Vietnam Veteran Charged with Falsely Claiming More Than $480,000 in Benefits
WBOY News
By Marisa Matyola, Producer
Updated: Jun 04, 2014
A Bridgeport man has been charged with falsely claiming his Veteran’s Administration (VA) disability benefits.
Thomas Cueto, 65, was charged with falsifying documents in order to enhance his benefits and fraudulently obtaining controlled substances from the VA. United States Attorney William J. Ithlenfeld, II said Cueto was indicted on one count of theft of government funds and nine counts of obtaining controlled substances by fraud.
Cueto, who served in the U.S. Army from 1969, to 1972, including time spent in Vietnam, was awarded disability benefits in 1999 for service-connected post-traumatic stress disorder. Since 1999, Cueto has collected more than $480,000 in VA benefits. The indictment returned Tuesday alleges Cueto of falsely claiming, on his Report of Discharge from the Armed Forces of the United States to have earned the following awards: a Combat Infantry Badge, Bronze Star with V-Device, Purple Heart and Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry and other misleading documents to show he was injured in combat.
read more here
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
Congress spaming public
2nd Lt. Daryn Andrews, Staff Sgt. Clayton Bowen, Staff Sgt. Kurt Curtiss, Pfc. Matthew Martinek, Staff Sgt. Michael Murphy and Pfc. Morris Walker according to news reports these 6 soldiers died looking for Bowe Bergdahl. Why Bergdahl was captured and held all this time is still a mystery. One of the recent stories, hopefully, to be demystified soon. As of right now Democrats are flooding emails with defending what President Obama ordered and Republicans are flooding emails attacking his decision. All of them end up in my spam folder and deleted. I grew tired of political emails a long time ago.
The families should be supported no matter how they feel and we should all be seeking the truth. That is something that isn't going to happen very soon. Aside from supporting them, the rest of us need to open our eyes to one simple fact members of congress have little interest in talking about. The simple fact is, if it is true Bergdahl walked away, then the soldiers looking for him would have known that but they searched for him anyway. That is what most of them are like. He was one of them and they didn't want to leave him behind. I bet they did everything to find him up to and including losing their own lives.
We have seen too many generations sadly look back on all the MIAs left behind. WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam and the Gulf War have left too many and we've been searching for all of them for decades. Families need to know where they are laid to rest and to close the mystery. Many of them were heroes and many more heroes tried to find them.
As for politicians, this is another election year but so far none of them have held themselves accountable for anything.
They use the troops just as much as they use veterans. They pretend they are coming up with solutions no one else has tried before and then claim they have all the answers for everything else while holding themselves up as above having to answer for anything.
The two biggest stories last week were about veterans and Bergdahl. Congress has yet to answer for either one of them. So Democrats and Republicans fill emails with spam so that we think they actually did something to get their jobs back, but the trouble is, none of them can tell us how to get lives back that were lost for what they failed to do.
The families should be supported no matter how they feel and we should all be seeking the truth. That is something that isn't going to happen very soon. Aside from supporting them, the rest of us need to open our eyes to one simple fact members of congress have little interest in talking about. The simple fact is, if it is true Bergdahl walked away, then the soldiers looking for him would have known that but they searched for him anyway. That is what most of them are like. He was one of them and they didn't want to leave him behind. I bet they did everything to find him up to and including losing their own lives.
We have seen too many generations sadly look back on all the MIAs left behind. WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam and the Gulf War have left too many and we've been searching for all of them for decades. Families need to know where they are laid to rest and to close the mystery. Many of them were heroes and many more heroes tried to find them.
As for politicians, this is another election year but so far none of them have held themselves accountable for anything.
They use the troops just as much as they use veterans. They pretend they are coming up with solutions no one else has tried before and then claim they have all the answers for everything else while holding themselves up as above having to answer for anything.
The two biggest stories last week were about veterans and Bergdahl. Congress has yet to answer for either one of them. So Democrats and Republicans fill emails with spam so that we think they actually did something to get their jobs back, but the trouble is, none of them can tell us how to get lives back that were lost for what they failed to do.
Acting VA Secretary Gibson Holds First Meeting with VSOs
Acting Secretary Gibson Holds First Meeting with VSOs
Follows Through on Top IG Recommendation
VA Contacts All Phoenix Veterans Identified in Interim Report, Will Announce Additional Actions This Thursday in Phoenix
WASHINGTON (June 4, 2014)– At his first meeting with the leadership of Veterans Service Organizations (VSO) as Acting Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Sloan Gibson today announced that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has reached out to all Phoenix Veterans identified in the recent VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) interim report.
