Veterans groups to protest for veterans, not politicians like Sunday

UPDATE
Veterans Angry Over Tea Party Takeover Of March On Memorials
The Huffington Post
By Mollie Reilly
Posted: 10/14/2013

Organizers of the Million Veterans March sought to distance themselves from the "political agenda" promoted at Sunday's protests at the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., criticizing tea party activists for taking over the demonstration.

"The political agenda put forth by a local organizer in Washington DC [sic] yesterday was not in alignment with our message. We feel disheartened that some would seek to hijack the narrative for political gain," the group wrote on its Facebook page Monday morning. "The core principle was and remains about all Americans honoring Veterans in a peaceful and apolitical manner. Our love for and our dedication to remains with Veterans, regardless of party affiliation or political leanings."

On Sunday, hordes of demonstrators converged on Washington, protesting the closure of memorials and national parks due to the partial government shutdown. According to news reports, Sunday's event was much more political than previous demonstrations at the memorial. A number of conservative politicians spoke at the event, including former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin (R) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).

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Veterans groups plan protest over deplorable treatment post on October 12th is about veterans fighting for veterans. These groups are not trying to play politics like the one on Sunday, especially grotesque considering Tea Party darling and creator of this mess Ted Cruz was leading the charge. These groups have been around for decades and no matter what party controlled or mess up what, they have always been about fighting for veterans BECAUSE THEY ARE VETERANS. It is too bad the stunt on Sunday made veterans look bad because yet again, they were used. Attacking Park Rangers and security when they are not getting paid but still were doing their jobs was a disgrace. Almost as disgraceful as these Tea Party folks never once complained about anything else being done to veterans all these years later.

Veterans, worried about benefits, to protest shutdown
USA TODAY
John Bacon
October 14, 2013

As the government shutdown grinds into its third week, veterans benefits will draw the spotlight Tuesday in what could be the biggest protest yet aimed at pressing Congress and President Obama to solve the political impasse.

The Military Coalition, a group of 33 veterans and military organizations, is planning a rally at the World War II Memorial on Tuesday morning. The groups want to publicize the impact the shutdown is having on many vets and their families amid concerns of delayed disability pay, GI Bill education stipends and other benefits.

The American Legion, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, and Veterans of Foreign Wars are among groups that will be represented. Steve Gonzalez, assistant director of the American Legion's Economic Division, will be among speakers emphasizing the impact on employment and training.

Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki warned last week that financing vet benefits could become difficult if the impasse continues. Compensation checks to 5.1 million veterans won't be issued Nov. 1; 433,000 fully disabled veterans might not receive payments; and 360,000 surviving spouses and children of wartime veterans may stop getting VA money, Shinseki told a congressional oversight committee.

VA tuition and stipend payments to more than 500,000 veterans and spouses enrolled in college also are threatened. The VA has furloughed nearly 8,000 employees, he said.

Ryan Lamke, an Iraq War veteran diagnosed with traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder, works with the Armed Forces Foundation. The foundation is not part of The Military Coalition, but Lamke is fully aware of the problems facing returning vets.
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Veterans groups plan protest over deplorable treatment

Veterans groups move to end shutdown
Politico
By JUANA SUMMERS
10/12/13

In a strong display of unity, leaders of the nation’s major veterans’ groups plan to speak out against the continuing government shutdown at an event on Tuesday at the World War II Memorial, POLITICO has learned.

Among the groups expected are the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled American Veterans, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America and the Military Officers Association of America, according to two sources familiar with the planning.

Veterans’ groups have been unified in their scathing indictment of the government shutdown, arguing it’s making it harder for veterans and their families to receive the government benefits and services that they are entitled to.
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DAV LETTER

National Commander expresses outrage in letter to President, House Speaker & Senate Majority Leader
OCTOBER 9, 2013

The Honorable Barack Obama
President of the United States
The White House
Washington, D.C. 20500

The Honorable John A. Boehner
Speaker of the House of Representatives
H-232 Capitol Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-6501

The Honorable Harry Reid
Senate Majority Leader
S-221 Capitol Building
Washington, D.C. 20510-7020

Dear President Obama, Speaker Boehner, and Majority Leader Reid:

As National Commander of DAV and on behalf of our 1.2 million members, I am writing to express our rising outrage over the partisan politics preventing the federal government from fulfilling many basic obligations owed its citizenry, including sacred obligations to the men and women who have served and are serving to defend our nation.

The failure by all parties to reach agreement on fiscal year 2014 funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Department of Defense (DOD) and other federal agencies that directly or indirectly support veterans, and the effects of the government shutdown, are increasingly causing serious harm to our nation’s heroes. The recent news about DOD’s apparent inability to provide mandatory death gratuities to the families of fallen Marines, or to even fly them to Dover Air Force Base for arrival ceremonies while the government shutdown continues, is a new low point and a violation of the trust we place in our elected officials. Sadly, the damage to our veterans will continue to get worse until all of you, together with a sufficient majority of the House and Senate, reach agreement to end this crisis.

