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."
read more here
Personality Disorder to Deny Veterans Health Care

VA Announces Use of Standard Payment Rates for Some Non-VA Care

VA Announces Use of Standard Payment Rates for Some Non-VA Care

WASHINGTON (Dec. 16, 2010) - The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
announced today it will begin using Medicare's standard payment rates
for certain medical procedures performed by non-VA providers on Feb. 16,
2011.

"This regulation will have no impact on the Veterans we care for," said
VA Under Secretary for Health Dr. Robert A. Petzel. "VA will now have
the ability to better plan budgets and place more money into access to
health care for the Veterans that VA is honored to serve."

The new adjustment was made in federal regulations and will affect the
following treatments VA provides to Veterans through contracted care:
ambulatory surgical center care, anesthesia, clinical laboratory,
hospital outpatient perspective payment systems, and end stage renal
disease (ESRD).

Veterans who are eligible for care will continue to receive the
uninterrupted care they need and have earned. Non-VA doctors and
facilities will still get paid for services they provide to eligible
Veterans but at rates set by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services (CMS) Prospective Payment Systems (PPS) and Fee Schedules.
Existing contracts will not be affected and the rule allows for new
contracts using the new rates.

Savings of approximately $1.8 billion over five years will allow VA to
continue to invest in such innovative programs as a wearable artificial
kidney, home dialysis and expanding access through stand-alone clinics.

"Adopting CMS pricing methodology for these schedules and services will
allow VA medical centers to use their resources more efficiently to meet
Veterans' needs," said Gary Baker, VA's health administration chief
business officer. "The adoption of Medicare rates will help ensure
consistent, predictable medical costs, while also helping to control
costs and expenditures."

The pricing methodology changes are a result of a rule change to 38 CFR
17.56, the federal regulation that governs VA when paying medical claims
for Veterans treated in community facilities. The proposed rule was
published on Feb. 18, 2010 and was opened for public comment April 19,
2010. The congressional review period for the final rule begins Dec. 17
and lasts 60 days.

VA is providing written notifications to Veterans and non-VA providers.
As additional information becomes available, it will be posted to the
VA's "Non-VA Purchased Care" Web site, www.nonvacare.va.gov.

Bah humbug when politics takes over caring

Bah humbug when politics takes over caring

This is supposed to be the time of year when we honor the birth of Christ, yet we fail miserably at honoring his life. There is talk on some cable station (you know which one) claiming there is a war on Christmas and right now I really wish that were true. There should be a war on the way we “celebrate” Christmas.

I just came back from dropping off a comforter, blanket and some warm clothes because I drove by a local store with a sign asking for donations for the needy. It is a store we shop at but I never once asked them about their political views. I’ve asked about a lot of things but never really cared about who they voted for. Why? Because it really doesn’t matter since if they voted for the person I didn’t’ vote for, we’d both think the other one was wrong, yet we’d both still be in the neighborhood, trying to get by as humans. If they are asking for donations for the needy, they have to have good hearts to go along with great business practices. Isn’t that what is supposed to matter?

It also occurred to me that I don’t care who ends up with what I donated or if they hold a different political belief than I have. There is absolutely no assurance on this earth that I am right or they are. There is however great evidence that they are in need of help, have less than I do and according to Christ, we’re supposed to take care of them. I don’t want anything back from them and they will never know what I gave, have a clue who I am or be able to do any more for me than thank God a stranger cared about them.

We have seen everything reduced to politics. There was a time when people needing to see a doctor would either be able to pay for it or the doctor would work with them but those days long ago passed replaced by an insurance industry dictating who gets saved and who gets shown the door. It would have been a time when people would be ashamed to admit they didn’t want other people to be able to have insurance coverage, but now they wear their “I got mine screw you” attitude with pride much like Scrooge thought being a greedy wretch was a good thing. Some of these people are entering into the House in January and got angry when they were told they would have to wait for their own health insurance coverage to being and yes, funded by the tax payers they thought denial of their coverage was a good thing. I guess they think they are more deserving than the people they are taking an oath to serve.

We have seniors and veterans in this country who have not received a raise in two years. The $250 check to make up the difference last year and this year were voted down by Republicans yet they fought hard to make sure the rich received tax breaks. This also goes to show that being against every bill the people wanted was blocked until they got their own way for the sake of the rich.