During a breakfast discussion with the American Legion, AMVETS, Disabled American Veterans, Paralyzed Veterans of America, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and Vietnam Veterans of America, Acting Secretary Gibson outlined immediate steps taken to respond to the interim report, including announcing travel this Thursday to the Phoenix VA Health Care System.
“No Veteran should have to wait for the quality health care they have earned and deserve. The Inspector General confirmed we have real issues when it comes to patient scheduling and access, and we have moved immediately to address those issues in Phoenix,” said Acting Secretary Gibson. “The Department has now reached out to every Veteran identified by the OIG to discuss individual medical needs and immediately begin scheduling appointments. Getting this right is our top priority, and taking care of the Veterans in Phoenix is a good place to start. The Department will also continue reaching out to Veterans nationwide to accelerate their access to care, and that is the message I intend to deliver in Phoenix, and across the country.”
Last week, OIG released an interim report on patient scheduling and access identifying approximately 1,700 Veterans in Phoenix, Ariz., awaiting health care who were not currently in the scheduling system. After accounting for duplicates and those Veterans who declined to provide contact information, VA called all 1,586 individual Veterans identified by the OIG as of 6:00 pm on Friday, May 30. For those Veterans that VA could not reach after several attempts or who had not provided phone details, VA sent letters via US Mail. VA identified that roughly 725 Veterans of the 1,700 identified by the OIG wanted care within 30 days.
VA will schedule all Veterans requesting care at the Phoenix VA Health Care System. If the Phoenix VA Health Care System is not able to promptly provide care using VA providers, VA will identify providers in the community through the VA’s non-VA care program.
Follows Through on Top IG Recommendation
VA Contacts All Phoenix Veterans Identified in Interim Report, Will Announce Additional Actions This Thursday in Phoenix
WASHINGTON (June 4, 2014)– At his first meeting with the leadership of Veterans Service Organizations (VSO) as Acting Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Sloan Gibson today announced that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has reached out to all Phoenix Veterans identified in the recent VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) interim report.
During a breakfast discussion with the American Legion, AMVETS, Disabled American Veterans, Paralyzed Veterans of America, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and Vietnam Veterans of America, Acting Secretary Gibson outlined immediate steps taken to respond to the interim report, including announcing travel this Thursday to the Phoenix VA Health Care System.
“No Veteran should have to wait for the quality health care they have earned and deserve. The Inspector General confirmed we have real issues when it comes to patient scheduling and access, and we have moved immediately to address those issues in Phoenix,” said Acting Secretary Gibson. “The Department has now reached out to every Veteran identified by the OIG to discuss individual medical needs and immediately begin scheduling appointments. Getting this right is our top priority, and taking care of the Veterans in Phoenix is a good place to start. The Department will also continue reaching out to Veterans nationwide to accelerate their access to care, and that is the message I intend to deliver in Phoenix, and across the country.”
Last week, OIG released an interim report on patient scheduling and access identifying approximately 1,700 Veterans in Phoenix, Ariz., awaiting health care who were not currently in the scheduling system. After accounting for duplicates and those Veterans who declined to provide contact information, VA called all 1,586 individual Veterans identified by the OIG as of 6:00 pm on Friday, May 30. For those Veterans that VA could not reach after several attempts or who had not provided phone details, VA sent letters via US Mail. VA identified that roughly 725 Veterans of the 1,700 identified by the OIG wanted care within 30 days.
VA will schedule all Veterans requesting care at the Phoenix VA Health Care System. If the Phoenix VA Health Care System is not able to promptly provide care using VA providers, VA will identify providers in the community through the VA’s non-VA care program.
Blue Angels Turned Into Dirty Devils?
Blue Angels dived into porn, homophobia and harassment, study says
CNN
By Ben Brumfield
June 4, 2014
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Porn, homophobic jokes and dirty talk about women became common, Navy review finds
It says the team's commander called for more porn postings in squadron scheduling service
Raunchy practices were viewed as a way of building trust among Blue Angels, the study says
The Navy reprimanded the commander and gave anti-harassment training to team
(CNN) -- One of the nation's most prestigious teams of flying aerobats dive-bombed into the depths of sexual harassment and stayed there for at least a year, a new Navy study says.
