This February, my very-first trip to VA for a long-lasting disease in my left eye, resulted in an hour+ of "getting registered". A week later, a letter from the VA refused me service. (Paraphrasing, here):
"If you had just served in Iraq or Afghanistan, or were a victim of a sexual assault, we could take you in. Your assets also preclude service to you. You can take an appeal..(etc)"
This result was of a "new law" in 2009. I must have missed the memo.
:-(
And even the ones from Iraq and Afghanistan get booted after a certain amount of time, like 3 years I think. I thought my son misunderstood until the letter came. I think then they have to reapply and go through all the BS again. There is so much wrong with the system. When they are injured and they cannot finish their tour, they get a severance. If the VA gives them a disability rating that results in any kind of payment, it gets seized until the severance is paid back. It is just insane.