Event Info Host: Katie DePaola
Type: Causes - Rally
Network: Global
Time and Place Date: Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Time: 9:30am - 11:00am
Location: U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, by Meade Statue
Street: 333 Constitution Ave, NW
City/Town: Washington, DC
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Contact Info Email: veterans@ruderfinn.com
Description Hundreds of thousands of America’s heroes are facing irreparable financial and personal hardship because the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is taking a year, and in many cases more than four years, to provide decisions on their disability claims. Veterans from across the country will gather at the U.S. District Courthouse to show support for a lawsuit filed by the Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) and Veterans of Modern Warfare (VMW) against the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The Court is holding a hearing on December 17 to hear arguments from the VVA and VMW and the VA.
The lawsuit filed by the VVA and VMW on behalf of thousands of American veterans seeks 90-day decisions on initial claims for disability benefits, and a 180-day period to resolve appeals of those decisions. If the VA cannot meet these standards, the VVA and VMW are asking for equitable relief in the form of interim benefits, which will provide veterans with a lifeline of support when it is most needed.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Veterans Rally Dec 17th Washington DC
Veterans Group Falls Short, Wasted Money
Veterans Group Falls Short, Wasted Money
Expense account dinners, first class travel, luxury hotels and top pay. Sounds nice, right?
That's how a nonprofit veterans group "squandered" federal funding it received to help veterans start small businesses.
A Senate investigative report said the group, the National Veterans Business Development Corp., aka Veterans Corp, spent just 9 percent of its budget last year on the small business centers it was supposed to start and run.
The Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, which conducted the review, called for the group's funding to cease.
"It's appalling that an organization created to aid our nation's heroes would instead squander taxpayer dollars, wining and dining their executives instead of helping veterans," committee chairman Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) was quoted as saying by a story in The Post.
After the report's release, the Veterans of Foreign Wars joined the committee in calling for a cut in funding.
"The VFW wants TVC's funding redirected to expand veteran-specific programs within the Small Business Administration, and for the federal government to incorporate TVC business centers into its Veterans Business Outreach Center network. The Small Business Administration, unlike TVC, is subject to congressional oversight and accountability, and with 1,500 small business development centers across the country, it is more capable of reaching out and working with veterans."
Veterans Group Falls Short, Wasted Money
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Fraud charges should be pursued, the people in charge of this mess defrauded the govt and short changed the veterans they were supposed to be helping. Put them in the Army and send them to the border region in Afghanistan.
HELICOPTER PILOT: War hero faces new adversary
HELICOPTER PILOT: War hero faces new adversary
Post-traumatic stress takes toll
By KEITH ROGERS
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Nevada Legislature
ROBERTS RIDGE
Fierce fighting by U.S. and coalition forces in early March 2002 at the onset of Operation Anaconda was at first called the battle for Takur Ghar, a 10,200-foot mountain in eastern Afghanistan.
In darkness on March 3, 1st Lt. Thomas Cahill, of Nellis Air Force Base's 66th Rescue Squadron, piloted a Pave Hawk helicopter to pick up a critically wounded man a few miles from what later became the Roberts Ridge battle site, named after a tragic attempt the next day to rescue Navy SEAL Neil Roberts.
For his actions that resulted in saving three lives, Cahill received a Silver Star medal.
Fighting continued in the early morning hours of March 4, 2002, when Roberts fell from a Chinook helicopter that came under attack as his team was being inserted to help counter a buildup of al-Qaida fighters in the valley below.
A pair of Chinooks carrying quick-reaction forces was dispatched to retrieve Roberts, who unbeknownst to them had been killed. The first team to reach the ridge came under intense fire from machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades. Pfc. Matthew Commons, a 21-year-old Army Ranger from Boulder City was one of seven and the youngest killed in the rescue attempt when he was shot on the exit ramp of the crippled Chinook. Promoted posthumously to corporal, he was the first Nevadan killed in action in the overseas war on terrorism.
Later that day, a pararescue specialist, Senior Airman Jason Cunningham, was shot while tending to wounded and bled to death. His actions were honored with an Air Force Cross presented posthumously.
A Nellis F-16 pilot, Lt. Col. Burt Bartley, also received a Silver Star medal, the third highest valor award, for "undaunted courage" and "unwavering dedication" that led to the recovery of 39 soldiers during the battle on March 4, 2002. The 39 included 21 survivors, 10 wounded and eight who were killed.
