The Definition of “Veteran”
A veteran - whether active duty, retired, national guard or reserve - is someone
who, at one point in his/her life, wrote a blank check made payable to "The
United States of America", for an amount of "up to and including my life."
That is honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it. -- Author Unknown
NJ
Current events
This offer for life membership has been extended. If you are not a life member, take advantage of this special offer today.
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Health
Vietnam War veterans attacked by rare cancer linked to liver flukes
MercuryNews.co
Vietnam War veterans attacked by rare cancer linked to liver flukes
MercuryNews.com Tue, Nov 15 7:31 AM PST
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Initial VA Claims Backlog Reduced; Errors and Appeals on the Rise
(Washington, D.C.)—Vietnam Veterans of America recognizes that the Department of Veterans Affairs Veterans Benefits Administration has reduced the backlog of veterans’ benefits claims. “However,” said John Rowan, National President of Vietnam Veterans of America, “we assert this reduction came at a loss of accuracy.”
“This is evident by the fact that the claims appeals backlog has skyrocketed by 22 percent to over 307,700 appeals in the past three years. Furthermore, eighty percent of our cases brought before the Board of Veterans Appeals are won outright or returned to the Veterans Benefits Administration to be corrected. As a result, the veteran can wait for over five years for an accurate decision. To address the appeals backlog, it is imperative that the VA hire additional Decision Review Officers whose exclusive duties are to resolve appealed rating decisions at the VA’s Regional Benefits Offices,” said Rowan.
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Does PTSD Affect Vets Trying to Get Life Insurance?
According to a May 23 Military Timesarticle by Karen Jowers, an Army veteran and his wife said they were "shocked and saddened" when they learned he was denied life insurance because of his history of Post-traumatic Stress and depression. "There have to be a lot of veterans with this diagnosis," said the wife, who asked to remain anonymous as they continue the process of getting insurance through another company that specializes in life insurance for service members and veterans.
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Our new home (American Legion Fugle Hummer Post 65) under construction on Wernik Place in Metuchen, nj just of off main st.
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VVA, Veterans Victorious in Lawsuit
Over Military’s Chemical Testing Program
(Washington, D.C.)–– “Six and a half years ago, in an unprecedented legal action, Vietnam Veterans of America, along with San Francisco-based veterans organization Swords to Plowshares, joined with half a dozen veterans who ‘volunteered’ to participate in experiments that tested chemical and biological agents,” said John Rowan, VVA National President.
“Our law firm, Morrison & Foerster, was informed yesterday that a three-judge appellate panel in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals had affirmed an injunction ordering the U.S. Army to provide all former test subjects with any newly acquired information about the substances to which they were exposed and which might impact their health. The panel also concluded that the military still has an obligation to provide the test subjects with medical care.
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Special tribute to Vietnam War Veterans – 40th Anniversary of the end of the War
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2015/07/29/special-tribute-to-vietnam-war-veterans-40th-anniversary-of-the-end-of-the-war/
Link doesn't work, you must copy and paste into your browser.
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Legislation sponsored by U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Sarasota, to extend veteran ID cards to all former service members cleared the U.S. Senate Monday evening.
The bill now goes back to the House because the Senate version is not identical to the one House members passed 402-0 last month. But Buchanan’s office said the legislation is expected to quickly pass the House again and head to President Barack Obama for final approval.
Currently, only veterans with 20 years or more of service, or those who have a disability related to their service, can qualify for an ID card. Buchanan sponsored the legislation to make it easier for all veterans to prove their military service and avoid having to carry around their discharge documents.
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US agrees to pay millions for Agent Orange claims
WASHINGTON (AP) — Ending years of wait, the government agreed Thursday to provide disability benefits to as many as 2,100 Air Force reservists and active-duty forces exposed to Agent Orange residue on airplanes used in the Vietnam War.
The new federal rule, approved by the White House Office of Management and Budget, takes effect Friday. It adds to an Agent Orange-related caseload that already makes up 1 out of 6 disability checks issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
read more:
http://news.yahoo.com/apnewsbreak-us-pay-millions-agent-orange-claims-130025004--politics.html
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Agent Orange affecting children and grandchildren of Vietnam Vets
| Parkinson's Disease |
Parkinson’s Disease Awareness Month
Parkinson's Disease and Agent Orange Veterans who develop Parkinson's disease and were exposed to Agent Orange or other herbicides during military service do not have to prove a connection between their disease and service to be eligible to receive VA health care and disability compensation. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- |
Toxic exposure kills another US Marine
Toxic exposure kills another US Marine
… by Robert O’Dowd
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San Antonia Marine veteran exposed to toxic chemicals at MCAS El Toro died from multiple medical conditions linked to Agent Orange exposure.