Unless you put aside partisan politics for the good of the nation, the harm to our veterans and service members will get worse. If this stalemate continues for a couple more weeks, even mandatory obligations of the federal government, such as disability compensation and pension paid to veterans and their survivors, will be suspended. More than four million wounded, injured, ill and poor veterans rely on these payments; for some it is their primary or only source of income. It is simply unacceptable that there is even the threat of default on these payments.

Mr. President, Mr. Speaker and Mr. Majority Leader, the time for posturing and playing politics with veterans must come to an end. We call on all of you to reach agreement and expeditiously enact full fiscal year 2014 appropriations for all federal programs, services and benefits that directly or indirectly support America’s heroes, especially those wounded, injured and ill due to their service.

In addition, we call on you to enact legislation that extends advance appropriations to all VA discretionary and mandatory funding so that this sorry spectacle is never repeated. There is already advance appropriations legislation pending in both the House and Senate, and with your support, it could be quickly amended and enacted to prevent this harm from recurring in the future.

Almost 150 years ago, during perhaps the most challenging time of crisis our nation has ever faced, President Abraham Lincoln carefully and eloquently laid out the most sacred obligation of our nation: “…to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan.” We now call on all of you to live up to those words.

Sincerely,
JOSEPH W. JOHNSTON
National Commander

VFW Letter

VFW DISGUSTED WITH ELECTED LEADERSHIP
VFW CALLS RECENT MOVE 'THE LAST STRAW'
October 09, 2013

WASHINGTON — The nation’s oldest and largest war veterans’ organization is disgusted with the partisan bickering and government paralysis caused by a White House and Congress who will not budge from their ideological extremes in order to properly take care of America’s true heroes. “Yesterday’s news that the government will not transport or make a death assistance payment to grieving military families was the last straw. It is absolutely appalling and nothing short of a travesty that elected officials continue to receive paychecks and benefits while not providing for those who deserve it most,” said William A. Thien, the national commander of almost 2 million members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States and its Auxiliaries.

“Because of failed leadership, we have 56 closed Department of Veterans Affairs regional offices, 7,000 furloughed employees, and more than 4 million disabled veterans and survivors who were told next month’s disability or survivor benefits check will be delayed,” he said. “We also have a hypocritical National Park Service that closes our nation’s war memorials to veterans and a federal government that continues to make foreign aid payments while our own national security is threatened because Congress has failed to pass a defense budget or put an end to the sequester.

“This is totally unacceptable and disgraceful that our elected leaders in Washington would allow this to happen,” said Thien. “We need leadership, not more rhetoric, and if the government is unable to take care of veterans, then the government should quit creating us,” he said. “And should another military family crisis arise like yesterday’s failure, I can guarantee the VFW will provide whatever financial assistance necessary to those families.”

American Legion

American Legion: Treatment for PTSD and TBI 'limited and inadequate'

Legion: Treatment for PTSD and TBI 'limited and inadequate'
Navy Times
By Patricia Kime
Staff writer
October 2, 2013

The nation’s largest veterans group says the Veterans Affairs Department and Pentagon are not doing enough to treat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury.

Calling current medical protocols and treatments at VA and DoD “limited and inadequate,” the American Legion urged the two departments to provide more non-pharmaceutical care and invest research dollars in complementary and alternative medical therapies such as acupuncture, yoga and biofeedback.

In a new report, a seven-member Legion committee largely found that DoD and VA have “no well-defined approach to the treatment of TBI” and veterans who seek care at VA for PTSD are 2½ times more likely to be prescribed opioid pain medications than those experiencing chronic pain.

“The fact that there is an emphasis on drugs as opposed to other treatments, that these guys and gals are going in there with issues and the answer is to prescribe them drugs, is incredible. There are alternatives,” said William Detweiler, chairman of the panel that drafted the report, titled “The War Within,” and a past national commander of the American Legion.
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Iraq veteran amputee refuses to give up helping people

Army veteran refuses to let loss of legs keep him from riding
FOX 13 News
by Mark Green
September 15, 2013

WEST POINT, Utah – A local Army veteran always dreamed of riding motorcycles, even after he had both of his legs amputated following an explosion in Iraq.

Darrell Isaac Jensen joined the Army in 2005 and became a medic.

“At a young age I was really introduced to it,” he said. “Helping people is something that I’ve always wanted to do. I really thought that’s what I want to do ultimately: I want to help people.”

And even when an explosion took his legs from him, Jensen remained focused on helping others.

“I got blown up on November 9, 2008,” he said. “Three of us walk into a building, and one of my buddies opened up a refrigerator and it went boom. And I assisted, I put tourniquets on people with one hand, and then I put two on one guy, I gave them all my morphine, and then took care of myself. It was definitely an interesting experience.”
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Families in the shadows of military suicides hopelessly take their own lives too

Quiet Crisis

“You have an increase in suicides when hopelessness exceeds the resources,”

In the shadow of record military suicide numbers, spouses and children face it, themselves.
American Legion
by Ken Olsen
September 1, 2013

Her husband suffered a skull-shattering bullet wound in Iraq. She lost her job. Her car was repossessed. A psychiatrist misdiagnosed her, then threatened to commit her if she didn’t take medication that made her feel crazy. These are some of the reasons Torrey Shannon tried to kill herself. Twice.

