Don’t hear about these stories do you? Both of these indivduals are serving Federal time as they should be along with another VA employee in NY who helped himself to a few funds while mounds of paperwork sits on desks, floors, or making their way to a shredder. Talk about Stolen Valor. Maybe the solution here is that in order to work at the VA you have to stood in the line of fire and made the sacrifice to be better suited to the job of taking care of our veterans.

Randy,

Without really telling us, you know who advised you to do this. Was it a VA Employee, a Veterans Service Officer (VSO), a VSO representative, or a shit house lawyer?

Point: Once again you are someone pointing to VERY FEW news media articles and your own experience to make the case that MANY VETERANS SCAM THE VA SYSTEM while in the same breath you same most do not. Which is it?

Regardless, and once again without even having to make the response public, only you know who advised you to do this. If a VA employee report them to the VA/OIG their Hotline is online, if a Veterans Service Officer report them to whatever VSO they represent, or the country they work for, if a shit house lawyer then you should be listening to their advise anyway.

Randy you say "The VA should process disability claims the way the IRS processes tax returns. Screen for obvious red flags but approve nearly all then go back and audit later and nail the fraudsters with stiff fines or jail time. Watch the backlog clear right up"

Exactly what would the RED FLAGS for a VA Claim be Randy?

Beyond the advise to file a claim for something you know YOU personally were not service-connected for have you EVER filed a VA Claim? If you did than you would know that the VA already uses RED FLAGS to alert adjudicators of false claims. The very attitude within the VA system has been something that you evidently may appreciate. An attitude that every Veteran that files a VA claim is out to scam the government. It is an anti-Veteran attitude except to those Veterans who hold such an anti-Veteran attitude even if you do not work for the VA.

STOLEN VALOR CASES ARE EVEN FEWER IN NUMBER – RANDY

Is there fraud on a broader scale that does not involve Veterans well of course, but Randy note how few Stolen Valor cases there have been in comparison.

Randy, FYI, since passage of the Stolen Valor Act by Congress, the VA does prosecute anyone filing a claim that falls under the Act.

During the most current VA/OIG report to Congress ending September 2009, the OIG opened 219 investigations regarding deceased payee cases, fiduciary fraud, identity theft, and Veterans/widows fraudulently receiving VA compensation and pension funds. Eighty-two defendants were charged with crimes and court ordered payment of fines, restitution, and penalties amounted to $1,761,789.

However, these investigations ONLY included 8 "Stolen Valor" cases resulting in 7 defendants being charged and $314,284 in court ordered payment of fines, restitution, and penalties.

8 people, claiming making stolen valor claims for combat injuries, or service-connected disabilities they lied about. Randy. Do you know how many Veterans use the VA, and how many file claims each year. Look it up, but out of about 22 million Veteran (a decrease from 26 million due to attrition of the eldest and Vietnam Vets due to Agent Orange).

Don’t know about you Randy, but WE would call 8 very few Stolen Valor cases that sorta, kinda places the Stolen Valor Act in the same catagory as the Flag Amendment – BULLSHIT!!!

That is what Paul Sullivan means when he says we can count the number of Veterans commiting fraud against the government on two hands.

http://www4.va.gov/oig/pubs/VAOIG-SAR-2009-2.pdf [www4.va.gov]

If you really want to talk about the scumbags who bring dishonor and disgrace to America’s Veterans lets talk about the VA employees with an anti-Veteran attitude who shredded Veterans legitimate VA claims in what has become known as Shreddergate.

In comparison to the 8 Stolen Valor cases leading to recovery of $314,284, the VA/OIG investigated allegations of bribery and kickbacks to VA officials, bid rigging and antitrust violations in VA contracts, false claims for construction or pharmicuticals submitted by VA contractors, and other fraud relating to VA procurement activities. In the area of procurement practices, OIG opened 16 cases, made 7 arrests, and had $1,206,624,682 in fines, restitution, penalties, and civil judgments as well as savings, efficiencies, cost avoidance, and recoveries.

Randy compare a tax payer return of $1,206,624,682 from corporations scaming the American tax payer to a return of $314,284 bucks from people fraudulently claiming to be Disabled Veterans and what does that tell YOU?