(SAN ANTONIO, TX) – Dr. Bradford Ira Brunson (1950-2014), a Marine veteran and clinical psychologist, provided valuable service to veterans with PTSD and TBI died after a long fight with the VA on November 29th. The VA won this round; he died before his VA appeal could be heard.
Brad was an enlisted Marine who was exposed to toxic chemicals at Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, and possibly Camp Pendleton, and Marine Barracks, Naval Weapons, Seal Beach, CA.
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http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/04/30/utah-va-hospital-launches-inquiry-after-vets-dad-posts-photo-unsanitary-room-report.html
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HVAC Chair’s Statement on VA Restructuring
From a November 10 HVAC press release: “New plans, initiatives, and organizational structures are all well and good, but they will not produce their intended results until VA rids itself of the employees who have shaken veterans’ trust in the system. So far, VA hasn’t done that, as evidenced by the fact that the majority of those who caused the VA scandal are still on the department payroll. I’m disappointed that instead of fully embracing the new firing authorities Congress and President Obama gave VA as part of the “Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act,” the department has shied away from them and even added more bureaucratic red tape, such as additional appeals and interminable stints on paid leave. No one doubts that reforming VA is a tough job. But getting rid of failed executives should be the easiest part, not the most difficult.”
—Rep. Jeff Miller, Chairman, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- VA Has List of 1,000 Who Should Be Fired
In a November 10 The Blaze article by Peter Kasperowicz, VA Secretary Robert McDonald says he has a list of more than 1,000 people that could be fired from the VA, and indicated the department is slowly working through that list to see who should be removed.
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| As Reported in the Washington Examiner |
VA Fires First Staffer Under New Rules
According to an October 24 story by Mark Flatten in the Washington Examiner, a top VA official involved in the falsification of patient wait times was fired October 24. |
| As Reported byThe Pittsburg Tribune-Review |
VA Promotes Exec Who Covered Up DeathsAccording to an October 23 story in The Pittsburg Tribune-Review by Mike Wereschagin, the VA is promoting an administrator who advised against publicly disclosing a deadly Legionnaires' outbreak at its Pittsburgh hospital system, the agency told Congress. David Cord, deputy director of the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System since June 2012, will become director of the Erie VA Medical Center within 60 days, the VA informed Congress. The VA disclosed the Legionnaires' outbreak that killed at least 6 and sickened at least 16 others on Nov. 16, 2012 — two days after Cord told a VA spokesman not to alert the public about it, according to an internal email from the spokesman which was obtained as part of a Tribune-Review investigation. |
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According to an October 6 Stars and Stripes article by Heath Druzin, employees of the beleaguered Phoenix VA health care system say many of the problems that led to a nationwide scandal still plague the system, five months after revelations of patients dying on secret wait lists, falsified data, and a toxic culture. Senior leaders directly implicated in the wrongdoing — and widely blamed for creating a toxic workplace culture — continue to draw their salaries.
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VA Adds 22 Ships to Vietnam Ships List
The VA has recently updated the list of ships that operated in Vietnam to add 22 new ships. The list can help Vietnam-era veterans find out if they qualify for presumption of Agent Orange exposure when seeking disability compensation for certain related diseases.
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New Rules May Allow Benefits Long Denied to Vietnam-Era Veterans
----------------------------------------------- Giving Vietnam Veterans a Second Chance to Come Home
http://news.yahoo.com/giving-vietnam-veterans-second-chance-come-home-175700549.html
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VA Notification: Final Regulations for Camp Lejeune Veterans and Coverage of Certain Costs for Family Members
From a September 23 VA Fact Sheet: Since the passage of “Honoring America's Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act of 2012,” VA has enrolled and provided health care to those veterans who served on active duty at Camp Lejeune for at least 30 days between January 1, 1957, and December 31, 1987. From 1957 to 1987, people living or working at Camp Lejeune were potentially exposed to drinking water contaminated with chemicals known as volatile compounds, including industrial solvents and benzene from fuels.
