Vietnam Veterans digging their own graves, for real

I am beginning to think my forehead has so many wrinkles because of Vietnam Veterans. They amaze me all the time. For a generation of veterans so mistreated when they came home, they managed to do more for other veterans than any other group. Now, after all they've done, New Jersey Vietnam Veterans are taking on starting their own cemetery.

New Jersey veterans band together to bury their own
By Jana Winter
Published November 28, 2012
FoxNews.com

A group of veterans from New Jersey are building the state’s first nonprofit cemetery -- a graveyard exclusively for men and women who have served their country.

The veterans have secured a 66-acre parcel in the state's northwestern Sussex County, and hope to break ground by Memorial Day. But they’re in dire need of funding and corporate sponsorship to complete the Northern New Jersey Veterans Memorial Cemetery.

“There’s a real need for a veterans cemetery in this part of New Jersey," said Vietnam veteran John Harrigan, 65, who has made the cemetery his crusade since 2008. “There’s close to 100,000 vets up here."

The closest veterans cemetery to Sussex County is the Brigadier General William C. Doyle Cemetery in Gloucester County, a more than two-hour drive that widows tell Harrigan they are unable to make.

Harrigan, president of the Sussex County chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America, said the group has been working for more than four years to secure funds and overcome legal hurdles to make their dream happen. Their website www.VVA1002.org has detailed plans, architectural renderings and information on how to donate to the project.
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Thousands of Arizona veterans face backlog on disability claims

Thousands of Arizona veterans face backlog on disability claims with VA
Monday, Oct. 29, 2012
By FARA ILLICH
Cronkite News

VA backlog: Number of veterans in Arizona: 600,000
Number of pending veterans disability claims: 23,000
Number of claims with a wait time over 125 days: 17,000
Average number of days a claim is pending: 320
Average number of days a claim takes to complete: 365
Sources: Phoenix Veterans Affairs Regional Office and Arizona Department of Veterans Services

PHOENIX – Peering through the new prescription glasses he just got from the veterans hospital, Korean War veteran Gilbert Torres sifted through a stack of papers detailing claims he’d had pending with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs since July 2011.

Torres is asking the VA re-evaluate the 30 percent disability he was awarded in the 1960s for injuries to both feet during a training exercise and to grant him disability for lingering gastrointestinal problems from food poisoning.

Torres said he’s happy with the services the VA has provided him over the years like free medical and vision care, but said he doesn’t understand why he’s been waiting more than a year for answers.

“I can wait, but I’d like to have some sort of notice,” he said. “I deserve what I’m asking for.”

Torres is part of a backlog of 17,000 disability compensation claims in Arizona as of October, according to the VA’s Phoenix Regional Office, which processes disability compensation for the state. These are claims that have been pending longer than 125 days.

There were 587,800 claims pending in the backlog nationwide as of September, according to the VA.

Despite efforts by the VA to ramp up processing times, officials say the department can’t keep up with the volume of claims, which have risen nearly 50 percent since 2008.

Part of the increase has to do with the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan winding down and many new veterans filing, but is also due to a class-action lawsuit that added ischemic heart disease, hairy cell and other forms of B-cell leukemia and Parkinson’s to a list of diseases associated with exposure to Agent Orange, according to John Rowan, national president of Vietnam Veterans of America.

“We’ve got a backlog because of a perfect storm,” Rowan said.
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Vietnam Veterans of America calls for legislative fix to VA contracting rule

Veterans group calls for legislative fix to VA contracting rule
Federal News Radio
Monday - 8/13/2012
By Ruben Gomez

Vietnam Veterans of America has thrown support behind a congressional effort to loosen a rule that governs service-disabled veteran-owned businesses working for the Veterans Affairs Department.

"Congress may need to move to synchronize the standards of control between VA and [the Small Business Administration]," said Rick Weidman, VVA's executive director for policy and government affairs, in an interview with Federal News Radio.

Weidman criticized a VA rule requiring that service-disabled veterans competing for SDVOSB contracts unconditionally control decision-making within their companies. He said SBA regulations allow more flexibility.

"Literally every day I get emails on both sides of this issue," he said. "And the two sides being people begging for help to throw the frauds out because they're stealing the business, and letters from veterans who are saying, 'look, you know me Rick. You know my business. And [VA is] saying that I'm not qualified.'"