Under the command of Capt. Gregory McWherter, members of the Blue Angels openly passed around pornography and flew with it in their cockpits during airshows. They cursed gays and spread dirty talk about women.
Their chauvinistic behavior turned the squadron into a hostile workplace, a Navy investigation into the shenanigans said. And McWherter not only tolerated them; he set examples of bad behavior and animated those under his command.
McWherter was reprimanded after a disciplinary proceeding this week and was previously relieved of his duties as an executive officer.
The 63-page document reads like a cross between the burlesque B movies "Hot Shot" and "Animal House," as it describes how the squad's Ready Room took on the atmosphere of a college fraternity.
The Blue Angels are the friendly face of the U.S. Navy and Marines and put on aerial stunt shows before live audiences across the country most every week.
The scandal has sullied their reputation and that of the military branches they represent, Navy investigators said.
read more here
CNN
By Ben Brumfield
June 4, 2014
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Porn, homophobic jokes and dirty talk about women became common, Navy review finds
It says the team's commander called for more porn postings in squadron scheduling service
Raunchy practices were viewed as a way of building trust among Blue Angels, the study says
The Navy reprimanded the commander and gave anti-harassment training to team
(CNN) -- One of the nation's most prestigious teams of flying aerobats dive-bombed into the depths of sexual harassment and stayed there for at least a year, a new Navy study says.
Under the command of Capt. Gregory McWherter, members of the Blue Angels openly passed around pornography and flew with it in their cockpits during airshows. They cursed gays and spread dirty talk about women.
Their chauvinistic behavior turned the squadron into a hostile workplace, a Navy investigation into the shenanigans said. And McWherter not only tolerated them; he set examples of bad behavior and animated those under his command.
McWherter was reprimanded after a disciplinary proceeding this week and was previously relieved of his duties as an executive officer.
The 63-page document reads like a cross between the burlesque B movies "Hot Shot" and "Animal House," as it describes how the squad's Ready Room took on the atmosphere of a college fraternity.
The Blue Angels are the friendly face of the U.S. Navy and Marines and put on aerial stunt shows before live audiences across the country most every week.
The scandal has sullied their reputation and that of the military branches they represent, Navy investigators said.
read more here
All States Not Equal on Veterans Care
Veterans Affairs Hospitals Vary Widely in Patient Care
Internal Records Show Facilities Such as Phoenix Have Far Higher Death Rates Than Peers
Wall Street Journal
By THOMAS M. BURTON and DAMIAN PALETTA CONNECT
Updated June 3, 2014
The Phoenix facility at the heart of the crisis at the Department of Veterans Affairs is among a number of VA hospitals that show significantly higher rates of mortality and dangerous infections than the agency's top-tier hospitals, internal records show.
The criticism that precipitated last week's resignation of VA Secretary Eric Shinseki has focused largely on excessive wait times for appointments across the VA's 150-hospital medical system.
But a detailed tabulation of outcomes at a dozen VA hospitals made available to The Wall Street Journal illustrates a deeper challenge: vastly disparate treatment results and what some VA doctors contend is the slippage of quality in recent years at some VA facilities.
Some of the discrepancies are stark, especially for an agency known for offering high-quality care in 50 states.
read more here
From 2012
All states do not treat this nation's veterans the same
Internal Records Show Facilities Such as Phoenix Have Far Higher Death Rates Than Peers
Wall Street Journal
By THOMAS M. BURTON and DAMIAN PALETTA CONNECT
Updated June 3, 2014
The Phoenix facility at the heart of the crisis at the Department of Veterans Affairs is among a number of VA hospitals that show significantly higher rates of mortality and dangerous infections than the agency's top-tier hospitals, internal records show.
The criticism that precipitated last week's resignation of VA Secretary Eric Shinseki has focused largely on excessive wait times for appointments across the VA's 150-hospital medical system.
But a detailed tabulation of outcomes at a dozen VA hospitals made available to The Wall Street Journal illustrates a deeper challenge: vastly disparate treatment results and what some VA doctors contend is the slippage of quality in recent years at some VA facilities.
Some of the discrepancies are stark, especially for an agency known for offering high-quality care in 50 states.
read more here
From 2012
All states do not treat this nation's veterans the same
Multi-tour Iraq Veteran's Life Saved by PTSD Service Dog
Shelter service dog is life saver for veteran
Philly.com
MICHELE C. HOLLOW
POSTED: Tuesday, June 3, 2014
It came down to an ultimatum from his wife. If Jason Haag didn’t find a solution for his Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), she was going to take the kids and leave.
