ptsd War On The Va

[yoggie2]

WOW!!!, I hope this does not happen to me or you. These people really got it broke off in them. If I felt confident before, it is all gone now. Makes me wish I had not watched it, I don't see any real changes coming to affect VA standards right now or in the future. Just a slow drown out death if your able to follow threw, after not working for over 2 years and loosing every thing my family and I have worked so hard for, for years and seeing that CNN special makes me sicker at my stomach. I know I'm not the only one. Did you see those stats with the PTSD claims 3 to 4 times higher than then every war from WWII thur Somalia = Iraqi Freedoms, did I hear that right? I was in 2 theaters of Combat Operations when we complained of PT they handed you 2 or 3 depression meds and sent you on your way I am glad they are taking it serious. Very sad stories made you want to cry for a few of them,it you had a heart at all, there lives are destroyed and never be the same. Money helps but no amount will fix what they have to live with. Reguards RC

sorry had to reedit didn't come out the way I meant it.

Edited November 19, 2007 by yoggie2

[jbasser]

The show was what it was, I have known for many years that this was going on. I have posted about it time after time.

Tammy Duckworth has the sane right as any other Veteran to have her story heard, I am proud of her because she took a negative and turned it into a posative. She is not sitting around feeling sorry for herself.

There will probally be a Major Movie about TY and other persons who are battling the VA.

The Bottom line is this. The ship known as the USS VARO has sunk in the marinas trench in some 14000 feet of water and there is no way to raise it. The only recourse is to build a new one and replace the crew. The Captain and crew have went down with the ship.

These morons who make these decisions need to be terminated. There is no way on earth they can objectivly look at a claim especially one like Ty's and deny benefits. The folks focused on are just a drop in the bucket. No wonder Nickleson resigned. I wonder how big a bonus the RO that denied Ty's shrapnel wounds and cut his name out of the Decision got.

Too bad nothing will come out of this. It is business as usual at the Regional offices.

[sixthscents]

Normally I TRY and take the attitude that RO's are people just like us caught in the system..... then you see some horror story like this and I know that while there are some good people in the system there are others who look at us a welfare claimaints.... like we are deadbeats trying to get something we dont deserve. Sadly there ARE some fakes out there, just enough to lend a BIT, (a very small bit, but a bit none the less) of credence to some of this negative attitude.

I gotta agree with jbasser... tear the whole thing down. If that means tearing down MY rating and redoing it along more logical lines... well so be it. I am burned out I guess, or getting there. I spent the whole day at the VA today for yet another C&P exam.... this after 6 years of filings and ratings....

Tear the whole thing down, and start again from scratch. Slowly... logically.. with the needs of the INDIVIDUAL veteran and compassion at the forfront. Fire EVERY RO who thinks compensation is a privilege, and not an earned right... fire EVERY employee who is just there to catch a check... and deny care to the veterans who cant be polite and courteous to the people THEY are dealing with as well.

Base it upon an ASSUMED system of respect... and not just word but actions and INTENT to back that up. BOTH WAYS... veteran and the VA. I am sick of feeling like I am applying for foodstamps when I fill out a claim, and deal with some of the snide, arrogant, overpaid, and underworked jerks who staff some of the rating positions.... and then to beat it all I meet an incredible, honest and hardworking C&P examiner..... and some RO's as well. I personally think that ALL the work that the rating section accomplishes.. well 80% of it gets done by 20% of the staff.

Last week a moron vet was using one of the phones at the VAMC. When he finished he threw a big piece of paper on the floor and started to walk away. I said "hey, you dropped your paper"... the lazy, idiot looked at me and mumbled something about being done with it... and kept walking. I got up and threw the thing away, but I managed to give the bum a piece of my mind while doing it. He looked startled that someone would be po'd that he didn't have enough respect for HIMSELF that he would treat our resources that way.

It a two way street with veterans who demand things they never deserved (only a few but enough to tar us all)... and raters and C&P contract doc's who seem to be treating US as welfare cases.

Like I said, I just spent all day at the VAMC so I am a bit miffed... and then a story like this really gets me going. They only thing I HAVE to say is that it is a two way street, and I have seen a LOT of vets who just have no respect for other veterans or the employees..... I am so sick of it all, I gotta agree tear it ALL down and start over...

I am sorry if I upset some of you with what is, I guess a rant... but it is the way I feel, and I felt the need to express it. I welcome opposing views, and am willing to admit that this is just MY opinion and I can be wrong... heck I am wrong all the time according to my wife. Anyway, thanks for listening to my rant..