Rep. Bill Johnson (R-Ohio), chairman of the Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, is crafting legislation to force VA to loosen its rule. Johnson said he favors SBA's process, although he did not say exactly how the bill would change the steps VA uses to verify SDVOSB program eligibility.
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Disabled American Veterans among groups VA taps to help with claims

Now this is a smart thing to do. Administrations come and go but these groups have been around through many of them, no matter what party was in charge.

VA taps vets groups to help fast track claims
By LEO SHANE III
Published: August 10, 2012
WASHINGTON — Veterans Affairs officials hosted a workshop last week to brief 10 veterans service organizations on plans to fast track certain veterans benefits claims, and how they can help in the process.

The VSOs involved in the process were the
American Legion
AMVETS
Disabled American Veterans
Marine Corps League
Military Order of the Purple Heart
National Association of County Veterans Service Officers
National Organization for Veterans Advocates
Paralyzed Veterans of America
Veterans of Foreign Wars
Vietnam Veterans of America
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Steve Kroft of “60 Minutes” to Deliver Keynote Speech to VVA

Steve Kroft of “60 Minutes” to Deliver Keynote Speech At Vietnam Veterans of America’s National Leadership Conference
(Washington, D.C.)- Steve Kroft, the award-winning journalist now in his 23rd season as a correspondent for CBS-TV’s “Sixty Minutes,” will deliver the Keynote Speech on Wednesday morning, August 8, at the Opening Ceremonies of Vietnam Veterans of America’s National Leadership Conference at the Omni Hotel in Irving, Texas. Hundreds of Vietnam veteran leaders will come together at the Conference to take part in seminars, meetings, and other activities, including the Saturday Awards Banquet.

The Opening Ceremonies, which will begin at 8:45 a. m., are open to the public.

“Few people know that Steve Kroft got his start in journalism after being drafted into the Army in 1967, and serving with the information office of the 25th Infantry Division in Vietnam, and then reporting for Stars and Stripes,” said VVA President John Rowan. “We’re very pleased that Steve will be joining his fellow Vietnam veterans in Texas to help us to kick off the Leadership Conference.”

The biennial VVA National Leadership Conference brings together Vietnam veteran leaders and veterans’ advocates from across the country. They will take part in three-and-a-half days of activities, including a wide selection of seminars. The subjects range from the elements of leadership--parliamentary procedures, the duties of the officers and board of directors, the management of chapters and state councils, and media outreach--to updates on veterans healthcare, successful membership recruitment and retention tools, and effective grassroots advocacy.
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Florida Vietnam Veterans of America warns of growing PTSD veterans

Considering everything I've been tracking, I bet Ben Humphries is right, or at least close to it. Keep in mind that less than half of the veterans needing help seek it.

Department of Veterans Affairs adding mental health staff on Treasure Coast
By Cynthia Washam
Posted June 18, 2012

"Probably 50 or 60 percent have PTSD," said Ben Humphries, a Vero Beach resident and Florida president of the Vietnam Veterans of America. "You experience death. You're in constant fear. You're on guard all the time."

Veterans frustrated by long waits for mental health care can expect some relief when the Department of Veterans Affairs boosts its staff at the West Palm Beach Medical Center and Treasure Coast clinics.

VA officials expect to hire 40 mental health clinicians and eight support personnel locally within the next six to 12 months. A quarter of them will work at outpatient clinics in Martin, St. Lucie and Indian River counties. The expansion is part of the federal department's nationwide effort to meet the growing need for veterans' mental health care. The VA provides free treatment for service-related health problems.

"We decided we would see everybody (seeking mental help) within two weeks," said Dr. Alberto Fernandez-Milo, chief of mental health services at the West Palm Beach VA Medical Center.

Ed Maxwell, vice president of the Martin County chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America, heralded the news. He's known veterans who have had to wait up to six weeks for nonemergency counseling.

"The staff on mental health has been way too thin," Maxwell said. "It needs to be beefed up because we're going to be bringing the troops back."
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How Mom’s Letter Paved Way for Young Man’s Visit With President

Dec 25, 2011 8:00am
How Mom’s Letter Paved Way for Young Man’s Visit With President

A young man whose mother wrote a letter to President Obama is now scheduled to meet with the president.