The VA/OIG also investigated theft of IT equipment or data, network intrusions, identity theft, and child pornography. In the area of information management crimes, OIG opened 4 cases, made 4 arrests,and had $22,158 in fines, restitution, penalties, and civil judgments as well as savings, effi ciencies, cost avoidance, and recoveries. Randy, this was the only catagory of fraud against American Tax payers that was lower than Stolen Valor cases. However, let’s not forget the pharmaceutical companies who contribute big time to both political parties and fight hardest against healthcare reform.

Pharmaceutical Manufacturer Settles with Government

A major pharmaceutical manufacturer (not named but we can find out who) and its subsidiary have agreed to pay $2.3 billion, back to the American tax payer. The largest health care fraud settlement in the history of the Department of Justice, to resolve criminal and civil liability arising from the illegal promotion of certain pharmaceutical products. The subsidiary has agreed to plead guilty to a felony violation of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act for misbranding a drug with the intent to defraud or mislead.

A joint investigation was conducted by the VA/OIG, FBI, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) OIG, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Office of Criminal Investigations, DCIS, and U.S. Postal Service (USPS) OIG. The investigation determined that the company promoted the sale of the drug for several uses and dosages that the FDA specifically declined to approve due to safety concerns.

The company will pay a criminal fine of $1.195 billion, the largest criminal fine ever imposed in the United States. The subsidiary will also forfeit $105 million for a total criminal resolution of $1.3 billion.

http://www4.va.gov/oig/pubs/VAOIG-SAR-2009-2.pdf [www4.va.gov]

Ok, Randy now who do you say is really defrauding the American tax payer, corporate America or America’s Veterans?

I may be wrong, but I believe that this investigation against the drug company was in all fairness, balance, and to their credit, done on President Bush’s shift when Republicans controlled the VA.

That’s about as non-partisan a response that I can give.

Bobby Hanafin
The Mustang Major

Same as we told Ryan, I believe it would be more accurate to say, "MOST Veterans do not scam the VA but a FEW do." Randy.

The VA Inspector General’s own reports to Congress (the House and Senate Veterans Affairs committees) confirms that a FEW not MANY Veterans do scam the VA system.

I dont’ think anyone is saying that no Vet or more to the point VA employee scams the VA.

Now unlike Ryan (or Big D.) I don’t believe you to be among the far too many others holding up the backlog at the VA.

Yes, the VA is vulnerable to fraudulent claims, but is the problem of the scale you say it is when you use the word MANY Veterans scam the VA? Not according to the VA Inspector General across two administrations – Republican and Democrat.

For example using your logic Randy a misleading Media Headline out of Kentucky in July 2009 by the Washington Post called Probe Finds VA Vulnerable to Fraud the reporter used only one investigation at a regional office in KY to make such an outlandish claim that Many Veterans Scam the VA.

An investigation in the wake of a major fraud case involving the Department of Veterans Affairs regional office in Louisville has found that other VA offices around the country suffer security shortfalls that leave them vulnerable to the same type of alleged fraud. However, the review by the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General found no similar allegations of fraud, but its report warns that gaps in VA’s internal controls mean that "opportunities exist . . . to generate fraudulent large benefits payments."

This Randy is what I mean by even the FEW Veterans who do scam the VA can’t do so without VA employee assistance. VA Claims examiners have to cooperate in the scam for it to be successful. That means that as these scumbags help a FEW Vets scam the system, they are screwing the vast majoirty with legitimate claims.

Yes there is fraud within the VA system, but Randy HOWEVER you will find more significant fraud being done by VA employees such as VA managers handling construction contracts, and even claims processing than you will find among Veterans submitting claims. Even this above case highlights that fraud that was committed by Veterans in Kentucky could not have been possible without the inside help of a VA employee.

The government accused Jeffrey Allan McGill, a former veteran service representative at the Louisville VA office, of working with co-conspirators, including 11 veterans, to submit fraudulent claims for military-related disabilities.

Are we to assume that every Veteran Service Representative or VSO is like Jeffrey A. McGill, Randy? We don’t quite think so, nor should the vast majority of Vets filing claims, even for PTSD, be considered as scam artists.