“It piles on and piles on, and you wake up one day and say, ‘I can’t take it anymore,’” she says.

Twelve-year-old Daniel Radenz killed himself just days after convincing doctors at Darnall Army Medical Center in Texas that he didn’t need to be hospitalized, despite warnings including drawing graphic suicide pictures and writing on the walls of a school bathroom with his own blood.

After Daniel drew detailed pictures of people shooting themselves in the head, his parents took him to Darnall. “We were very uneasy,” Tricia says. “We thought he needed hospitalization with the pictures and the things happening at school.”

Daniel convinced doctors he was OK, and they sent him home. He hanged himself within a week. “I thought he went into the kitchen to get a sandwich with his dad. His dad thought he was outside with me. He was out of sight five or 10 minutes. That’s all it took.”

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Vietnam vets shut down The Butler movie because of Jane Fonda

Vietnam vets shut down Fonda movie showing in Wellsville
Wellsville Daily
By John Anderson
Daily Reporter
Posted Sep 01, 2013

Moviegoers in Wellsville had a choice of two movies on Friday night, once they walked past a group of Vietnam veterans 20 strong.

The veterans, who were right around the corner from their American Legion post at the Grand Theater on North Main Street, were upset Jane Fonda was portraying former First Lady Nancy Reagan in the movie, "The Butler."

'These guys are Vietnam vets and when you are 18, 19 or 20 and you hear she is applauding planes being shot down ... and I don't know what is true and not true, but it burns in your mind," said Skip Merrick, one of the protesters. "One my my jobs (during the Vietnam war) was seeing the planes off and making sure they were back. When one plane did not come back in the order I sent them out ..."

Merrick's voice trails off. But the chants of "Vets don't forget, no Fonda here," from the protesters rang on from 6 p.m. to almost 10 p.m.

According to the theater release, The Butler, "Tells the story of a White House butler who served eight American presidents over three decades. The film traces the dramatic changes that swept American society during this time, from the civil rights movement to Vietnam and beyond, and how those changes affected this man's life and family."

The first five people to go to the 7 p.m. showing opted to see Grown Ups 2, a comedy, showing in the smaller theater upstairs.
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Today's VA news reports tied to past sins

Reporters forget about how we got into this mess in the first place with VA claims. But that isn't anything new. I was going over my older blog looking for reports to counter another report that is wrong but no one is challenging when I came across this. It goes back to 2006 and has contributed to the suffering of too many veterans because sending men and women into combat never seems to include them getting wounded or becoming veterans in need of care.

VA Budget Request 2007: The 'Good, the Bad and the Foggy,' Says the American Legion
Ramona E. Joyce, Joe March
American Legion
U.S. Newswire (press release)
Feb 08, 2006

President Bush's VA budget request for 2007 has been hailed for adding nearly $3 billion in real appropriations for veterans health care, compared to 2006. "That," said American Legion National Commander Thomas L. Bock, "is the good."

However, he added, it's a budget request built on charging new annual enrollment fees for VA care, nearly doubling drug co- payments and driving 1.2 million veterans out of the system created specifically for them.

"That," Bock explained, "is the bad."

Bock added that the budget request still relies on $1.1 billion in cost-saving "efficiencies" -- the subject of a Government Accountability Office report released last week that criticized past VA health-care projections from the president's Office of Management and Budget -- and also how realistic it is for the president to expect dramatic improvements in VA's ability to collect payments from insurance companies, especially since VA is prohibited by Congress to bill Medicare.

"Those are some of the foggy parts," Bock said.

Overall, Bock said the 2007 budget request from the White House appears to be an improvement over previous years when VA health care suffered due to inaccurate patient-demand projections, faulty assumptions, budgets offset by nebulous "management efficiencies" and unattainable third-party collections.

"This budget request indeed has glitter," Bock said. "But I am not yet sure how much of it is gold. It is a budget request that appears to table long-needed construction dollars, particularly in the area of grants for state veterans homes and leaves CARES (Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services) under-funded again. It takes a $13 million bite out of VA research. It also fails to provide sufficient funds for staffing and training in the Veterans Benefits Administration to address a claims backlog fast approaching one million."

Bock said he sees the estimate of 109,000 new VA patients in 2007 from operations in Iraq and Afghanistan as a step toward better forecasting. "The under-estimated number of VA patients from the ongoing war contributed mightily to the $1.5 billion budget shortfall for VA health care in 2005," Bock said. "This appears to address that." He also applauded a requested increase in mental-health-care funding, from $2.8 billion to $3.2 billion.

The commander reiterated that he cannot accept a budget that deliberately aims to send more than one million veterans out of the VA system in search of health care elsewhere. A chart in the president's budget request anticipates approximately 1.2 million fewer veterans in Priority Groups 7 and 8 in 2007. Those groups are forced in this budget request to pay new $250 enrollment fees and nearly double in pharmaceutical co-payments.

"I know many, many veterans in Groups 7 and 8 who have five, seven, 10 or more prescriptions," Bock said.

