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GORDON DUFF: TIME FOR REAL LAWS TO PROTECT OUR TROOPS AND VETERANS
DOING NOTHING AT ALL WOULD BE A HUGE IMPROVEMENT
ALLOWING VETERANS TO DIE QUIETLY, BETTER THAN THE ABUSE
By Gordon Duff STAFF WRITER/Senior Editor
America has been at war for a decade. For most of the war, we financed massive corruption through cutting benefits to veterans, even destroying thousands of their files and through discharging wounded soldiers under the diagnosis of “personality disorder,” often brought on by a TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) or PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress) caused by multiple combat deployments. Billions of dollars were saved, stripped off the back of our soldiers and veterans as though they had been flayed prior to being crucified. Crucified. We have been doing this to our troops for a long time, but we really perfected the process during the Vietnam War. The “baby killers” and “drugged out vets” of Vietnam, damned by popular culture, movies, TV and newspapers, were denied medical care and disability compensation for decades. Recent estimates indicate that fewer than 800,000 of over 2.5 million Vietnam veterans are alive today.
All active duty military, which now includes most reservists and National Guard, along with vets from all wars, not just our most recent, need,not only legal protection but full redress of grievances. With the full weight of representing the interests of veterans falling on small, independent organizations and activists, Congress can no longer use the excuse that issues that aren’t pushed by the VFW or American Legion, are the only ones that count. Far too much time has been spent protecting our flag, often a tattered rag in front of a “post,” more “honkytonk” than veterans organization, while the things that need protection and honor, our vets, our soldiers, are tossed aside like human garbage. 
Joshua Kors, in The Nation describes the one of the problems with our current soldiers quite well;
According to figures from the Pentagon and a Harvard University study, the military is saving billions by discharging soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan with personality disorder.
In July 2007 the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs called a hearing to investigate PD discharges. Barack Obama, then a senator, put forward a bill to halt all PD discharges. And before leaving office, President Bush signed a law requiring the defense secretary to conduct his own investigation of the PD discharge system. But Obama’s bill did not pass, and the Defense Department concluded that no soldiers had been wrongly discharged. The PD dismissals have continued. Since 2001 more than 22,600 soldiers have been discharged with personality disorder. That number includes soldiers who have served two and three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“This should have been resolved during the Bush administration. And it should have been stopped now by the Obama administration,” says Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense. “The fact that it hasn’t is a national disgrace.”
Paul Sullivan and others, without fat paychecks, and large organizations recognized by Congress, heavily subsidized by, not only members but the public, do the real work. It has been this way for many years now. It is time for congress to recognize the difference between dedicated and patriotic supporters of our soldiers and groups who have gone the way of the dinosaur.
Another major issue is processing of veterans claims. We know that between 800,000 and 1 million disability claims are in processing, some for over a decade. Those of us who have worked with veterans know that the term “processing” is a blatant lie. Most claims have been denied out of hand with no processing at all. In many cases, the documents submitted by the veterans were destroyed. We have proof that not just a few, but many, maybe most DVA offices shred, “recycle” or burn unopened mail daily as part of a well organized policy. When former head of the VA’s prosthetics division, Ralph W. Eckard described to me the daily process of VA security personnel carrying bags of mail to an office to be destroyed, a process he witnessed for years, it became clear why my own documents disappeared, though sent certified mail, return receipt. 
Destroying mail, be it burning, or shredding or “recycling,” interfering with it reaching who it is intended for is a felony. With many subtantiated cases of this crime, not a single person has been arrested. However, the lives of thousands of veterans and their families have been destroyed, homes lost, educations denied, homelessness and suicides.
When Wisconsin veteran Keith Roberts complained of this to the DVA Inspector General, instead of investigating “shreddergate” they investigated him. He is in prison, has been there for 4 years now, convicted of having made an error on a document. After reviewing his case, it is clear that Roberts made no mistake at all. He was sent to prison in violation of due process through falsified evidence to shut him up. Everyone involved in his case, the DVA and US Attorney’s office, should be looked at carefully by the FBI.
In California, veteran Robert Rosebrock and a group of aging activists some vets of WW2, have spent 2 years protesting the misuse of land donated as a VA National Home. Regional VA employees have systematically divested billions in land meant for homeless vets, and there are thousands in the area, as tennis courts, public parks and “dog walking areas” for wealthy homeowner groups who have disguised themselves as veterans organizations. The vets have been assaulted by MP’s from a local reserve group whose Executive Officer has ties to local politicians, cited illegally by VA police (charges dropped) and now the ACLU has filed suit against the DVA for harassing veteran protesters.
Even the VA police force has been sickened by what has gone on, with several members expressing a desire to join the demonstrators. There is substantial evidence that the problems tied to the land give aways is part of a pattern of broad political corruption in West Los Angeles reaching to the highest levels of government, corruption currently under investigation by federal officials.
FIRST VIETNAM, THEN DESERT STORM, NOW WHAT?
The truth about the Vietnam War has never been told. After the war, literally millions of phony veterans came out of the woodwork, confessing to crimes, claiming heroic actions and many became spokesmen for the veterans community. Eventually most of them were discovered. Others, some with no combat at all or only a day or two “in the field” suffering from narcissistic personality disorders that have inspired the majority of our political leaders, picked up the mantle of speaking for the real combat vets, many of whom returned home to years of untreated PTSD, abuse by the VA, incarceration, homelessness and abuse, not by “hippies” but by 400 large American corporations that “unofficially” boycotted Vietnam vets for employment including and, perhaps especially, the Federal government.