Commons' commander, Capt. Nate Self, a West Point graduate wounded in the battle, later described his nightmares, telling NBC News: "I dream every night that I've always got a gun in my hands. There's always ... somebody shooting at me. And, you know, I kill people every night. It's been almost three years since it happened."
Recipient of Silver Star medal later was court-martialed
With a Silver Star medal clipped to his Air Force jacket, 1st Lt. Thomas Cahill spoke humbly about his efforts to pilot a rescue helicopter through enemy fire while flying low over eastern Afghanistan's snow-capped mountains.
His "uncanny skills," his citation read, for keeping the Pave Hawk airborne in thin air at low rotor speed with mortar rounds whizzing by, resulted in saving three men during that mission on March 3, 2002.
"As dark as it was, impacting the terrain was my first enemy," he said five years ago after his award ceremony at Nellis Air Force Base. "I would say it was probably luck."
In the years since Operation Anaconda, Cahill's enemy changed. So did his luck.
His enemy became post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, an anxiety condition that stirs nightmarish memories of terrifying ordeals from the battlefield. It can cause sleep loss and erratic, impulsive behavior and make a person short-tempered.
As for his fortunes, he became a court-martialed captain this year. He was confined in the brig at Nellis until his release a month early in September for good behavior.
Cahill's attorneys argued that his PTSD caused him to lose focus in his job with the 561st Joint Tactics Squadron and do things out of character.
"It was one of those cases where the hero has feet of clay," one of his attorneys, Craig Mueller, said days after Cahill's case concluded.
"Who rescues the rescuer?" Mueller asked. "The Air Force admitted they didn't recognize his PTSD and change of behavior until the end of his tour. There are eight or nine people today who wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for him."
In the general courts-martial, Cahill pleaded guilty May 27 to charges related to off-base thefts after his arrest by Las Vegas police in 2006 for stealing a car-haul trailer in the southern Las Vegas Valley.
He also was charged with stealing an all-terrain vehicle, a race boat, making a false official statement, conspiracy to commit larceny, conduct unbecoming an officer, receiving stolen property and obstructing justice. The race boat and all-terrain vehicle theft charges were dropped from his guilty plea, but the other charges stood.
Cahill was sentenced to five months' confinement. In lieu of a $10,000 fine, he paid $8,000 in restitution to cover the thefts, a Nellis spokeswoman said Friday.
Part of his sentence entailed counseling for post-traumatic stress disorder. It's called "cognitive behavioral therapy," or changing thoughts to change behavior.
For his plea, Cahill's attorneys said, he will be allowed to retire honorably from the Air Force as a captain, enabling him to pursue veterans benefits and continued counseling for PTSD through the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Cahill declined to be interviewed but offered an apology in a handwritten statement that went on to state, "My decision is based on my fear of any retaliation that could come from my speaking out about the lack of proper treatment for my PTSD."
His mother, Susan Peek, also declined interview requests. She testified on Cahill's behalf, as did his brother.
Air Force officials at Nellis wouldn't comment about Cahill's case but confirmed he has returned to duty with the 99th Mission Support Group.
They said they don't have a specific program to deal with post-traumatic stress disorder among active duty troops but focus on awareness and hope that those with PTSD voluntarily seek help through the base's mental health program.
"What we do in the Air Force is a lot of prevention education," said Lt. Col. Kevin McCal, a Nellis psychologist, who served in Afghanistan and commands the 99th Medical Operations Squadron.
"Awareness is a big piece of this, and the second piece, of course, is because there's awareness we're getting support and resources" for preventive education.
An airman, soldier, sailor or Marine deployed for extended periods in the war zone "can come back a different person," McCal said.
"When you come back, will your morals have changed, and will your beliefs change? It's possible that ... some of those things might be challenged," McCal said.
"It's unlikely you'll come back and say something like, 'It's OK to beat my wife,' when it wasn't before. Or, 'I think I want this in the store, so I'll just take it.' You'll still recognize right from wrong."
Still, he said, there may be an inability to adjust to life away from the battlefield. "You're blowing off whatever you thought was important, rules, morals, whatever it was."
"You could come back an individual that has a shorter temper because your patience is not what it used to be. You could come back and be an individual that doesn't sleep so well for whatever reason. And that could be directly because of symptoms of nightmares and so forth."
Some who suffer from PTSD don't seek help because "in their eyes, they're like, 'Oh. I'm strong enough I should be able to handle this.' And therefore they stop talking, and the symptoms get worse."