"Doubling their co-payments, while they are trying to get by on fixed incomes or small pensions, is enough to break them. I cannot abide by a policy that pits veterans against veterans where the government decides who shall have care and who shall be denied."

Bock said the 2.7 million-member American Legion stands firm in its position that the only way VA health care can avoid annual shortages and broken promises is by changing the funding formula. "Assured or mandatory funding would keep all the veterans who earned VA care in the system," Bock said. "VA health care must be funded on a dollars-per-veteran basis, indexed annually for inflation, with the ability to bill Medicare for reimbursement."

The president's request also weighs in with what Bock calls a "highly ambitious" increase in third-party collections from insurance companies. "VA's estimate for third-party collections in 2006 was ambitious at just over $2 billion," Bock said. "This budget request envisions almost $800 million more than that."

Even House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Steve Buyer, R- Ind., would consider the collection of nearly $3 billion from insurance companies an ambitious goal. Buyer noted in early 2005 that VA's collection assumptions were "proven to be in error. The VA has $3 billion in uncollected debts." "Veterans should not be targeted," Bock said. "I call on Chairman Buyer in this week's hearings to give VA health care a funding formula that cuts through the fog and assures veterans the health-care system they deserve."

As you can see we didn't get into this mess overnight and that is the biggest problem of all.

Fully developed VA claims get resolved faster than doing it yourself

Veterans seem shocked when I tell them they need to go and get help to file their claims. The simplest reason is, when a processor sees a claim submitted by a service officer, they knew most of what is needed is in the claim.

Here are just a few to contact to get help making sure your claim is ready to go.
American Legion Service Officers
Disabled American Veterans Service Officers
Veterans of Foreign Wars Service Officers

VA tackles problem of incomplete claims from local veterans
Glut of bad applications clog the system, advocates say
By Ben Wolford
Sun Sentinel
June 16, 2013

"Any veteran who files a Fully Developed Claim will receive expedited processing," said Bruce Clisby, a VA spokesman in St. Petersburg.

The Department of Veterans Affairs has promised to erase the backlog of compensation and pension claims of thousands of veterans in South Florida and nationwide in two years by shifting resources and going digital.

But it is also attempting a lesser-known fix by encouraging "Fully Developed Claims."

Veterans advocates say local VA offices have been bogged down by a barrage of incomplete or meritless applications. The result is that thousands of claims are delayed, often for years, while frail veterans suffer from declining health and financial hardship.

"People were filing claims, and they actually didn't know what they were doing," said Jim Ellard, a veterans services officer at the Fort Lauderdale chapter of Vietnam Veterans of America.

Under pressure from Congress, the VA has rolled out initiative after initiative to try to relieve the glut in its regional offices. This month, it publicized a new six-page form called a Fully Developed Claim, which asks the veteran to certify he or she has no more evidence backing up the claim.
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Veteran and Patriot Guard Rider killed in motorcycle accident

Driver turns in front of motorcycle, kills Livingston veteran
Jun 11, 2013
By Jeff Awtrey
POLK COUNTY, TX (KTRE)

A Livingston motorcyclist, who was a Vietnam veteran, died after a driver pulled in front of him on FM 3277 in Polk County.

Randy Lee Harrington, 55, of Livingston, died at 9:15 p.m. on the scene.

According to the DPS report, Harrington was driving his 2006 Harley Davidson southbound on FM 3277, one mile south of FM 2457, at 8:50 p.m. when a Michael Clay-Brit Jones, of Livingston, who was driving a 1998 Chevy pickup northbound on FM 3277, turned in front of him to go into a private drive. Harrington hit the pickup.

Harrington was wearing a helmet.

Harrington was wearing a Vietnam veteran jacket and a Patriot Guard Rider helmet. Patriot Guard Riders is a national organization whose members ride motorcycles to military funerals to show support.

Harrington's friends and family are mourning Harrington's loss. East Texas News talked to some of his friends and fellow American Legion Riders.

"I got up this morning and noticed his motorcycle was gone," said Harrington's next-door neighbor and friend, Jim Lewis. "I had a bad feeling."
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Veterans Fight War on Suicide

Veterans Fight War on Suicide
WHSV.com
By: Anna-Lysa Gayle
May 27, 2013

HARRISONBURG -- A recent study conducted by the Department of Veterans Affairs shows 22 veterans commit suicide every day.

"There is a lot of soldiers these days that are committing suicide because of the many deployments that they go through," said Sergeant Bruce Webb, the Post Chaplain of the American Legion in Harrisonburg.

"I was losing my marriage, I was highly intoxicated. I had done isolated myself. I was taking pain pills because of the injuries I sustained in Iraq," said Webb describing why he attempted suicide.

Webb was recently diagnosed with a severe case of Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

He attempted suicide on June 10, 2010.

Sergeant Webb is now an ordained minister. He wants other veterans considering suicide to know they're not alone. He still struggles to cope after over three decades in the army.
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Joint Effort Aimed at Promoting Use of Fully Developed Claims

This is a great example of how veterans can have an easier time filing claims when they use one of the non-profit service organizations to help them. The service officers at the DAV train every year on the latest rules, so they know what is needed for a claim or an increase. They also know what veterans are entitled to when most of the time the veteran isn't even aware these benefits are available for them. I am sure the American Legion also trains. Don't go it alone because missing something can delay your claim and you already have a big enough headache dealing with whatever your service has caused.