If a veteran was arrested, his military service was presented to the jury as a reason for convicting him. If he were imprisoned, his service meant he needed to be kept in maximum security even for a minor crime. In a divorce or custody issue, military service made him an unfit parent. In a job interview, hiding any service in Vietnam was a must. Most employers, not a few but most, shunned Vietnam veterans as employees.
Some service organizations denied Vietnam veterans membership and openly worked against supporting their claims, worked against funding research on Agent Orange and PTSD and were more active in “vet bashing” than any anti-war group. Tens of thousands of disability claims were improperly processed by service organizations with the majority of disabled Vietnam vets receiving benefits that they qualified for at 21 years old at 55 or older. Tens of thousands of Vietnam vets have over 30 years of misdiagnoses for combat related physical and psychological disorders, most with multiple VA claims being lost or improperly denied. VA medical personnel, for decades, were “unofficially” directed to misdiagnose illnesses and do everything possible to leave no medical records that would support a disability claim. As we note, this is still being documented today.
Desert Storm veterans are dying at an alarming rate. What rate? Nobody knows. Individual units track deaths and come up with frightening figures. One of my friends, Lt. Col. Steven Avery, a Desert Storm veteran spent years getting his own claim for Gulf War Illness processed. Though a pilot during many key operations in that war, it took many years and massive documentation just to get the government to recognize he served at all. It seems that records of overseas service have been “expunged” from the service records of thousands of vets. 3 feet of flight manifests, dozens of photographs and hundreds of other military records were repeatedly ignored by the DVA in denying his claim, denying it until a local TV station went on the “warpath.” Do we have to do a TV show on every veteran who has been cheated? Do we have that many channels?
Gulf War Illness, like Agent Orange, PTSD or the radiation sickness of the “Atomic Veterans,” those exposed to nuclear radiation, was another of the denial games, games to save money, not money save the taxpayers, no, but money needed elsewhere, money to be paid for bonuses for mortgage and insurance executives, money to finance imaginary development projects in Iraq, money for the endless military “pork” projects, unneeded and defective weapons and equipment supplied in the districts of key members of Congress.
WHY IS A LAW NEEDED?
10,000 times as much money has been spent supporting the rights of a fertilized embryo, not a fetus, mind you, but cells that can only be seen by a microscope than to protect veterans. 100,000 times as much money has been spent to protect Israel from criticism, not attack, mind you, but from “criticism” than to defend our veterans. Do note that Israel is now the 4th most powerful nation on earth with hundreds, perhaps even a thousand nuclear weapons including hydrogen and neutron (enhanced radiation) bombs. They have a larger nuclear arsenal than Britain, France, India, Pakistan and North Korea combined. Veterans have real enemies, powerful ones. We call them “congress.”
Every day, a news story, a movie or a TV show depicts a veteran as a war criminal or angry and disturbed, a danger to society. This isn’t by accident. Is there a plot to depict American soldiers and veterans as undeserving? Of course there is. Look at our budget as slices of a pie. For those of you with a business education, call this a “pie chart.” If veterans or soldiers get a big slice, then defense contractors, bankers and the army of lobbyists all lose. Veterans only have mainstream service organizations to lobby for them, organizations long sidetracked into running bars and playing politics.
The “beltway gang” in Washington doesn’t just work for the “fatcats,” they also work to limit the influence of groups seeking competing entitlements. If you ever wondered why veterans are left out in the cold, this is why.
WHAT SHOULD BE ILLEGAL?
Doing harm to our soldiers and vets should be illegal. The primary violators today are the Pentagon, Congress and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Anyone who misdiagnoses an illness as a personality disorder should be jailed. Anyone who denies a veteran’s claim without very supportable cause is a criminal. Anyone who destroys, misplaces or misrepresents military records of any soldier or veteran for the purpose of denying benefits or damaging reputation is a criminal. Anyone disseminating inaccurate files or medical diagnoses should be held liable. There is reasonable cause to mistrust any military file, everyone knows that, everyone who has eyes to see and ears to hear.
The same laws that protect some American groups from “hate speech” need to be used to prevent TV and movies from systematic abuse of veterans and the military. Reporting corruption is one thing, continually depicting veterans as a criminal underclass is hate. We are so busy protecting minorities that we have allowed open warfare against those who defend us to go on for decades. It has to stop. It isn’t free speech, it is assault.
Every aspect of discrimination against veterans and our soldiers has to be criminalized. The next time a lawyer goes into a courtroom and tells a judge that someone shouldn’t be able to see their own children because they had served in combat, I want that lawyer arrested. If a judge uses military service as a negative factor in any ruling, no matter what the case, civil or criminal, that judge must be immediately removed from office and never allowed to practice law again.
DO WE REALLY NEED LAWS TO PROTECT OUR HEROES?
Few Americans can turn on a radio or television without hearing something about the holocaust or how Israel is threatened by massive lines of tanks heading from Senegal, Cameroon or Timbuktu. Nobody has time, with all that concern over that other country to wonder where our veterans are, why so many have died. America has been trained to look away, the only time we have is to cringe in fear over imagined terrorism, a fear that has made billions in profit for some and for others has looked awfully “convenient” and “suspicious.”
There is no ability to play global games, play oil, play chaos, play bully, without being able to send out the troops, often ill supplied, overworked, sick, send them around the world, too often with no clear purpose whatsoever.
When they come back, they are pushed away, blamed, criticized and eventually hated.
Yes, we need laws.