After 13 years in the Marines, including multiple tours in Iraq, Haag was medically discharged due to PTSD. “After each tour, my PTSD grew worse due to injuries from being shot at and blown up,” he recalled. “I became chemically dependent on pain medications, and slept with a gun under my bed. I didn’t feel safe.”
“My wife’s ultimatum really woke me up,” he said. Prior to that, he had tried all kinds of therapy. Nothing worked. But Haag knew other veterans who’d had success with service dogs.
Haag wasn’t a dog person. But, he explained, “I was desperate. I Googled ‘service dogs,’ and four different organizations came up. One told me that I would have to wait between two and three years. They breed and raise puppies specifically for veterans and people with disabilities. I told them that I would be dead by then.”
Luckily, the next site on his list was K9s for Warriors. His wait time would be six months. “During that time, they called me every week to check on me,” he said. “At month five, I went down to their headquarters in Florida, and spent three weeks training with Axel, the German shepherd I was matched with. I knew caring for a dog was going to change my life. When I came home with Axel and saw the smiles on my kids’ faces, it was the best feeling. My kids, ages 11, 9, and 5, didn’t smile when they were around me. Now, they and my wife saw me as a changed person. Without a doubt, Axel saved my life.”
read more here
Philly.com
MICHELE C. HOLLOW
POSTED: Tuesday, June 3, 2014
It came down to an ultimatum from his wife. If Jason Haag didn’t find a solution for his Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), she was going to take the kids and leave.
After 13 years in the Marines, including multiple tours in Iraq, Haag was medically discharged due to PTSD. “After each tour, my PTSD grew worse due to injuries from being shot at and blown up,” he recalled. “I became chemically dependent on pain medications, and slept with a gun under my bed. I didn’t feel safe.”
“My wife’s ultimatum really woke me up,” he said. Prior to that, he had tried all kinds of therapy. Nothing worked. But Haag knew other veterans who’d had success with service dogs.
Haag wasn’t a dog person. But, he explained, “I was desperate. I Googled ‘service dogs,’ and four different organizations came up. One told me that I would have to wait between two and three years. They breed and raise puppies specifically for veterans and people with disabilities. I told them that I would be dead by then.”
Luckily, the next site on his list was K9s for Warriors. His wait time would be six months. “During that time, they called me every week to check on me,” he said. “At month five, I went down to their headquarters in Florida, and spent three weeks training with Axel, the German shepherd I was matched with. I knew caring for a dog was going to change my life. When I came home with Axel and saw the smiles on my kids’ faces, it was the best feeling. My kids, ages 11, 9, and 5, didn’t smile when they were around me. Now, they and my wife saw me as a changed person. Without a doubt, Axel saved my life.”
read more here
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Acting Secretary of Veterans Affairs is Sloan Gibson from USO
Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs
Acting Secretary of Veterans Affairs
Sloan D. Gibson was nominated by President Obama to serve as the Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and he was confirmed by the Senate on February 11, 2014. On May 30, 2014, Mr. Gibson was appointed Acting Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Prior to joining VA, Mr. Gibson served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the United Services Organizations (USO), which has been lifting the spirits of American Servicemembers and their families for more than 73 years. During his five years at the USO, net fundraising grew 90 percent, enabling dramatic growth in programs and facilities supporting our forward-deployed men and women, military families, as well as our wounded, ill, and injured Servicemembers, their families, and the families of the fallen.
Before joining the USO, Mr. Gibson spent more than 20 years in banking in Charlotte, NC; Atlanta, GA; Nashville, TN; and Birmingham, AL. In 2004, he retired from AmSouth Bancorporation, a New York Stock Exchange–traded corporation, where he served as vice chairman and chief financial officer. During his tenure as CFO, AmSouth was added to the S and P 500. Mr. Gibson also has a long history of service and leadership with a variety of nonprofit organizations. In 2002, Mr. Gibson chaired the United Way campaign in Central Alabama, which raised more than $30 million.
Mr. Gibson is the son of an Army Air Corpsman who served as a B-17 tail-gunner during World War II, later earning his commission in the U.S. Air Force. He is also the grandson of a World War I Army Infantryman who was wounded while serving in the 3rd Infantry Division at the Second Battle of the Marne.