Recent VA News Releases
VA and Veterans Service Organizations Announce Claims Initiative to Reduce Claims Backlog

Joint Effort Aimed at Promoting Use of Fully Developed Claims

WASHINGTON – Today, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Disabled American Veterans (DAV), and The American Legion announced a new partnership to help reduce the compensation claims backlog for Veterans. The effort—the Fully Developed Claims (FDC) Community of Practice—is a key part of VA’s overall transformation plan to end the backlog in 2015 and process claims within 125 days at 98% accuracy. VA can process FDCs in half the time it takes for a traditionally filed claim.

“VA prides itself on our ongoing partnership with organizations that represent Veterans throughout the claims process,” said Undersecretary for Benefits Allison A. Hickey. “A Fully Developed Claim is the most effective way to ensure a Veteran’s claim never reaches the backlog—and is the basis for this new initiative between VA and what we expect will be an ever-increasing number of Veterans Service Organizations (VSOs) and others who represent Veterans at various points of the claims process. ”

“This new initiative takes a common-sense approach to working smarter to better serve our injured and ill Veterans,” said DAV Washington Headquarters Executive Director Barry Jesinoski “DAV is pleased to be working with the VA to help improve the disability compensation system.”

“We have been working with VA since last December on its fully developed claims process,” said James E. Koutz, national commander of The American Legion. “Teams of our experts have already gone to VA regional offices in Denver, Pittsburgh, Baltimore and other cities to help identify best practices for FDCs, and to further train our own service officers.” Koutz said the Legion’s next visit in support of the FDC program is planned for June at the VA regional office in Reno, Nev.

Claims are considered to be “fully developed” when Veterans submit all available supporting evidence, like private treatment records and notice of federal treatment records, to VA at the time they first file a formal claim and certify they have no more evidence to submit. This is the information that VA needs to make a determination on a disability claim. The FDC program supports the sharing of best practices across Veterans Service Organizations, who help thousands of Veterans each year with their compensation claims, to identify up front all evidence necessary to support a Veteran’s claim. Veterans then certify that they have no additional evidence to submit, and VA can process the claim in half the time it takes for a traditionally filed claim.

VSOs have long played an integral role in submitting Veterans claims - often with representatives working within VA regional offices. VA has consulted with them throughout the development and implementation of VA’s plan to end the backlog in 2015 to ensure best practices and their unique insights were incorporated. The American Legion and DAV are the first to step forward to work with VA on the FDC program, and that program has led to a much more efficient process. Meaningful progress will be felt by increasing numbers of Veterans as more VSOs participate with VA in the FDC program. This initiative is just the latest example of the collaboration between VA and VSOs. In July, VA held a workshop to obtain the views of VSO representatives and to provide them with information on the effort to eliminate the claims backlog. The main focus of the workshop was VA’s emphasis on the shared goal of better serving Veterans and positive impact of filing Fully Developed Claims. These workshops will be replicated in VBA regional offices across the country.

“VA will continue to work with our VSO partners to provide the world-class health care and benefits that Veterans have earned through their service,” said Undersecretary Hickey.

This is the latest effort in support of the Secretary’s plan to reduce the backlog. Last month, VA announced an initiative to expedite compensation claims decisions for Veterans who have waited one year or longer. On April 19, VA began prioritizing claims decisions for Veterans who have been waiting the longest, by providing provisional decisions that allow eligible Veterans to begin collecting compensation benefits quickly. With a provisional decision, a Veteran has a year to submit additional information to support a claim before the decision becomes final.

On May 15, VA announced that it is mandating overtime for claims processors in its 56 regional benefits offices through the end of fiscal year 2013 to help eliminate the backlog, with continued emphasis on high-priority claims for homeless Veterans and those claiming financial hardship, the terminally ill, former Prisoners of War, Medal of Honor recipients, and Veterans filing Fully Developed Claims. As of May 17, the paperless claims processing system known as the Veterans Benefits Management System, or VBMS, has been deployed to 46 out of 56 regional office locations, and about 18% of VA’s current claim inventory is in an electronic format.

Claims for Wounded Warriors separating from the military for medical reasons will continue to be handled separately and on a priority basis with the Department of Defense through the Integrated Disability Evaluation System (IDES). On average, Wounded Warriors separating through IDES currently receive VA compensation benefits in 2 months following their separation from service.

Veterans can learn more about disability benefits on the joint Department of Defense-VA web portal eBenefits at http://www.ebenefits.va.gov and find information about filing Fully Developed Claims here: http://www.benefits.va.gov/transformation/fastclaims/. Servicemembers returning from active duty in combat theatres are eligible for five years of VA medical care – regardless of the status of any disability claim submitted. Medical care is not withheld while disability claims are under review. For more information on enrolling in VA health benefits, please visit http://www.va.gov/healthbenefits/.

