VA Contractor failed disabled veteran--he cannot sue

Veterans Affairs misdiagnoses and delays nearly kill SoCal veteran
ABC 7 News
Robin McMillan and Lisa Bartley
October 9, 2018

NO LEGAL RECOURSE - CALIFORNIA STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS EXPIRES DURING VA DELAYS To make matters even worse - during the eight months it took the VA to tell Brian that his primary care physician was a not a VA employee, the California one-year statute of limitations on medical malpractice had expired - meaning he could not sue in civil court either.

TEMECULA, Calif. -- Brian Tally is a military veteran, a husband, a father of four - and until a few years ago - a successful small business owner. Now, he spends much of his day in a beat-up recliner chair, the only relief he says from unrelenting pain.

"There's not a day that goes by that I'm not in pain," Tally said. "This is the only thing that takes the pressure off my spine."

Brian served four years in United States Marine Corps, but now he's in what he calls the fight of his life.

Brian's downward spiral began in January 2016. Severe back pain, night sweats - he made urgent phone calls to his primary care doctor through the Department of Veterans Affairs. She prescribed painkillers over the phone.

The pain only got worse. He went to the VA's emergency room in Loma Linda twice. Both times - he did not get to see a doctor. And twice - no one ordered a simple blood test.

"I was on the floor, I was in traumatic pain...I was literally in tears," Brian recalled. "They gave me an X-ray and the VA ER in Loma Linda diagnosed me with having a low back sprain and told me to go stretch."

He was seen by a nurse practitioner both times, but again - no doctor.

Brian followed up, as instructed, with his primary care physician at the VA clinic in Murrieta.
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Veterans in other news October 10, 2018

Marine veteran among those killed in New York limo crash

STARS AND STRIPES 
By NIKKI WENTLING 
 Published: October 9, 2018 

WASHINGTON — U.S. Marine Corps veteran Michael Ukaj was a helper.

Marine veteran Michael Ukaj was killed in a limo accident in Schoharie, NY, on Saturday, October 6, 2018, along with nineteen other people. FACEBOOK

He was the person his childhood friend, Bradley Armstrong, could count on to be there for him, even when he didn’t ask for it, and even if they were in different cities or states. When Ukaj’s brother, Jeremy Ashton, needed advice, he was the one to give it. He counseled Ashton about everything from breakups to whether he should argue with his landlord over a utility bill (he didn’t, on Ukaj’s guidance) and if he should join the Air Force or Marine Corps (he went with Marine Corps, also Ukaj’s suggestion). “He was a straight-shooter, an honest man who was always there when you needed him,” Ashton said. “Any time I needed clear advice, I would go to him. He would always cut through the bull---t and help me objectively look at something.” read more here

MIA no longer: Military sees surge in identifications of servicemember remains

Associated Press 
By SCOTT MCFETRIDGE
Published: October 10, 2018

Officials believe remains of nearly half of the 83,000 unidentified service members killed in World War II and more recent wars could be identified and returned to relatives.

In this Sept. 18, 2018 photo, Dr. Carrie Brown, forensic anthropologist and director of the USS Oklahoma Project at the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) Identification laboratory, points to images on posters showing the names and photos of the victims of the USS Oklahoma, sunk by the Japanese in Pearl Harbor. NATI HARNIK/AP

BELLEVUE, Neb. — Nearly 77 years after repeated torpedo strikes tore into the USS Oklahoma, killing hundreds of sailors and Marines, Carrie Brown leaned over the remains of a serviceman laid out on a table in her lab and was surprised the bones still smelled of burning oil from that horrific day at Pearl Harbor. It was a visceral reminder of the catastrophic attack that pulled the United States into World War II, and it added an intimacy to the painstaking work Brown and hundreds of others are now doing to greatly increase the number of lost American servicemen who have been identified. It's a monumental mission that combines science, history and intuition, and it's one Brown and her colleagues have recently been completing at ramped-up speed, with identifications expected to reach 200 annually, more than triple the figures from recent years. read more here

Report: Pentagon weapons systems vulnerable to cyber attacks

Associated Press
By LOLITA C. BALDOR
Published: October 9, 2018

WASHINGTON — Defense Department weapons programs are vulnerable to cyberattacks, and the Pentagon has been slow to protect the systems which are increasingly reliant on computer networks and software, a federal report said Tuesday.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office said the Pentagon has worked to ensure its networks are secure, but only recently began to focus more on its weapons systems security. The audit, conducted between September 2017 and October 2018, found that there are "mounting challenges in protecting its weapons systems from increasingly sophisticated cyber threats." Pentagon officials have acknowledged for years that the department, the military services and defense contractors are under persistent cyber probes and attacks, including from state actors seeking to steal data to gain an economic or technological advantage. read more here

New Netflix series to tell Medal of Honor stories

By STARS AND STRIPES 
Published: October 10, 2018 

The stories of eight recipients of the nation's highest military honor will be told in the docudrama series "Medal of Honor" on Netflix. Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump) and documentarian James Moll (The Last Days) are both part of the project, which will be available on the streaming service starting Nov. 9. The eight-part series will feature interviews with eyewitnesses to battle and the families of Medal of Honor recipients, as well as re-creations. "Medal of Honor is the ideal collaboration for us," Zemeckis said in a Netflix statement. "James’ documentary skills combined with our live action techniques bring to a compelling light the important recognition of these brave individuals. We can not think of a better way to give back to the military community than by telling these incredibly heroic true stories.” read more here

VIETNAM VETERANS

California veteran to be added to Vietnam memorial

The Associated Press

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October 09, 2018

BAKERSFIELD, CALIF. 

