Vietnam Veteran "waiting for 43 years" for justice after PTSD

Vietnam Vet Hopes New Pentagon Guidelines Help Him And Others Gain Benefits
The Hartford Courant
Peggy McCarthy
September 5, 2014

Conley Monk, a Vietnam War veteran who has been fighting for decades to have his military discharge status upgraded, expressed hope Friday that new Pentagon guidelines will help him and other Vietnam Veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder finally get federal benefits.

PTSD was not designated as a medical condition until 1980. Some 70,000 Vietnam veterans who suffered from undiagnosed PTSD were given less-than-honorable discharges for their behaviors and many were denied medical, educational and other federal benefits and had trouble securing employment.

"I'm a fighter. I won't quit," said Monk, who left the military in 1971. "I pray that this makes a difference. I've been waiting for 43 years for my discharge to be changed," he said.

After lobbying by U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal and others, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel this week issued guidelines which Hagel said would ease the process for Vietnam veterans who apply to upgrade their discharges and "ensure fair and consistent results across the military services."

Tens of thousands of Vietnam veterans could be affected by the new guidelines that take effect in late October.
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Vietnam Veterans with PTSD and bad discharges may finally get justice

Call for Amnesty on PTSD Bad Paper Discharges

Studies indicate that more than 100,000 veterans have been discharged from the military since 2001 with highly prejudicial service characterizations of "Under Other Than Honorable Conditions" (OTH), typically for "commission of a serious offense" or a "pattern of misconduct" while in uniform.

The Case for "Amnesty" for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans with PTSD and "Bad Paper" Discharges
JURIST
Guest Columnist Raymond J. Toney of the Law Offices of Raymond J. Toney discusses the case for Amnesty for soldiers with PTSD who received other than honorable discharges...
2 July 2014

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan saw the participation of more than two million American service members.

Over 6,500 died and more than 50,000 were wounded [PDF]. Those statistics do not include the tens of thousands more who suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), a disorder characterized by behavior changes, sometimes extreme. Common manifestations of the condition include aggression, impulsivity, hyper-vigilance and substance abuse.

The VA estimates that up to 18 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans suffer from PTSD. The American Journal of Public Health reported findings that 39 percent of returning veterans abuse alcohol. Many, undoubtedly, if not most, are self-medicating, a recipe for disaster. Alcohol abuse is strongly correlated with criminal conduct.

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VA restores aid to homeless veterans

VA restores aid to homeless veterans
USA TODAY
March 29, 2014

The VA has reversed course in the face of complaints from community groups and a USA TODAY query and restored aid to potentially several thousand homeless veterans who otherwise could have been left on the streets.

The assistance, for a category of homeless veterans who have less than honorable discharges, had quietly been pulled in recent months after a legal review of eligibility laws.

The support programs -- called highly effective by community support groups nationwide -- funnel money from the Department of Veterans Affairs through local organizations to provide immediate financial support or transitional housing for homeless veterans.

But after the legal review, the VA cut access to the financial support program in December and to the transitional housing program in February for all veterans with less than honorable discharges and for those who served less than 24 months in the military, the VA said.

These veterans are generally ineligible for VA health care, and the agency's lawyers determined that ineligibility for VA health care rendered a veteran ineligible for homeless programs.

Community groups were shocked, particularly given President Obama's stated goal of ending veteran homelessness by 2015. "There is something morally wrong here," said Phil Landis, president and CEO of Veterans Village of San Diego, a transitional housing program that turned away 14 homeless veterans in February after the policy change. Ten had served in or during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, Landis said.
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Exclusive: 76,000 soldiers 'chaptered out' of benefits since 2006

This is on Al Jazeera and based on what Wounded Times has been reporting, it should be trusted but what bothers me is why didn't the other members of the press do this kind of work?

Exclusive: 76,000 soldiers 'chaptered out' of benefits since 2006
by Sheila MacVicar
November 11, 2013

Jerrald Jensen joined the Army when he was 34 – much older than the average recruit. He wascalled to duty, his wife says, by the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

In 2006, he deployed to Iraq, where he was the driver for a commander in his unit. By all accounts, he was an exemplary soldier.