Veterans groups fighting over VA Claims and equal treatment for all veterans

Veterans groups fighting over VA Claims and equal treatment for all veterans
By Kathie Costos
Wounded Times Blog
April 5, 2013


Where were all these complaints in the press when veterans were suffering even longer, in bigger piles of backlogs topped off with even worse conditions as claims were just denied because the rules didn't allow them to get justice?

There is a reason a new veterans' group like IAVA have complained about the VA recently along with people like Jon Stewart ranted again last night about suffering veterans but older, established groups have the wisdom to know what is behind all of this.

Vet Groups Divide Over VA Backlog and Leadership
Apr 04, 2013
TOM PHILPOTT

With the backlog of compensation claims at the Department of Veterans Affairs having ballooned in recent years, one would expect major veterans' service organizations to be among VA's harshest critics.

If so, they would join a rising chorus. Recently network news programs have turned cameras and commentary on the mountain of 598,000 overdue claim decisions, suggesting bureaucratic neglect of returning ill and injured vets from Iraq and Afghanistan. Time magazine columnist Joe Klein even asked VA Secretary Eric Shinseki to resign.

One veteran association, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), says the administration isn't doing near enough to end the backlog with its average wait, from filing to decision, now at 273 days and some veterans in the largest cities reportedly waiting more than 600 days.

But most veteran service organizations aren't joining that chorus, for perhaps two major reasons. One, they believe they understand better than the loudest critics why the backlog has grown so. Some contributing factors these veterans' groups actually fought for.

Two, criticism of Shinseki and his team rings hollow to many veteran groups given the administration's support over the past four years for robust funding of VA, unprecedented cooperation with vet advocates, and the depth of its commitment to reform a 20th Century paper-driven claims process.

That's why groups including Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion came to Shinseki's defense after Klein's call to resign. That's why Joseph Violante, legislative director of Disabled American Veterans, told the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee that VA is moving "down the right path" with many of its reform plans even while "processing over a million claims annually, which in my mind is something phenomenal."

Violante described VA leadership as the most open he has seen in almost 30 years working veterans issues in Washington D.C. He had particular praise for Allison A. Hickey, under secretary for benefits.

At the same hearing, Bart Stichman, executive director of the National Veterans Legal Services Program, praised Shinseki. The NVLSP successfully has sued VA, initially more than 20 years ago, to compensate Vietnam veterans for diseases presumed caused by wartime exposure to herbicides including Agent Orange. Stichman said Shinseki showed courage when, facing a rising claims backlog in 2009, he added three new diseases to VA's list of diseases compensable for Vietnam veterans due to Agent Orange.

This required VA to re-adjudicate 150,000 claims previously denied and to process more than 100,000 fresh claims from Vietnam veterans, including for most anyone with heart disease who ever served in Vietnam. The Veterans Benefits Administration put more than 2300 experienced claims staff – 37 percent of its workforce – on the effort for two and a half years, paying out more than $4.5 billion in retroactive benefits.
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Just a reminder of what really happened
VA Claims backlog 915,000

“Backlogs are at the point where veterans must wait an average of six months for a decision on benefits claims and some veterans are waiting as long as four years,” Butterfield said in a statement. “Veterans deserve better than this.”

Butterfield introduced a bill on Friday, HR 3087, that would automatically approve a veteran’s claim if no decision is made by the VA within 18 months. The bill doesn’t say exactly how the VA would do this, but creates a task force to monitor VA to make sure the 18-month deadline isn’t met with an arbitrary denial just before the claim must be paid.

The bill comes as the number of unprocessed veterans claims exceeds 915,000 — a 100,000 jump since the beginning of the year. In testimony two weeks ago before a House committee, VA officials said the current 162 days is 17 days less than one year ago, a sign that they are beginning to make process.

That was reported in June of 2009! It may come as a shock to the IAVA and others that the backlog of claims was that high before, but it doesn't pack such a big punch now if they mention that simple fact. If they actually remembered how long Gulf War veterans and Vietnam Veterans waited for their combat related disabilities to be taken care of and compensated for, then they would have to face the fact that ALL OUR VETERANS MATTER.

Is there a problem now? Sure there is and there has been one over and over again but as older groups fought longer for all veterans, it seems as if people forget they even exist. What kind of publicity did the Vietnam veterans get fighting the VA in the 70's, 80's, 90's or the other 12 years? Were they supposed to just wait and die for what their service to this country did to them so that the newer generation of veterans could be taken care of? After all they were getting the attention and the funding of mega charities raising "awareness" for their issues even though the older groups were fighting for them equally.

Had it not been for them there would be absolutely nothing for the OEF and OIF veterans coming home with PTSD.

CBS Amazing disgrace outrage to Vietnam Veterans

UPDATE
'The Amazing Race' Apologizes To Vietnam Veterans For B-52 Wreckage Scenes Posted: 03/25/2013

I don't watch much TV since I spend so many hours online. I listen to news and watch a couple of TV shows but never watched the "Amazing Race" so I wouldn't have had a clue other than reading the following. After reading the following, there is no way I would ever watch the show now.