A California veteran who died from health complications related to his time in Vietnam will be added to the state's Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The Bakersfield Californian reports James E. Williams' name is one of the three that will be added to the memorial.

The names will be unveiled in an event scheduled Saturday in Sacramento. Spec. Williams grew up in Lamont and joined the Army in June 1966. He died 50 years after his tour of duty in Vietnam from complications believed to be connected to exposure to Agent Orange, a chemical compound.

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Honor Flight: Valley veteran finds brother's name on Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Two siblings on the Central Valley Honor Flight got an opportunity they've waited for for years.
CBS47's Alex Backus has their touching story from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C.

SEE VIDEO HERE

Veterans laid to rest in Boulder City long after their deaths

Las Vegas Review-Journal
By Briana Erickson
October 9, 2018

It took the longest for the burial of Army veteran Lyle Prescott, who died in 1948. “He spent 70 years sitting on a shelf?” said 82-year-old Navy veteran Peggy Randle, wondering out loud how that could be. “A lot of us attend military funerals every week. Before this, these guys didn’t have anybody to claim them.”

A dozen veterans and one military spouse were laid to rest Tuesday long after their deaths, thanks to newfound “family” members who determined their unclaimed remains were entitled to be buried at the Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Boulder City. “We all remember the military recruiters saying, ‘If you sign up, we’ll take care of you the rest of your life.’ In fact, this event is providing that last step,” Fred Wagar, deputy director of the Nevada Department of Veterans Services, said at a Tuesday memorial service. “We say to them, ‘Welcome home. You are no longer missing.’” The remains of the veterans of World Wars I and II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War — all of whom made it home alive — had been in funeral homes for years after not being claimed by relatives. 
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Navy Veteran's home destroyed by fire

Navy Veteran and Family Temporarily Trapped When Fire Erupts in Chula Vista Home
Gardeners working in the area were able to help them jump from the second story to escape unharmed
By Christina Bravo
Oct 8, 2018

A family of four was home when a fire sparked in their Chula Vista house Monday morning, temporarily trapping them upstairs before they could escape.

The Chula Vista Fire Department was called just after 7:20 a.m. to the home on Caliente Loop, near Southwestern College and Chula Vista Hills Elementary School.

The initial call stated the family was trapped upstairs but the family was able to get out of the house before firefighters arrived, CVPD Battalion Chief Rob Nelson said.

Alexander Godat said he, his sister, mother and father, who is a Navy veteran, were in the house when the fire sparked in their home of about 20 years.
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Mar-a-Largo Business Buddies Documents Not Being Released

VA won’t turn over documents related to outside businessmen’s influence on department policy
Military Times
By: Leo Shane III
26 minutes ago

President Donald Trump, left, accompanied by then Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin, center, hands his pen to Isaac "Ike" Perlmutter, CEO of Marvel, right, after signing an executive order on accountability at the Department of Veterans Affairs on April 27, 2017. (Andrew Harnik/AP)

WASHINGTON — Veterans Affairs officials are declining to give members of Congress documents related to accusations that outside businessmen are unduly influencing department policy, citing legal ongoing disputes over the issue.

In response, the ranking member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee blasted the move as “an attempt to stonewall not only a member of Congress but the American public.”

At issue are concerns raised by a ProPublica report earlier this summer that identified three businessmen — Marvel Entertainment CEO Ike Perlmutter, primary care specialist Dr. Bruce Moskowitz, and attorney Marc Sherman — as key architects of a host of veterans policy decisions by Trump’s administration.

None of the men hold official government positions, but all three are confidants of Trump and members of his exclusive Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. Documents released by the news organization show frequent contact between the men and top VA officials last year, including discussions on policy matters and personal favors.
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Hurricane Michael Military News

Hurlburt to close as Hurricane Michael bears down on Florida
Air Force Times
By: Stephen Losey
October 9, 2018 UPDATE

A T-38 pilot at Tyndall Air Force Base prepares to evacuate his aircraft to avoid the path of Hurricane Michael Oct. 8, 2018. The evacuating Tyndall aircraft will reposition to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, and other locations around the country, and will return when the storm danger has passed. (Senior Airman Cody Miller/Air Force)

Tuesday update: Hurlburt Field in Florida announced Tuesday that it will close at 6 p.m. as Hurricane Michael — now strengthened to a Category 2 storm — continued to close in on the Gulf Coast.

All civilian employees and military service members at Hurlburt, except those in mission-essential positions needed to provide essential services, are excused from duty until further notice, the base said in a release.

The 1st Special Operations Wing commander, Col. Michael Conley, said in a Facebook post Tuesday that although conditions do not warrant a mandatory evacuation, personnel have the right to evacuate based on what they feel is best for them and the safety of their family.
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Hurricane Michael Packs 110-MPH Winds As It Heads Toward Florida Panhandle
NPR
Bill Chappell and Emily Sullivan
October 9, 2018
Heard on Morning Edition

FEMA is already on the ground in Florida; other federal agencies are also preparing to assist people in the storm's path.

The governor activated 750 National Guardsmen for storm response on Monday, on top of the 500 activated the day before. The Florida National Guard has over 4,000 more Guard members available for deployment, Scott said.

The NHC says some coastal regions can expect 8 to 12 feet of storm surge, as the hurricane's winds drive a wall of water onto the low-lying shore.
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