Jeremy Carr, 23, has Down syndrome. Carr volunteered with his mother, a Vietnam War veteran, at a road clean-up event in the spring staged by Chapter 862 of the Vietnam Veterans of America. It was one of several veterans volunteer events in which Carr has taken part.

Throughout the morning of the clean-up, he never asked to take a break, didn’t stop to talk about his beloved Pittsburgh Steelers, or his favorite WWE star John Cena, his mother said. He didn’t even ask for anything to eat or drink. He asked his mother only one thing several times during the day, “Mom, will President Barack Obama be proud of me for helping the soldiers?”
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Pentagon has wrongfully discharged nearly 26,000 service members

Let's say that all of these servicemen and women did in fact have a "personality disorder" before they enlisted. If the military allowed them to enlist, then they accepted responsibility for them from that point on. Considering that a mental health condition like personality disorder would have put them in greater danger during combat and would have endangered the others they served with, the DOD would have known what they were doing, apparently fine with doing it. But that would also be assuming they just didn't care. There were mental health waivers given out but nowhere near the numbers of discharges. Even if they received a waiver, this should in no way take the burden of care off their shoulders. But it did.

But the DOD did not live up to their duty to take care of them.

"DoD's compliance with counseling requirement was as low as 40% between 2001 and 2007, as was compliance with diagnosis requirement. In 2008, the Government Accountability Office ('GAO') found that 'DoD does not have reasonable assurance that its key personality disorder separation requirements have been followed' after reviewing PD discharges occurring between 2001 and 2007."

They were willing to let them join. They trained them to go into combat. Then they sent them to fight the enemy. Then when their minds paid the price, they were kicked out with nothing to count on. No benefits. No help to heal. No justice after being willing to lay down their lives for this country. Was this honorable? Was this what Washington said was the way to treat them?

"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, is directly proportional to how they perceive the veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated"
-- George Washington

They returned home changed just as many before them. They saw the others having to fight for the care they were promised with a honorable discharge in their hands. They saw them wait in long lines, wait for months, even years, to have their claim honored and they wondered what chance they would have of getting any help at all after what was done to them. They lost it all. They lost faith in this country they were willing to die for. They lost the sense of pride they had when they suddenly could no longer support their families and pay their bills. They lost the faith their families had in them when they were beaten down so far there was no reason to try any longer.

Service organizations wouldn't help them because they were discharged with less than honorable conditions. Senators and Representatives wouldn't talk to them or listen to their stories. There were very few reporters able to acknowledge this injustice leaving them with nowhere to turn. Some said these wrongfully discharged veterans should just go on welfare or collect social security since they were unable to work but no one thought about the fact many of these veterans entered into the military right out of high school. No one cared.

Then came the Vietnam Veterans of America remembering what it felt like to be kicked to the streets after risking their lives in another country because that was what the government said had to be done. They knew what it was like to have this same government deny them care but they also had some faith in the people of this country to do the right thing. Had they not believed in the rest of us, they wouldn't have found any reason to fight for what they accomplished. They made all the programs for PTSD possible and now they want to make sure these wrongfully discharged veterans get the help they were denied for far too long.