Short URL: http://www.veteranstoday.com/?p=26814
Posted by Gordon Duff on Apr 14 2010, With 0 Reads, Filed under 9/11, WarZone. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
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Gordon,
Yes we need real laws that protect our troops and veterans. What about the laws in place that are being violated by almost every state already. Read the USC 38 Title 5301 which is a protection ” Under any legal or whatever”. It is one of a kind that says it all under levy, seziure, attachment cant be taken. We do need protections yes…………What we really need is enforcement by congress and our legislature in charge of making all the laws that no one follows. By not following USC 38 Title 5301 we have disabled our disabled veterans twice…..and we are wondering why we have so many veterans that are homeless in government. Give me a break, its not different then waving a flag once a year at veterans day and going back to sleep.
Man, that’s a lot of legal stuff there, and I’m really tired. Can you decipher and translate that to me?
This is like asking someone in DC to enforce the Immigration Laws that are already on the books. It just isn’t going to happen.
Especially when the person that writes the Tax Code doesn’t pay his taxes, gets caught and says, “I didn’t understand that part of the law.” Come on Charly Wrangle…
Sory, Charlie Wrangel.
See, I told you I was tired.
Jeremiah,
you were supposed to explain it to me.
g
A Sign of Empire Pathology: More US military personnel have taken their OWN lives than have died in action
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=16916
Never mind that the Grim Reaper is having a field day with our troops returning from the ‘Wars for Wall Street and Israel,’ the BIG story, the ONLY story is when the USA should bomb Iran for our buddy Israel.
Congress will devote a few minutes to our vets on Memorial Day, as long as it doesn’t interfere with their groveling before Wall Street Banks and flying first class to Tel Aviv for ‘campaign’ donations.
76 Senators say “Israel First, to Hell with America!”
We all need to really LISTEN TO VETERANS and BE WILLING to ADVOCATE for individuals to access programs that do real good and
PUBLICLY “OUT” and repair the ones that waste funds and/or don’t provide what they claim, and/or do harm.
See a good program link and
see my comments under this FACE BOOK post:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Vice-Chief-of-Staff-of-the-Army-Peter-Chiarelli/108176744233
The Vice Chief of Staff of the Army, Peter Chiarelli Operation Proper Exit takes severely wounded Soldiers back to Iraq to allow emotional healing. The veterans returned to Iraq to leave the battlefield on their own terms and to see that their sacrifices were achieving change in Iraq. These wounded warriors are truly an inspiration and have lived the concept of Shoulder to Shoulder – No Soldier Stands Alone.
All so true. I know of the plight of homeless Veterans, as I once was one. But for the Grace of God, I made it out. What really breaks my heart is that so many of those Veterans become “conditioned” to life on the street, that they don’t even want to get out. Some of them have already tried the VA and found it too hard to navigate through. Many Veterans are lost to us. This should not be. I think most Americans have changed their attitude towards the Veterans, it is our government that has not, for the most part. Apparently there isn’t enough money to pay the Veteran for what he/she has sacrificed. PD? Give me a break!!
This country is under the control of a foreign power, the London Corporation. They take the gold and silver, melt it down and put it in a bank vault and issue paper money in return. It owns everything. Their representative Heinz Kissiinger said it most aptly, soldiers are dumb beast who implement state department policy.
Young men and women go into the army, some for patriotism, some because of simple economic necessity. It is wonderful to serve your country but it is time to make sure it is your country that is being served. Young recruits know nothing of life, all they know comes from a faulty educational system. It won’t change until enough young Americans decide no I am not going to do this. If I am going to represent my country it needs to in turn represent me.
It seems also that in every war something is introduced to the battle field like agent orange or now depleted uranium to make sure most soldiers won’t be needing much medical care. They will simply die off or commit suicide if not killed in battle.
When I went into the army back in the stone age I asked an officer if the test qualified me for ocs. He answered in a very sarcastic voice that seemed like half rage and half pity, oh yeah you are qualified. It was almost like I could read his mind, qualified to die or be maimed for a bunch of lies.
The standard retort you hear today as if it has been programmed into people is “thank you for your service.” Thank you for protecting our freedom. ” It is a little more complicated than this.
What we are seeing today is a horror story and I don’t know what the answer is.
Yes, and those who say “thank you for your service”, and then turn around and say you are not worth the money we are spending on you are absolutely the biggest hippocrits I have ever seen. The people that are taking our land in LA are the worse. If the United States suffers a severe attack, from anyone, watch how they change their tune. Where is the military?? Help us please. Protection is what we pay our taxes for. Makes me want to puke. As Gordon says: “and so it goes”.
VeteranAid.org is doing its part, but we need to come together as “The People” and hold our government responsible for honoring the sacrifice of service to this nation.
False hope and false promises are all our government is. Politicians and the well to do get richer and more powerful off our sacrifices and gullible belief of obtaining a brighter for ourself and our families.
I spent most of my career hungry and tired in adverse environments and facing the stressors of being a target to terrorists and demonstrators. What’s to show for it $800 a month and no other benefit to include the hope of being employed because I’m too old after a career of protecting ungrateful asses.
its aboute time our goverment said take care of your own country, if you try to take on our country we well fight you to the end, Bush rush right into war and he never sever, we are geting now were like V/Nam i have see Vet, take up to 30yr to get somethimg friend of mine took 11yr me luck out 2yr then with in 10yr went from 30% to 70% then 100% end the wars let them fight it out, then what country win, well come to us for trade with them, keep up the very good reporting and informing us about the up dates, Gordon Duff
extremely informative article, Gordon. I’ve been involved with the VA since 1995 and i’m currently service connected at only 30%. It is my understanding that on April 12, 2010 a decision was made regarding my claim that is now over a year old to increase it by 30% more. Now according to logic, that should add up to 60%. But i’m told according to VA math I would only be rated at 50%. If that’s the case then corruption does in fact exist and dire need of reform. Where do I or the rest of us veterans stand when it comes to getting a fair shake?