There used to be a time when again, they would be ashamed of defending the rich to the point where the rest of us could just vanish off the face of the earth, but now they are proud of their dirty deeds. We can expect this from politicians since most of them do tend to bend the truth but when the regular people in this country take on their bad habits, we’re all in trouble.

Does a family stop being a family if they do not all vote alike? Do neighbors even know how someone thinks politically? Do kids care if their parents and their friend’s parents vote the same way? When you donate to the Salvation Army Santa do you care who gets the money and what political party they belong to? When you donate to a kid off the Angel Tree in your church, do you care anything above and beyond giving a kid without anything a gift at Christmas? When you donate blood do you think about if you will be saving the life of a Republican or Democrat, a gay man or woman, or does it matter more you will be saving a life?

When the body of a soldier returns home, do you only show up for the funeral or take off your hat as the hearse passes by only if you know how they voted and approved? Do you pray less for the family if you discover they are not in the same political party as you are?

I have great friends because we care about each other. We talk about our lives, our families but never talk about political views. None of that really matters above caring about each other as humans. When all is fair game in politics, we are all targets and nothing else matters.

So fight over if it is Happy Holidays or Merry Christmas because Santa was not in Bethlehem. Since most have forgotten what His life was supposed to mean in the first place, I doubt they really care at all anymore.

Vietnam veteran committed suicide in a VA medical parking lot

UPDATE

Police Digest: Identity of man who killed himself near Providence hospital revealed
01:00 AM EST on Saturday, December 18, 2010
PROVIDENCE

Police identify man who killed himself near VA hospital

The police have identified the man who committed suicide outside the Providence VA Medical Center Wednesday afternoon as David Petrucci, 63, of Cumberland.

Petrucci, a Vietnam veteran, was being treated at the medical center but did not have an appointment on Wednesday, according to a medical center spokesman. The spokesman would not say what he was being treated for.

Witnesses told the police they heard a gunshot and found a man lying near a car in the parking lot, bleeding from his head. A handgun was lying nearby.

Vietnam veterans’ groups contacted by The Journal said they were looking into the suicide but could not immediately identify Petrucci as a member of a veterans’ group.
Identity of man who killed himself near Providence hospital revealed


Veteran commits suicide outside VA hospital in Providence
5:25 PM Wed, Dec 15, 2010
Amanda Milkovits
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- A Vietnam veteran committed suicide in a parking lot outside the Providence VA Medical Center early Wednesday afternoon.

People inside the medical building at 830 Chalkstone Ave. heard a gunshot just before 12:30 p.m. and called the police, said VA spokesman Tom Antonaccio.

The police found the 63-year-old Cumberland man lying outside his vehicle in the parking lot, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot, Antonaccio said.
read more here
Veteran commits suicide outside VA hospital in Providence

Veterans in Chicago take lead on helping other veterans

Special Segment: Hope and Help for Veterans

Stacey Baca

December 14, 2010 (CHICAGO) (WLS) -- Service members returning home this holiday season, especially from Iraq and Afghanistan - may notice messages on billboards and bus stops. The Department of Veteran Affairs is reaching out to try to prevent suicide and help those with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Throughout Chicagoland, there is a push to help all veterans and men and women in uniform, especially those with PTSD. ABC 7 took a hopeful look at ways veterans and others are helping military members who need it most.

Brent Lewis is a Naperville restaurant manager and a Marine who served in Iraq seven years ago.

"I lost Marines ... it's hard to move on from that be positive with that," said Lewis.

He returned home with PTSD. In Naperville, loud noises made him duck behind corners and some odors triggered thoughts of the war. And then he met Dr. Laura Bokar.

"Brent was ready," said Dr. Bokar.

Dr. Bokar, who practices rapid resolution therapy, says rather than just listen, the therapist guides the process.

"It's a whole different focus, and again, the therapist is responsible. It's effect driven. That is what we're going to do, this is how we're going to do it, and this is where I'm going to get you. You don't have to think about how we're going to get there - that's my job," said Dr. Bokar.

For others, there is the spiritual approach. Sister Linda McClenahan, a decorated Vietnam vet and PTSD survivor, lived the pain of war.

"I lost God in Vietnam, completely. I didn't believe in God anymore. I was angry," said Sister McClenahan.