Pentagon Uses 'Personality Disorder' to Deny Veterans Health Care
By CHRIS COUGHLIN
ShareThis
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (CN) - The Pentagon has wrongfully discharged nearly 26,000 service members since 2001 "on the basis of so-called 'personality disorder'" - rather than for post-traumatic stress or other service-connected disabilities - to save itself $12.5 billion in health-care costs, the Vietnam Veterans of America claims in a federal FOIA complaint. The Vietnam Veterans say discharges for faultily diagnosed "personality disorder" increased drastically after the Pentagon began calling up veterans after the 9/11 attacks.
"Over the past nine years, Defendant Department of Defense ('DoD') and its components and subcomponent services have systematically and wrongfully discharged nearly 26,000 service members who have service-related disabilities on the basis of so called 'personality disorder,'" the complaint states. "Veterans who responded courageously to the government's call to action after September 11, 2001 by serving in the Armed Forced have returned home only to find that DoD's personality disorder designation prevents them from accessing service-connected disability benefits and veterans health care. By carelessly disregarding the personality disorder regulations which were promulgated for the benefit of service members, DoD has broken the United States' longstanding promise to provide for its veterans."
"The military classifies PD as a condition pre-existing military service," the complaint states. "Veterans discharged from the military on the basis of a PD diagnosis are not entitled to service-connected disability benefits or VA care.
"By its own admission, DoD dismissed 25,656 service members on the basis of PD between fiscal years 2001 and 2007; 3,372 of these discharged service members had served in combat or imminent danger zones in support of OCO [Overseas Contingency Operation]. Approximately 2,800 of the service members whom DoD had dismissed on the basis of PD had deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation Enduring Freedom.
"By discharging 22,656 service members on the basis of PD, the DoD has saved the military approximately $4.5 billion in medical care and $8 billion in disability compensation that these service members would have received had they been discharged on the basis of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder ('PTSD') or another service-connected disability."
The complaint adds: "DoD has admitted that its doctors failed to interview anyone but the service members before making most of the 22,656 PD diagnoses that led to discharge." This despite the fact that "Prior to 2008, DoD regulations in PD discharges required that service members get formal counseling regarding the reason for their impending discharge and receive a PD diagnosis from a psychiatrist or psychologist stating that the PD interfered with their ability to function in the military.
"DoD's compliance with counseling requirement was as low as 40% between 2001 and 2007, as was compliance with diagnosis requirement. In 2008, the Government Accountability Office ('GAO') found that 'DoD does not have reasonable assurance that its key personality disorder separation requirements have been followed' after reviewing PD discharges occurring between 2001 and 2007."
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Personality Disorder to Deny Veterans Health Care

Vietnam Veterans of America fight for justice for wrongfully discharged veterans

Vets sue Pentagon on discharges

By Joseph Picard | December 15, 2010 1:51 AM GMT
The Vietnam Veterans of America is going to sue the Department of Defense for, the group says, wrongfully discharging nearly 26,000 service members for "Personality Disorder."

The veterans organization will hold a press conference call Friday to discuss the legal action.

"The Department of Defense has violated the law by failing to release records showing that it has wrongfully discharged nearly 26,000 service members on the basis of so-called "Personality Disorder," the VVA said in a release. "This Personality Disorder designation has prevented disabled veterans from receiving the disability compensation and other benefits they have earned."
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http://uk.ibtimes.com/articles/92138/20101215/military-veterans.htm

CIA blocking lawsuit over experiments on troops during Vietnam War

Veterans’ group: CIA blocking lawsuit over experiments on troops


By Daniel Tencer
Friday, August 27th, 2010


An advocacy group working on behalf of Vietnam veterans has asked a federal judge in California to sanction the CIA, saying the spy agency has been blocking efforts to uncover its role in alleged experiments on US soldiers from the 1950s to 1970s.

The Vietnam Veterans of America filed a lawsuit on behalf of six Vietnam War veterans in January, 2009, claiming that the CIA had used an estimated 7,800 US service members as "guinea pigs" in experiments involving "at least 250, but as many as 400 chemical and biological agents," according to Courthouse News.

Among the chemicals the lawsuit alleges were used on the soldiers were LSD, sarin and phosgene nerve gases, cyanide, PCP and even THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.

The lawsuit described it as a "vast program of human experimentation" that was "shrouded in secrecy" and carried out without the informed consent of the experiment subjects.

"In 1970, [the CIA] provided Congress with an alphabetical list showing that they had tested 145 drugs during Projects Bluebird, Artichoke, MKULTRA and MKDELTA," the lawsuit stated, as quoted at Courthouse News.
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CIA blocking lawsuit over experiments on troops

Vietnam Vets of Winston-Salem to have own bike group

Veterans start biking group
by Meghann Evans

In June, local bikers helped the Winston-Salem chapter of Rolling Thunder lead the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall into Mount Airy. Soon, Surry County’s chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America will have a biking group of its own.

Dan Hilton, who helped organize the Veterans Reunion that took place in Mount Airy in early June, explained that each chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America has its own biking club. The Granite City Chapter 1021 of the Vietnam Veterans, located in Mount Airy, now is starting a biking group.

“It’s a good idea to do it,” said Hilton.

The group will be part of Rolling Thunder, the official motorcycle club of the VVA.

Read more: Mount Airy News
Veterans start biking group

Vietnam Vets Ceremony A First For City

Vietnam Vets Ceremony A First For City
By: Ruschell Boone



Some Vietnam veterans got a special welcome home Saturday in honor of Vietnam Veterans Recognition Day. NY1's Ruschell Boone filed the following report.

