Free Republic

WATERVLIET - Firefighters in Watervliet spent Thursdsay morning, not fighting fires but raising money for the World War II veteran who had his benefits slashed to just $6 a month. They're hoping to raise at least $3,000 for 89-year-old Joseph Teson. As NewsChannel 13 first told you over the weekend, the Department Of Veterans Affairs told Teson he was overpaid by more than $3,000. So, they're withholding most of his benefits until they get the money back. Teson's relatives say he relies on the money and is now selling some of his coin collection just to pay the bills. “The...

WATERVLIET – On this Memorial Day weekend, World War II veteran Joseph Teson is thinking about his fallen comrades – and his personal finances. Teson, a D-Day survivor, told NewsChannel 13 the federal government has reduced his veterans benefits to just $6 per month in order to recoup an overpayment. “I don’t know how they did it, but they did it,” Teson, 89, said Saturday. “I didn’t say nothing. I just let it go. Everybody else complained but me.” Teson said he used to receive about $300.00 per month in veterans benefits, about a third of which he donated to...

This Memorial Day Weekend, one of Northern Nevada’s oldest veterans was allegedly robbed and held at gun point in his Carson City home. World War II and Air Force veteran Jim Sorentino lives alone with a caretaker. He’s 101-years-old, and he said in his lifetime, he has never experienced anything like this home invasion. He said it was around 5 a.m. on Sunday when two men kicked in a rear-garage door, and forced their way into Sorentino’s home in a gated community on Canvasback Drive. They held him and his female caretaker at gun point. "The older one, the bigger...

The family of a 65 year-old veteran claims that VA police stomped on the veterans head and neck, causing him to suffer a stroke and die several weeks later, a new lawsuit alleges.

A California woman says Veterans Administration hospital guards beat her husband to death after he waited four hours for dialysis. Norma Montano says her husband of 44 years, Jonathan, died of a stroke on June 11, 2011, after he was beaten and had his carotid artery stomped by VA guards. Montano says the hospital also lied to her about what happened to her husband. Montano’s son and daughter are also plaintiffs in the suit. Montano says he husband was tired of waiting, but when he tried to leave and go to another facility, he “was told by the nursing staff...

This Triple-Amputee Iraqi War Hero’s Open Letter To Obama Shames Him For Who He Is "You’ve been a joke to most of our veteran community, and we have no faith in your ability to lead." Senior Airman Ret. Brian Kolfage USAF — May 13, 2014 http://www.westernjournalism.com/triple-amputee-iraqi-war-heros-letter-shames-president-united-states/#Kyd9KVxqA6HlqscT.99 Editor’s note: Below is the full text of an open letter written to Barack Hussein Obama. Mr. Kolfage has, as you will read, gone through a lot since signing up to fight in Iraq in service to our country. This guy is a REAL American hero if you ask us. I nearly died in...

Tommy @FirstTeamTommy Follow On what? Doubling their budget and deaths? RT @BecketAdams: “We have made progress [in the VA] over the last five years." 8:05 AM - 21 May 2014 Earlier today, Barack Obama held a presser about the VA scandal, where he tried to muster up “anger” over the appalling mistreatment of our veterans and vowed a thorough investigation into any wrongdoing. Needless to say, citizens weren’t all that reassured by Obama’s claims that he’s committed to veterans and their families: Emily Miller ✔ @EmilyMiller Follow "Taking care of veterans and their families has become one of the causes...

I recently received a phone call from the local VA Clinic. They left a message to inform me of an upcoming appointment. It said I needed to fast. Yesterday, I received two letters from the VA. They were together in one envelope. One letter provided the same information as the phone message and confirmed the appointment. The other letter informed me that the appointment was cancelled. I called the clinic and they assured me that I still was still scheduled for the appointment. I asked about fasting and they told me to come one week prior to have blood drawn....

Sunday on "Face the Nation." CBS News Chief White House Correspondent Major Garrett gilled White House chief of staff Denis McDonough about the Veterans Affairs waiting list scandal. When Garrett repeatedly asked why in three weeks the president has not addressed the issue McDonough claimed "Nobody is more outraged about this problem, right now, Major, than the president of the United States," ...

The failures of the Veterans Affairs Department are a moral abomination: They leave soldiers wounded at war to wait in long lines for the payments they need to fund their care. And VA failures are under new scrutiny amid reports of a string of preventable deaths among veterans and a growing political controversy around them—and many in Congress are pointing a finger in the White House's direction.

The Veterans Administration (VA) “waiting list” scandal and allegations of a cover-up have tarnished the reputation of an agency that was created to help America’s veterans. The Phoenix VA hospital is at the eye of the storm, engaging in a behavior pattern of falsifying medical records in order to conceal lengthy delays in the keeping of patient appointments. To date four other VA facilities are also under investigation. Around the country numerous whistle-blowers are speaking up exposing an institutional behavior of hospital mangers putting bonuses before health care. VA Secretary Eric Shinseki has ordered a nationwide review of clinics at...

