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

[SAMWolf]

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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.

[B4Ranch]

4. DO go to the Disabled American Veterans and Only Them .

Sam, this is where you and I strongly disagree! AmVets is an organization comprised of nothing but Veterans and they are the BEST assistance a Vet can get when fighting with the Bureau of Veteran's Affairs. These are all people who have been to the frontlines against the VA.

[Alain Chartier]

Thanks for the ping. I was USN for 7 years, have been USNR for 11. My experience with the DVA has been nothing like this vet's, but it's been enough that I want nothing to do with them.

[CIBvet]

Thank you Sam for your service, and I can only extend my sympathy for your sacrifice, and pray God may Bless you with continued patience in your interactions with a typical govt bureaucracy.

I too have spent the last couple years unexpectantly dealing with the VA, and as you stated, have thankfully discovered some wonderful dedicated people who do their job day in and day out, from the heart.

And then there are all of those slugs who shuffle around the building in their fuzzy slippers, knowing full-well they can NEVER be fired ... nothing more than Affirmative Action hires in all assorted flavors ... lost in dreamland while awaiting their next bureaucratic pay/welfare check.

Thank God for the sincere and dedicated VA workers, and I've met a few ... for they offer the compassion and hope that keep many suffering souls/Vets from simply feeling they have nothing left to lose.

[Darksheare]

If only the honest guys and gals in the VA were more the norm an din greater supply.

[SAMWolf]

I belong to AmVets too. I posted the article as written, apparently the author had the best luck with DAV.

I've seen the VFW do a pretty good job to. I think it depends on how active the POst is in VA Affairs on the ecperience you'll have.

[SAMWolf]

Let me clear something up. This is not my experience, it's the experience of a brother of a friend of mine.

My experiences were unpleasant and had more to do with dealing with the bureaucracy of the VA rather than with the MEdical staff.

I thank you for the sympathy, I've heard similiar stories from veterans as a memeber of AmVets and trying to get help for these veterans is sometimes like beating your head against the wall. Once you know which people at a particular VA Hospital to deal with the task gets a little easier.

[MistyCA]

I want to hear what you have to say about the VA. Go for it.

[MistyCA]

Thank you for that post.

[MistyCA]

It would appear that the vet in the profile did receive good medical care that was paid for by the VA, however, by not acknowledging the disability the Vet would have probably been homeless had he not been able to get employment. With regard to the employment, it appears that "the good jobs" which he was highly qualified for, were denied because of the disability. This is a VERY frustrating catch-22 situation. And then we ask, why are our vets on the street??? It's pure bull$hit, imo. No vet should have to beg. No vet should have to be humiliated. No vet deserves this from their country!

[Darksheare]

The VA hospital in my area (There's actually more than one,but offhand I can only thinkof teh one. Name withheld to protect the guilty.) wasn't doing their work in a sanitary fashion. They had vacuum bottles with mold growing in them. Got bad enough that there were guys dying from infections that they caught once they got to this particular hospital. (A specific incident, an elder soldier ended up there and died of severe pneumonia within two weeks or less. Can't offhand remember exact data on it. Try to find it later. But he was healthier than I am when he got there. Seems the room he was in had quite a few ventilation problems. Other places had paint chips on the floor.)
Not my idea of a good place. It's been a year or four since this particular garbage happened, so who knows. Maybe it's changed since. But that was enough to make me pray that i never have to go there. I hate the body and fender shop as it sits.
There were quite a few articles in our local newspaper. Admittedly, it's an anti-soldier communist rag, but they were right for once.

[Darksheare]

By the by, did you deplore my scribbling on that link?
(Yes, I say deplore because I rag on my own talent.)
:-)

[MistyCA]

B4...the statement was made by the Vet being highlighted, not Sam. Secondly, that particular Vet was only given help by the DAV and the help was effective. AmVets may also be a good organization, but in the highlighted vet's opinion, DAV in California is where help surfaced. :)

[MistyCA]

Are you speaking about the DVA or the DAV? DVA being, Department of Veteran's Affairs. DAV being, Disabled Veterans of America.

[Diver Dave]

Thanks for repeating this information that needs to be repeated over and over.

My only experience with the VA occurred in the early 80's. I was hired as a temp employee in the Maintenance Dept. at a NW VA Med Center on two occasions. The employment periods were for about 3 months each.

I received an injury to my hand which require some sewing - nothing serious. Treatment was excellent by the staff, so I have no personal gripes.

That being said, the individual in the above commentary was treated as poorly anyone could possibly be treated, IMHO. Our current prisoners at GITMO receive better care. I fear that it is not an isolated case and therefore reforms are needed. I have previously signed petitions circulated about these matters.

Thanks again for telling it like it is.

[SAMWolf]

I've also run into some wonderful individuals at the VA.
Most of them are just as frustrated as the Veterans seeking care. It's the "system" that needs to be fixed.

[MistyCA]

I know that some VA facilities are better than others. Some are bright and airy....some are gloomy and depressing. Some have a good, full staff and others are understaffed. I think it helps that they are connected to the Universities. My brother had open heart surgery at the VA and it was done by the very same doctor who performed surgery on Arnold Shwartzeneger. It was a very complicated surgery...a heart resection because of massive infection...and my brother could not have possibly had better care. I think the biggest problem with the VA is the same problem we have with any of the Government agencies....bureaucracy and redtape.

[MistyCA]

LOL! Yes! I saw it. Very good! :) Thanks for sharing that with me. :)

[MistyCA]

Thanks for sharing your experience, Dave. My sister was on the teaching staff at UCLA and was connected with the VA hospital...she did her internship there, in fact. She is a doctor. I know she will tell you that the docs and staffs at that facility cared a great deal. I believe that. And as I said earlier....I would love to be treated at the VA hospital in Palo Alto. It is connected to Stanford University. It's a beautiful facility.

[MistyCA]

Yes, you are right. It's the bureacracy and the fact that the VA itself has treated vets as advisaries. I also have to complain about the fact that our elder vets (at least in California) had no place to go in their old age when they were sick. The VA hospital was limited in what care they could provide and there were NO Old Vets Homes available to those guys who simply had no other place to go. That's a thread that needs to be done, imo. What happens to the old folks when they are sick, alone, and have no money?????

[PsyOp]

"No vet deserves this from their country!"

No they don't. But this country has a sad history of forgetting its vets after wars. WWII was probably the exception.

Do you remeber the movie Presidio with Sean Connery as an MP Col.? He had a great line in there about that which I feel hits the nail on the head concerning this country's schizo attitude towards the military. Kipling, too, wrote a number of poems about the same phenomena in Britain at the turn of the last century.