George Raboni was 17 years old when he went to war in Vietnam. When he returned home three years later, Raboni like so many of the veterans who gathered Saturday for a celebration to mark their service, thought he would get a hero's welcome but that was not the case.

There was a lot of turbulence going on in the country," Raboni recalled.

The thank yous were slow to come because the war was unpopular, but on Saturday area veterans were recognized for their service at the Inaugural Vietnam Veterans Recognition Day.

"We had pride in ourselves and what we did to serve this country but now it is greatly appreciated that the country has come to recognize the service," Raboni said.

"This is the first day that officially by the city government and state government that they are honoring the Vietnam veterans -- long overdue," Patrick Gualtieri of United War Veterans.

For many, the event at Veteran's Plaza in Downtown Manhattan was bittersweet.

"I think we've changed the structure so that people today understand how to separate the war from the warriors and that the veterans coming home, the men and women we see coming out of the military today are hopefully going to get treatments and programs that they need," said Vietnam Veterans of America President John Rowan.

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Vietnam Vets Ceremony A First For City

Vietnam Veterans of America Decries Health Care Reform “Scare Tactics”

Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) Decries Health Care Reform “Scare Tactics”
March 23, 2010 by Robert L. Hanafin


Despite the media spin and scare tactics of opponents of health care reform as reported in previous articles on Veterans Today, Sec Def Gates Knocks Down Fox/VFW Report on Tricare, AND American Legion Says Health Care Reform Won’t Harm VA, DoD


Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) has joined in chorus with the American Legion, Pentagon officials, and Congressional Veterans Affairs Committees to reassure Veterans, our troops, and military retirees that health care reform will have no impact on Veterans benefits or TRICARE the health care plan covering active duty and military retirees.

Robert L. Hanafin, Major, U.S. Air Force-Retired, Veterans Today News


Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) Applauds Passage of Skelton Bill Ensuring Protection of TRICARE, VA health care, and CHAMPUS; Decries “Scare Tactics”

“We thank and applaud passage of H.R. 4887 yesterday in the House of Representative, by a vote of 403-0. Passage of this bill ensures that health care programs for veterans, active duty military, retired military, and their families/survivors will not be affected negatively by the pending health care reform legislation.” said John Rowan , National President of Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA). .

“It is unfortunate that some continue to raise what is now even more clearly a false alarm that is apparently meant to frighten veterans and their families in order to prompt them to oppose the pending legislation. While there is legitimate debate as to whether or not the pending health care measures should become law, VVA does not appreciate spreading rumors that are not accurate by any political partisan from any point of the political spectrum.” continued Rowan

“Last summer there was a similar incident, also involving partisans in the health care reform debate that VVA soundly condemned. We said then: “It is our hope that sane minds reject fear-mongering, and that veterans recognize these scare tactics for what they are.”

Rowan concluded by saying: “VVA has always worked hard for justice for veterans of all generations, and their families. We have always, and will continue to, work with public officials representing all political parties and points of view. Issues affecting veterans and their families are not, should not, and must not become partisan footballs to bat around. VVA decries any effort, by anyone, that would do just that.”
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Health Care Reform Scare Tactics

Toledo Vietnam veterans work to serve others

Veterans Day Memories of Vietnam

Posted to Great Americans by NamGuardianAngel on September 12, 2009

Click to Play View Details

Vietnam veterans seem to always be showing up in the news like in this following report. They show up to do motorcycle rides for charities ranging from helping kids feel special on Christmas to helping disabled Iraq and Afghanistan veterans feel appreciated. They show up on Veterans day just as much as they show up in Washington and around the nation to honor the fallen on Memorial Day. Vietnam veterans show up, no matter what the need is or who is in need, but these acts of kindness did not always make the news. What they did wrong did. Mostly because we didn't know what Post Traumatic Stress Disorder was, so when they self-medicated or drank too much, we blamed them.

By the time Vietnam veterans were coming home, the availability of reporters was staggering. They seemed to be everywhere. Vietnam combat came into our living rooms every night and it was in our newspapers everyday. Before Vietnam, when veterans came home, they came home to become well kept secrets families held when Dad was drinking too much or was a nasty person not to be messed with. They came home just like their fathers did. After the parades and parties, they faded into their own private hell. Vietnam veterans would not let the rest of their lives become suffering in silence.