In the fall of 2007, his patrol was attacked, and an explosive blew off part of his face and pierced his body with shrapnel. Jensen still managed to drive away from the attack, saving his commander, before being shot in the arm and the back. That incident resulted in a Purple Heart.

Doctors had to rebuild his jaw with titanium. After two years and 16 surgeries, Jensen volunteered for a second combat tour, this time in Afghanistan. He was assigned to Bari Alai, a remote U.S. outpost that faced nearly daily attacks from the Taliban. Six months into his tour, he fell while running to a gun post and rebroke his jaw.

Doctors did their best to patch him up, but half of Jensen's face was permanently numb, and he lost his remaining teeth. He felt he'd had enough. Soon, he was transferred to the Warrior Transition Unit, a special unit in Fort Carson, Colo., set up to help wounded active-duty soldiers heal and transition into civilian life.

Once there, Jensen told America Tonight that WTU commanders seemed bent on getting rid of him. He said they wrote him up for minor infractions, like showing up late to a medical appointment, or making an incomplete stop at a stop sign.

Then, on a routine urine test, Jensen came up positive for amphetamines. He had been prescribed the decongestant pseudoephedrine and narcotics for his injuries, which can cause a false positive, so he asked to be re-tested. Instead, WTU commanders told him they were kicking him out of the Army for what they called a pattern of misconduct.
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Other than honorable way to treat combat wounded, Army kicks them out

As deplorable as this is, it also shows how the Army gets rid of soldiers instead of helping them. Ever think about the high number of suicides of the active duty forces being much higher than reported? This very well may be how the number of suicides connected to their service go uncounted. If the DOD kicks them out, the VA won't take them either. This is the ultimate betrayal!

Report: Combat troop discharges increase sharply
San Francisco Gate
Sunday, May 19, 2013

This Dec. 19, 2012 photo shows wounded Army veteran Kash Alvaro recovering in the emergency room at Memorial Hospital this winter after suffering a seizure and chest pains. Alvaro was hit by multiple bomb blasts in Afghanistan, but the Veterans Administration will not pay to treat the 24-year-old's war wounds because he was given an other-than-honorable discharge. Photo: The Gazette, Michael Ciaglo

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — The number of soldiers discharged from the Army for misconduct has risen to its highest rate in recent times, and some are wounded combat troops who have lost their medical care and other veterans benefits because of other-than-honorable discharges, according to an investigation by the Colorado Springs Gazette.

The newspaper reported Sunday (http://bit.ly/17Oe0T4 ) that the investigation based on Army data found that annual misconduct discharges have increased more than 25 percent since 2009, mirroring the rise in wounded. Among combat troops, the increase is even sharper.

Total discharges at the eight Army posts that house most of the service's combat units have increased 67 percent since 2009.

"I've been working on this since the 70s, and I have never seen anything like this," said Mark Waple, a retired Army officer who now tries military cases as a civilian lawyer near North Carolina's Fort Bragg. "There seems to be a propensity to use minor misconduct for separation, even for service members who are decorated in combat and injured."

The figures studied by The Gazette include soldiers who have served multiple tours and have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries. Some troops were cut loose for minor offenses that the Army acknowledges can be symptoms of TBI and PTSD.

"I see it every day," said Lenore Yarger, a veterans advocate near Fort Bragg. "We have gotten very efficient at getting people to fight wars but are not prepared to deal with the aftermath."

The Gazette found that several soldiers who tested positive for drugs were deployed anyway because the Army needed combat troops. But when they returned, they were discharged for the offense.
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Vietnam veterans still have to fight for justice on PTSD

Whenever I tell OEF and OIF veterans none of what they are going through is new, they have a hard time believing me. They think that the government would have done the right thing by now for older veterans, especially the Vietnam veterans that came home and fought the government to make sure every generation of veterans was treated for PTSD.

Well, now you know that when it comes to PTSD, they still have to fight for justice.

Vietnam veterans sue military in Conn. over PTSD
By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN
Associated Press
December 3, 2012

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — The military has failed to correct the wrongful discharges of thousands of Vietnam veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, an advocacy group says in a federal lawsuit.