You want to hear about scam artists tell you what I’m preparing a story now on how the Air Force is cracking down on Airmen trying to scam their way out of deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. That said I would NEVER say that every Airmen or Sailor vulnerable for deployment to Iraq or Afghansitan is trying to get out of it!!!

Anyway VSO McGill and co-defendant Daniel Ryan Parker, a former officer with the Disabled American Veterans service organization, are accused of falsifying documents to ensure that those claims were approved.

Are we to assume that every officer with the Disabled American Veterans, American Legion, or VFW, hell any  VSO is like Daniel R. Parker, we don’t think so. It is more accurate to say that a FEW VSOs or Service Officers are scumbags – VERY FEW!!!

More to the point, alarmed by the allegations, the VA’s inspector general began an investigation in May 2008, six months before the indictments. Investigators visited three VA regional offices (VAROs) that had issued an abnormally high number of large retroactive payments to veterans, which adjust amounts paid earlier and are considered particularly susceptible to fraud.

Investigators reviewed the files for 690 large retroactive payments made by the offices in Huntington, W.Va.; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Los Angeles between 2005 and 2008 but found no fraud.

Randy that was on the Republican’s shift when Republicans held top positions at the VA. Nothing has changed in this area since then. You and others can of course contact the VA/OIG and request an audit or investigation of your regional office or hospital if you suspect fraud. You are at liberty to do this anytime.

"These results mean we can say with 90 percent confidence that this particular type of fraud is unlikely to be occurring at the VAROs selected for review during the sampled period," said the IG report, which was released June 30.

Ok, now 90% is not 100% Randy, but it does means that FEW Veterans are attempting to scam the VA system, and even fewer are getting away with it. More on that below.

But the investigation found that the Veterans Benefits Administration, which oversees benefits and services for the VA, failed to provide enough guidance to regional offices on how to maintain accountability over its official date stamps, which could be used to falsify documents.

That Randy is a VA management problem not an excuse to cop an anti-Veteran attitude that most Veterans filing claims for PTSD or anything else are malingerers.

I worked for the Justice Department for two years adjudicating claims for U.S. citizenship. We also used date stamps, approval and disapproval stames, however the date stamps had nothing to do with vulnerability in approving or disapproving our case load. Hell, I worked in Fresno, CA, so Bro my case load was very heavy. Now you wanna talk about massive fraud – boom the Immigration Service or whatever it is called under Homeland Security now.

In VA management’s response to the IG report, VA said it has already issued instructions to regional offices on how to keep track of the date stamps. Once again how date stamps related to vulnerability to scam the VA system is not clear at all???

Regardless, VA adopted previous reforms after a scandal in 2001 in which employees at the Atlanta regional office generated about $11 million in fraudulent compensation claims.

Again Randy this involved VA employees at the Regional office not Veterans filing false claims. Meaning those employees went to jail for pocketing kickbacks on those claims or pocketing money on claims of Vets who did not exist. This too was when Republicans ran the VA. 

In response, VA began reviewing all retroactive payments of $25,000 or more. But that review was not designed to detect fraud based on altered documents, according to the IG report.

The report recommends that VA examine medical records before making large retroactive payments. "We believe that VBA will continue to be vulnerable to fraud-related activities concerning large retroactive payments if controls over the retroactive payment and review process are not improved," the report says.

The VA has adopted new procedures that will ensure that medical records are validated for authenticity.

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/08/AR2009070804055.html [www.washingtonpost.com] [www.washingtonpost.com]

Bobby Hanafin
The Mustang Major

good take down…..the fact the guy cant ID what outfit he works for is interesting….i think the whole purpose was the line about removing politics…..what a frigging moron.

YES!

Is living off of SSDI and a VA Compensation, the easy way to being rich and having all of life’s pleasures and bobbles at ones own disposal?

NO!

From most Veterans I’ve spoken with, who are collecting VA Compensation Bennies, their experiences very much mirror my own.

I first filed in 1986 and was denied, and again in 1989 and was denied yet again. In 1990, another Veteran gave me some valuable information, that no one within the VA would ever voluntarily pass along.

