courtesy of Jerrel Cook- host- SVR Boardcast at Stardust radio:
"Berta this would be a good post for Hadit.. Jerrel
Frustrated veterans lash out at VA care
Web Posted: 08/05/2007 11:07 PM CDT
Tracy Idell Hamilton
Express-News
Angry veterans shouted down U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez as he tried to bring order to a forum for veterans held downtown Sunday.
"We know, we understand, how crucial this issue is," the San Antonio congressman tried to tell an overflow crowd of veterans who had been invited to ask questions and share experiences with U.S. Rep. Bob Filner D-Calif., chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, along with Rodriguez and two other Democratic congressmen from Texas.
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But Rodriguez was drowned out and ultimately gave the floor to Jack E. Long, one of several vets who heckled the moderator as she tried to read e-mail questions that had been sent to the congressmen in advance.
"Don't try to talk over me!" Long yelled to Rodriguez as he clutched his wife's hand. "I've had PTSD for years, and I've been turned away from the VA five times! I served my country for 44 years!"
Veterans and their families around him cheered and clapped. Then they set about telling the congressmen that a nation that claims to support its troops hasn't done well by them since they served; many of them said they've had to deal with PTSD, or post-traumatic stress disorder.
Hancock Darrell refused to sit until he, too, could tell his story.
"I've had PTSD for 24 years," Darrell shouted. "I've been diagnosed five times. But what does the VA say? 'We need more information.' And they turn me down again."
Talk Back
What do you think about veterans' treatment?
Again the crowd erupted.
Filner then told the audience — packed into the Buena Vista Building Theatre at the University of Texas at San Antonio's Downtown Campus — that the House had committed "tens of billions" into the 2008 budget for PTSD. He said he was working to change the adversarial relationship the Department of Veterans Affairs has with so many veterans, especially those of the Vietnam era.
"I want to run a claim system like the IRS," he said.
(Gloria Ferniz/Express-News)
Don Frazier, an Army veteran who served in Vietnam, is one of many military retirees who participated in a forum organized by members of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee at UTSA's Downtown Campus.
Such a system would accept a veteran's claim on its face rather than force the veteran "to prove Agent Orange caused this."
"You shouldn't have to prove anything," Filner said. "You served us; now we should be serving you."
U.S. Rep. Charlie Gonzalez of San Antonio, who joined Filner, Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, and Rodriguez on the stage, took the microphone to plead for unity.
"We're not fighting smart," he said. "We're fighting ourselves here today. We have to show people that veterans are not part of our past."
The key to a healthy volunteer military, he said, is showing young people who might be interested in serving that they will be taken care of after they leave the military.
Rodriguez, who sits on the Veterans' Affairs Committee, noted that 80 percent of veterans get no care from the VA, many because they've become disillusioned with an agency that has a backlog of claims close to 800,000 — claims that can take years to resolve.
In his opening remarks, Filner said he had come to listen and learn, and he asked the capacity crowd how many had served in Vietnam. The majority in the room raised their hands.
"Thank you for your service," he said, "And I am sorry. We did not do the job for you."
More than 200,000 homeless Vietnam veterans will sleep on the streets tonight, he told the crowd, and as many Vietnam veterans have now committed suicide as died in the war.
"And that is a moral disgrace," he said to approving murmurs. "We must correct it as best we can and make sure it never happens again."
The ratio of injured to killed in today's wars is a staggering 17-to-1, he said. In Vietnam, it was 3-to-1.
"We spend $1 billion every two and a half days" in Iraq and Afghanistan, he said. "Supporting our troops at home needs to be part of that cost."
Congress has added $13 billion to the 2008 budget for veterans affairs, Filner said, calling it "the largest increase ever."
"The resources will be there. It's our job to make sure they serve you."
Long before the audience was ready, the hourlong session came to a close and the congressmen headed to Del Rio for another veterans forum Sunday evening."
Question
Berta
courtesy of Jerrel Cook- host- SVR Boardcast at Stardust radio:
"Berta this would be a good post for Hadit.. Jerrel
Frustrated veterans lash out at VA care
Web Posted: 08/05/2007 11:07 PM CDT
Tracy Idell Hamilton
Express-News
Angry veterans shouted down U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez as he tried to bring order to a forum for veterans held downtown Sunday.