The law provides that veterans stationed at Camp Lejeune between 1957 and 1987 will be eligible to receive health care through VA, and exposed family members will be reimbursed for healthcare costs, for the following medical conditions: 1. Esophageal cancer; 2. Lung cancer; 3. Breast cancer; 4. Bladder cancer; 5. Kidney cancer; 6. Leukemia; 7. Multiple myeloma; 8. Myelodysplastic syndromes, 9. Renal toxicity; 10. Hepatitis steatosis; 11. Female infertility; 12. Miscarriage; 13. Scleroderma; 14. Neurobehavioral effects; and 15. Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
The published regulations now allow VA to reimburse eligible Camp Lejeune family members for out-of-pocket healthcare costs related to any of the 15 covered medical conditions listed in the 2012 Act. Under that law, VA can reimburse costs from March 26, 2013, onwards. Family members can start applying 30 days after the regulation publication date. For more information about VA’s Camp Lejeune program, including eligibility and how to apply, visit http://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/camp-lejeune/
or call 1-877-222-8387.
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HVAC Chair Wants Investigations Expanded to VA Headquarters
In a September 19 Military Times article by Bryant Jordan, the head of the House Veterans Affairs Committee says investigators looking into data manipulation and delayed care at veterans hospitals also need to find out who at the top may have known about the problems before whistleblower reports prompted action. So far, the emphasis has been on what schedulers, managers, and executives out in the field may have known and done, but Representative Jeff Miller (R-FL) wants investigators to look at VA headquarters, too.
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Subject:US to review Discharges of Vietnam Vets with PTSD
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September Is National Suicide Prevention Month
Did you know: According to the VA’s 2012 suicide report, over 70 percent of veteran suicides occur in age cohorts 50 years and older? The following link goes to information, PSAs, News Articles, and Blog information on “Spreading the Word about the Veterans Crisis Line”: http://spreadtheword.veteranscrisisline.net/
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Armed Forces
Sick veterans who served at shuttered, toxic Army base turn to Congress, VA for help
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What Is a Firing Offense at the VA?
From an August 28 House Veterans Affairs bulletin: According to an editorial in the August 19 Montgomery (AL) Advertiser, a VA police officer found that a Central Alabama Veterans Health Care System employee took a patient to a crack house and helped the patient buy illegal drugs. As if that weren't bad enough, the investigation also found that the employee was guilty of patient abuse, misusing government vehicles, filing false requests for overtime pay, and multiple ethics violations. Yet the employee is still on the payroll and is still being paid with the taxpayers' money more than a year after this conduct occurred.
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Congress Passes Law Creating ID Card for Veterans
According to a July 8 article for Military.com by Bryant Jordan, Congress has approved the creation of a veterans' identification card, making it easier for veterans to prove military service without having to produce a military service record or some other valuable document.
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Unconscious Veteran Mistaken As Dead By Kentucky VA Hospital -
By Amanda Schallert, Wed, July 16, 2014 A Veterans Affairs hospital in Kentucky pronounced a veteran dead last week, though he was still living. - See more at: http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/kentucky-va-hospital-pronounces-living-veteran-dead#sthash.vskwifuX.dpuf
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From Facebook on July 14, 2014:
After An Injured Vet Waits 2 Years For A Wheelchair, These Lowe’s Employees Do What The VA Won’t
Veteran Michael Sulsona had been waiting on a new wheelchair from the VA for years. After receiving no help, his broke down inside a Lowe’s.
That’s when three strangers stepped in to help. Sulsona wrote this letter to the Staten Island Advance to share the story and express his gratitude.
In 1971, I stepped on a land mine in Vietnam and lost both legs above the knee.
For the past two years, I have been waiting to receive a new wheelchair from the Veterans Administration. In addition, I have been told that I am not entitled to a spare wheelchair.
On the evening of July 7, my wheelchair fell apart again, while shopping at Lowe’s Home Improvement Center in on Forest Avenue in Mariners Harbor.
Three employees, David, Marcus, and Souleyman jumped to my assistance immediately. They placed me in another chair while they went to work.
They took the wheelchair apart and replaced the broken parts and told me, “We’re going to make this chair like new.”
I left 45 minutes after closing hours in my wheelchair that was like new.I kept thanking them and all they could say was, “It was our honor.”
The actions of these three employees at Lowe’s showed me there are some who still believe in stepping to the plate.