He stated:

“The corridors and passageways of the VA are un-navigable waters, and the Veteran is doomed to run aground and sink when they try filing on their own. You need someone who navigates these uncharted VA waters every day. Go to the DAV or any other Service Organization, and give your power of attorney to an NSO. Although I’d try the DAV first, as they’ve always seemed less politically motivated than either the Legion or VFW.”

I went directly to the DAV in Boston and did just that. It eventually took another 13 months before I finally got my hearing, and my DAV NSO in Boston was present, and while he could not offer direct testimony, he did ask me several leading questions, allowing me to better explain my case to the VA’s hearing officer. Six months later I received my decision and 50% Service Connected decision, and another five months before I received my first retroactive check.

This 50% rating was raised to 70% then dropped to 30%, and following the advice of my NSO, I kept on appealing my claim. In 2000 I filed for unemployability, my claim was reviewed and I received a rating of 90% Service Connected and 10% unemployablity for 100% P.& T..

After a hip replacement in 2001 and a shoulder replacement in 2005, I filed for my twelve month home care allowance. My 2005 request went unanswered for seven months. I wrote a letter to my regional VA office and asked where in the hell my allowance was, as these conditions were part and parcel directly related to my original claim, caused by the medication I’d been prescribed in heavy dosages,”PREDNISONE.”

The end of November 2005, I received a rather startling reply from the VA, stating they had found “Clear and Unmistakable errors in my claim, and from that point on, I have been rated as 100% Permanently and Totally Service Connected Disabled. ONLY because of information and questions provided by my original DAV NSO back in 1991.

That’s a grand total of NINETEEN YEARS of living life on the margin, building up one helluva mountain of debt, before finally receiving the compensation I should have been receiving since I first filed in 1986. Fifteen years after I gave my DAV NSO power of attorney to persue my claim.

If that’s living “High off the Hog,” then I’m the Goddamn Senior U.S. Senator from Massachusetts. EASY LIVING? BULLSHIT! I’m still paying down my mountain of built up debt.

However, whether it be 19 or 15 years of up and down, back and forth appeals is sure to washout any false claims. WHY? Living hand to mouth day by day and constantly in debt, the veterans with false claims, for the most part, see that it’s a life of deprivation and anguish, and basically drop off the face of the earth as far as their VA claims go, and give up on the process entirely.

While those whose claims are legitimate hang on and stay the coarse to its bitter end.

As for getting rich while on the Government Dole? It’s all pure 100% unadulterated grade A BULLSHIT!

Marc K.
US Navy/ US Army Retired/Disabled

I meant to say, "If he or she looks a decade or more younger than Veterans who have not been exposed to combat zones or combat chances are they may be a wannabe."

Bobby Hanafin

Was that a Navy Retirees organization or Navy vet organization you are referring to?

Regardless, what you say is more accurate than any of us who served during or in Vietnam want to know.

Not only do Vietnam Vets, especially those in-country or exposed to Agent Orange off shore while loading the poison ship board or in Air Force base in Thailand or whereever, die earlier than men and women in the general population of the same age group(s), but they age quickly in appearance.

POINT: If the Stolen Valor and Flag police really want to track down wannabe combat Veterans of the Vietnam war period hell that doesn’t take rocket science. All they need to do is get photos of the so-called hero. If he or she looks a decade or more older than Veterans who have not been exposed to combat zones or combat chances are they may be a wannabe.

I’ve gone to meetings with Vets who no shit served in Nam, and they did not necessarily have to have experienced combat. I went in the Army at 17 under Project 100,000 the dummy corps in 1969. I consider myself at least a decade younger than the earlier generation who went into Vietnam in the early sixties. When I met some of these gents at least 25 to 30 years after the war they looked old enought to be my grand-father. I staid in the Volunteer Armed Forces where weight standards and physical abilities were consistantly monitored and emphasized. I believe that the life style in the All Volunteer Force keeps even Vietnam vets looking younger than our compeers.

I still look at least 20 years younger than most Vietnam Veterans my age.

Bobby Hanafin
The Mustang Major

This lady is a Moron, Mortar Man.