Now, Sister McClenahan, also known as Sister Sarge, leads free spiritual retreats for all vets living with PTSD. It's part of Mayslake Ministries in Lombard.
read more here
Hope and Help for Veterans

Homeless Navy Veteran still does right thing with found wallet

UPDATE

Job offers pour in for homeless veteran that returned wallet




A homeless veteran found a wallet and brought it to the police station because he knew it belonged to someone else. This is a story that may get you to think about our homeless veterans in a different way. His own kids won't get gifts from him because he has no money. He lives on the streets asking for help but never taking what is not given to him.

Homeless veteran finds, returns wallet filled with cash
Posted by Andrew Ryan, Globe Metro Desk December 14, 2010 10:00 PM
By David Filipov, Globe Staff and L. Finch, Globe Correspondent

Maybe it was the holiday spirit. Maybe it was because it was the right thing to do.

Or maybe it was a little bit of both that inspired Brian Christopher to perform a simple act of kindness.

The 49-year-old Navy veteran was walking near City Hall yesterday when something on the ground caught his eye. It looked like a comic book. Christopher, an amateur artist, picked it up.

It was a wallet with $172 in it. But no credit cards, license or any other identification.

What would you do? While you are thinking about that, consider this: Christopher is homeless. He has no income. He has three children, ages 14, 12, and 10, in Maryland. He really, really could have used the cash.

Instead, he brought the wallet to the closest police station, where an officer found a receipt inside with a name and telephone number. The police officer used that to track down the owner, who picked up the wallet. All the money was there.
read more here
Homeless veteran finds, returns wallet filled with cash

Dedicated to helping other veterans, thieves stole his equipment

Disabled vet ripped off by thieves

By Meaghan Smith

LEE COUNTY: A North Fort Myers man says a man he hired to do yard work stole the parts he uses to repair old cars and motorcycles to help disabled veterans get around. And we spoke to that man accused of stealing those items.

It's a sad day for disabled veteran Lenny Apichel.

"It makes it rough," he said.

The 67-year-old Vietnam vet builds three-wheeled bikes so the handicapped can ride. The do-gooder says he lives to help other disabled veterans.

"We help a lot of veterans out. We help the disabled out," he said. "A lot of fellows out there want to have fun like we can, so this is their way of getting around."

But thanks to the thieves, now he can't do that.
read more here
http://www.nbc-2.com/Global/story.asp?S=13672859

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."
read more here
http://uk.ibtimes.com/articles/92138/20101215/military-veterans.htm

"Police say maggots ate her alive" but husband finds mercy

Don't judge until you read this.

Man Gets Probation, Treatment For Wife's Death

A local man learns his sentence today for his role in the very disturbing death of his wife. Some may find the details of this story very graphic. Darrel White's wife Jorene was bedridden at the time of her death. Police say maggots ate her alive.

This is a rare case where everyone involved seemed to agree on the appropriate punishment - and it doesn't include any prison time. Darrel White will spend five years on probation and he'll start receiving mental health treatment at an inpatient facility immediately.
read more here
Man Gets Probation, Treatment For Wife's Death

120 disabled Veterans and their families are traveling to Walt Disney World in Orlando

Military Members and Veterans with Disabilities

Learn Life-Changing Skills

VA to Offer Educational Breakouts

WASHINGTON - This week more than 120 wounded military personnel,
disabled Veterans and their families are traveling to Walt Disney World
in Orlando for the 6th Annual Road to Recovery Conference. The
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is providing on-site counseling and
information about VA programs.

"VA is honored to work with our partners in the private sector and
Veterans service organizations to help America's heroes and their
families, particularly Veterans who are facing unique challenges," said
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki.

The week-long event is presented by The Coalition to Salute America's
Heroes and the American Legion.

VA will have counselors on site to provide one-on-one counseling. Other
VA employees will be available to provide participants with information
about health care and financial benefits available to injured military
personnel, Veterans and family members.

Participants will attend more than 40 hours of seminars, workshops, and
panel discussion devoted to enhancing personal relationships and
providing information on benefits, services, insurance, health care,
financial support and employment opportunities. Experts from
government, the private sector and other non-profits groups will also be
on hand to offer advice and guidance on resume rewriting, career
counseling and many more topics.

Representatives from the U.S. Olympic Committee's paralympic program
will be on site to discuss the new joint VA-Paralympic program for
disabled service men and women who may be interested in representing
their country as a U.S. Paralympian.