Among the symptoms are forgetfulness, fatigue and family problems.
"Mental health has always been a tough thing to deal with, because there is no blood test. There's no black-and-white answers to what we have or what they're dealing with," he said.
McCal said although numbers of active-duty PTSD cases at the base have increased since the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, some cases will fall through the cracks.
"All you can do is keep getting those cracks smaller. There's always going to be someone out there that won't come forward."
And few of those who check in for help are pilots.
"I won't say they're scared of mental health, but they don't like to go anywhere which may risk their flying status. ... That's their bread and butter. That's who they are," McCal said.
Helicopter rescue pilots, he noted, have a more close-up view of the battlefield than, say, a fighter jet pilot.
"Rescue pilots have to land usually under hot fire, pick up somebody who is hurt or injured, more likely severely if they're called in. So, they have a higher degree of danger.
"I don't think the public needs to be scared that the military is getting wiped out by PTSD, or that parents have to worry that all kids that go to war are going to come back with some kind of four-letter disorder, because they won't, all of them," McCal said. "But they do need to know that if their kids come back and they're not the same somehow and different to see if they can get them some help. Again, it's all about education."
Contact reporter Keith Rogers at krogers @reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0308.
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I hope he gets the help he needs.....
from Colonel Dan
Doesn't help the millions waiting over past 20 years or those that died waiting! It's a start
Disability reforms bring higher ratings, faster pay
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=59357
By Tom Philpott, Special to Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Saturday, December 13, 2008
The pilot for a new, jointly-developed DoD-VA disability evaluation system (DES), set to expand from five to 22 military bases by May, does much of what proponents hoped it would.
It allows more injured or ill service members to win higher disability ratings, to see VA payments start faster and, through greater transparency in the process, to feel they have been treated more fairly by government.
But there have been enough kinks and challenges uncovered by the pilot to persuade designers in the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs not to expand so quickly that the program outpaces the additional staff that needs to be hired and trained, particularly at the largest military bases.
Sam Retherford, director of officer and enlisted personnel management in DoD, has overseen phase-in of this landmark disability reform, starting in November 2007 in the Washington D.C. area, including Walter Reed Army Medical Center and Bethesda Naval Medical Center. He said nearly 900 disabled service members have been through the improved DES. As many as 700 a month will process through the expanded pilot.
The centerpiece of the reformed DES, reflecting recommendations of last year’s various wounded warrior studies, is the partnering of the two departments for diagnosing, rating and compensating disabled members.
The aim is to end the wasteful, time-consuming and confusing practice of DoD and VA both conducting their own disability evaluations, one before and one after discharge or retirement. Under the pilot, VA conducts the single, comprehensive physical examination while members are on active duty, and prepares a single disability evaluation used by each department.
The military service uses the findings to determine fitness for duty. Those members found unfit are separated or retired. But the service continues to base its decision and disability rating only on medical conditions that make the member unfit for duty. A rating for unfitting conditions of 20 percent or less qualifies for a lump sum severance payment. A rating of 30 percent or higher on those conditions qualifies a member for military disability retirement, which means a lifetime annuity, access to military health care and base stores and facilities.
The VA simultaneously awards an overall rating based on all service-related conditions to set its compensation payment. The member then can choose, before leaving service, between the DoD or VA outcomes.
In a report to Congress on the pilot, DoD and VA officials last month said the “initial reviews…are favorable,” citing improved “outcomes” on level of ratings, timeliness and the transparency of the process.
With VA doctors using VA protocols to evaluate and rate disabilities, pre-discharge rating have risen 10 to 20 percent, Retherford said. VA doctors, he said, are trained to document conditions more thoroughly with an eye toward long-term effect. Military doctors, by contrast, focus their evaluations on diagnosis and treatment.
The pilot will expand to 17 bases outside the D.C. area over the next five months. They are: for Army, Fort Carson, Colo., Fort Drum, N.Y., Fort Stewart, Ga., Fort Richardson, Alaska, Fort Wainwright, Alaska, Brooke Army Medical Center, Texas, and Fort Polk, La; for Navy: Naval Medical Center (NMC) San Diego and Camp Pendleton, Calif., NMC Bremerton, Wash., NMC Jacksonville, Fla., and Camp Lejeune, N.C.; for Air Force: Vance Air Force Base, Okla., Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska., and Travis Air Force Base, Calif.
Retherford said these bases will provide more diverse data to better judge the effect of the new DES. The D.C. area processes a high number of severely wounded members leaving service from Walter Reed or Bethesda.