<p>Amid contrived outrage over Benghazi and the improving fortunes of its healthcare reform, the Obama administration could be facing a genuine scandal about its treatment of military veterans that has the potential to attract broad political condemnation of its competence. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is facing mounting evidence that some of the hospitals it runs have been keeping two sets of books to make it look as if they were reducing waiting times to see a doctor. More ON THIS STORY Global Insight Benghazi probes riddle US politics Edward Luce The waning of US power Obama recalls Iraq to hit back at critics Global Insight US foreign policy comes home to roost IN US POLITICS & POLICY Fannie Freddie wind-down bill advances US Senate rule changes leave empty chairs Energy bans on Russia aim to shield west Fannie case papers spark anger More damning, the department is investigating the claims of a whistleblower doctor in Arizona that dozens of patients at one hospital died while they were languishing on a hidden waiting list without ever being given an appointment. Richard Griffin, the department’s acting inspector general, admitted on Thursday that its review could lead to criminal charges. In the first political casualty of the scandal, Robert Petzel, the department’s undersecretary for heath, resigned on Friday. If the evidence of mismanagement continues to accumulate, the Obama administration will find itself not in another partisan knife-fight, but under fire from both parties in a Congress where the uniformed military is venerated.</p>

CORPUS CHRISTI - A veteran on a mission to raise money for wounded warriors and their families says he hit a snag in his efforts when he made it to the Corpus Christi city limits. U.S. Army veteran Rooster Lee is doing a 100 mile long walk to raise money. He started his march up near Sinton, dressed in full fatigues and carrying an American flag. But 54 miles into his walk, the Corpus Christi Police Department stopped him near the Harbor Bridge. According to Rooster, officers told him he was breaking the law by walking along the highway without...

If you want to see where government-run healthcare gets you, look no further than what the VA is doing to Airman Brian Kolfage after he spoke out against Obama. Our veterans who sustained injuries in combat deserve the best treatment we can give them, but the VA just sent Purple Heart recipient Brian Kolfage a bill for $4,000. Here’s the letter he just received from the VA: Kolfage is an outspoken critic of the Obama administration and wants to know why his records were pulled in the first place. He’s written about the whole story on his Facebook page (emphasis...

We embrace heroes in America. Senior Airman Brian Kolfage defines hero: the triple-amputee veteran of the Iraqi War overcame insurmountable odds to survive his horrific injuries. Kolfage recently sent a powerful – and damning – letter to his commander-in-chief: I nearly died in a war that you and most of your colleagues supported overwhelmingly, including the two presidents who came before you. Many citizens may not agree with waging war in Iraq to free the oppressed Iraqi citizens, but it’s something that warriors like myself have zero control over. I joined to serve my country and to better my life....

Senior Airman Brian Kolfage is a United States hero. He is a triple-amputee veteran of the War in Iraq who has surpassed all odds and made the most incredible recovery of any veteran to ever survive his injuries. He is a patriot – the kind of man you want your son to grow up to be. This is his letter to Obama. My Open Letter to Obama: nearly died in a war that you and most of your colleagues supported overwhelmingly, including the two presidents who came before you. Many citizens may not agree with waging war in Iraq to...

NEW PORT RICHEY -- The man accused of squatting in an out-of-town Army veteran’s New Port Richey home has been arrested yet again. This time, police said 42-year-old Julio Ortiz is one of several suspects behind a bank robbery Monday morning. Police said Ortiz used his girlfriend, Fatima Cardoso’s Honda Accord as the getaway car, after holding up a Wells Fargo bank on Massachusetts Avenue. Police said a tip quickly came in leading them right to the car, which was parked in front of a home on Greenwood Street. Police said Ortiz had been living there, ever since leaving his...

Above: Afghanistan combat veteran Andrew Tahmooressi- by Brian Hayes | Top Right NewsSo our last report saw Mexican troops invading our borders -- even drawing weapons on our agents on U.S. soil -- and facing absolutely no consequences by the Obama Adminstration. But let one American make a wrong turn into Mexico -- and there will be hell to pay. That's exactly what happened to a U.S. Marine veteran last month, after he accidentally drove into Mexico with three legally owned guns in his truck. And he has been rotting in a brutal Mexican jail in Tijuana ever since.California Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter...

"An elderly blind veteran crying in pain spent four hours and 45 minutes in the emergency room of the VA Medical Center in North Las Vegas before seeing a doctor in October, but federal inspectors said in a report Wednesday that such long waits were not unusual for patients at the hospital." (snip) "Niccum died on Nov. 15 at a local hospice after a bout with a colon disorder. The Navy veteran had racked up 5,000 volunteer service hours helping veterans and staff at VA facilities."

A soldier stationed in Hawaii got quite the surprise when told he could move back home to Florida with his wife: Squatters had moved in, and refused to leave. (Snip) So a pair of veterans groups enlisted an attorney to process their eviction for free, WFLA reports, and a group of military veteran bikers announced they would visit Sharkey's house to "peacefully make the squatters uncomfortable." Now under pressure, the squatters are packing and moving out.