For more information about the Road to Recovery Conference, visit
www.saluteheroes.org , or contact Jose
Llamas, VA public affairs coordinator, at (202) 461-7549

Man lied about being a SEAL topped off with claim of having PTSD

There was a time when no one wanted to admit they had PTSD, now it seems as if this fraud thought it was a badge of honor like the claim about being a SEAL. He took advantage of a lot of people's good hearts and from this day on, they will question every veteran they meet because they trusted this impostor looking to "be more" than he was.

Man's military story turns out to be untrue
BY SCHUYLER KROPF
skropf@postandcourier.com
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Last week, Les Agro of Summerville told a story about being a Navy SEAL who'd taken part in the 1991 liberation of Kuwait. It was a tale he's convincingly spun for at least eight years.

On Tuesday, Agro admitted he's an impostor.

"I wanted to be more than I am," he said of the lie he's told to his family, the American Legion, a therapy provider and the newspaper. He did serve five years in the Navy, discharged as a petty officer second class, records show.

Agro, 43, was featured in a front-page Post and Courier story Monday about post- traumatic stress disorder and an effort to provide vets peace through horse-riding therapy. The interview took place on the Ridgeville farm where Leslie and Sidney Clark operate Horses In Service Ministries, a faith-based nonprofit that hopes to strengthen ties between PTSD victims and their families. Agro has a wife and three children.

During the interview, Agro, a barrel-chested man who wears his hair military-style short, spoke of the bond forged with comrades in combat, even becoming emotional about his experiences. He also claimed to have been wounded during the liberation of Kuwait.
read more here

Man's military story turns out to be untrue/

Florida school board meeting ends with gunman's self-inflicted death

Staring at Death: 'God Blocked the Bullet,' Fla. School Official Says
Dec 15, 2010 – 12:30 PM
by Lisa Flam

(Dec. 15) -- With a heavily armed ex-convict shooting directly at him, a Florida schools superintendent was prepared to die but said today he was saved when "God blocked the bullet."

"I was very confident that I was going to get shot. I wasn't pulling for it, but I was ready if that was going to happen," Bay City Schools Superintendent Bill Husfelt said today on ABC's "Good Morning America." "I knew where I would go if I were to pass away. I was very prepared for that."

The gunman, Clay A. Duke, opened fire on Husfelt at a school board meeting Tuesday night in Panama City, but nobody was hit. A security officer, Mike Jones, exchanged fire with Duke, wounding him. Duke, 56, then fatally shot himself with a 9 mm handgun, the only casualty of the violence caught on videotape.

"He was pointing right at me," Husfelt recalled on CBS' "The Early Show." "God blocked the bullet. I really believe that."

read more here
God Blocked the Bullet

School chief who tried to calm Fla. school board shooter in 'surreal' ordeal says faith helped



PANAMA CITY, Fla. (AP) — A 56-year-old ex-convict calmly held a school board at gunpoint and said he was seeking redress for his wife's firing before shooting at the superintendent at short range and then killing himself.

No bullets struck the superintendent, Bill Husfelt, who credited God for his escape late Tuesday. The gunman, Clay A. Duke, apparantly created a Facebook page last week that refers to class warfare and is laced with images from the movie "V for Vendetta," in which a mysterious figure battles a totalitarian government.

"We could tell by the look in his eyes that this wasn't going to end well," Husfelt later told The Associated Press.

As the Bay City school board was in the midst of a discussion Tuesday, Duke walked to the front of the room, spray painted a red "V'' with a circle around it on the white wall, then turned and waved a handgun. He calmly ordered everyone to "hit the road" except the men on the board sitting behind a long beige desk.
read more here
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/state/sns-ap-us-school-board-shooting,0,1838964.story

Patrick D. Deans: Orlando soldier killed in Afghanistan

Patrick D. Deans of Orlando was killed Sunday in Afghanistan. (U.S. Army / December 14, 2010)

Patrick D. Deans: Orlando soldier killed in Afghanistan
Spc. Patrick D. Deans, whose father is a corporal with the Orange County Sheriff's Office, was killed Sunday in the Kandahar province of Afghanistan.

By Gary Taylor and Susan Jacobson, Orlando Sentinel
7:59 p.m. EST, December 14, 2010

It's clear from Spc. Patrick D. Deans' Facebook page that he understood the danger inherent in becoming a soldier.