What a gift of gifts – we have lobbyied for years to get the needed Review in such instant cases; and finally HR 1701 was passed through the National Defense Authorization Reps Walter Jones, etc.
This provides the needed Review Board by the Secy of Defense in all cases where the Wounded Warrior/their families identify discharges, etc., where their service experiences have not been taken in acocunt
We are starting the first one here Faith-Based Volunteers – so when the government does the review our Precious Friends will have the back-up information if they want
G_d is good
blessings
The War Widows
As a now retired VHA physician (35 years of service in the field and in VACO) I would love to disagree with the Duffster, but in good conscience I cannot. Although I reached a high enough position for a humble reservist (my active war was the 56 Hungarian revolution; they sent us home from the predeployment training in the first Gulf after they pushede out Saddam from Iraq), and although I volunteer to organize care for TBI/PTSD veterans for free (well, OPM gives me an adequate pension), the System still wants me not to make noise, and not to rattle cages. So I promised not to use the VA email to bring up quality issues. Two respectful emails to top officials in DVA were not only unanswered, but my poor director was told i should not be bothering people. When I posted my Veteran for Obama sticker nearly 2 years ago, I did expect a Change. I still do!!! But the new people are so surrounded by people who lied about suicides, budgets, services for those with invisible wounds (STILL in place a year+ into the Adminisatration that promised CHANGE….) that those of us who worked for Reform at risk of our careers are not consulted, I have to assume our names have been smeared. I know people speak of me as a “loose cannon” even though in comparison with the Duffster I am a meek and mild person. (as only a hungarian revolutionary can be….) Still, I am thoughtful enough to be a full professor at a major university; yet the VA has complained to my chairman that I “interfere”: because I demanded proper treatment plans and questioned staffing levels for OEF/OIF. (It worked: there are treatment plans, and they know I am watching the staffing, and they are complying) Still, friends have been scared off and they wont talk to me.
What happened to some of my Vietnam veteran patients, now friends as well, has been so disgraceful, that any inconvenience I experience pales in comparison. I am glad I have been instrumental in changing some injustices, and that th e members of the SMI Committee fired three Christmas eves ago did a lot to right wrongs. But the system caught up with them, and reformists no longer speak up publicly. A year into an allegedly transparent federal system, and I have to say, we were freer under Jesse Brown and Tony Principi than under Shinseki: a good man isolated from the realities of the VHA and VBA and its dirty, self serving office politics.
Duff: its not the political parties, its institutional resistance to change, and naive oversight by well meaning but inexperienced people. So if ever you speak to Shinseki, introduce me. I stand nothing to gain. I want no office. But he needs to hear the truth and not the naive assumptions of his VA inexperienced staff and the self serving bureucrats who surround them, whom I know only too well from my VACO days.
Of course the spies who read this blog will readily figure out who I am, so I may have to invoke whistle blower protection if they interfere with my VOLUNTARY AND FREE activities on behalf of veterans. In which case you will be the firts to hear again. (Oh, its actually # high officials , one whom I know well, personally, who do not even have the decency of a courtesy reply!!!)
Thomas,
We greatly appreciate your input.
g
Thank you Thomas.
One of the issues and bothered the hell out of me before I retired in May of last year as dir of a co vets office, was the health condition and mental condition of troops being released from the military. What was worse was the reservists and national guardsmen that came back from Iraq or Afghan. It was, in many cases, like the military just wanted to get rid of them and the people they had interviewing this troops did not have a clue of what to look for and further more gave them wrong info. Good article Gordon!
Gordon: Is there anything in life that you like, other than yourself. You down about everything that comes up. You paint everything with the same brush that you don’t like. I have been a member of the American Legion for 59 years, and commander of the post three times, along with other offices. You are a veteran. How come you don’t belong to some groups? You should not be beating on an outfit that has done a lot for the Vets, whether you like them or not. They do a lot of good in other ways too. When you yak away with hell from your mouth, you are stepping on a lot of toes that do not deserve that treatment from you. If it is POSSIBLE for you to try other brushes, and say not all Veterans post are the same. You do not even know how much the posts do for the towns they are in, because all you do is make a big stink for all of them. I know you are talking about the National Headquarters, but it is no where near as bad as you say. You are a bitter man and it shows in your writing. I can read w/o seeing your name and know it is you. Then the next thing to come along is a minority following your same ole crap. I do admit that a lot of things are not right in DC. If I hated so much of everything as some of you do, I would get to hell out of the country. Can you all say you are patriotic? Makes me wonder. IMO—Bob Y
Bob,
Tell me what you have done about any of the problems listed? Stop your bitching and get off your ass and do something instead of whining. Y
OK, Bob,
When you read the reply below, from Dr. Horvath, who, essentially, states that you are totally off base, and his qualifications are worlds beyond your own, how, exactly, do you manage to keep a belief system that, not only fails veterans, but isn’t reality based?
g
I will say this Bob,….I am a life member of the VFW, DAV and Am Legion. I don’t go to meetings anymore because I got tired of listening to combat want a bees, war stories that got tiring and post commanders and zone commanders and up the chain that were constantly trying members to get more members. I also got tired of state commanders and their endless dinners and touring VA hospitals and not doing nothing for supporting claim slowness with the VA nor not one group spoke up in support of some type of small raise for disabled veterans.They also, for the most part had unskilled and untrained state or national service officers who spent more time traveling instead of helping veterans. Most of the time they acted extremely slow at helping veterans with their claims or veteran related issues. After two tours in Nam and a tour in the Gulf, I get a bit tired of these so called ‘heroes’ who never left Georgia or Hawaii and don’t have a clue what combat is but you look at their cap and all kinds of phony things and exaggerated ranks show up. The veterans organizations should get together when presenting issues to Congress, not baffle them or try to with garbage by separate veterans unit. Congress would be more impressed with an intelligent person representing ALL veterans. I don’t always agree with Gordon but hes been there, has experience in many endeavors and I value his opinions and judgements.
