Another Look at Veteran’s Affairs

Here is some information regarding Veterans that everybody should know. If “assumption is the mother of all fuck ups” (quote from Under Seige 2) don’t assume Veterans are cared for.

Even now Veterans of every American conflict, I speak of those Veterans who are still living, are being denied benefits, denied treatment and are actively humiliated and maligned by the Government and the people they fought and bled for.

As we approach Veterans Day keep in mind that freedom isn’t free and some broken old man pushing a shopping cart full of what he might have left in this world, paid the price for all of us who live in this ‘ungrateful nation’.

Not all Veterans are homeless or hopeless, but none should be. The next time you have a meal or use the toilet consider this:
(photo from namguardianangel.org)

UNINSURED VETS: Coverage found limited
About one out of every eight veterans younger than 65 is uninsured, a finding that contradicts the assumption many have that all vets qualify for free health care through the Department of Veterans Affairs, a new study shows.

Researchers at Harvard Medical School projected that about 1.8 million veterans overall lack health coverage. That is an increase of 290,000 since 2000.
The researchers said most uninsured veterans are in the middle class and are ineligible for VA care because of their incomes. Still others cannot afford their co-payments or lack VA facilities in their community. The study is based on an analysis of government surveys released between 1988 and 2005. (UNINSURED VETS Compiled from the Associated Press)


If that doesn't give you a warm fuzzy feeling about our country and how it treats its Citizen Servicemember try this: Returning Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines are being denied the jobs they left to fight for Military Industrialists profits and President Bush's Iraqi Oil.

Here is a Halloween Story that should scare the shit out of you:

Veterans Employment Rights are Ignored

To cut to the chase, at issue hear is that veterans, who left their jobs to fight for a corrupt liar in the White House and his greedy buddies in the Military Industrial Complex, these Veterans can’t get their jobs back when they come home from Iraq or Afghanistan.

The argument is over who is going to both hear their grievances and who will enforce the law regarding Veterans employment.

There are two groups: Department of Labor's Veterans Employment and Training Service (VETS)

These two groups are supposed to report to Congress about what is happening regarding Veterans employment and their resolution of the problem. While they attempt to pass the problem like a hot potato from one agency to another, Veterans loose their jobs, their homes, their wives (or husbands), their kids and their self worth.

In a hearing on Halloween Day the deceivers assembled in Washington to test a lie or testify before an oversight hearing of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee chaired by Senator Daniel K. Akaka of Hawaii. Here are some excerpts from the minuets of that meeting:

October 31, 2007

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI), Chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, held an oversight hearing today on the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, known as USERRA. The Committee questioned panelists on a variety of topics, including jurisdiction over USERRA claims. Chairman Akaka expressed particular concern about the number of USERRA claims being brought by returning servicemembers in connection with their employment in the federal workforce.

"Veterans should not have to fight the government they defended in war just to return to their previous employment," said Akaka.

One witness, Mathew Tully, shared the struggles he faced to return to his old job after serving a tour of duty, describing in detail the issues he faced in regaining his job with the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Mr. Tully, a member of the New York National Guard who was accompanied by his wife and one-year-old son, will deploy shortly to the Middle East for his second tour.

Other witnesses at today's hearing included George H. Stalcup, Director, Strategic Issues, U.S. Government Accountability Office; Honorable Charles S. Ciccolella, Assistant Secretary for Veterans' Employment and Training, U.S. Department of Labor; and Honorable Jim Byrne, Deputy Special Counsel, U.S. Office of Special Counsel, accompanied by Patrick Boulay, Chief, USERRA Unit.

Senator Akaka said in his opening statement:
“As our troops are returning home from battle, many of them seek to return to the jobs that they held prior to their military service, particularly those serving in Guard and Reserve units. USERRA, which is set forth in chapter 43 of title 38, United States Code, provides these servicemembers with certain protections. USERRA also sets out certain responsibilities for employers, including to reemploy returning veterans in their previous jobs.

This applies to virtually all jobs - including those in the federal sector. I must admit to being particularly upset at the volume of USERRA claims related to federal service. It is simply wrong that individuals who were sent to war by their government should, upon their return, be put in the position of having to do battle with that same government in order to regain their jobs and benefits.”

If you know of a Veteran, any Veteran, this current War, Gulf 1, Lebannon/Grenada, Vietnam or earlier, going through difficulty or hardship contact the VA on their behalf and get all the information you can to help them.

Also write your pitifully intransigent Congressman or Congresswoman and request they un-ass that chair they comfortably park their butt in and do something for your local Veterans.

As Veterans Day approaches in this a Veterans Month, I ask that you locate all the Veterans you know of good, bad, rich, poor whether in good health or not and let them know you give a damn about their sacrifice and their existence.


Be a blessing

Love.

RJ