"We know, we understand, how crucial this issue is," the San Antonio congressman tried to tell an overflow crowd of veterans who had been invited to ask questions and share experiences with U.S. Rep. Bob Filner D-Calif., chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, along with Rodriguez and two other Democratic congressmen from Texas.
advertisement
But Rodriguez was drowned out and ultimately gave the floor to Jack E. Long, one of several vets who heckled the moderator as she tried to read e-mail questions that had been sent to the congressmen in advance.
"Don't try to talk over me!" Long yelled to Rodriguez as he clutched his wife's hand. "I've had PTSD for years, and I've been turned away from the VA five times! I served my country for 44 years!"
Veterans and their families around him cheered and clapped. Then they set about telling the congressmen that a nation that claims to support its troops hasn't done well by them since they served; many of them said they've had to deal with PTSD, or post-traumatic stress disorder.
Hancock Darrell refused to sit until he, too, could tell his story.
"I've had PTSD for 24 years," Darrell shouted. "I've been diagnosed five times. But what does the VA say? 'We need more information.' And they turn me down again."
Talk Back
What do you think about veterans' treatment?
Again the crowd erupted.
Filner then told the audience — packed into the Buena Vista Building Theatre at the University of Texas at San Antonio's Downtown Campus — that the House had committed "tens of billions" into the 2008 budget for PTSD. He said he was working to change the adversarial relationship the Department of Veterans Affairs has with so many veterans, especially those of the Vietnam era.
"I want to run a claim system like the IRS," he said.
(Gloria Ferniz/Express-News)
Don Frazier, an Army veteran who served in Vietnam, is one of many military retirees who participated in a forum organized by members of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee at UTSA's Downtown Campus.
Such a system would accept a veteran's claim on its face rather than force the veteran "to prove Agent Orange caused this."
"You shouldn't have to prove anything," Filner said. "You served us; now we should be serving you."
U.S. Rep. Charlie Gonzalez of San Antonio, who joined Filner, Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, and Rodriguez on the stage, took the microphone to plead for unity.
"We're not fighting smart," he said. "We're fighting ourselves here today. We have to show people that veterans are not part of our past."
The key to a healthy volunteer military, he said, is showing young people who might be interested in serving that they will be taken care of after they leave the military.
Rodriguez, who sits on the Veterans' Affairs Committee, noted that 80 percent of veterans get no care from the VA, many because they've become disillusioned with an agency that has a backlog of claims close to 800,000 — claims that can take years to resolve.
In his opening remarks, Filner said he had come to listen and learn, and he asked the capacity crowd how many had served in Vietnam. The majority in the room raised their hands.
"Thank you for your service," he said, "And I am sorry. We did not do the job for you."
More than 200,000 homeless Vietnam veterans will sleep on the streets tonight, he told the crowd, and as many Vietnam veterans have now committed suicide as died in the war.
"And that is a moral disgrace," he said to approving murmurs. "We must correct it as best we can and make sure it never happens again."
The ratio of injured to killed in today's wars is a staggering 17-to-1, he said. In Vietnam, it was 3-to-1.
"We spend $1 billion every two and a half days" in Iraq and Afghanistan, he said. "Supporting our troops at home needs to be part of that cost."
Congress has added $13 billion to the 2008 budget for veterans affairs, Filner said, calling it "the largest increase ever."
"The resources will be there. It's our job to make sure they serve you."
Long before the audience was ready, the hourlong session came to a close and the congressmen headed to Del Rio for another veterans forum Sunday evening."
www.angelfire.com/ca2/arresteddecaymusic/jerrelcook.html
GRADUATE ! Nov 2nd 2007 American Military University !
When thousands of Americans faced annihilation in the 1800s Chief
Osceola's response to his people, the Seminoles, was
simply "They(the US Army)have guns, but so do we."
Sameo to us -They (VA) have 38 CFR ,38 USC, and M21-1- but so do we.
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