Thank you Sgt Major.
This is another well researched, fact based op-ed piece on a systemic approach of the DVA to cut its operating budgets by destroy legally binding evidence from genuine veterans in the adjudication process. Shredding, burning and losing applications & military/ medical documents has been going on since the late 1960′s.
Anyone who doesn’t believe that our government agency that promises to aid and comfort those who have in Lincoln’s words: “Borne the brunt of battle” has been guilty of malfeasance, fraud, perjury and either directly or indirectly impacting the lives of thousands of VN & Desert Storm veterans families has to be in denial or has an altered sense of reality.
I worked for one summer in an Iowa VA Hospital as an part time file clerk in the deceased veterans records department. What I found under the file racks floor bases were LIVE veterans files dating back several years. When I reported this to my supervisor, it eventually made its way up to the DIRECTOR of the hospital. ALL the file base covers were removed in our section and file after file were uncovered. When called into the Director’s office to explain why I thought it was endemic throughout the entire department, when I had discovered the first batch nearly two weeks earlier, I said: “I was an battalion message center clerk in an army aviation unit in the Mekong Delta. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out this has been going on for years.”
Needless to say, as a part-time file clerk, my contract for employment wasn’t extended. They gave it to an Air Force retired pilot who kept his mouth shut about all this.
You don’t know shit about what I have done on the local field to help vets. I can’t do more outside of this area as I am not able to travel, nor am I on someone’s payroll and can’t get where I would like to go. If I can help so many around here why could I not do the same elsewhere. If I could get to the ones that are having a problem with the VA, I know I can help them. After being in the VA system since 1952, I have learned where some of the problems are and have got to help a lot of Vets. I am proud of my service in Korea, and don’t go around beating up on this country like you and others do. You are a smart man, but I can’t go along with some of your ways or your beliefs. I don’t know why, but I have the feeling you are just causing more hate and discontent. Most vets will not even do what I am doing on posting here and telling it like they feel about some of your rants. Instead of just telling what you think or know about a subject, you have to add all the hateful remarks. That is what I don’t like to read from you. I know I don’t have to read it. The others do not add all the hate as you do. (thomas horvath) How to hell do we or you know if he is for real. Could be and also could not be a real doctor. This is the internet where are lies are like a flowing river. Good day, and this is IMO.– Bob
bob y.. for one thing your country desearves beating up on ….. in fact it desearves the very shit kicking it is getting right now…..after all the nasty deeds that the few have perpetrated on the planet….in the name of “America” … shame shame… unfortunatly all your people are suffering…. because the few guilty are hiding behind them and the cowardly laws that exist in your country….also can you please point out the hateful remarks that you are talking about ..or one anyway thanks….
Paul, crawl back in your hole; follow your almost mindless brain to its last dead end.
Hey Fran L., I’m flag waving again, even though I agree with Duffster and not Bob Y on this issue.
I Believe America can be fixed and wars brought almost to a standstill by one simple change to the Constitution. I’ll call it Constitutional Amendment 29:
“All veterans will be funded immediately for their service related injuries, the assumption is 100% disability unless outside the VA medical expertise is paid for by the government at the government expense.”
Under this Amendment 29 scenario, politicians couldn’t afford more wars.
what is wrong tom????? can’t take what you dish out ??? yah.
bob y is right about one thing … you are fighting what you can not win ….
I know that you will keep eating it though…..
so enjoy….
Vietnam Veteran says:
February 1, 2010 at 3:48 pm
Since the ‘fake’ Gulf of Tonkin incident that squandered more than 58,000 fellow soldiers (26 thousand names that are SUPPOSED TO BE ON THAT goddamned wall are NOT ON THAT GODDAMNED WALL!) and millions of indo-chinese / vietnames, and still is killing them, the U.S. has had a lot of innocent life’s blood on it’s slimy tentacles.
Same goes for the two nuclear weapons used in Japan. Another demo for Stalin that took innocent human, non-militarily important lives. Again, lies by the government to allow it’s gruesome mythical necessity to be perpetuated over the decades.
so yeah, I too have had enough of this unnecessary death dealing, and mass murdering, and war profiteering, and glorification of this horse shit under the ruse of national defense.
national defense? isn’t that what Hitler used as the excuse for the invasion of Poland?
enough is f’ing enough! truly, it is. And now IRAN is next
Bob Y.
You’d think after 59 years connected to the worthless American Legion you’s be a little smarter, I have been a member for almost 10 years myself.. Only because I was forced to inorder to deal with my case with the VA.. I was also advised to stay away from the VFW, and now after all this time I understand why.
If the Los Angeles American Legion is any example of the the rest of that anti veteran’s organization we are members of, talk about people that are dumber than a bag of rocks, The two people in the LA office in the federal building REALLY need to be replaced ASAP, totally usless, I found out about a year ago, that papers that I actually hand delivered to them sat on a desk for more than 4 months, and if I didn’t call to see what was new, they,d probably still be sitting there. And all they had to do was go down one floor to the VA and turn them in..