They didn’t ask any questions, didn’t feel the need to fill out any forms or make phone calls. Someone needed help and they felt privileged to be given the opportunity.
When the federal government failed this man, ordinary individuals took the lead. There is hope for humanity after all – we just have to believe in the power of the human spirit.
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A veteran who collapsed in an Albuquerque Veteran Affairs hospital cafeteria, 500 yards from the emergency room, died after waiting 30 minutes for an ambulance, officials confirmed Thursday.
Officials at the hospital said it took a half an hour for the ambulance to be dispatched and take the man from one building to the other, which is about a five minute walk.
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VA deaths covered up to make statistics look better, whistle-blower says
(CNN) -- Records of dead veterans were changed or physically altered, some even in recent weeks, to hide how many people died while waiting for care at the Phoenix VA hospital, a whistle-blower told CNN in stunning revelations that point to a new coverup in the ongoing VA scandal.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/23/us/phoenix-va-deaths-new-allegations/index.html?hpt=hp_c2
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VVA Declares VA Actions to Meet Current Healthcare Crisis “Woefully Inadequate”
(Washington, D.C.)— “The actions being undertaken by the Department of Veterans Affairs in response to the ongoing healthcare crisis at the VA Medical Centers are woefully inadequate,” said John Rowan, National President of Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA). “As we have said since the beginning of this crisis, there are problems at most all of the 151 VA Medical Centers (VAMC) and at many of the Community Based Outreach Clinics. Though VVA sent recommendations to the President and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs on May 28, we have yet to hear from The White House. We stand by our recommendations.”
To view VVA’s recommendations see:http://www.vva.org/VA_Phoenix.html
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Older Vets Dying by Suicide at Alarming Rate
From an August 31 article on Military.com by Bryant Jordan, veteran suicide numbers have gone up in recent years with much of the attention focused on veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan killing themselves. However, almost seven out of ten veterans who have committed suicide were over the age of 50, according to a Department of Veterans Affairs study.
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Remembering the 70th Anniversary of D-Day
http://www.vva.org/WebWeekly/html/20140606.html
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Chester Nez, last of original Navajo code talkers of World War II, dies
His death Wednesday at his home in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at age 93 was lamented by the Marine Corps as the end of an era -- for both the country and its armed forces.
"We mourn his passing but honor and celebrate the indomitable spirit and dedication of those Marines who became known as the Navajo code talkers," the Marines said in a statement.
Nez was the last remaining of the original 29 Navajos recruited by the Marine Corps to develop the legendary code that was used for vital communications during battle.
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Vets died. VA lied. Heads must roll
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2014/05/29/vets-died-va-lied-heads-must-roll/
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Fox News Poll: Voters think Gitmo prisoners receive better health care than vets
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House Votes to Help Bring Much Needed Accountability to VA
Following House passage of H.R. 4031, the Department of Veterans Affairs Management Accountability Act, Chairman Jeff Miller released the below statement:
“The House has voted to take an important first step toward ending the culture of complacency that is jeopardizing patient safety within the Department of Veterans Affairs health care system. VA’s widespread and systemic lack of accountability is exacerbating all of its most pressing problems, including the department’s stubborn disability benefits backlog and a mounting toll of preventable deaths – including 23 recent fatalities due to delays in care – at VA medical centers across the country. While the vast majority of the department’s more than 300,000 employees and executives are dedicated and hard-working, VA’s well-documented reluctance to ensure its leaders are held accountable for negligence and mismanagement is tarnishing the reputation of the organization and may actually be encouraging more veteran suffering instead of preventing it. With all the problems VA hospitals and regional offices have recently had and new issues continually arising, we need to give the VA Secretary the authority he needs to fix things. That’s what my bill would do, and I applaud my colleagues in the House for supporting it. Now the Senate is faced with a stark choice: stand with veterans who rely on VA health care or stand with poorly performing bureaucrats entrenched in a dysfunctional personnel system. For the sake of our veterans, I hope the Senate chooses wisely.”
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Texas VA Run Like a ‘Crime Syndicate’
http://news.yahoo.com/texas-va-run-crime-syndicate-030300858--politics.html
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Another Layer to the VA Scandal: Bodies of Veterans Left Unburied for Over One Year
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Vet Allegedly Beaten To Death At VA Hospital
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VA watchdog says federal prosecutors involved in scandal probe, charges possible
The chief watchdog for the Department of Veterans Affairs confirmed Thursday that his office is working with federal prosecutors to weigh whether criminal charges are warranted in the health care scandal at a Phoenix VA facility.