A 1975 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, Mr. Gibson earned both Airborne and Ranger qualifications and served as an infantry officer in the U.S. Army. He earned a Masters in Economics from the University of Missouri in Kansas City and a Masters in Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Deputy Secretary Gibson and his wife, Margaret, have been married nearly 32 years. They have two grown daughters, Celia and Laura.
Acting Secretary of Veterans Affairs
Sloan D. Gibson was nominated by President Obama to serve as the Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and he was confirmed by the Senate on February 11, 2014. On May 30, 2014, Mr. Gibson was appointed Acting Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Prior to joining VA, Mr. Gibson served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the United Services Organizations (USO), which has been lifting the spirits of American Servicemembers and their families for more than 73 years. During his five years at the USO, net fundraising grew 90 percent, enabling dramatic growth in programs and facilities supporting our forward-deployed men and women, military families, as well as our wounded, ill, and injured Servicemembers, their families, and the families of the fallen.
Before joining the USO, Mr. Gibson spent more than 20 years in banking in Charlotte, NC; Atlanta, GA; Nashville, TN; and Birmingham, AL. In 2004, he retired from AmSouth Bancorporation, a New York Stock Exchange–traded corporation, where he served as vice chairman and chief financial officer. During his tenure as CFO, AmSouth was added to the S and P 500. Mr. Gibson also has a long history of service and leadership with a variety of nonprofit organizations. In 2002, Mr. Gibson chaired the United Way campaign in Central Alabama, which raised more than $30 million.
Mr. Gibson is the son of an Army Air Corpsman who served as a B-17 tail-gunner during World War II, later earning his commission in the U.S. Air Force. He is also the grandson of a World War I Army Infantryman who was wounded while serving in the 3rd Infantry Division at the Second Battle of the Marne.
A 1975 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, Mr. Gibson earned both Airborne and Ranger qualifications and served as an infantry officer in the U.S. Army. He earned a Masters in Economics from the University of Missouri in Kansas City and a Masters in Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Deputy Secretary Gibson and his wife, Margaret, have been married nearly 32 years. They have two grown daughters, Celia and Laura.
John McCain forgot about $22 million already spent on "new plan" for VA
What is John McCain up to?
While this may sound like a really good idea, it has been done before, way back in 2009 with a pricetag of $22 million!
Rural Veterans Access to Care Act
As for tuition assistance, McCain was against it before he got credit for it. Ask Jim Webb on the fight he had with McCain over the GI Bill.
Senate GOP presses new bill to overhaul VA
Stars and Stripes
By Travis J. Tritten
Published: June 3, 2014
WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans led by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., on Tuesday unveiled their plan to repair the troubled Department of Veterans Affairs health care system by weeding out wrongdoing and expanding access to private care.
The bill allows veterans to choose a private provider if they live far from VA facilities or have difficulty getting timely care. It also gives the VA secretary more leeway to fire senior executives and forces the department to set new punishments for employees who falsify records, according to McCain and co-sponsors Sens. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., Richard Burr, R-N.C., and Jeff Flake, R-Ariz.
The Republicans floated the legislation just a day after Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who caucuses with the Democrats, filed a wide-ranging VA reform bill that would also provides wider access to private care and more authority for the VA secretary to remove incompetent executives.
“Unlike Sen. Sanders’ bill, this addresses the root cause of the current VA scandal,” which is long waiting times for patients to receive care, and employee wrongdoing, McCain said.
The senators claimed their bill is more focused than Sanders’ legislation, which also covers physician hiring, facility leases, scholarships, software upgrades, cost-of-living assistance adjustments for servicemembers, tuition assistance and a raft of other issues.
read more here
While this may sound like a really good idea, it has been done before, way back in 2009 with a pricetag of $22 million!
VA Announces $22 Million for Rural Veterans
Peake: Down Payment on Expansion of Services
WASHINGTON (January 9, 2009) -- The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has provided $21.7 million to its regional healthcare systems to improve services specifically designed for veterans in rural areas.
"This special allocation is the latest down payment on VA's commitment to meet the needs of veterans living in rural areas," said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Dr. James B. Peake. "VA will take to our rural veterans the health care services they have earned."
Within the last year, VA has launched a major rural health initiative. The Department has already created a 13-member committee to advise the VA secretary on issues affecting rural veterans, opened three rural health resource centers to better understand rural health issues, rolled out four new mobile health clinics to serve 24 predominately rural counties, announced the opening of 10 new rural outreach clinics in 2009 and launched a fleet of 50 new mobile counseling centers.