"A Veteran is someone, who at one point in their life, wrote a blank check payable to the United States of America for an amount up to, and including their life," Deans posted on his wall Nov. 10. "That is beyond honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer remember that fact."

A little more than a month later, Deans was one of six soldiers killed in Kandahar province, Afghanistan by a suicide bomber. He died Sunday, two days before his 23rd birthday.

Deans served in Iraq during his first tour of duty and was sent to Afghanistan after he reenlisted, said Butch Herdegen, 23, one of Deans' closest friends.

The only child of Patrick M. Deans, a corporal with the Orange County Sheriff's Office, and his ex-wife, Robyn Deans, of Seminole County, Deans grew up in east Orange County.

The family moved to Narcoossee in east Osceola County, where Deans attended Harmony High and played on the school football team. He moved back to east Orange with his dad and graduated in 2006 from Timber Creek High, Herdegen said.

read more here
Patrick D. Deans: Orlando soldier killed in Afghanistan

also another solider from Florida, Specialist Jorge E. Villacis, 24, of Sunrise, killed in same attack



Soldier from Sunrise killed in Afghanistan

Senate OKs GI Bill improvements

Senate OKs GI Bill improvements
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Dec 14, 2010 21:11:28 EST
In an unexpected drive toward the goal line, the Senate approved a long-delayed package of improvements in the Post-9/11 GI Bill, raising the possibility this legislation, once thought dead, would become law by the end of the year.

Friday is the target adjournment date for Congress, leaving little time for action. At the moment, GI Bill legislation is not on the schedule of measures to be taken up by the House this week, but the schedule is in constant flux.

Passage of the bill this year has been a high priority for veterans’ groups, especially Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, which has been complaining about congressional inaction on veteran-related bills.

Passed by voice vote, the bill, S 3447, makes some major changes in the year-old education benefits program — including added vocational and technical education to the covered classes — allows active-duty service members and their spouses to receive a $1,000 per year good allowance, and provides a living stipend to students who are enrolled in distance learning.

It also expands the types of duty by Guard and reserve members that qualify for benefits.

Most of the changes would not take effect until one year after the bill becomes law.

One of the major changes in the bill is the creation of less complex formula for deciding tuition and fee reimbursement for private institutions and for people taking graduate courses at public and private schools. Instead of setting a reimbursement cap for each state, based on the highest in-state rates for tuition and fees charged by a four-year public college or university, the bill would create a flat-rate cap for the entire U.S. of $20,000 a year for tuition and fees. In cases where tuition exceeds the $17,500, the existing Yellow Ribbon program, where a school and the VA make matching contributions to cover higher fees, would continue.
read more here
Senate OKs GI Bill improvements

Republicans Block $250 COLA Check Veterans, Seniors

We all know how hard they fought for the tax breaks for the rich. They fought so hard that unemployment, tax cuts for regular people and everything else could end because they wanted to make sure the rich got their tax cuts. If that was not enough to let people know they are don't care about us, then this should finally clear things up once and for all. They couldn't even let Veterans and seniors get a lousy $250 check to replace the cost of living we're not getting.

Republicans Block $250 COLA Check Veterans, Seniors

Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives voted down a bill to provide another $250 payment to Social Security recipients and disabled veterans. The payment is meant to replace a lost cost-of-living increase for 2011.

“I find it unconscionable that Republicans are blocking a little bit of help – $250 – for seniors and for men and women who risked their lives for our country, and at the same time Republicans are demanding a $700 billion tax break for the wealthy, millionaires and billionaires,” said Congressman Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan after the vote.

141 Republicans voted against H.R. 5987, the Seniors Protection Act, which would have given seniors, veterans, and people with disabilities who receive Social Security a one-time $250 payment in 2011.
read more here
Republicans Block $250 COLA Check Veterans, Seniors

Veteran ordered to pay back government over false claim

Surfside Beach man ordered to pay around $500,000 back to federal government

A Surfside Beach man was sentenced in federal court on Thursday for theft of government funds.

Frank C. Vass, Jr., 56, of Surfside Beach, was sentenced to 27 months imprisonment and 5 years supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $483,532.25 in restitution to the Veterans Affairs Administration and to the Social Security Administration, according to the U.S attorney's office in Columbia.

