VA Claim backlog hit 915,000 on May 4, 2009

The question is, where were you when this happened? I'm talking to you Republicans choosing to remain silent as the problem grew and grew and they waited, suffered waiting and their families suffered, as Bush cut VA funding and Nicholson returned funds unspent. Where were you when they were being turned away from the VA with PTSD and suicidal, and then ended up killing themselves? Where were you Republicans out there claiming to care so much about the troops? Why were you silent? Why didn't you complain when men like John Mc Cain were voting against veterans and what they needed? Did you even pay attention?

I'm talking to you Democrats out there. Those of you who were more interested in protesting the occupation of Iraq, claiming how much you wanted to save the lives of the troops at the same time you did not utter a single word about what the living and wounded were going thru right back here? You are supposed to be the people caring more about the veterans in this country. You allowed Bush to make any claims he wanted about taking care of the troops and being "grateful' for their service at the same time he was stabbing them in the back and then you complained because they didn't know the truth.

And yes, I'm talking to the rest of you out there all so patriotic waving the flag on Memorial Day as you do on Veterans Day. Where are you the rest of the year when they are suffering? Are any of you writing letters to President Obama or Congress? State after state are cutting back their VA State budgets because of the economical crisis. Where are these wounded veterans and disabled veterans suppose to go when they need medical care and financial compensation so they can live their lives? The same lives they were willing to lay down for this country? Ever think, I mean really think about them?

President Obama has a lot on his plate right now and while his intension is to take care of our veterans, having proven that already with his budget increase, this is a crisis for them and will just keep growing unless you decide that the veterans of this country are worthy of you attention.

Read the following article and then watch the video below. Wounded and Waiting will show you exactly what kind of men and women we're talking about. They are not just numbers. They are our countrymen, our sons, daughters, brothers, sisters and neighbors.

Crisis at the VA as Benefits Claims Backlog Nearly Tops One Million

Monday, 01 June 2009

By Jason Leopold

During the past four months, the Department of Veterans Affairs backlog of unfinished disability claims from grew by more than 100,000, adding to an already mountainous backlog that is now close to topping one million.

The VA's claims backlog, which includes all benefits claims and all appeals at the Veterans Benefits Administration and the Board of Veterans Appeals at VA, was 803,000 on Jan. 5, 2009. The backlog hit 915,000 on May 4, 2009, a staggering 14 percent increase in four months.

The issue has become so dire that veterans now wait an average of six months to receive disability benefits and as long as four years for their appeals to be heard in cases where their benefits were denied.


Rep. Tim Walz, D-Minn., a member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, said during a hearing in March that the VA is “almost criminally behind in processing claims.”
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Crisis at the VA as Benefits Claims Backlog Nearly Tops One Million

Wounded And Waiting - watch more videos

Professional Development Resources Announces New PTSD Training Series

Professional Development Resources Announces New PTSD Training Series
Professional Development Resources PTSDContinuingEducationOnline, a nationally accredited provider of continuing education (CE) for psychologists, social workers, counselors, marriage and family therapists, and occupational therapists, has announced the release of a series of specialized continuing education courses addressing the diagnosis and treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in client populations of military service personnel.

Jacksonville, Florida (Vocus/PRWEB ) June 1, 2009 -- Professional Development Resources, PTSDContinuingEducationOnline has released five new online continuing education courses intended to give psychologists, social workers, counselors, marriage and family therapists, and occupational therapists the tools they need to assist individuals who are suffering from the sometimes debilitating symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The new curriculum deals with essential definitions and illustrations of the disorder, as well as treatments like cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), pharmacotherapy, group therapy, and family treatment. There are also special topics detailing the complexities of PTSD and substance use disorders and the vicarious traumatization often experienced by helping professionals.


According to the National Institute for Mental Health, PTSD is an anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to a terrifying event or ordeal in which grave physical harm occurred or was threatened. Traumatic events that may trigger PTSD include violent personal assaults, natural or human-caused disasters, accidents, or military combat. People with PTSD have persistent frightening thoughts and memories of their ordeal and feel emotionally numb, especially with people they were once close to. They may experience sleep problems, feel detached or numb, or be easily startled.

The National Center for PTSD identifies the symptoms as follows: "PTSD is characterized by a specific group of symptoms that sets it apart from other types of reactions to trauma. Increasingly, evidence points to four major types of symptoms: re-experiencing, avoidance, numbing, and arousal." Re-experiencing symptoms involve a sort of mental replay of the trauma, often accompanied by strong emotional reactions. This can happen in reaction to thoughts or reminders of the experience when the person is awake or in the form of nightmares during sleep. To qualify for a formal diagnosis, the symptoms must persist for over one month, cause significant distress, and affect the individual's ability to function socially, occupationally, or domestically.