The extra funding is part of a two-year VA program to improve the access and quality of health care for veterans in geographically isolated areas. The program focuses on several areas, including access to health care, providing world-class care, the use of the latest technology, recruiting and retaining a highly educated workforce and collaborating with other organizations.
More specifically, the new funds will be used to increase the number of mobile clinics, establish new outpatient clinics, expand fee-based care, explore collaborations with federal and community partners, accelerate the use of telemedicine deployment, and fund innovative pilot programs.
The new funds will be distributed according to the proportion of veterans living in rural areas within each VA regional healthcare system, called VISNs, for "Veterans Integrated Service Networks." VISNs with less than 3 percent of their patients in rural areas will receive $250,000. Those with population of rural veterans between 3 percent and 6 percent will receive $1 million each. And VISNs with more than 6 percent of their veterans population in rural areas will receive $1.5 million.
Special VA Funding for Rural Health
(By VISN number and VISN Headquarters)
#1. Bedford, Mass., $1 million
#2. Rochester, N.Y., $1 million
#3. New York, N.Y., $250,000
#4. Wilmington, Del., $1 million
#5. Baltimore, Md., $250,000
#6. Durham, N.C., $1.5 million
#7. Atlanta, Ga., $1.5 million
#8. Bay Pines, Fla., $1 million
#9. Nashville, Tenn., $1.5 million
#10. Cincinnati, Ohio, $1 million
#11. Ann Arbor, Mich., $1 million
#12. Chicago, Ill., $1 million
#15. Kansas City, Mo., $1.5 million
#16. Jackson, Miss., $1.5 million
#17. Arlington, Texas, $1 million
#18. Mesa, Ariz., $1 million
#19. Denver, Colo., $1 million
#20. Vancouver, Wash., $1 million
#21. Palo Alto, Calif., $1 million
#22. Long Beach, Calif., $250,000
#23. Lincoln, Neb., $1.5 million
Rural Veterans Access to Care Act
As for tuition assistance, McCain was against it before he got credit for it. Ask Jim Webb on the fight he had with McCain over the GI Bill.
McCain says the legislation is too expensive and has proposed his own version, which would increase the monthly benefit available to most veterans to $1,500 from $1,100. It would not offer the equivalent of a full scholarship.
The ad by VoteVets.org Action Fund, features Iraq and Afghanistan veterans noting that both McCain and President Bush oppose the bill. "McCain thinks covering a fraction of our education is enough," one veteran says. Another one, pictured recovering from head wounds, adds in a voiceover: "We didn't give a fraction in Iraq. We gave 100 percent."
737 Passenger takes control of plane in emergency
Air Force pilot helped land commercial 737 jet after pilot had heart attack
Capt. Mark Gongol was headed home to Colorado with his family when urgent calls for a medical professional - and a pilot - came over the plane's speakers shortly after takeoff from Des Moines.
Gongol helped safely guide the plane, with nearly 160 people aboard, to an emergency landing in Omaha. NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
BY SASHA GOLDSTEIN
Monday, June 2, 2014
What are the odds there was a nurse AND a pilot traveling on the same plane?
A U.S. Air Force pilot has come forward to tell his story of helping with the emergency landing of a Boeing 737 with nearly 160 people aboard after the plane’s pilot had a heart attack Dec. 30. Another passenger, nurse Lunda Alweiss, helped save the pilot’s life.
Capt. Mark Gongol and his family were flying from Des Moines, Iowa to Denver after spending the holidays with relatives, the 13th Air Support Operations Squadron assistant director of operations at Fort Carson told the Air Force Space Command public affairs unit.
Just 30 minutes into the flight, the B-1B Lancer pilot noticed the aircraft’s engines begin to idle and the plane began to descend, he said.
"Over the public address system; a flight attendant asked if there was a doctor on board the plane," Gongol told the AFSC. "A few more calls went out for medical professionals and the flight attendants were all hurrying to first class with their beverage carts and a first-aid kit."
read more here
Capt. Mark Gongol was headed home to Colorado with his family when urgent calls for a medical professional - and a pilot - came over the plane's speakers shortly after takeoff from Des Moines.
Gongol helped safely guide the plane, with nearly 160 people aboard, to an emergency landing in Omaha. NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
BY SASHA GOLDSTEIN
Monday, June 2, 2014
What are the odds there was a nurse AND a pilot traveling on the same plane?