The pilot imposes a heavy document workload on facilities and on Physical Evaluation Board Liaison Officers (PEBLOs) or case managers. But a consensus among all involved affirms “this is a good thing,” Retherford said.
Randy Reese, national service director for Disabled American Veterans, both praised and criticized the DES pilot. To have VA conduct physicals and awarding ratings for DoD is “a marriage made in heaven,” he said. “The results of the decisions are better. They are definitely more consistent,” Reese said, and ratings awards before discharge have “definitely improved.”
Also VA compensation begins immediately after discharge, eliminating a huge hassle and long waits for disabled veterans to receive first payments.
The pilot doesn’t address a need that disabled members have for advocacy counseling, either by trained JAG officers or by veteran organization representatives, from the start of the DES, Reese said.
“The PEBLO will provide information but they are not an advocate.”
Army SFC James F. Babin of Arlington, Va., went through the pilot after recovering from surgery last February for a deteriorated leg injury first sustain in combat in 2003. Babin said he didn’t get his ratings -- a combined 30 percent for leg and head injuries from VA or 20 percent from Army – until late October. Babin, 31, said he was surprised that it took eight months.
He was more disappointed that his PEBLO had left documents out of the packet evaluated by VA which likely resulted in a lower rating. The mistake was caught by a DAV advisor at Walter Reed, and the PEBLO was reprimanded. Babin didn’t find her “very knowledgeable or very useful in this process,” reinforcing Reese’s worry of a counseling gap in the pilot DES.
The issue of lost compensation by administrative error was voided in Babin’s case when the Army approved his request to stay on activity duty. A medic, he will retrain to a more sedentary specialty like intelligence analyst.
To comment, e-mail milupdate@aol.com, write to Military Update, P.O. Box 231111, Centreville, VA, 20120-1111 or visit: www.militaryupdate.com.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Now's not the time to award veterans
Now's not the time to award veterans
In the best of times, it would be a reasonable idea, albeit an expensive gesture to Ohioans who served their country in recent wars.
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Clearly these are far from the best of times, perhaps even the worst times, confronting the state of Ohio in generations.
That's why we can't understand why Ohio lawmakers, including our own state Rep. Jay Hottinger, R-Newark, and Gov. Ted Strickland are spending time contemplating one-time bonus payments to all Ohio veterans.
If passed, the bill would award veterans of the Persian Gulf, Iraq and Afghanistan wars $100 for each month he or she served, up to $1,000 each. Veterans who served elsewhere in the world would be awarded $50 per month, up to $500 each.
The cost would be $106 million up front but could reach as much as $200 million.
"The state of Ohio for all of our recent major conflicts has always provided a military bonus for our recent military conflicts. No one is in disagreement that these veterans are deserving of this," Hottinger said.
We agree our veterans should be thanked and revered. They also need the best possible medical care and services, although that's clearly a federal government responsibility.
But we disagree on awarding optional bonus payments at a time when the state faces at least a $7 billion budget deficit and the governor suggests a worse-case scenario of 25 percent budget cuts.
What's really amazing about this issue is the Democratic governor's threat to veto Hottinger's bill providing one-time bonus payments. According to a published report, Strickland opposes using the state's rainy day fund as Hottinger's bill requires and wants to borrow the bonus money in 2009, when his party controls the Ohio House.
Why are our politicians so worried about this issue at a time when Ohio might be closing prisons, raising tuition significantly and cutting school funding? We don't have a good answer.
A cynic might suggest voting for or sponsoring a veterans bonus would look good on future campaign flyers. Or maybe our leaders still are coming to grips with the economic challenges towering over state government.
Spending $106 million on anything discretionary right now would be a mistake, no matter how worthy.
Ohio's leaders need to focus 100 percent of their time and energy on solving our current crisis and returning our state to more prosperous times. Perhaps that's a better way to honor our veterans' protection of our country and state.
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When is a good time to make the awards, after the veterans die, then it can be the thought that counted......if you can't afford to make the payment maybe the award should be a tax rebate either from state income tax or from property taxes, then it would not require the state to "borrow" the funds. Color me ignorant but as a totally disabled veteran from a near by state who grants me free property taxes and free college tuition for my children due to my status as a totally disabled service connected veteran, I am grateful to my fellow neighbors and their gratitude and generosity. I spend what money I have on vacations in state, I donate to causes in South Carolina, in return for their appreciation of my service, I try and repay it by trying to pay it forward in return, with ways I can.