Evidence presented at the hearing established that Frank filed false claims and lied to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs about his physical condition by claiming that he was only able to walk a few steps at a time and required to remain in a wheelchair all other times.


Read more: Surfside Beach man ordered to pay

Vietnam Vet, Jacksonville Native Killed In Line Of Duty

Jacksonville Native Killed In Line Of Duty
62-Year-Old Deputy Shot During Domestic Violence Call In Mississippi
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A Jacksonville native working as a deputy in Mississippi is now a fallen hero.

Deputy DeWayne Crenshaw was killed in the line of duty Friday on a domestic violence call near Ripley, Miss.

Franklin Fitzpatrick, 26, who was arrested in the shooting of the Vietnam veteran, faces capital murder charges.

"He spent his life protecting his country and the public," said Denzell Sapp, Crenshaw's brother-in-law. "That's what he wanted to do. That's what he did."

Crenshaw's family said he did nothing but serve in his 62 years of life. He was awarded two purple hearts as a U.S. Army paratrooper in Vietnam. He worked as the corrections officer at a prison.

And most recently, he worked as a sheriff's deputy in northern Mississippi.
read more here
Jacksonville Native Killed In Line Of Duty

Iraq veteran shot by police suffered PTSD

Wife: Iraq veteran shot by police suffered PTSD

Dec 11, 2010 3:29pm

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — The wife of a Fort Carson soldier who was wounded during a confrontation with Army police says he had been sent home early from Iraq this summer after becoming suicidal.


On Sept. 22, Army police went to the home of Spc. Anthony Nicolas Jumangit, 23, at Fort Carson after his wife said he was threatening to cut himself with a knife. Officials said police shot him in the hand in self-defense after he allegedly advanced toward them.

Jumangit, of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, had repeatedly warned his supervisors that he didn't believe he was mentally fit to deploy last March after a close friend died during a combat tour that ended in 2008, his wife, Rebecca Jumangit, told The Gazette.

After he came home early in July, Jumangit complained that his antidepressant medication wasn't working, and he struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder so severe that he avoided driving and visiting crowded stores, she said.

"They just ignored him," she said.

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Iraq veteran shot by police suffered PTSD

Suicidal vet's standoff with police ends peacefully

Standoff in New Cumberland ends peacefully

NEW CUMBERLAND, Pa. (WHTM ) - A police standoff with a man who barricaded himself inside his home ended peacefully Saturday evening after several hours of negotiations.

Officers said the unidentified man in the home, near Wayne and 2nd streets, is a a member of the military and had threatened to commit suicide.
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http://www.abc27.com/Global/story.asp?S=13657838

Failure of 9/11 health bill could hurt NY clinics

(AP) -- The network of health centers providing free medical tests and treatment to 58,000 people exposed to World Trade Center dust faces a less certain future if Congress doesn't pass legislation aimed at helping victims of 9/11's toxic legacy.

Senate Republicans last week blocked action on a bill appropriating up to $3.2 billion for medical programs caring for people who fell ill after breathing in ash and pulverized building materials at ground zero.

The act would have guaranteed at least eight years of strong, even lavish, funding for existing health programs for 9/11 responders and other New York City residents exposed to the dust.

Thousands of people who have lingering respiratory problems, post-traumatic stress disorder and other ailments have been getting checkups, counseling, medication and other treatments at federally funded centers around New York City and its suburbs.

The centers, though, have perpetually seemed to be living on borrowed time. No law mandates that the programs must continue. Congress has chosen to fund them one fiscal year at a time, meaning there is no guarantee the money will be there a year from now.

"We don't know what the future holds," said Jeffrey Hon, World Trade Center health coordinator for the New York City Health Department.

Hon said there is no immediate danger that the services will end, but because there is no sustained budget, it is difficult to keep researchers and staff in the program or hire top medical talent.

Patients getting care never know for sure whether they will be able to turn to the same clinics for help a year down the road.
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Failure of 9/11 health bill could hurt NY clinics
http://www.cnycentral.com/news/story.aspx?id=553502

Monday December 13, 2010
Lame-as-F@#k Congress
Here's a tribute to a few Republican senators who find comfort and advantage in invoking the heroes of 9/11 but refuse to give them health care. (08:16)

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Lame-as-F@#k Congress
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