A U.S. Air Force pilot has come forward to tell his story of helping with the emergency landing of a Boeing 737 with nearly 160 people aboard after the plane’s pilot had a heart attack Dec. 30. Another passenger, nurse Lunda Alweiss, helped save the pilot’s life.
Capt. Mark Gongol and his family were flying from Des Moines, Iowa to Denver after spending the holidays with relatives, the 13th Air Support Operations Squadron assistant director of operations at Fort Carson told the Air Force Space Command public affairs unit.
Just 30 minutes into the flight, the B-1B Lancer pilot noticed the aircraft’s engines begin to idle and the plane began to descend, he said.
"Over the public address system; a flight attendant asked if there was a doctor on board the plane," Gongol told the AFSC. "A few more calls went out for medical professionals and the flight attendants were all hurrying to first class with their beverage carts and a first-aid kit."
read more here
Congress delay, deny, till veterans die then distract
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
June 3, 2014
Last night as I was dealing with an abscessed tooth topped off with a sinus infection and medication, I was flipping through the 24 news stations when I came across what Rachel Maddow was talking about.
The subject was veterans and the public's inability to pay attention longer than a day.
VA problems still need congressional action, Shinseki resignation notwithstanding.
"Rachel Maddow points out that the resignation of Eric Shinseki as Secretary of Veterans Affairs did not solve the V.A.’s problems and Congress needs to take further action even as the Shinseki resignation has distracted the nation’s focus."
If you think the American public really cares about what it going on with our veterans, this shows they just can't pay attention very long.
The peak here was on Memorial Day and Friday when Shinseki resigned.
CNN just released a poll 6 minutes ago about how President Obama handled the mess at the VA.
Do they even really know what happened? Do they know how long it has been happening? Maybe they need to do a cable "reality" show so people pay attention but they really don't care or they would have known none of this is new.
Before Shinseki, most of us were outraged over Jim Nicholson and wanted him fired.
He resigned but nothing was fixed by spending more money yet holding no one really accountable, especially other members of Congress. James Peake 2007-2009 walked into this. "The VA's backlog is between 400,000 and 600,000 claims, with delays of 177 days. Nicholson in May pledged to cut that time to 145 days, but he has made little headway with thousands of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan returning home."
Where was all this outrage about our veterans seven years ago? Everyone was upset back then but that attention died just as the attention died again. Congress seems to have moved onto the latest scandal about Bowe Bergdahl and how questions about desertion need to be answered.
Most of us are a bit more skeptical since a true, honest hearing about the VA would require members of congress to explain their own actions and hold people accountable. Why, they are responsible for all the committees they sit on including Veterans Affairs. It is all false outrage. If they really cared they would have fixed all of this decades ago instead of doing what John Boehner admitted he was pushing for, privatizing the VA.
Around the same time the GAO found there was no accountability for claims processors.
The VA had claims going back 50 years that were "pending" with appeals going back to WWII as part of 800,000 claims and appeals. But with all this, this pretty much sums up how little things have changed in all these years.
If Congress really got serious on looking for accountability, they would have to admit what they failed to do all these years and that is something they just don't want to do. After all, it is easier to just cause a huge outrage, pretend they did something about it, until they can distract the attention of the press and drop the story.
Veterans deserve so much better from us but they will keep getting shafted leaving them to think delay, deny until they die is acceptable to the American people. I shut off the TV and cried.
Kathie Costos
June 3, 2014
Last night as I was dealing with an abscessed tooth topped off with a sinus infection and medication, I was flipping through the 24 news stations when I came across what Rachel Maddow was talking about.
The subject was veterans and the public's inability to pay attention longer than a day.
VA problems still need congressional action, Shinseki resignation notwithstanding.
"Rachel Maddow points out that the resignation of Eric Shinseki as Secretary of Veterans Affairs did not solve the V.A.’s problems and Congress needs to take further action even as the Shinseki resignation has distracted the nation’s focus."
If you think the American public really cares about what it going on with our veterans, this shows they just can't pay attention very long.
The peak here was on Memorial Day and Friday when Shinseki resigned.
CNN just released a poll 6 minutes ago about how President Obama handled the mess at the VA.
According to the poll, 58% say they disapprove of how the President's handling the VA scandal, with 37% saying they approve of Obama's actions.
The Veterans Affairs controversy has mushroomed since CNN first reported last November on allegations of alarming shortcomings within the VA medical care system that potentially have had deadly consequences in dozens of cases.
