There is some truth to this, and we always need to be aware of which politicians really help veterans and which ones are simply BSing.
Galloway does have an agenda at times and I take what he says with a grain of salt.
The military did harrass soldiers that were blown up for gear that they didn’t account for- I heard that from more than one source. That was despiciple, first of all if you are medivaced to a hospital, then another, and another- how would you keep track of your things- especially if you are not aware of what is going on for medical reasons? When my husband was wounded in Vietam, he lost all of his things in that process- all of his military gear as well as his personal items. It all disappeared somewhere along the way- there is no way the wounded should be held accountable for loss of gear in cases like this.
The part about paltry PTSD payments has a grain of truth-usually the benefits start off at a lowball level when first approved, then through appeals process it is possible to get in the neighborhood of $3,000 per month at 100%. The problem I see with the current system is if a veteran knows how it works he can be persistant and get better benefits- others who don’t know how it works fall through the cracks, and those that truly suffer from PTSD may not be able to navigate the system due to their illness.
Hubby and I have been navigating the VA system since he was seriously wounded in Vietnam, we have always been able to deal with them and felt they have been fair- but you do have to have some awareness of how it all works and you have to remember it is a government agency you are dealing with.
The worst thing I see them doing to today’s wounded veterans,is the practice of wanting to “settle” with them for $X for their wounds and be done with them. This is a real disgrace and very unfair to the veteran. If further medical issues arise in later years due to their wounds they can’t go back to the VA if they accepted a settlement. Many people don’t realize the long-term health issues that can happen over a period of years after a traumatic injury. Anyone who wants to complain about treatment of veterans should think about this and let their representatives know it is an unacceptable practice- it is clear it is just simply a cost-cutting measure. Lowballing claims can be corrected if the veteran gets the right help with their claims- but if they settle it is a done deal, and I don’t see how that can be corrected in the future.
Ah, I see. I've only been dealing with them since 2005, when I was diagnosed with Leukemia which is "presumed" to be caused by Agent Orange if you were on land even for 1 minute, but not if you were serving on the gun line or on an carrier.
The cute part is that the Blue Water Navy has a much higher incidence of these "Presumed" diseases than those who served "in-country". (Something about sailors eating, washing in, and drinking TCDD contaminated water which was concentrated by the flash-distillers on shipboard.)
Check out the National Academy of Science's Institute of Medicine report on Agent Orange diseases as it relates to Navy veterans.
i don’t like to see the walter reed issue brought up in relation to the va-isn’t walter reed a dod facility?i hvae received excellent medical treatment from the va and since i am 50% or more service-connected disabled i have no copays-i developed my problems as a result of vietnam service(1968-69)on the ground in-country where i was exposed to agent orange as was virtually everyone who served there-the doctors,nurses,and other staff at my local va hospital/medical center are truly outstanding people-i am currently undergoing cancer treatment(not agent orange related-i had agent orange related cancer 26 years ago befroe the government admitted their culpability)and i feel i am receiving the best care-last year i needed a coronary artery procedure and was sent to another va facility where i also received excellent treatment and the same nice attitude from the providers-i think the problem with the va is with the paper pushers who make weird and inconsistent decisions depending what part of the country you apply from-cnn recently had a program on this(okay-cnn,i know,but even a stopped clock is right twice a day)and it featured some unbelieveable cases-one where a young man had an arm and most of his face destroyed and was treated shabbily-tammy duckworth,wholost both legs and part of an arm in iraq was also featured in her role as veteran’s veteran for the state of illinois-whatever her politics,she has absolute credibility on this issue as a result of her brave service and fight to recover afterwards