VA acting Inspector General Richard J. Griffin, who spoke to lawmakers on Capitol Hill after VA Secretary Eric Shinseki delivered his first public testimony since the scandal broke, vowed to complete an "exhaustive review" and predicted it would be done by around August.
He said that review includes OIG criminal investigators as well as federal prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Arizona and the Public Integrity Section of the Justice Department in Washington, D.C. They are working, he said, to "determine any conduct that we discover that merits criminal prosecution."
His comments come as some lawmakers call for heads to roll over the burgeoning controversy over patient deaths tied to delayed care. Facing calls for his resignation, Shinseki defended the VA system but vowed to get to the bottom of what happened in Phoenix and elsewhere, and take "all actions necessary."
"Any allegation, any adverse incident like this makes me mad as hell," Shinseki said Thursday before the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.
Lawmakers, though, accused Shinseki of failing to act on repeated warnings about problems with the veterans health care system. He faced bipartisan criticism that his department is falling down on its vital obligation to care for America's veterans.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. -- who represents the state where the scandal broke -- said the problems have created a "crisis of confidence."
"We should all be ashamed," said McCain, a Vietnam veteran.
Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., who has called for the secretary's resignation, accused Shinseki of being in "damage control" and not taking the action that is necessary to correct the system.
The scandal at the Phoenix division involved an off-the-books list allegedly kept to conceal long wait times as up to 40 veterans died waiting to get an appointment. Officials were accused of cooking the books to hide the fact that veterans were waiting more than 14 days, the target window.
VA facilities in South Carolina, Florida, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Washington state have also been linked to delays in patient care or poor oversight. An internal probe of a Colorado clinic found that staff had been instructed to falsify records to cover up delayed care at a Fort Collins facility.
Shinseki has urged officials to wait until the inspector general report is completed, as he orders a separate review, but lawmakers voiced concern that this would only lead to further delays.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., called the allegations "deeply disturbing." "We need more than good intentions," she said, calling for "decisive action."
A top Republican also questioned when senior leaders at the Department of Veterans Affairs learned that lower-level workers were "manipulating wait times" for veterans' health care. Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., ranking Republican on the panel, said that the allegations have been surfacing for a while, and information on the problems was available to the secretary a year and a half ago.
"Why were the national audits and statements of concern from the VA only made this month?" he asked, adding that the delayed health care has resulted in "patient harm and patient death."
Shinseki said the controversy "saddens" him. In his written statement, he said the department "must do better."
Under questioning from senators, Shinseki still defended the overall management of the VA, calling it a "good system" and claiming that cases where workers were manipulating wait times are "isolated."
Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., in his opening statement, urged Shinseki's critics to wait until more details are known, acknowledging the VA health care system has "serious problems" but questioning whether it even has enough resources.
"There has been a little bit of a rush to judgment," he said.
Meanwhile, Griffin said veteran deaths could be avoided if the VA would focus on its core mission of delivering quality health care. Lawmakers also heard Thursday from a host of veteran advocacy groups -- including The American Legion, which has called for Shinseki's resignation.
American Legion National Commander Daniel Dellinger said in his testimony that the Phoenix scandal was not the only reason the organization called for a leadership change -- rather, it was the "final straw."
Griffin cited deep flaws in the organizational structure of the VA that need to be fixed. Griffin cited seven recent reports that demonstrate problems hindering the VA’s ability to provide quality health care coverage.
Examples include a September 2013 report on a VA hospital in Columbia, S.C., which found thousands of patients had their appointments for colon cancer screenings delayed. He says it found that more than 50 patients had a delayed diagnosis of colon cancer, and some later died. Another report from October 2013 discusses a facility in Memphis, Tenn., where three patients died due to improper emergency room care.
Griffin says it is time for the VA to conduct a review of its systems to determine if there are changes that can be made to improve.
In discussing the current state of VA health care, Shinseki cites numerous examples of ways he says the VA has improved care over the past five years, including improving and expanding care access, working to end veteran homelessness and improving access to mental health services. He says the VA is actively working to improve patient wait times.
The White House has stood behind Shinseki amid calls for him to resign. President Obama announced Wednesday he is assigning his close adviser Rob Nabors to the VA to work on a review focused on policies for patient safety rules and the scheduling of patient appointments.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
NJ