"Veterans are returning every day with both visible and invisible injuries. Some of the most prevalent mental health conditions are marital distress, depression, anxiety, and substance abuse," says Leo Christie, PhD, CEO of Professional Development Resources. "With increasing numbers of returning service personnel and their families presenting with acute PTSD, health professionals today are highly likely to encounter individuals seeking help with the distressing and sometimes debilitating symptoms of this disorder. It is impossible to overstate the personal suffering and disruption experienced by veterans and their families. If the returning veteran has PTSD, every family member is feeling the effects. It is important for us as helping professionals to have the most up-to-date knowledge and tools to offer the specialized help they need. We all need this information."
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http://www.prweb.com/releases/PTSD/06/prweb2477624.htm

Reading man who helps injured soldiers now helping care for son

Reading man who helps injured soldiers now helping care for son wounded by city gunman
An Army Reservist who helps wounded soldiers cope with disabilities must now work with his son, who was shot three times in Reading.
By Dan Kelly
Reading Eagle


Master Sgt. Brian S. Thomas of Glenside is a soldier and a healer.

He has spent the past six years developing a rehabilitation program for wounded soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

On May 11, he got a phone call any father would dread.

His 23-year-old son had been paralyzed by gunshot wounds.

But it wasn't in a war zone. It was on the streets of Reading.

Nathan Thomas was hit in the left thigh, with the bullet missing all major blood vessels. A second bullet tore into his left elbow and came out near his shoulder.

A third bullet struck his abdomen, then passed through the center of his T-12 vertebrae, severing his spine and leaving him paralyzed from the waist down.

Nathan Thomas is recovering in a Philadelphia rehabilitation hospital where he is expected to remain until late June. Meanwhile, Brian Thomas is required to return to duty with the Army Reserve in Texas on Sunday.

He said he agonizes about leaving his wife and son behind, but said he also has to prepare his on-duty residence in San Antonio to be wheelchair accessible.

"(With) all this paperwork and the issues that accompany them, I really have a hard time trying to focus," he said.
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http://www.readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=141162

Connecticut Valley Hospital holding up PTSD research

Well, that is exactly what they are doing. Privacy issue? These were soldiers in the Civil War for heaven's sake! What if Vietnam veterans decided that they had "privacy issues" and would not participate in any of the PTSD research being done to help them? Did Connecticut Valley Hospital officials ever think of that? Why would they stand in the way of doing something potentially monumental in removing the stigma of PTSD? History has shown this wound down thru the centuries. The more information coming out about our ancestors and the history of this wound, the more the stigma of being a warrior will erode.


PTSD is a normal reaction to abnormal events. The men fighting in the Civil War walked among the death fields with their own countrymen, relatives fighting against relatives and dying among other American warriors with just their uniforms to separate them. This is important research and they need to release the records to help heal this nations veterans.

Researchers Want Access To Civil War Veterans' Health Records
By JESSE LEAVENWORTH The Hartford Courant
June 1, 2009
A group of researchers says the state's mental health agency is withholding information about a significant chapter in Connecticut history.

The researchers, who are compiling a book on the state's role in the Civil War, are seeking files from Connecticut Valley Hospital on veterans who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, known in the 19th century as "soldier's heart."

The conflict pits the historians' desire to tell complete stories of those Yankee fighters against the state's responsibility to protect patient rights, extended in this case to the living relatives of those long-dead soldiers.

"The reason that we're pursuing it, we're interested in the lives of these soldiers," said Matt Warshauer, a history professor at Central Connecticut State University. "Over the last 50 years, there has been a real shift in the study of war. It's moved from big battles and the strategies and the actions of generals and much more toward the average soldier. ... People have become tremendously interested in the lives of these soldiers."

How does a man process such a memory and carry on? Some could not. Combat veterans then — and now — suffered deep, sometimes incapacitating mental wounds.

"With all we have learned about PTSD, it makes it that much more relevant and fascinating" to study how the condition was treated 150 years ago and how Connecticut veterans and their families dealt with it, Warshauer said.

The effort to document those individual stories, as well as the extent of PTSD among state Civil War veterans, began last fall. Michael Sturges, one of the book's researchers and a graduate student of Warshauer's, was denied access to the files and told that he would have to get permission from living relatives of the former patients.
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http://www.courant.com/health/hc-civilwar-ptsd-0601.artjun01,0,4233562.story

State Flag Placed at Vietnam Wall to Honor Louisiana Veterans

State Flag Placed at Vietnam Wall to Honor Louisiana Veterans
Louisiana Army and Air National Guard
Story by 2nd Lt. Angela Fry
Date: 05.28.2009
Posted: 05.28.2009 06:37

WASHINGTON – A 1,200-mile journey through the heat of the southern days and the cool temperatures of the northeast, strapped to the back of a Harley Davidson, describes the final journey of a single Louisiana state flag. The flag was eventually placed at its final destination ... the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington.

A member of the Louisiana National Guard recently participated in the annual Run for the Wall motorcycle pilgrimage, individually escorting the flag in honor of the more than 800 U.S. Armed Forces members from Louisiana who lost their lives in the Vietnam War.

"I wanted to be able to do something special to honor veterans from Louisiana," said Staff Sgt. Perry M. Pee of Eros, La. "This is my first year to be able to make 'The Run' all the way to D.C. We spent the past year circulating the flag around the state collecting as many signatures of Louisiana veterans and current service members as we could."

"The trip was demanding," stressed the mechanic with the 527th Engineer Battalion in Ruston, La. "But I know that whatever difficulties we may have had, it's nothing like the ultimate sacrifice the Soldiers on The Wall made."
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http://www.dvidshub.net/?script=news/news_show.php&id=34238