ptsd When Will The U.s. Government Kill The Last Vietnam Veteran?

[allan]

When Will The U.S. Government Kill the Last Vietnam Veteran?

FOR 40 YEARS VIETNAM VETERANS HAVE BEEN TREATED AS PARIAHS BY "UNCLE SAM"

NEW VETS BEING USED AS AN EXCUSE TO ABUSE THE LAST SURVIVING VIETNAM VETS

By Gordon Duff, STAFF WRITER

When Vietnam veterans started coming home, legless, PTSD ridden and suicidal after having suffered higher casualty rates than any war in our history (Marines lost nearly as many dead in Vietnam as WW2 with 1/4 as many serving), they faced a VA managed by powerful service organizations with huge numbers of WW2 and Korean War veterans in control of policy making. Vietnam vets were denied membership in many of these groups and consistently were denied proper treatment for their wounds because of prejudices supported, in large part, by veterans themselves. Read Full Story

http://campaign.constantcontact.com:80/ren...fR6LDGJXwFNU%3D

Edited January 6, 2009 by allan

[john999]

Allan

Good post! I read in the obits every day about some guy 60 years old who was a Vietnam vet.

[Philip Rogers]

Allan, good post. I've noted for yrs VN vets dying at an early age. I'm 63 and figure I've already beat some of the odds. You can bet somewhere the insurance industry has the statistics on VN vets life expectancy but I haven't been able to find it yet. They, the Govt, lied to us but I'm still proud of my service. Actually I don't have much use for anyone who hasn't served. jmo

pr

[Berta]

Hang in their Philip- you are still YOUNG!

I agree that Vietnam vets are dying at alarming rates- I dont have any stats -the VA would know and we all kow how they deal with stats-

Even the widows of Vietnam vets are dying -with DIC claims in progress at the VA web site.

Only Nehmer Class Action widows claim have a right to Next of Kin survivorship criteria in the Nehmer COurt Order.

I was thinking of this when I woke up this AM_

I fully feel the "new" vets should get exempliary and fast claims processing- but what about everyone else?

Why is it that a vet -say 60 or over, with disabilities- does not have the same right to this expeditious treament as the new vets do?

(then again-one more way for VA to save money- if Korean and Vietnam vets and any other vets who are senior citizens have VA claims that can be strung out until they die)

This would be like when I raised livestock and gave selenium and tetanus shots only to my new borm lambs and said the heck with shots for the older sheep who had just as much value.

You men and women were all "new" vets some time ago- and many of you got diddly sqwat and have had claims filed and still in appeals long before the new vets did.

I sure honor our wonderful men and women in the Mil today and the "new" vets as the VA calls them- but where is the equity for ALL of you?

[tagandbag]

Well put Berta. Even though the VA treats us better now than when they did, right after VN. It still took them about 15 yrs to start acknowledging any problems with VN Vets. Also, the stigma of being whiners, drug addicts and so forth, seems to still cling to our history.

T&B

[timetowinarace]

I think the 'new' Vet's have a short window of oportunity just as GW1 vets did. Going into the GW1 we were told we would not be treated as poor as vietnam vets, "the va has changed", is the quote. Because of media, it was somewhat true for a year after the little war.

Then it was back to business as usuall for the VA. GW illness was not real for fourteen years. We were and are called liars and malingerers. The word Malingering appears in my med records. Even after 14 years and the GW illness is real, there is no rating for it, most still don't believe it. You can be rated for symptoms only.

After the media storm for the 'new' vets, it will be business as usual for the VA. Deny treatment, deny bennifit's.

The seperation of old and new will be lost.

[Cavman]

I filed claims in 1971 and got granted disabilities in 2006. Cancer kicked my ass and killed 7 Nam vets in one year in the town American Legion.

I will never forget or forgive the way we were literally spit at when we came to an airport back home. Or walked in a corner bar for a beer and no one even acted like we were there. None of us ever got a parade or rarely a welcome home.

We are a tight knit group though, the ones that are left. We know no war or conflict was any harder and more scary to fight in than our war. We also know that even at our older ages we would pick up an M16 again if asked.

I don`t look at Nam as a loss. You don`t lose a war when the body count was over 1 million killed and they killed 53000 of us.

Cavman

Edited January 8, 2009 by Cavman