Vietnam Veterans of America on Monday joined a proposed class action lawsuit in Hartford against the Army, Navy and Air Force. The lawsuit, first filed last year by a veteran, says the Vietnam veterans suffered PTSD before the condition was recognized and were discharged under other-than-honorable conditions that made them ineligible for disability compensation and other benefits.

The lawsuit says the military has refused to review or upgrade the discharge statuses of thousands of Vietnam War-era veterans with service-related PTSD.

‘‘People did not understand PTSD during the Vietnam era,’’ said John Rowan, national president of Vietnam Veterans of America. ‘‘Now that we do, these service members must not be denied the recognition and benefits they long ago earned.’’

The U.S. attorney’s office, which is representing the military in the lawsuit, said it’s reviewing the matter and will respond in court. A Department of Defense spokeswoman said the agency is highly committed to addressing concerns related to PTSD and has taken numerous steps, including conducting PTSD assessments of service members at military treatment facilities at least once a year.
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Facebook tea party Marine defended by ACLU, Hunter and Issa?

RESTRAINING ORDER SOUGHT FOR MARINE
Panel has backed discharge for sergeant; his attorneys want to stop proceedings
Written by Nathan Max
April 7, 2012
A Camp Pendleton Marine who is fighting expulsion from the Corps for his criticism of President Barack Obama on Facebook returned to federal court Friday, hours after a military panel unanimously found him guilty of misconduct and recommended he be given an other-than-honorable discharge.

Attorneys for Sgt. Gary Stein, 26, of Temecula, are seeking a temporary restraining order for the second time in a week in an attempt to stop the discharge proceedings.
Stein’s social media activities have become the focus of national debate about what is and what isn’t acceptable speech for a service member. He has even gained the support of two local congressmen.

A three-member administrative panel recommended that Stein be kicked out of the Marine Corps late Thursday night after a 13-hour hearing, meaning he would be demoted to lance corporal and forfeit his military benefits. His fate now rests with Brig. Gen. Daniel Yoo, the commanding general for the San Diego Marine Corps Recruit Depot and Western Recruiting Region.

Stein is a nine-year veteran of the Marine Corps, and he has been backed by a team of civilian and military attorneys, including those from the United States Justice Foundation and American Civil Liberties Union. Two Republican congressmen, Duncan Hunter of Alpine and Darrell Issa of Vista, have voiced support for Stein, who is fighting to stay in the military and testing its longtime policy of limiting the free speech of its members.

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Veterans are backing Jones' bill

U.S. Rep. Walter B. Jones deserves a medal for this! Over 22,000 of our men and women in the military have received dishonorable, or less than honorable discharges that should have been honored when they clearly had PTSD. Too many reports came out on how the DOD and the VA were not being honest with diagnosing and treating PTSD. Too many commanders still have not come to terms with this war born wound and act as if the men and women they command suffering from this wound are not worthy of anything, including treatment and compensation, but above all, the respect of an honorable discharge. It has all been less than honorable treatment for them. Without an honorable discharge and the erroneous outrage diagnosis of a "pre-existing" mental health illness, they receive nothing. No treatment. No compensation. Most of the time, no jobs after they served. This betrayal should not be tolerated and they should be compensated if they are found to have PTSD or TBI but on top of it, compensated with retroactive payments and a public apology from the DOD for the suffering they had to go thru. They were betrayed and so were their families.

Veterans are backing Jones' bill

WILSON - Veterans groups are rallying behind U.S. Rep. Walter B. Jones' bill designed to help service members suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or traumatic brain injuries.

Jones, a Republican from Farmville, was joined this week at a press conference by representatives from the National Association for Uniformed Services, the National Military Family Association, Military Officers Association of America and Air Force Sergeants Association. All are supporting House Resolution 1701: PTSD/TBI Guaranteed Review for Heroes Act

The bill would create a special review board at the Department of Defense for service members who were less than honorably discharged. The board would be allowed to change the characterization of discharge to honorable if PTSD or TBI are found to have been contributing factors.

Also, it would mandate a physical examination board before an administrative separation proceeding for active duty service members if the service member has been diagnosed with PTSD or TBI by a medical authority.

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Veterans are backing Jones' bill