Way to go Mortar Man, not only is Sharon not a moron you imbecile, but at least she has a real name.

Calling her a moron only makes what she says worth reading even more.

See this same anti-Vet Stolen Valor attitude spills over to attack not only Veterans seeking treatment at the VA but also their spouses and children.

You need to say something more intelligent and dignified than showing how dumb you are Mortar Man.

Challenge what the widow said Mort her message how frigging manly of you or anyone else to attack the woman. How many did you rape as you pillaged.

Belittle military widows and you deserve the Stolen Valor and Flag police coming after you military service dimwit!

Mustang Man

Yes, the VA is vulnerable to fraudulent claims, but is the problem of the scale you want to believe it is? Not according to the VA Inspector General.

For example using you logic a misleading Media Headline out of Kentucky in July 2009 by the Washington Post called Probe Finds VA Vulnerable to Fraud the reporter used only one investigation at a regional office in KY to make such an outlandish claim.

An investigation in the wake of a major fraud case involving the Department of Veterans Affairs regional office in Louisville has found that other VA offices around the country suffer security shortfalls that leave them vulnerable to the same type of alleged fraud. However, the review by the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General found no similar allegations of fraud, but its report warns that gaps in VA’s internal controls mean that "opportunities exist . . . to generate fraudulent large benefits payments."

Yes there is fraud within the VA system, but Ryan you will find more significant fraud being done by VA employees such as construction contracts, and even claims processing than you will find among Veterans submitting claims. Even this case highlights that fraud that was committed by Veterans in Kentucky could not have been made possible without the inside help of a VA employee.

The government accused Jeffrey Allan McGill, a former veteran service representative at the Louisville VA office, of working with co-conspirators, including 11 veterans, to submit fraudulent claims for military-related disabilities.

Using your logic Ryan are we to assume that every Veteran Service Representative or VSO is like Jeffrey A. McGill, we don’t quite think so, nor should the vast majority of Vets filing claims even for PTSD be considered as scam artists.

McGill and co-defendant Daniel Ryan Parker, a former officer with the Disabled American Veterans service organization, are accused of falsifying documents to ensure that those claims were approved.

Again, Ryan using your logic are we to assume that every officer with the Disabled American Veterans VSO is like Daniel R. Parker, we don’t think so.

More to the point, alarmed by the allegations, VA’s inspector general began an investigation in May 2008, six months before the indictments. Investigators visited three VA regional offices (VAROs) that had issued an abnormally high number of large retroactive payments to veterans, which adjust amounts paid earlier and are considered particularly susceptible to fraud.

Investigators reviewed the files for 690 large retroactive payments made by the offices in Huntington, W.Va.; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Los Angeles between 2005 and 2008 but found no fraud.

"These results mean we can say with 90 percent confidence that this particular type of fraud is unlikely to be occurring at the VAROs selected for review during the sampled period," said the IG report, which was released June 30.

But the investigation found that the Veterans Benefits Administration, which oversees benefits and services for VA, failed to provide enough guidance to regional offices on how to maintain accountability over its official date stamps, which could be used to falsify documents.

That Ryan is a VA management problem not an excuse to cop an attitude that most Veterans filing claims for PTSD are malingerers.
In its response to the IG report, VA said it has already issued instructions to regional offices on how to keep track of the date stamps.

VA adopted previous reforms after a scandal in 2001 in which employees at the Atlanta regional office generated about $11 million in fraudulent compensation claims.

Again Ryan this involved VA employees at the Regional office not Veteran filing false claims. Meaning those employees went to jail for pocketing kickbacks on those claims.

In response, VA began reviewing all retroactive payments of $25,000 or more. But that review was not designed to detect fraud based on altered documents, according to the IG report.

The report recommends that VA examine medical records before making large retroactive payments. "We believe that VBA will continue to be vulnerable to fraud-related activities concerning large retroactive payments if controls over the retroactive payment and review process are not improved," the report says.

The VA has adopted new procedures that will ensure that medical records are validated for authenticity.

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/08/AR2009070804055.html [www.washingtonpost.com]

Is there fraud on a broader scale that does not involve Veterans well of course, but not how few Stolen Valor cases there have been in comparison.