Being good citizens and serving in the military especially now, when it is all volunteer, and we are in 2 wars, being grateful and expressing the idea with a few dollars is not going to bankrupt the state, and most veterans will be grateful and pay back more than you ever "give them". Just my two cents.
Rolling Thunder thanks homeless vets
Rolling Thunder thanks homeless vets
The local Rolling Thunder Chapter celebrated the holidays Saturday by showing appreciation for veterans who are homeless or living in group homes.
The group, which focuses on raising awareness about those listed as prisoners of war or missing in action, began conducting a holiday meal nine years ago because "so many of them are forgotten," said Melody Smallridge.
"It's rewarding," she added.
About one third -or 154,000 -homeless in the nation have served in the armed forces, according to estimates by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Robert Clifford Carte, 51, would be on the street if it weren't for a local group home, he said.
Carte was one of more than 100 area veterans served at Saturday's dinner. Although Carte technically served in the Air Force during peace time after the Vietnam War, he had problems assimilating back into society upon his return.
"I went to Marshall University for two years. I just couldn't function in there, and I dropped out," he said.
The Charleston, W.Va., native has spent the past 16 years living in a group home.
"It's a better quality of life. I'd be homeless if it weren't for that. I don't know how everybody is making it," he said, adding he is disabled in addition to being diagnosed as schizophrenic.
He was appreciative of the dinner Saturday, a break from the normal routine and the hard work he knows Rolling Thunder put into it.
"When we have something like this, it's really exciting. The food's good," Carte said with a smile.
George Swango, who served in World War II, was a POW for 32 months during Korea and served two stints in Vietnam, was on hand to give grace before the meal. Being with those who "knew God" reassuring him during his time as a POW is what Swango credits with getting him through it all.
At 80 years old, Swango dedicates himself to showing appreciation to his fellow veterans and helping Rolling Thunder's mission.
"(This dinner) is to show our appreciation to our veterans for their service ... They deserve the appreciation and respect just as much as I do or any other veteran who has been able to cope with the situation we've been faced with," Swango said, adding many homeless veterans fought in Vietnam. "It gives me much pleasure to go around and shake their hands and tell them I love them."
Swango, of Beaver, also was appreciative of the students from Eastern High School who helped Rolling Thunder. The school raffled throw blankets of the different branches of service to raise money for the dinner and also brought items to fill gift bags to send home with the veterans.
"I think it would be great if the youth could help cook and serve (the dinner)," said Eastern senior Katelynn Williams. "We're here today because of them. We have what we have because of them ... and I think they need to be appreciated and honored."
(Ison can be reached at 772-9367 or via e-mail at jison@nncogannett.com)
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Wreaths Decorate Veterans' Graves Nationwide
Wreaths Decorate Veterans' Graves Nationwide
Wreaths Decorate Veterans' Graves Nationwide
Posted 14 December 2008 @ 09:01 am
WASHINGTON, Dec. 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- When tractor-trailers arrived at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia on Saturday laden with 10,000 holiday green wreaths with red bows to decorate veterans' graves, they were greeted by some of the 3,000 people who volunteered to place the wreaths.
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Dr. James B. Peake joined them to express the government's appreciation to our nation's veterans and to the business whose generosity brought more than 100,000 wreaths, which were delivered to every VA national cemetery and to private veterans' cemeteries recently.
"This is one of the most beautiful efforts I've seen to honor our nation'sheroes," said Peake. "Morrill Worcester is a source of inspiration for others at this holiday season, and deserves thanks for demonstrating the respect we owe to those who defended us."
Worcester, who was presented a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)certificate of commendation by Secretary Peake, is owner of Worcester Wreath Company in Harrington, Maine.
This is Worcester's 17th annual donation to Arlington National Cemetery,which is operated by the Department of the Army, and their third year of contributing wreaths to VA national and state veterans cemeteries. This year,all of VA's 125 national cemeteries received at least seven wreaths, one for each branch of service, one for Merchant Marines, one for former prisoners of war, and those missing in action.
Wreath laying ceremonies will be held at many of approximately 350 locations across the country where veterans are buried. The Civil Air Patrol organized the wreath-laying ceremonies with assistance from local citizens and veterans service organizations.
Worcester said he wants the public to remember veterans, honor their service and teach children the value of freedom. "Our freedoms did not come without a tremendous cost and sacrifice," he said. "
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SALUTE to all involved in this thank you