They fought for the healing available today. They pushed the government to invest in the research the rest of the population are assisted with today. The findings from investigations into PTSD ended up resulting in crisis responders showing up right after traumatic events, police officers, firefighters and emergency responders having someone to turn to and when survivors are shattered by loss. They pushed for the VA to compensate for this invisible wound they carried inside of their skin but touched every part of their lives.

The Vietnam veterans are still showing up to help. They show up to help others heal in whatever way they can. They show up to make a difference as they take leadership positions in all the service organizations as well as in businesses. They show up when one of their brothers needs someone to care and they show up when one of them is still sleeping in the woods or on the streets. They show up when they are at the other end of the phone looking for clothing to be donated to give the homeless veterans something warmer and cleaner to wear.

It is a joy to post a report like the following because when it comes to them, the next time you need help or some stranger to care, the chances are, it's a Vietnam veteran showing up.

Toledo Vietnam veterans work to serve others
Written by Chris Schmidbauer sports@toledofreepress.com
With the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, it is easy to forget the true meaning of Christmas. Often times we become so consumed with shopping, baking holiday treats, and planning family parties, that we often overlook the true meaning of the yuletide season.

Gene Shurtz sees the holidays in a different light these days. The 66 year old, who was a 1st Lieutenant in the Army, spent his Christmas 30 years ago stationed in Vietnam.

“Well the saying always goes ‘you don’t realize what you have until it’s gone,’” Shurtz said. “When you are isolated like that in deployment overseas, you spent a whole year, if you weren’t evacuated or injured in battle, away from your family and friends. It is very difficult.”

Shurtz is also the chapter president of the Vietnam Veterans of Greater Toledo, and he and his fellow veterans are working to make this Christmas a little brighter for service men and women and their families.

“We wanted to do some social functions, and we are trying to achieve some fellowship with some social functions,” Shurtz said. “The idea is to connect veterans with each other, and a Christmas party is a nice way to do that.”

The Christmas party will be held Monday December 21 at the Hooters restaurant on Monroe Street, but the party designed to bring some extra holiday cheer is just on part to the group’s mission.

The greater Toledo chapter is an arm of the Vietnam Veterans of America (V.V.A), whose mission has been not to forsake a group of veterans the way Vietnam veterans were.
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Toledo Vietnam veterans work to serve others

Teen crashes into war memorial

Teen crashes into war memorial
By Brenna R. Kelly • bkelly@nky.com • September 2, 2009


ERLANGER – Three granite stones that memorialize Kenton County residents who died in the Vietnam War will have to be replaced after a car slammed into the Erlanger Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wednesday.

Police say a 16-year-old Elsmere boy was driving drunk in a stolen 2003 Hyundai Elantra was speeding down Dixie Highway while fleeing from police early Wednesday morning. The teen lost control, hit the curb and crashed into the memorial, knocking the stones off their bases and bending a flag pole.

Vietnam veteran Allen Thomas, who lives nearby, surveyed the damage Wednesday morning.

“It’s a sad feeling…but it’s property – we can rebuild it,” said Thomas, secretary of the Northern Kentucky chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America. “We’ll feel bad for a few days or a few weeks until we get it back up.”

The memorial, which has been at the intersection more than 20 years, lists the names of all the Kenton County residents killed in the war. The chapter, which had insurance on the monument, will likely hold a rededication ceremony after the memorial is fixed, Thomas said.
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Teen crashes into war memorial

VVA National President: DOD needs to declassify Agent Orange Documents

VVA National President calls for a declassification of all DOD info

on Agent Orange Exposure

VIETNAM VETERANS OF AMERICA

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 2, 2009

No. 09-13

Contact:

Mokie Porter
301-996-0901

Vietnam Veterans of America: Crying Need to Deal with Agent Orange
Problems Here in America

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - "Vietnam Veterans of America applauds the conclusions and recommendations of a Ford Foundation-funded report issued today by the National Organization on Disabilities on the effects of Agent Orange in Vietnam," said John Rowan, VVA National President. "While VVA feels compassion for the many adults and children injured and made ill by exposure to Agent Orange and the many other toxins used in Vietnam during the war there, it is now time to fully deal with the same effects on Americans who served in Vietnam and other areas that were also contaminated. The effects of these toxins on the children, grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren must similarly be addressed."
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http://www.veteranstoday.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=7193

Judge rejects bid to force faster VA payments

Judge rejects bid to force faster VA payments
By Hope Yen - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Dec 17, 2008 18:39:44 EST

WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Wednesday rejected a bid by veterans groups to force the Veterans Affairs Department to speed up handling of its disability claims, saying it was not the court’s role to impose quicker deadlines.