During the current VA/OIG report to Congress ending September 2009, the OIG opened 219 investigations regarding deceased payee cases, fiduciary fraud, identity theft, and Veterans/widows fraudulently receiving VA compensation and pension funds. Eighty-two defendants were charged with crimes and court ordered payment of fines, restitution, and penalties amounted to $1,761,789. These investigations include 8 “Stolen Valor” cases resulting in 7 defendants being charged and $314,284 in court ordered payment of fines, restitution, and penalties.

If you really want to talk about the scumbags who bring dishonor and disgrace to America’s Veterans lets talk about the VA employees with your attitude who shredded Veteran legitimate VA claims in what has become known as Shreddergate.

In comparison to the 7 Stolen Valor cases leading to recovery of $314,284, the VA/OIG investigated allegations of bribery and kickbacks to VA officials, bid rigging and antitrust violations in VA contracts, false claims for construction or pharmicuticals submitted by VA contractors, and other fraud relating to VA procurement activities.

In the area of procurement practices, OIG opened 16 cases, made 7 arrests, and had $1,206,624,682 in fines, restitution, penalties, and civil judgments as well as savings, efficiencies, cost avoidance, and recoveries.

OIG also investigated theft of IT equipment or data, network intrusions, identity theft, and child pornography. In the area of information management crimes, OIG opened 4 cases, made 4 arrests,and had $22,158 in fines, restitution, penalties, and civil judgments as well as savings, effi ciencies, cost avoidance, and recoveries.

Let’s not forget the pharmaceutical companies who contribute big time to both political parties.

Pharmaceutical Manufacturer Settles with Government

A major pharmaceutical manufacturer and its subsidiary have agreed to pay $2.3 billion, the largest health care fraud settlement in the history of the Department of Justice, to resolve criminal and civil liability arising from the illegal promotion of certain pharmaceutical products. The subsidiary has agreed to plead guilty to a felony violation of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act for misbranding a drugwith the intent to defraud or mislead. A joint investigation was conducted by OIG, FBI, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) OIG, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Office of Criminal Investigations, DCIS, and U.S. Postal Service (USPS) OIG. The investigation determined that the company promoted the sale of the drug for several uses and dosages that the FDA specifi cally declined to approve due to safety concerns. The company will pay a criminal fine of $1.195 billion, the largest criminal fine ever imposed in the United States. The subsidiary will also forfeit $105 million for a total criminal resolution of $1.3 billion.

Ok, Ryan now who do you say is really defrauding the American tax payer, corporate America or America’s Veterans?

I may not be able to spell worth a damn but I can surpass you or anyother right-wing nut in doing my homework.

Bobby Hanafin
The Mustang Major

Sharon L. Perry Agent Orange Legacy Children of Vietnam Veterans

Robert L. Hanafin
Major, U.S. Air Force-Retired

It’s easy to criticize a part of our population (Vietnam vets) that has been discredited by our government & their fellow countrymen, many suffering from PTSD, forced into seclusion because nobody wanted to hear what they had to say, and then were sick from exposure to agent orange which was denied for many, many years and now they are dying and/or have died.

Upstanding Sally, really, to target Vietnam vets, as you do, will probably further your career.

If you are the child of a Vietnam veteran, and you are ill and think your parent(s) service and exposure to agent orange might be the cause join us
http://www.agentorangelegacy.us or visit our support community http://www.agentorangelegacy.ning.com

Sharon L. Perry
Agent Orange Legacy
Children of Vietnam Veterans

You say that you are a recent Marine vet who now works for a major VSO. A few Veterans Today Editors and Writers prefer that commentators and respondents use their real name, but I can live with handles. Big D, or is it Ryan which is it?

AND there is no need to double post, your points are clear.

However when did you get out of the Marines and which VSO do you work for? My assumption is you work for AMVETS that is pushing its Stolen Valor Website? More power to you folks.

Are we to interpret your working for a major VSO to mean that Veterans for Common Sense (VCS) is not mainstream enough for you?

"I read B.G. Burkett’s Stolen Valor book and can report he is 100% on the money about Stolen Valor. However, he should have stopped there."