Bob Smith

current rating over 200% schedular and still trapped in the system.....

[Guest rickb054]

Tammy Duckworth has the sane right as any other Veteran to have her story heard, I am proud of her because she took a negative and turned it into a posative. She is not sitting around feeling sorry for herself.

Hey I agree she has every right to have her story told. That is not the point, The point is that her story has been told over and over and over and over again.

Besides, her story was not that she couldn't get her benefits, it was about her being the State Veterans Officer, running for congress and losing, and her flying her plane. Her story did little to outline va problems unless you count her vist to congress. (which again is just another rehash of past news.)

Just my humble opinion.

[yoggie2]

Normally I TRY and take the attitude that RO's are people just like us caught in the system..... then you see some horror story like this and I know that while there are some good people in the system there are others who look at us a welfare claimaints.... like we are deadbeats trying to get something we dont deserve. Sadly there ARE some fakes out there, just enough to lend a BIT, (a very small bit, but a bit none the less) of credence to some of this negative attitude.

I gotta agree with jbasser... tear the whole thing down. If that means tearing down MY rating and redoing it along more logical lines... well so be it. I am burned out I guess, or getting there. I spent the whole day at the VA today for yet another C&P exam.... this after 6 years of filings and ratings....

Tear the whole thing down, and start again from scratch. Slowly... logically.. with the needs of the INDIVIDUAL veteran and compassion at the forfront. Fire EVERY RO who thinks compensation is a privilege, and not an earned right... fire EVERY employee who is just there to catch a check... and deny care to the veterans who cant be polite and courteous to the people THEY are dealing with as well.

Base it upon an ASSUMED system of respect... and not just word but actions and INTENT to back that up. BOTH WAYS... veteran and the VA. I am sick of feeling like I am applying for foodstamps when I fill out a claim, and deal with some of the snide, arrogant, overpaid, and underworked jerks who staff some of the rating positions.... and then to beat it all I meet an incredible, honest and hardworking C&P examiner..... and some RO's as well. I personally think that ALL the work that the rating section accomplishes.. well 80% of it gets done by 20% of the staff.

Last week a moron vet was using one of the phones at the VAMC. When he finished he threw a big piece of paper on the floor and started to walk away. I said "hey, you dropped your paper"... the lazy, idiot looked at me and mumbled something about being done with it... and kept walking. I got up and threw the thing away, but I managed to give the bum a piece of my mind while doing it. He looked startled that someone would be po'd that he didn't have enough respect for HIMSELF that he would treat our resources that way.

It a two way street with veterans who demand things they never deserved (only a few but enough to tar us all)... and raters and C&P contract doc's who seem to be treating US as welfare cases.

Like I said, I just spent all day at the VAMC so I am a bit miffed... and then a story like this really gets me going. They only thing I HAVE to say is that it is a two way street, and I have seen a LOT of vets who just have no respect for other veterans or the employees..... I am so sick of it all, I gotta agree tear it ALL down and start over...

I am sorry if I upset some of you with what is, I guess a rant... but it is the way I feel, and I felt the need to express it. I welcome opposing views, and am willing to admit that this is just MY opinion and I can be wrong... heck I am wrong all the time according to my wife. Anyway, thanks for listening to my rant..

Bob Smith

current rating over 200% schedular and still trapped in the system.....

Amen, I'm glad someone said it.

[Ron II]

Although I have not experienced the frustrations of most of the Hadit population, I agree 100% with the comments that immediately precede mine. I've only been in the system 15 months and have been astonished by the stories of the poor treatment afforded our veterans. (I DO believe...)

[Jazona]

Be careful what you wish for. I personnaly don't want a bunch of politicians and VA beancounters completely ravamping the statutes. Some statutes of which have been hard fought by veterans in veteran court and lean in the veterans' favor. Do you really think that a political system that says one thing and does entirely another, will act in the veterans favor? I think not!

Yes, the "system" is broken, but the statutes tend to lean in favor of the veteran. It's the VAs refusal to FOLLOW the statutes that causes the problem. Making the VA rating officials completely accountable for their actions, including fines and imprisonment for violations, will do more to fix the system than "throwing the baby out with the bathwater", as you propose.

So you throw out all the statutes and rely on the politicians to write new regulations, well, you know as well as I that what they come up with will be a mess. Then how long will veterans have to suffer while they try to straighten everything out? Years? That's not much improvement over what we have now.

No, IMHO, if you go about changing the whole system, then grandfather me in where I'm at right now and go at it. I can just about guarantee they'll make a bigger mess out of it than what we have right now.

jaz