I tried to be an active member with the American Legion but I realized in a big hurry that all that group was good for was private parties and sitting around getting drunk on their asses.. Nothing there that showed helping the veterans that they say they are there for….
So sir, I dare you to check into the LA office and or even better FIX the problem befor you shoot your mouth off about how amazing the American Legion is there for the veteran. I also have friends all over the west that have had the same experiences that I have had..
I did two tours in Viet Nam, including Cambodia, with the 11th ACR as a combat engineer, and did,t sit on my ass in a rear area complaining on how bad the war was.
I’m also at present 40% service connected, and still waiting for the American Legion who was representing me to get me the increase I deserve.. Now I have a lawyer hired to make my case, I waisted 9 years because of the American Legion, Thank you very much …
Gordon,
Good job keeping us Veterans in formed.
Guys like Bob Y are so full of crap it blows my mind.. As I stated in my earlier responce to him, organizations like the VFW and American Legion, oh and Am Vets are a self serving joke., If they were doing such a great job helping veterans go through the process that the VA make a veteran go through, there wouldn’t be a 1,000,000 back log of cases… I know what I have been going through in the 9 years I have been dealing with the VA, so guys like BobY do not impress me at all.
I wish he could travel, and check out the American Legion Offices, better yet go undercover and try to file a claim, through the American Legion LA office. His tune would change…
As for the negitive things you cover, well if they were positive than you’s have good things to say.
Since I found this website, and follow it everday it has helped me find a compitent lawyer to take my case, and you keep me informed on the lates news and changes that are going on at the VA. Thank you Gorden for being someone that does care about veterans and not just shooting your mouth off like some others do.
Way to go Gordon. Everything you mentioned I personally was at the shit end of the stick on. I know you speak the truth. I remember when I got back from Nam where I was a armored cavalry scout and 9th and 5th ID Division recon at just 18 and 19 yrs old, I went to the VFW and asked for a membership. They told me I could not join because I was not in a real war. The same mo-fo WW2 vets were in charge down at the VA and laughed at me when I said I needed to talk to someone for my ‘nervous condition’ I had had since coming home from Nam. The WW2 vets had been my lifelong heroes, my father was a WW2 combat vet and so were 3 of my uncles. Even my grandmother was a WW2 vet, so I was really disappointed. Funny how those that hogged all the benefits while instrumental in seeing we Nam vets got none, tell us we are angry!? I fought the VA from 1972 till 2008 before I won my benefits and service connection. None, I mean zero of the big service orgs would help me in my appeals and some even helped the VA in screwing me! I did it all on my own and took it to the Board of Veterans Appeals in Washington representing myself before I finally won. The Regional Office and the VA hospital staff were complicit in destroying, altering and submitting false VA medical records to deny my claim. I asked the RO to compare my military records to the said incidents, and injures and wounds, and they said they will be glad to order them from St Louis for me to review. By the time the got to me after the regional office had them, my military record or assignments had be altered changing my MOS while in Nam to try to say I was not a Cav Scout but was a clerk in the rear! I pleaded with the big service orgs to help me correct this travesty of justice and the helped the VA cover it up!
So did 4 US Congressmen and 3 US Senators!
I was denied employment so often when I came home that I had to keep it a secret I was a Nam vet for the first ten years. When I finally did admit it, no one wanted to be around me or offer me a job except other Nam vets. I had it used against me in divorce court and custody of my son too. It was also told to a judge when I prosecuted a woman for trying to run me over with her car when I ran her kids off my property for trespassing and stealing, that I was a Nam vet with obvious “mental illness from the war”, and only imagined that she did that, so the judge let her off. We all were and still are labeled as ‘baby killers’, “drug users” , “drunks”, and so forth so they can avoid the truth and responsibility for cheating us.
It truly is a hate crime that has been perpetuated against vets since the 60′s. I have a hard time following your stories on Israel, although I am not saying it is not true brother, just hard for me to absorb, but this is so damn spot on it is as you were beside me my whole 37 years I fought the VA, corrupt politicians and brainwashed non-veteran public. Thank you for this. You are not angry, you just tell it like it is. Having said all that, let me say that Bob may be one of the good ones. I don’t hate him for being part of a generation that screwed all vets since. He was never screwed like we were Gordon, maybe he just can’t relate because it came much more easy to him in coming home and gaining benefits. Welcome Home brother and sister vets! “Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another” Face it, we fellow vets are all we have in supporting each other. Do not let them divide and conquer us. That’s what they want.
Thank you Cav Scout. Well said.
Tom First Cav Vet.
Cav,
We have the same life it seems.