EXACTLY, he should have stopped with wannabes, however you are wrong in that Burkett is 100% on the money about Stolen Valor. Note that Burkett and his kind are NOT apolitical at all about who they go after (wink). When it comes to his partisan neo-conservative attack and focus on wannabe Veterans, they may or may not have been wannabes, but his "research" into wannabes is laughable.

Now I know that both my attacks on Stolen Valor and the partisan conservative approach used to exploit it are going to earn my military service a background review by the Stolen Valor police not because I filed a false VA Claim or claimed the Medal of Honor or Purple Heart and did not earn it, but because I question the political motivation, and bias of those who push Stolen Valor. Frankly, I place Stolen Valor in the same bullshit category as the friggin Flag Amendment that you clowns place more time, money, and effort on than fixing the backlog of claims at the VA.

"He’s absolutely wrong about Agent Orange and PTSD. His "research" is laughable."

For a recent Marine, your focus on Agent Orange and PTSD is admirable but Agent Orange is not the signature wound of 21st century wars, PTSD and TBI are.

"I’ve also spoken to him and firmly believe he’s bat shit crazy."

Well I’ve seen him speak but not spoken with him, I wouldn’t waste my time, but I wouldn’t go as far as to say he is or was bat shit crazy, Burkett and his kind know EXACTLY what they are doing, are good at it, character assassination politically motivated and prodomently on behalf of the Republican Party.

"At any rate, I can report first hand that PTSD and its effects on today’s veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are very real."

That is one thing we can agree on Ryan or Big D whoever you are.

"BTW, Maj. Hanafin, you should really address veterans issues from an apolitical perspective."

Nope, as a representative of a major VSO be it the American Legion, VFW, AMVETS or any of the other nationalistic flag amendment organizations you of all people should know that VETERANS ISSUES ARE POLITICAL ISSUES.

If VSO representatives do not treat Veterans Issues as political issues, we will never fix the back log of VA claims even if we do get the Flag Amendment passed through Congress, and expose everyone who files a claims with the VA as Frauds and wannabes. My God man just go to any American Legion or VFW club and listen to the war stories being told around the bar and bingo tables if we want to find wannabes, the only difference is they do not make money on their lies nor file false VA claims. The vast majority of Veterans filing claims with the VA are legitimate AND I have to strongly disagree with you that fraud is not rampant in the VA system or who’s fault is that – the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Are you telling us that the VA is not doing its job of screening out fake Veterans from real Veterans, bullshit, I worked for the VA for 4 years from 1973 to 1978 while in the Army Reserve after Vietnam. We closely scrutinized and monitored DD-214s, and it was just as hard for Vets to get into the sytem then as it is NOW. We never made more of the fake Veteran syndrome that has been blown way out of proportion to the number of real Vets filing VA claims today.

With an attitude like yours, your mainstream VSO is not going to get the backlog of VA Claims fixed, because YOU are part of the problems.

"You sound about as nutty at Burkett."

Well I’m bold and bad to the bone, but no one is as deceitful as B.G. Burkett. Where exactly in my mis-spelled article do I sould nutty to you? Which part or all of it?

"Also, isn’t there an editor anywhere on this site? Your writing needs help. At least try running spell check and rereading your work. I thought Airmen had edjucashuns."

Got me on that one Ryan, Big D, or whoever the hell you are. Cut me some slack, the Army only gave me a rubber stamped high school GED during Nam, I fooled them and Project 100,000 (Google it), for I was smarter than they thought I was even if I still can’t spell, I earned both a BA and a Masters degree or I would never have made Major in the Air Force. Yes I am edjucated, maybe not as much as you but at least I’m proud to use my real name on what I say or put on paper even if the Stolen Valor and Flag police come after me. What a joke!

BTW, there is a TV ad being run by the right-wing complaining about the national debt created by Neo-Cons over the past decade. It disgustingly depicts a group of elementary school children saying the Pledge of Allegiance to the National Debt. How come you Flag police are not all over that commercialization of patriotism?

Bobby Hanafin
The Mustang Major

Who are you? Which nationalistic VSO do your represent" The Legion, VFW, AMVETS?