The FReeper Foxhole - One Vietnam Vets Battle with the VA - Dec.17th, 2002

[SAMWolf]

U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues

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In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel free to address their specific circumstances or whatever issues concern them in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, brotherhood and support.

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One P.O.ed Viet Nam Vet

Perhaps I should call this The Not So Great American Novel by Jim K. Except I did not author this work. I was only the observer who wrote it down. It was authored by thousands of people throughout my life. Some of those were / are very good people. Others were complete shit-heads. Many were just lazy, and paid to do a job that was way above their abilities. Perhaps that is the real tragedy of The Not So Great American Novel. I will try to retell this story with as little personal slant as possible. I do not want to color this merely due to my views. It should be seen in a harsh but white light to bring forth the flaws in the system. But I can only say as I recall I saw it. And obviously I had a single view point, so obviously my view point was some what slanted. To those that I wrong I am sorry. Show me where I am wrong and I will change it.

Hi, I am a disabled Viet-Nam Veteran. For physical disability I am considered 60%, but because I am unemployable due to my condition, I am considered 100% disabled for unemployability. To be truthful this page is going to be hard to write, since when I think of how the V.A. has treated me, it gets me so enraged that it tends to ruin my whole week. I must state here that I really have little problem with most V.A. Medical Facilities. Most are very slow, but very good. My problems tends to be with many of the staff of the non-medical facilities.

The next section tells about my long time battle with the V.A. If you are a Disabled Veteran and do not want to read about my problems thats OK. Go to the end of these pages for information to help you fight your battle against the V.A. Do Not feel badly that you can not handle my problems. I know how you feel. There has been many times when listening to how the V.A. screwed up other Vets, would have driven me over the edge, and very close to homicidal.

While reading this do not get the idea that there was anything unusual about the Viet Nam Veteran when compared to other War Veterans. Post Viet Nam Stress Syndrom was not new. Many Veterans from WWII and Korea suffered a similar fate. I recall Miss Tamblyn a Medical Technology Professor at Cal State LA. She once told me thst prior to WWII she had been so in love with a wonderful man. He went off to war, and when he came back he had changed completely. In the European Theater my uncle had to eat some of his meals sitting on dead bodies, because "There was no place else to sit". Do not expect people to go through such things without serious mental stress. And never expect them to be the same again. My uncle is a wonderful man, but that is only in spite of WWII. I know Korean Veterans that are the same, as are some of the Viet Nam Refugees. It is just a matter of time before the Bosnia Refugees come to the US, and many of them will also have been over-stressed. Occasionally I see a person on the streets, and I can just tell that they have gone through a horrible situation. Maybe it was war maybe not, but the scares are in their eyes.

After completing 2 year of junior college, with a A.A. in General Sciences. I had joined the Navy Reserve because I though that I could help fight the Viet Nam War. We were to be on active duty for 2 years. I volunteered for 4 months more to go to Gun Fire Radar Repair School during the summer of 1969.

In January 1970 I went active for real, and was assigned to the U.S.S. Regulus - AF-57 a refrigeration supply ship. In the summer we went to Viet Nam, returning in the fall. We went again in 1971 about the same time. But this time when we left San Francisco, I had a sore throat (later I was to find out that this was Strep Throat).

For the next 3 months I got sicker and sicker. I would go to the Corpsman office and be told "Yes we know that you are sick, but we are undermanned. Can you keep working?" I figured that Hell Yes, they need me. So in those 3 months I lost 30 pounds. For the last month I had numerous problems. I threw up after every meal (later I figured out that it was just too cold). I was constantly tired. And for the last 2 weeks I was throwing bacterial embolisms.

Finally I was put in the Naval Hospital in Subic Bay, Philippines (the home of Olongapo). I was diagnosed to have bacterial endocardidis (a bacterial infection of the heart lining). This became apparent when I quickly developed a heart murmur, and I was found to have Streptococcus Viridian bacteria in my blood. For the next 3 months I was under treatment, and sent back to the states.

The Navy said that I was fit for duty and was going to send me back out to sea. I figured that they really did not know what they were doing, and since my time was up I left the Navy in January 1972. A couple of months later it was confirmed that the Navy did not know what they were doing because the Navy Doctors said I had mitral valve damage, and a V.A. doctor told me no it was the aortic valve (considerably more dangerous.)

I really do not have a problem with the Corpsmen. They do what they were trained to do. They tend to be very good with large gapping wounds with lots of blood, and VD They just never received the training required for other serious illness. I do not even have a problem with this disease being allowed to go so far. After all "We were in the combat zone, and undermanned".