Vietnam Veterans of America and Veterans of Modern Warfare, which represent roughly 60,000 military veterans, had filed the lawsuit asking the VA to process initial disability claims within 90 days and resolve appeals within 180 days. If the VA failed to do so, the two groups were seeking interim payments of roughly $350 a month.

At a court hearing Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton said he was sympathetic to the plight of disabled veterans, many of whom he acknowledged might face unemployment and homelessness in a tightening economy. But Walton said that setting a blanket rule of 90 days for processing claims was a role for Congress and the VA secretary to decide.
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Vietnam Veterans of America and Veterans of Modern Warfare VA Law Suit Begins

Disability claims lawsuit begins against VA

By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Dec 16, 2008 17:17:49 EST

A hearing begins Wednesday in a lawsuit aimed at cutting the time that the Department of Veterans Affairs takes to process disability claims to no more than 90 days.

Vietnam Veterans of America and Veterans of Modern Warfare filed the lawsuit against VA after learning the department took as long as a year to come up with disability benefits decisions, and as long as four years to rule on appeals of those decisions. The average time for an initial decision is about six months.

VA has a benefits claims backlog of more than 400,000 cases.

Rita Reese, principal deputy assistant VA secretary for management, told Congress in January that the department would increase the number of fulltime case workers from 14,857 to 15,570, with a goal of reducing the disability claims backlog to 298,000 by the end of fiscal 2009, which would be a drop of 24 percent.

The lawsuit asks for monetary relief for veterans if VA can’t reduce its processing time.

“Delayed disability benefit awards create an additional and, in many cases, unmanageable stress for an already suffering population,” VVA and VMW officials said in a joint press release. “According to the VA, the suicide rate among individuals in the VA’s care may be as high as 7.5 times the national average, and every night, more than 150,000 American veterans are homeless.”
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VA document-shredding no shock to vets

VA document-shredding no shock to vets
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Nov 19, 2008 17:14:41 EST

Doubts were raised Wednesday about whether the Bush administration can do anything to restore confidence in the Veterans Affairs Department following the discovery last month of almost 500 key benefits claims documents in shredding bins at regional offices.

But the problem, initially discovered by teams of auditors from the VA inspector general’s office, didn’t exactly shock the veterans’ community. Veterans have complained for decades about VA losing or destroying claims documents, making an already complicated process even more difficult to deal with.

Veterans’ advocates attending a roundtable discussion arranged by the House Veterans Affairs Committee said VA’s admission of mishandling documents is a sign of the fundamental problems that veterans have seen for years.

Rick Weidman, executive director for government affairs of Vietnam Veterans of America, said the only real news is that VA now acknowledged the problem.

“Shredding is not the issue,” he said, calling instead for focus on “the integrity of the process.”

Rep. Harry Mitchell, D-Ariz., said he is worried that leaving key documents to be shredded is a sign of a larger workload problem and pressure to meet production quotas. Mitchell said it has led him to wonder whether VA officials have been completely honest when they said they had all of the resources they needed to handle claims.
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Vietnam Veterans of America and Veterans of Modern Warfare sue over VA claim problems

Vets file suit over slow VA claims processing

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Nov 10, 2008 13:20:43 EST

Two veterans’ groups have filed a suit in an effort to get a federal court to order interim benefits for veterans if a claim for disability compensation takes longer than 90 days to be processed.

Vietnam Veterans of America and Veterans of Modern Warfare want an interim payment equal to what is paid for a 30 percent disability rating — between $356 and $497 a month, depending on the number of dependents — if an initial claim takes more than 90 days or an appeal of a denied claim takes longer than 180 days.

The suit, filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, is an attempt to use the federal court system to tackle the Department of Veterans Affairs claims processing bureaucracy, said Robert Cattanach, one of the attorneys handling the case.

VA officials had no immediate comment. Spokesman Phil Budahn said VA officials learned about the suit only after it was filed, and are working on a response.

“Veterans need prompt action and they need it now,” Cattanach said. “The Department of Veterans Affairs is failing miserably.”
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