA TO CALL ALL "NEW VETS" AND NOTIFY THEM OF AVAILABLE BENEFITS -- Outreach targets OEF / OIF veterans only. VA Secretary Peake: "We will reach out...to let them know we are here for them." This new program is proof positive that veterans of service prior to OEF / OIF (Afghanistan and Iraq) are just "Old and in the Way." The VA is giving priority healthcare to the new vets. They get first priority when it comes to claims. Now, the VA will be calling them and telling them of their benefits. This is a callous political move to make the public think that our politicians "Support our Troops." But, the 570,000 vets mentioned in the press release below represent a little more than 2% of the veteran population. What about the other 98%? Are they going to get calls to let them know about their benefits, too? Don't count on it. Older vets are waiting in long lines for care and for rulings on disability claims. Many of them don't even know they have benefits because the VA has never told them. I hope our service organizations jump into this with both feet. If they don't stand up to defend their members, almost all of whom served prior to OEF / OIF, then they should turn in their cute little caps and admit that they are powerless to help their membership. VA press release here... http://www.vawatchdog.org/08/vap08/vap042408-1.htm Press release below: ------------------------- VA Calling All Recent Combat Vets April 24, 2008 Nearly 570,000 to be Reached by New Call Center WASHINGTON – On May 1, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will begin contacting nearly 570,000 recent combat veterans to ensure they know about VA’s medical services and other benefits. “We will reach out and touch every veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom to let them know we are here for them,” said Dr. James B. Peake, Secretary of Veterans Affairs. “VA is committed to getting these veterans the help they need and deserve.” A contractor-operated “Combat Veteran Call Center” will telephone two distinct populations of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan. In the first phase, calls will go to an estimated 17,000 veterans who were sick or injured while serving in Iraq or Afghanistan. VA will offer to appoint a care manager to work with them if they don’t have one already. Care managers ensure veterans receive appropriate care and know about their VA benefits. Article continues below: For five years after their discharge from the military, these combat veterans have special access to VA health care. The Department screens combat veterans for signs of post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury. VA personnel have been deployed to the military’s major medical centers to assist wounded service members and their families during the transition to civilian lives. For the new call center, the second phase will target 550,000 OIF-OEF veterans who have been discharged from active duty but have not contacted VA for services. Once contacted, veterans will be informed about VA’s benefits and services. The initial calls will be made by a private contractor, EDS, which specializes in technology “We will leave no stone unturned to reach these veterans,” said Dr. Edward Huycke, chief of the Veterans Affairs - Department of Defense coordination office.

It would not hurt a thing if you took a few moments to email a copy of this to your political figures and your VSO's VVA Chapter 953 has formed a new committee to try and focus our efforts on what it will take to regain our status as equal veterans once again. This will be a nobile effort but it will need support. We,the 98% who have born the brunt of the injustice so that the VA and the politicians could look good need to remember those political figures who let this happen and have remained silent. In the comming election we need to rally, after all, we the dissatisfied, hold 98% of the veteran vote, as opposed to the satisfied 2%. Old and in the Way As the “new vets” from Iraq and Afghanistan, just 2% of the veteran population, are given priority at the VA, the other 98% find themselves pushed to the rear of the line, now the forgotten of previous conflicts. by Larry Scott Bosnia, Somalia, the Gulf, Grenada, Vietnam, Korea, World War II, plus all the Cold War and peacetime veterans in between. Add them all up and you have about 23.5 million veterans, 98% of the U.S. veteran population. Add them all up and you have the veterans that are being pushed to the rear of the line by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA). On April 24, 2008, the VA made a stunning announcement. They are going to set up a special call center to notify all 570,000 “new vets,” veterans of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, of all available VA benefits. On the surface this appears to be a noble gesture. But, in the past, the VA has vigorously fought legislation that would have required them to notify ALL veterans of these benefits. Why? Too expensive, they claimed. So, why the change and why now? And, why does this just apply to the “new vets,” those who make up just 2% of the veteran population? The VA has a history of denying that problems exist, then using quick-fix Band-Aids to make it appear that the problem has been solved. We find the VA short-staffed, especially in the area of mental health workers. So, they hire a few mental health specialists, many of them short-term contract workers, and consider the problem fixed. There is a backlog of 600,000 disability claims, so the VA hires a few more claims raters, and considers the problem fixed. Neither of the afore-mentioned Band-Aids addresses the long-term problems of mental health care or the claims backlog because not enough workers were hired to adequately solve either problem Then came Walter Reed and the ensuing look at military and VA