Koutz calls for CBS to apologize to Vietnam veterans
The American Legion
March 21, 2013

In a scathing letter sent to CBS, Vietnam War veteran and American Legion National Commander James E. Koutz called for the Tiffany Network to apologize for "its disgraceful slap-in-the face administered to American war heroes" during a prime time broadcast Sunday night.

"The show is called ‘The Amazing Race,’ but I call it ‘The Amazing Gall,’" Koutz said. "In a broadcast reminiscent of Tokyo Rose, reality game show contestants visited a ‘B-52 Memorial’ in Vietnam, which featured the wreckage of a B-52 bomber shot down during the war. What wasn’t shown were the U.S. crewmembers that were killed or the grieving American families that were left behind. The Department of Defense is encouraging Americans to honor and commemorate our Vietnam War veterans for the sacrifice that they made 50 years ago. The American Legion takes this obligation very seriously. We only wish that the network that once gave us Kate Smith – famous for her rendition of ‘God Bless America’ – would return to its great roots and not be so eager to broadcast anti-American propaganda."
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Veterans' advocates lobby hard for attention on Capitol Hill

Veterans' advocates lobby hard for attention on Capitol Hill
by Leo Shane III
Stars and Stripes
Published: March 20, 2013

WASHINGTON — Nearly every major veterans advocacy organization has visited Capitol Hill over the last month, pushing lawmakers to keep the focus on their issues amid the financial fights in Congress.

This week, leaders from Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America brought dozens of young vets to Washington to visit lawmakers and relate their stories.

The Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion held similar lobbying trips earlier in March, and the House and Senate veterans committees invited 18 different advocacy groups to testify on their priorities for the upcoming year.
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American Legion defends VA chief against columnist's charges

American Legion defends VA chief against columnist's charges
Herald Online
Published: March 15, 2013
By American Legion

WASHINGTON, MARCH 15, 2013 — /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The leader of The American Legion has come out swinging in defense of Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki. Shinseki, a retired four-star Army general and decorated Vietnam War combat veteran, is the primary target of a scathing, yet-to-be-published TIME Magazine piece penned by prominent columnist Joe Klein. The article, titled "Ten Years After: a National Disgrace" lambastes Shinseki for maintaining a low public profile while veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan suffer mass unemployment and stigma related to widespread and misleadingly alarming media reports of emotional distress among the young former service members.

Klein also pins responsibility, at least in part, on Shinseki for the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) large and continuing benefits claims backlog and the failure of VA and the Department of Defense to institute an integrated electronic medical records system. Of Shinseki, Klein says, "It is time for him to step down."

"While we do not deny that problems and inefficiencies exist within VA and VA-related activities and programs," said James E, Koutz, national commander of The American Legion, "placing the blame on Secretary Shinseki is wholly unwarranted and disingenuous. As anyone familiar with our organization knows, we of the Legion have never been shy about identifying deficiencies in VA's operations, facilities and care, but we have found nothing lacking in Shinseki's leadership.

"In truth," continued Koutz, "General Shinseki has been one of the veterans' community's most effective and forceful advocates in recent years. He has spearheaded a bold and winning effort to combat homelessness among young veterans and fought alongside his colleagues in government to increase employment opportunities for former service members and their families.
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American Legion reacts to allegations by VA whistleblower

American Legion reacts to allegations by VA whistleblower
By American Legion
Published: Thursday, Mar. 14, 2013
WASHINGTON

The leader of the nation's largest wartime veterans service organization is expressing "great concern" over allegations that the Department of Veterans Affairs has grossly mishandled the care of Gulf War Illness patients.

In testimony this week before the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, several witnesses claimed that VA has consistently failed to treat the multi-symptomatic disease known as Gulf War Illness (GWI) or Gulf War Syndrome properly. Further, VA is accused of suppressing evidence of links between GWI and environmental hazards to which service members were exposed in southwest Asia.

The latter charge came from Dr. Steven Coughlin, a former senior epidemiologist at the VA's Office of Public Health. He ended his four year career with VA last December by resigning "because of serious ethical concerns."

"If the studies produce results that do not support Office of Public Health's unwritten policy, they do not release them," Coughlin told subcommittee members on Mar. 13.
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VA whistleblower slams what research results leads to

American Legion Commander "Washington is failing troops and veterans"

Washington failing military, Legion leader says
Army Times
By Rick Maze
Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Feb 26, 2013

The head of the nation’s largest veterans’ group said Tuesday that Washington is failing troops and veterans.

Army veteran James Koutz of Boonville, Ind., national commander of the American Legion, criticized politicians for using the defense budget and service members as pawns in a battle over deficit reduction and spending priorities.

He also objected to attempts to increase out-of-pocket Tricare costs for retirees and opposed a recent Pentagon move to create a new medal for drone operators that ranks higher in precedence than some medals awarded to combat troops on the ground.
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also

New VA clinics, expansions left in limbo
By Kevin Freking
The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Feb 26, 2013
WASHINGTON — A veterans’ health clinic in Brick, N.J., is in such disrepair that when the snow gets heavy, patients have to go elsewhere for fear the roof might collapse. Another in San Antonio has extensive mildew and mold problems that could prove a health hazard for employees and patients in the coming years.