This is where the problems started. The non-medical V.A. personnel kept saying "We can find no evidence that you have a problem". I figured that they were there to help the Vets so they must be going by the books. This was such a error in judgment on my part that it is unbelievable.

I had a hint something was wrong when I went to college. I figured that it would be a good idea to become a Medical Technologist, since I could keep a eye on my heart condition better. But I also thought that the V.A. has specialist in employment, and it would be foolish if I did not have them help me.

[MistyCA]

You ever heard of Comp USA? Or Circuit City???

[Ben Bolt]

My thought for the day is people who have an emotional connection to the past have no shot of a physical future .

[SAMWolf]

Ever heard of a wife, 3 kids, 2 dogs and 2 cats? LOL!

[MistyCA]

Hello, Dorben. Welcome to the Foxhole.

[MistyCA]

:)

[Victoria Delsoul]

Sad story. Thanks for posting this eye opener, Sam. There is nothing that saddens the hearts more than seeing a veteran who has served proudly and who suffers illness as a consequence of his service.

[SAMWolf]

Hi Victoria.

If you want to see what "government" run health care will be like visit a VA hospital.

[Victoria Delsoul]

Yeah, I imagine so.

[PhilDragoo]

I well recall the mood of that room full of vets at the Wyndham Hotel when Bob Dole came in to talk, listen, do a little campaigning for our congressional candidate.

Had any VA representative been tossed into the mosh pit, nothing but bones would've hit the floor.

I thereafter found a willing ombudsman in one of our senator's staff, who made a point of saying it would just make her day to tear into a bureaucrat on behalf of a veteran.

Picture McGruff the Crime Dog taking a bite out of crime.

Government-run anything is substandard. Now a good deal of it is being let to private bid.

The creeping bureaucracy in the medical field is staggering.

The Medicare regulations are strangling private practices, while institutions are bilking billions out of it in fraud.

How many new VA hospitals could be built with those tens of billions?

[ImpBill]

And I too want to thank you and all other vets, especially combat, and most especially those who served in the war we were never supposed to win.

Sam I have learned to live, most of the time with my bitterness. Of course the eight years with the previous CINC (Criminal In Chief) were extremely tough. For years I have not discussed my service. At times I have let my resentments and bitterness bubble to the top, but I have tried to keep it all in check. My wife, bless her heart, has been telling me for years that "I am sick" and need help, but I don't think it would serve any purpose to sit around with others of similar views and "challenges" and gripe. So I just sit back and say "Never again". Of course 9/11 changed that to a great degree.

I appreciate what you and others do on these "Vet Threads" but remain a lurker in the main.

So again brother, thank you for your service and thank you for thinking to thank me for mine. It was 25 years before the very first person thanked me for serving. It took me a few moments reflection to not sound off on them and accept their gratitude with grace. It has happened with a bit more regularity since 9/11. Isn't that strange?

I learned an old poem from my father who fought in 3 wars including WWII:

God and soldier, all men adore.
In time of danger, and not before.
When the danger has passed.
And all things are righted,
God is forgotten, And the solider is slighted!

Now ain't that a timeless truth?

God Bless!!!

[SAMWolf]

Don't even get me started on Medicare, another government mess.

[Valin]

Something I saw the other day. "Have you ever considered that your purpose in life may be to act as a warning to others."

[SAMWolf]

Thanks ImpBill.

I remember the first time some lady walked up to me at a gas station and told me "Thank you, Welcome Home". It was in 1986, 15 years after I came home, and I didn't know what to say either.

It was the about the same time I got involved with some of the Veterans Groups. They were a big help in putting things to rest.

I lucked out and have a wife who put up with my moods, she was the one who "pushed" me into getting involved with other veterans.

I'm glad Jen, Misty and I were given the opportunity by Jim Robinson to do these threads. We hope to provide a place to learn what our veterans have done for this country and for veterans to share their experiences.

Posts like yours make doing this thread worth the time we put into it.

Thanks again and "Welcome Home".

[Jen]

Great quote. Thanks!

[Jen]

Awwwwwww, what a cutie!

[Jen]

Thanks for stopping in, Dave!

[Jen]

Hi there! I'm glad you appreciated the ping and like the Foxhole. Thanks for serving in the Navy and Navy Reserve!

[Jen]

Hello Dorben. Welcome to the Foxhole.

[Jen]

Hahahaha! That's a great quote.

[MistyCA]

Hi, Victoria! Yes, you are very right,imo. Unfortunately so.