healthcare. To say that the Department of Defense (DoD) and VA got some bad press is putting it mildly. But, it was bad press that was well-deserved. The media had the VA running for cover. And, with the 2008 election looming large, politicians knew something must be done to mollify the angry outcries of the American public who didn’t want to see any more news videos about shoddy treatment of veterans. I can almost hear the conversations among the political appointees who run the VA: “How can we make it LOOK LIKE we’ve solved the problems? How can we get the press and an angry public off our backs? And, how can we do it on-the-cheap?” The answer was amazingly simple. Since most of the public was transfixed by the problems facing the “new vets,” the VA chose to pull out all the stops when it came to serving this 2% minority. It appears to have solved the problems enumerated by the VA brass: It LOOKS LIKE the VA is taking care of all veterans, the public thinks they are doing the right thing, and it is far less expensive to prioritize the needs of 2% of veterans than it is to provide adequate care and services for all 100%. Then, the politicians, fearing reprisals in the voting booth, followed the VA’s lead. And, they both knew that with the proper public relations campaign the public would believe that ALL veterans were benefiting when, in reality, 98% of veterans were being ignored. Here is what the VA and the politicians are doing for just 2% of the veteran population, those who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan: 1. Priority healthcare at all VA facilities, making older vets wait months and even years for medical appointments and the simplest of procedures. 2. First-in-line placement at the Veterans’ Benefits Administration (VBA) when it comes to filing disability claims, even though many older vets have been waiting years for answers to their claims, facing financial hardships as they wait. 3. A new call center to provide information on all VA benefits, while many older vets still have no such knowledge because the VA has refused to do an “all vets” outreach such as this. 4. And, a plethora of new legislation from the 110th Congress designed to improve services ONLY for those returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Where is the outcry about 98% of veterans getting such lousy treatment? You won’t hear it from politicians of either party because most of them face re-election this year. If they can make a “2% Solution” look like “THE Solution” and sell it to the public, then truth be damned. Congress has shown little interest in the big picture at the VA. In the past, Democratic Members had called for mandatory VA healthcare funding. But, that has fallen by the wayside with legislation stuck in Committee. Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA), Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, had been a huge supporter of mandatory funding. But, in a conversation late last year, Filner’s only response to the stalled legislation was, “We have a fiduciary responsibility to the taxpayers.” That’s Capitol Hill code for: It’s not going to happen. What is most surprising is that there is virtual silence from the veterans’ service organizations (VSOs) about this matter. The American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars, whose members are almost entirely pre-Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, are playing the game and allowing the VA and the politicians to claim a victory on behalf of all veterans. The only VSO who has spoken out is the Disabled American Veterans (DAV). In a letter to VA Secretary James Peake dated April 25, 2008, the DAV’s Executive Director, David W. Gorman, said, “…the VA is evolving into a two-tiered system: one that pulls out all the stops when it comes to outreach and service to this newest generation of veterans, but also one that pays relatively scant attention to veterans from previous generations who have served and sacrificed for our nation as well.” Gorman added, “…the VA must not favor one generation of veterans over another. To do so, no matter how well intentioned, does a grievous disservice to all veterans.” More importantly, where is the outcry from the 98% of veterans who are, once again, being delayed and denied by the VA? One would think we (because I fall into the category) would be filling up Internet bulletin boards and blogs with cries for equal treatment. Is it that we have bought into the public relations lie being perpetrated, or is it that we have just given up on a system that has let us down so many times before? Are we really content to allow a two-tiered VA system where older vets have instantly become second-class vets? No veteran, young or old, will deny the needs of our “new vets.” But, logic and fairness dictate that their needs are NOT greater than those of older veterans, but JUST AS great. So, while we older veterans have accepted the promises of our VSOs and the platitudes of our politicians, we find ourselves on the outside looking in, watching 2% of the veteran population getting the care, treatment and service that ALL veterans have earned. This could have been stopped. We have seen it coming since the Walter Reed debacle. But, we sat back and allowed the VA and the politicians to tell us what is best and allowed our VSOs to play politics instead of offering adequate representation. We should have been telling them that our VA services must be protected. We have only ourselves to blame for being fooled by the VA, used by the politicians, ignored by most of our VSOs and ending up “Old and in the Way.”

There is some information at this web site. http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/reading_room/T...lHerbicides.pdf You might also email jackpot29@msn.com This is Irish, she has more on Fort Drum.