Sir, all I can say is thank you, and may God give you the strength you are going to need for the next eight years. Yes, I am that confident that you will be re-elected by even a larger margin than you were elected with.

You are the most calm and collected person I have ever seen, I have tried to explain to my conservative wife that you search for information the good and the bad, and you seek guidance from people that know what they are doing, like Warren Buffet, Sam Nunn, President William J. Clinton, Hillary, Ted Kennedy, Carolyn Kennedy, etc. You try to find out all you can before deciding on a course of action.

You are the President this nation needs at this time in our history, calm and firm leadership. I fully expect you will have a truly bi-partisian Cabinet and I expect you will irritate the progressives because you will be seen as embracing to many Republicans, the difference like you have been saying this is not a Blue America or a Red America this is the United States of America, and I truly hate the term "Homeland Security" can you please change it to National Security. We are a NATION of many blended citizens, Irish, English, German, Russians, Cubans, Chinese, Japanese, South Americans, Canadians, etc, but bottom line when they emigrate here they become Americans not hyphinated Americans, but true Americans, we are all equal under the American Flag.

I have been alive for quite a few years, and because the men in our family had children late in life, it does not take long to get back into American History for me, my father rode with D Troop 7th Calvary, based in Douglas, Arizona from 1914-1916, he rode with General Black Jack Pershing after Pancho Villa.

My grandfather Joshua Eaton Bailey started a town in Arizona named Safford in 1874 this was after his Civil War Service with the California 4th Volunteers had taken him to the territory to stop the Confederates operating there. they spent most of their time fighting the Apache.

Father of Safford: historical information as told by Joshua Bailey's grandson: Joshua E. Bailey was born Nov 4, 1833 in Orleans County New York, in Barre Township. He traveled west in 1851 to the the goldfields of California (the Eureka area). In 1861 Bailey joined the California 4th Volunteers who did service in the Arizona Territory. In 1865, he was discharged from the Army and went to work at Yuma Army Depot. He worked trade stations along the Colorado River until he led the party of Mormons to the Safford Area. Tuttle and Bailey opened the first store--Bailey ran the store, and Tuttle financed it. Joshua then opened the stage station at Bailey's Wells. Later, he was elected a Graham County Commissioner. He sold out of Safford in 1898, and purchased a dairy in Yuma. At the request of Bailey's wife, Ida Garber Bailey, they moved to Michigan in 1899. Joshua Bailey died April 2, 1900 at his farm in Eaton County Michigan and is buried in the Diamondale Cemetary in Eaton County Michigan.

As you can see my grandfather was born in 1833 to John Bailey and Polly Eaton Bailey in Barre NY, my great grand father was born in 1809 to Obijah Bailey from Barre Mass, after the Revolutionary War, the soldiers were given sections of land for serving in the war, the Baileys moved west to Orleans County New York in 1806. My great great grandfather served in the Revolutionary War, my family has served in the Army since this nation was created, no other branch, we are an Army family. I served during Vietnam and did my combat tour on the DMZ in Korea, it was still a combat zone when I joined the Army in 1973, just the DMZ, the JSA compound now known as Camp Bonifas and Camp Liberty Bell and Camp Greaves were all north of the Imjin River in the DMZ, the other troops south did not draw combat pay nor were they entitled to wear the 2nd Division patch as a combat patch on the right shoulder.

After leaving active duty in 1982 as a Staff sergeant (promotable) I had been selected for the E7 list, but my family life led me to make the choice to leave the active Army, I then joined the National Guard to finish my 20 years so I could obtain my retirement benefits, then came Operation Desert Storm and I was activated for my second war.

Medical problems from my military service led me to become totally disabled by June 2002 at the age of 47, PTSD, a failed triple bypass, 2 stents that failed, a heart ejection fraction of 25%, COPD, 3 herniated disks in my lower back L3-S1, the SSD was approved in 4 months, the VA claim was filed at the same time, I was awarded 50% in May 2005 after denials appeals and my contacting the White House, the VA thought they would buy me off with the 50%, I was told by an American Legion Service Officer I should be happy with the 50% and shut up. I fired him and appealed my own claim with my wife's help, Senator Larry Craig then Chairman of the Senate VA Committee caught Renee Szybala lying to myself and him, based on false information provided by the Columbia SC VARO, the ones who appear the worst offenders in "Shreddergate" the willful destruction of veterans claims and evidence they have submitted to have their compensation claims approved.

After contacting VP Cheney's office with a copy of this diary written by TxSharon (my hero) Sun Aug 06, 2006 at 09:35:33 AM CDT the VA decided to award my claim at the 100% level and made it permanent and total.

My point is that veterans should not have to jump thru such hoops and hurdles to have their compensation claims adjudicated. Many veterans end up losing vehicles, homes, their dignity and their families, the stress of fighting the VA has led to many divorces as the spouse does not comprehend the mess, and the lack of income leads to tremendous arguments, and the lack of "help" from the VA is the root cause of many of these problems.

There is a saying that if you didn't have PTSD before filing a VA Compnesation claim, you will have it before it is done, the VA leaves many veterans and their families totally disillusioned by their government.

When we enlisted we signed a blank check that said "our azz" on the pay line, in return for the PROMISE that is anything happened to us mentally or medically the VA would care for us and our families if we could not, the Veterans Admininstration is known among veterans as the Veterans Adversarial Agency, instead of being the veterans advocates that most Americans expect.

There is a rule that states "give the benefit of the doubt to the veteran" the VA has interpreted that to mean "doubt everything the veteran is telling you".

Mr President elect Obama, you are going to get a lot of advice from a lot of people about who you should keep like Def Sec Gates, yes he is a good one, on the other hand VA Secretary Peake is not good for veterans, he is a QTC manager, plain and simple, he is an ideological Republican and he is NOT good for veterans, if you really truly want to help veterans, give us a real advocate for veterans, Tammy Duckworth, Max Cleland, or even Wes Clark. You don't need a doctor type in charge of the VA, we need an advocate for veterans, someone who puts veterans and their families first. Show your love for the veterans and give us a VA Secretary we deserve.

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