In Lake Charles, La., it’s not the condition of a clinic but the lack of one. It’s estimated that 6,000 veterans would enroll in VA health care if the community were to get a new clinic.

The Department of Veterans Affairs has cited these examples as it sought approval from Congress last year for a dozen new or expanded health clinics around the country.

Lawmakers anticipated that the cost for the current fiscal year would probably run into the tens of millions of dollars, but the estimate from the Congressional Budget Office came in at $1.2 billion. The nonpartisan CBO said that sound accounting principles require the full cost of the 20-year leases for the clinics be accounted for up front.

The huge jump in the clinics’ price tag left lawmakers scrambling, and in the face of the budget-cutting climate on Capitol Hill, the VA request stalled. Now the agency is warning that unless lawmakers act, some currently operating clinics may have to close after their old leases expire and other long-planned expansions will not go forward.
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American Legion says use "Compassion instead of courts"

Marine Major says criminalizing attempted suicides "helps retain discipline" Yes you read that right and now groups are trying to do something about it. Maybe instead of holding them accountable for trying to kill themselves it would be a better idea to hold the military and congress responsible for what they failed to do.

PRESS RELEASE
Nov. 28, 2012
American Legion Calls on DoD to Re-Examine Policies on Suicide Attempts by Troops

INDIANAPOLIS, Nov 28, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- "Compassion instead of courts" is the approach needed to stem the alarming rate of suicide among U.S. troops, according to the leader of the nation's largest veterans organization.

"If you succeed at committing suicide, you are often treated as a hero by grieving friends and family. But if you fail at suicide, you could be treated to a court-martial. This must change," said American Legion National Commander James E. Koutz, a Vietnam war veteran.

Koutz praised the progress the military has made in recent years to de-stigmatize those who seek treatment for suicidal thoughts but added that the Uniform Code of Military Justice still allows for the prosecution of those who make unsuccessful attempts. "This sends a mixed message," Koutz said. "On the one hand we are grateful for their service. We want to compensate you for your Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or Traumatic Brain Injury. But if you engage in a behavior that is often seen as a symptom of those injuries, we will punish you."
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Top military court grapples with potential criminality of suicide attempts in military
By Edmund DeMarche
Published November 28, 2012
FoxNews.com

As the military grapples with chronic suicides, officials are trying to strike a balance between helping survivors and punishing them under the longstanding penalties for "self-injury."

The nation’s top military appeals court has been grappling with the law's guidelines given the fact that last year suicides accounted for 20 percent of military deaths.

"If suicide is indeed the worst enemy the Armed Forces has in 2012 — in terms of killing soldiers, sailors, airman and Marines — then why should we criminalize it when a guy fails? Seems to me like you’re trying to fit a square peg in a round hole," Judge Walter T. Cox III said, according to The Army Times.

Cox, along with four other members of the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, listened Tuesday to a case involving Marine Corps Pvt. Lazzaric Caldwell. In 2010, Caldwell used a razor blade to slit his wrists while in Okinawa.
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MOH Sgt. 1st Class Jared Monti honored Veterans Day

Fallen Soldier Honored In Raynham
November 11, 2012

RAYNHAM (CBS)- Hundreds gathered on Sunday to say thank you to military men and women at the American Legion post in Raynham.

In a Veterans Day ceremony, the post dedicated a memorial to Army Sergeant First Class Jared Monti, a Medal of Honor recipient shot and killed after making three attempts to save a fellow soldier.

“It’s just the way he lived his life,” said Jared’s father, Paul, at the ceremony.

Paul Monti went on to describe various times throughout Jared’s life when he gave selflessly to others.
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Boston Globe

American Legion says veterans should get interest for waiting

I totally agree! When you think about the fact the VA has rules on when paperwork has to be filed, but doesn't seem to be held accountable for not getting claims processed right on time, this is only fair. When my husband's claim was tied up for six years, it was a burden no family should be expected to endure while bills piled up and the VA charged us for his care. Yes, they charged us because back then private insurance companies could just deny the claim and say it was the VA's responsibility to take care of him. When we couldn't pay, they just took our tax refund. Once his claim was approved, it was bitter sweet because of all the suffering we had to go through.

Maybe having to pay interest would get the Congress to make sure the VA was fully funded enough to have enough trained claims processors to take care of all the influx of disabled veterans when they change rules.

Legion: Pay interest on delayed vets’ claims
Army Times
By Rick Maze
Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Oct 3, 2012

Disabled veterans waiting longer than 125 days for their initial disability claims to be processed should receive interest on top of their retroactive benefits, says the new commander of the American Legion, the nation’s largest veterans’ group.

Today, payments on approved claims are backdated to the day they are filed, but interest is not paid.

James Koutz, an Army veteran of the Vietnam War who leads the 2.4-million member Legion, said payments with interest would be a small recognition by the government that veterans had been forced to wait too long for pay they deserved.

His suggestion came Wednesday during a hearing before a joint meeting of the House and Senate Veterans’ Affairs committees to hear from the Legion’s top officials. Similar hearings featuring other military and veterans’ groups are held throughout the year.
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