g
What to hell is the matter with with you people. I have said many times things are wrong in this country. You all only read what you want to bitch about. The hateful words are the ones added to the American Legion you slam the hell out of. Robert,you are nothing but a tenderfoot with only 9 years in the VA system. You state you have been a member of the Leigon for 10 years only because you had to to get a claim in. You are full of crap on that statement, as all you have to be is a vet for the service. You could also go to the county or state service officer. All states have one and it is also free. (honkytonk”) than veterans organization). That from DUFF. Then others say the Legion is nothing but a place to get drunk and other such crap. Dope?? There were as many troopers in the hospitals in Nam with dope problems as there was wounded ones. How about that. Duff says how he is for the vets, then turns around and beats on the same for giving their opinion posting here. I’ve never seen so much crying in all the years I have had a PC. About everyone that post on here are fighting a battle that will be lost. Don’t forget that the majority rules and you all are in the minority and always will be. You don’t even look at the good that has been done for the vets, because you want to bitch. You are nothing more than a bunch of far left radicals in my opinion. The same thing was going on many years ago with the John Birch outfit and some others. I don’t care what you want to say to me, as I can come back and still give my opinion. Look at how some of you got hooked into that Wikileaks thing on what you call murder. That damn outfit does not show all of it and edited out the clips showing the RPG and rifles. You all fell for that BS. Then the stupid media puts the same crap on Nat. TV. I saw the stops for the edits the first time I looked at the video. It’s easy to do with the right equipment. Getting late so I leave with my opinions stated. Bob Y
Your points are well made in this post response – response. As Duff would probably tell you to his dismay, I’M NOT a far left radical. “London Corporation Mick” has flat out told me on this post I’m a Haifa Israelite. So you are right, there are some stupid brainless ones like Mick that respond here. But there are also some good stories.
Don’t give up. Keep posting. Duff’s a good guy who like many Vets has had actual experiences dealing with the DVA (and certain Veterans’ Service Organizations) that are not very pretty. That tends to color one’s outlook.
Look at my proposed Amendment 29 on this post and see if this makes sense to you and is something your Veterans Group can support.
Keep up the good work Bob Y, keep responding and remember there are a lot of angry men and women vets that need a focal point (along the lines of my Amendment 29) presented and supported by the big, influential groups like yours. If Duffster can stimulate that dialogue, more power to him.
Tom Army Vet
Bob…Service orgs are just like the military; lots of good people and a few bad people. In my VFW post we are mostly Nam Vets but still have two WW2 vets and we all respect and honor them. I do not like that you perpetuate the rumor that Nam vets are dopers. You say you got out in 52 so you have no personal knowledge of what did or did not go on in a hospital in Nam. I would venture to say no more than 2 or 3% tops used hard drugs. As far as pot, it is way less dangerous than alcohol. You were in Korea, and I was not, but I watched every episode of MASH, and according to MASH all you did in Korea was get drunk. That would be unfair and ludicrous to accuse all Korean vets of being drunks, and not right for you to accuse Nam vets of being half of us on dope. How can a person hump the bush everyday in the steamy jungles of Nam and be on dope? In my unit when the shit hit the fan anyone smoking pot was instantly wide awake and on point. The ones that were drunk, were still drunk when it happened and were a liability.
We all need to be part of the dialogue and help our brother and sister vets. We also need to vent to the only people that give a shit about the injustices at the VA and by the non-veteran public, and that is to other vets. Everyone had different experiences and needs to get it off their chests so they can move on. I do not whine, I speak truth to power. If something that was done unjustly to me can tip off another vet to look out for and guard against the same, then it is a good thing, wouldn’t you agree? I know you want to help all vets get everything they deserve and earned. I am also successful in my endeavors and am now 100% P&T SC. Now i want to use my experiences to help the new young warriors get well and attain the benefits they were promised and earned. It is therapy to me to welcome them home because we did not get a welcome home from anyone at all. I work practically everyday helping vets for zero pay or glory. I know you bob do the same. We have a mountain in common and a mole hill of differences.
Gordon is just a lightning rod and creates a forum for us to come together and discuss. I don’t blindly follow anyone or agree with everything he says no more than I would you. Being a fellow veteran is not political unless politics are used to cheat us. I am neither right or left, but when I speak to vets, politics take a back seat to it anyway. Come on Bob, lighten up and work with us here. We all are something very special. We are American Veterans and survivors of the most active and greatest military the world has ever known. It would be great if you would grant us your experience and knowledge. And I have to say that to the rest of you that Bob would likely be more helpful if you didn’t give Bob so much hell all the time. Everyone here is so busy defending there self, their particular war, or their generation, that I have not seen any of you devote any energy toward how we fix the problems with the VA we all agree needs to be fixed. I say it again: Do not let them divide and conquer us. United we stand!
Over the last year and a half I have completely submerged myself in 38CFR as it relates to Veterans Benefits. In my studies I have found repeat issues that I really think anyone that reads this wonderful e-zine should consider.
Rule of Law:
Exclusive of Vietnam Veterans and those before them the President and Congress has done an exceptional job in making laws to benefit Veterans. However, the ENFORCEMENT of these Laws is pathetic especially at the Regional Level. There is a tremendous amount subjectiveness, lack of training and quota mindedness amongst the front line, Regional Office, when it comes to properly adjudicating a claim. I say the laws are fair because Desert Storm, IEF, OIF, Veterans have the BITE of PRESUMPTIVE ILLNESSES that eliminates the need for a MEDICAL NEXUS. A medical nexus has been the silver bullet in the heart for many Veterans though the law clearly states that the threshold for proof of service connection is a “very low one” and if in doubt the benefit goes to the Veteran. For these Veterans all you need is “Boots on the ground” and a “current diagnosis of a presumptive illness.” This falls on rule 1117.
As far as Vietnam Veterans you got screwed and are continuing to get screwed. Look at the list of Presumptive Conditions as per Desert Storm, IEF/OIF Veterans and yourself. Hell war is war and if these so called Service Organizations were doing such a great job this list would not be so lopsided.
Vietnam Presumptive Conditions:
■Acute and Subacute Peripheral Neuropathy
A nervous system condition that causes numbness, tingling, and motor weakness. Under VA’s rating regulations, it must be at least 10% disabling within 1 year of exposure to Agent Orange and resolve within 2 years after the date it began.