The most disturbing and striking problems emerged in Arizona last month, with sources revealing to CNN details of a secret waiting list for treatment. According to the sources, at least 40 veterans died while waiting for care at the Phoenix, Arizona, VA medical center.
Do they even really know what happened? Do they know how long it has been happening? Maybe they need to do a cable "reality" show so people pay attention but they really don't care or they would have known none of this is new.
Before Shinseki, most of us were outraged over Jim Nicholson and wanted him fired.
"Within months of taking office at the VA, Nicholson had to deal with a $1 billion shortfall at the agency, requiring the administration to appeal to Congress for emergency spending.
He resigned but nothing was fixed by spending more money yet holding no one really accountable, especially other members of Congress. James Peake 2007-2009 walked into this. "The VA's backlog is between 400,000 and 600,000 claims, with delays of 177 days. Nicholson in May pledged to cut that time to 145 days, but he has made little headway with thousands of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan returning home."
Peake promised to “virtually eliminate” the current list of 69,000 veterans who have waited more than 30 days for an appointment to get VA medical care. Such long waits runs counter to department policy, and a group of Iraq war veterans have filed a lawsuit alleging undue delays. He said VA plans to open 64 new community-based outpatient clinics this year and 51 next year to improve access to health care in rural areas.Daniel L. Cooper, a retired Navy Vice Admiral, Undersecretary for VA Benefits resigned in February of 2008. There were not enough doctors and nurses but the worst thing was Social Workers were being hired for mental health patients, in other words, to treat PTSD veterans. OVer in Little Rock Arkansas they were using veterans in human experimentation in surgery without telling them according to the VA Inspector General's report. The same report also released this.
conducted several HIV tests without patients' permission, filmed dementia patients without consent and destroyed records just before a federal audit. The report says the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences' internal review board, which oversaw the researchers, also failed to follow up to make sure researchers corrected the problems in several cases.
Where was all this outrage about our veterans seven years ago? Everyone was upset back then but that attention died just as the attention died again. Congress seems to have moved onto the latest scandal about Bowe Bergdahl and how questions about desertion need to be answered.
“He walked away. He walked right off the base,” Bergdahl’s old team leader, former Army Sgt. Evan Buetow, told ABC News Monday. “The fact of the matter is, he deserted us in the middle of Afghanistan to go and find the Taliban… People calling him a hero, people calling him this great soldier, it’s a spit in the face to the soldiers who were there… and more importantly it’s a spit in the face to the soldiers who died as a direct result of him leaving.”Congress jumped on this scandal just like Benghazi, since they can pretend they had nothing to do with either scandal.
Most of us are a bit more skeptical since a true, honest hearing about the VA would require members of congress to explain their own actions and hold people accountable. Why, they are responsible for all the committees they sit on including Veterans Affairs. It is all false outrage. If they really cared they would have fixed all of this decades ago instead of doing what John Boehner admitted he was pushing for, privatizing the VA.
Around the same time the GAO found there was no accountability for claims processors.
The VA had claims going back 50 years that were "pending" with appeals going back to WWII as part of 800,000 claims and appeals. But with all this, this pretty much sums up how little things have changed in all these years.
The VA's Office of Inspector General (VAOIG) has been conducting audits, or investigations, of a number of VA Regional Offices (VAROs). There are over 50 VAROs around the country, each set up to handle the claims of veterans in a particular geographical area.
The latest series of VAOIG investigations centers on charges that VARO administrators and employees deliberately falsified "timeliness" statistics sent to the VA's Central Office (VACO). This would be information that shows when a claim was received and how, with a documented timeline including date/time stamps, it moved through the process.
The first heads have begun to roll in this investigation. During the week of October 6, 2008, four employees at the New York VARO, including the Director, were placed on administrative leave. More accurately, they were removed from their positions awaiting the outcome of the investigation. Sources close to this investigation say that those removed, and others, were found to have been fudging the "timeliness" figures. And, there are allegations that documents, including paperwork essential to the claim process had been destroyed.
If Congress really got serious on looking for accountability, they would have to admit what they failed to do all these years and that is something they just don't want to do. After all, it is easier to just cause a huge outrage, pretend they did something about it, until they can distract the attention of the press and drop the story.
Veterans deserve so much better from us but they will keep getting shafted leaving them to think delay, deny until they die is acceptable to the American people. I shut off the TV and cried.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)