■AL Amyloidosis
A rare disease caused when an abnormal protein, amyloid, enters tissues or organs.
■Chloracne (or Similar Acneform Disease)
A skin condition that occurs soon after exposure to chemicals and looks like common forms of acne seen in teenagers. Under VA’s rating regulations, chloracne (or other acneform disease similar to chloracne) must be at least 10% disabling within 1 year of exposure to Agent Orange.
■Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (Now Being Expanded to B Cell Leukemias)
A type of cancer which affects white blood cells. Currently, only chronic lymphocytic leukemia is a “presumptive” disease associated with Agent Orange exposure; however, on March 25, 2010, VA published a proposed regulation to establish B cell leukemias (includes chronic lymphocytic leukemia, hairy cell leukemia and others) as associated with Agent Orange exposure. Eligible Vietnam Veterans may receive disability compensation for other B cell leukemias when the regulation is final.
■Diabetes Mellitus (Type 2)
A disease characterized by high blood sugar levels resulting from the body’s inability to respond properly to the hormone insulin.
■Hodgkin’s Disease
A malignant lymphoma (cancer) characterized by progressive enlargement of the lymph nodes, liver, and spleen, and by progressive anemia.
■Ischemic Heart Disease
A disease characterized by a reduced supply of blood to the heart, that leads to chest pain. On March 25, 2010, VA published a proposed regulation that will establish ischemic heart disease as associated with Agent Orange exposure. Eligible Vietnam Veterans may receive disability compensation for this disease when the regulation is final.
■Multiple Myeloma
A disorder which causes an overproduction of certain proteins from white blood cells.
■Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
A group of cancers that affect the lymph glands and other lymphatic tissue.
■Parkinson’s Disease
A motor system condition with symptoms that include a trembling of the hands, imbalance, and loss of facial expression. On March 25, 2010, VA published a proposed regulation that will establish Parkinson’s disease as associated with Agent Orange exposure. Eligible Vietnam Veterans may receive disability compensation for this disease when the regulation is final.
■Porphyria Cutanea Tarda
A disorder characterized by liver dysfunction and by thinning and blistering of the skin in sun-exposed areas. Under VA’s rating regulations, it must be at least 10% disabling within 1 year of exposure to Agent Orange.
■Prostate Cancer
Cancer of the prostate; one of the most common cancers among men.
■Respiratory Cancers
Cancers of the lung, larynx, trachea, and bronchus.
■Soft Tissue Sarcoma (other than Osteosarcoma, Chondrosarcoma, Kaposi’s sarcoma, or Mesothelioma)
A group of different types of cancers in body tissues such as muscle, fat, blood and lymph vessels, and connective tissues.
Desert Storm Veterans
Illnesses VA Recognizes as Associated with Gulf War Service
VA presumes that specific disabilities diagnosed in certain Veterans were caused by their military service.
Medically Unexplained Clusters of Symptoms
For Gulf War Veterans, VA has recognized certain unexplained clusters of symptoms existing for six months or more as associated military service in the Gulf. The illnesses must have appeared during active duty in the Southwest Asia Theater of Operations or by December 31, 2011, and be at least 10 percent disabling.
Illnesses include medically unexplained clusters of symptoms that have existed for six months or more, such as:
■Chronic fatigue syndrome
■Fibromyalgia
■Irritable bowel syndrome
■Any diagnosed or undiagnosed illness that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs determines should be presumed to be associated with Gulf War service
Signs or symptoms of an undiagnosed illness may include:
■Abnormal weight loss
■Cardiovascular signs or symptoms
■Fatigue
■Gastrointestinal signs or symptoms
■Headache
■Joint pain
■Menstrual disorders
■Muscle pain
■Neurologic signs or symptoms
■Neuropsychological signs or symptoms
■Signs or symptoms involving the skin
■Signs or symptoms involving the upper and lower respiratory system
■Sleep disturbances
IEF/OIF Veterans
These Veterans get ALL of the above plus these:
Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom (primarily in Iraq) are military campaigns that are part of the ongoing Global War on Terror. Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) began in October 2001. Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) began on March 20, 2003.
OEF/OIF combat veterans may have been exposed to a wide variety of environmental hazards during their service in Afghanistan or Iraq. These hazardous exposures may cause long-term health problems. Hazardous exposures include:
■CARC paint
■Chromium
■Cold and heat injuries
■Depleted uranium
■Toxic embedded fragments
In a nutshell Vietnam Veterans are ONLY presumptive under Agent Orange Cancers. What about psychosis (PTSD)? I mean War is War right?
It is interesting that our MATES in England can get compensated up to $853,000.00 in a Lump Sum plus a pension for certain 100 percent disabilities. Yes “The Queen” loves her troops. http://www.veterans-uk.info/pensions/key.html
Did I mention that Health Care is free in England also?
We in the U.S. need an overhaul of the current way the V.A. does business. This organization needs more transparency similar to Social Security Administrative Law.
Regards,
Corey K. aka “The V.A. Slayer”
Coreyspr89@yahoo.com
Gordon, you are doing good. Keep it up on behalf of veterans. People like Bob Y only look for self-egnrandizement. There are a lot of vets helping vets in this nation. All from the heart, not for recognition.
VA benefits are not a given. You have to apply for them and prove your claim. It does take a little time, but once someone helps you traverse the maze of laws, you’ll succeed. The VA was created by Law to take care of veterans. It seems that they have forgotten that.
Gordon, people like you is what keeps them on the up and up,. They say you can’t fight city hall (the government), but sure as hell, you can fight a few skirmishers where it hurts. Its guerilla warfare, deja vu.