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Veterans Affairs (VA) Department officials testified about the alleged destruction of an unofficial patient waiting list associated with the Phoenix VA health care system.

The House's No. 2 Democrat accused Republicans of exploiting the scandal that has enveloped the Veterans Affairs Department for political gain and said he is worried that civil servants could be swept up unfairly in a witch hunt. "I don't think there's any doubt about it … that is essentially the tactic that Republicans are trying to employ," Minority Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland told reporters Wednesday. "In some cases there are huge fishing expeditions which are going on for millions of documents that goes beyond the realm of oversight and politicizes the issue very greatly." The Republican National Committee...

A preliminary report released Wednesday found "serious conditions" at the Phoenix Veterans Affairs facility, including hundreds of veterans who were never placed on an official wait list and faulty scheduling practices that meant some veterans would never see a doctor. "We identified an additional 1,700 veterans who were waiting for a primary care appointment but were not on the [electronic wait list,]" the report from the VA inspector general said. "Most importantly, these veterans were and continue to be at risk of being forgotten or lost in Phoenix [healthcare system's] convoluted scheduling process. As a result, these veterans may never...

Veterans at the Phoenix veterans hospital waited on average 115 days for their first medical appointment, which is 91 days longer than the hospital reported, the Department of Veteran Affairs' internal watchdog said Wednesday. The news brought immediate calls for the resignation of Veterans Secretary Eric Shinseki from Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., chairman of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

Barack Obama is on record as being “furious” over the needless deaths in Veteran’s Administration hospitals. He’s not “furious” because he loves veterans, to the contrary, Barack Obama is “furious” at being been caught in yet another lie. By his own admission Obama knew there were problems in the VA in 2007. In 2008 even before he first took office, Obama was made aware of the problems in the VA hospital system. His response was to appoint Eric Shinseki whose only qualification was that he is “America’s first Asian American four star general,” as the new head of the Veteran’s...

For years, employees at a Texas VA complained that their bosses were cooking the books. For years, the VA insisted there was no widespread wrongdoing. Emails and VA memos obtained exclusively by The Daily Beast provide what is among the most comprehensive accounts yet of how high-level VA hospital employees conspired to game the system. It shows not only how they manipulated hospital wait lists but why—to cover up the weeks and months veterans spent waiting for needed medical care. If those lag times had been revealed, it would have threatened the executives’ bonus pay. What’s worse, the documents show...

EAST MEMPHIS, Tenn. (FOX13) - As reports of problems at VA hospitals around the country continue to surface a town hall meeting was held in Memphis Tuesday to find out if veterans are having problems in the Mid-South. The town hall was held at the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library on Poplar Avenue. MORE: Memphis vet fights 'death row' conditions at VA hospital MORE: Reaffirming promises to reform troubled VA hospitals The vets came with story after story of how badly they have been treated just trying to get medical help at the one place you would think they would...

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...

I am a Vietnam era vet and will be visiting my local Veterans Out Patient clinic on Thursday morning for my initial evaluation. The out patient clinic contacted me last week to set up this first visit after having applied for it over seven month ago. I have a couple of health Issues; one is my right hip is giving me some serious problems and the other is a dental problem. My question is what can I expect from this initial visit? They have me in their computer system and all the info I submitted. Do I need to bring...

To the Nation’s Veterans, Over the course of the last few weeks, there has been a great deal of media coverage—rightly so—of the still-unfolding story coming out of the Department of Veterans Affairs regarding secret wait lists and other problems related to appointment scheduling at VA facilities. Last week, the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs heard from Secretary Shinseki, representatives of some of the Veterans Service Organizations (VSOs), and others. While a great deal of the media coverage of the hearing has focused on what Secretary Shinseki said, and didn't say, much less has been seen of the testimony of...

This Memorial Day weekend there were thousands of parades, picnics and remembrance events for those who died fighting for the United States. There were also sales and bargains for those that choose to spend the holiday traveling or shopping. Like all holidays, Memorial Day is sometimes at risk of losing its meaning in our commercial society, as shoppers and travelers forget about the sacrifices our troops and their families make. So here’s a gentle reminder after we all enjoyed time off from work and got our fill of backyard barbeques. As you read this, hundreds and thousands of men and...

Combat veteran Kryn Miner, 44, served 11 deployments in seven years. He suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and a traumatic brain injury after a bomb blast in Afghanistan in 2010 threw him into a wall. It was one of 19 blasts he endured over two decades of service to his country. On April 29, Kryn died after being shot by his teenage son, who was acting in defense of himself, his mother and his siblings because Kryn had threatened to kill them and pulled out a gun. Prosecutors ruled that it was a justified shooting, absolving the teen from facing...

For the past few weeks, the Obama administration has been the focus of attention as allegations of widespread corruption within the Department of Veterans Affairs continue to surface. All across the United States, employees in VA hospitals are accused of cooking the books and altering medical records to make the hospitals appear to be better than they actually were. Meanwhile, our military veterans were forced to languish in endless waiting lists, many of whom died while waiting to see a doctor for the first time. President Obama was briefed on this back in 2008 and even though he pledged that...

One of the most decorated battles in US military history. These first-hand accounts, .... As a fellow combat veteran, director Brian Iglesias forged a unique connection with the men he interviewed.

When Kansas-native Torrence Riggs was only 24, his Army division, the 103rd, entered southwest Germany. "I seen a lot of soldier boys with grim faces, I'll tell you that. I had one too," he says. It was 1945, and the people in Germany's Dachau concentration camp, he says, had either been worked or starved to death. "Terrible. They were are all just white as can be, and they wore outfits that looked like pajama outfits," Riggs says. "We didn't see how they could walk. They come out, they look like walking skeletons. And they brought, the people that lived there,...

Last year on Memorial Day, my wife, daughter and I were touring Cambridge, England. We took a bus ride three miles out of the city to the U.S. military cemetery there–one of 25 American burial grounds administered by the U.S. government on foreign territory. Cambridge University showed their deep gratitude for their American ally in World War II by donating 30 acres to serve as a final resting place for 3,812 Americans stationed in England who lost their lives in the war. There is also a wall in this cemetery. Inscribed on it are the names of 5,126 additional American...

As the VA scandal grows, and the administration lies about the position of The American Legion, I recall how I saw government insistence on numbers, at the expense of people’s lives, firsthand. Almost a year ago that I stood in the office of the advocate, who worked for a Veteran’s organization, in a Department of Veteran’s Affairs building in Washington, D.C. My education of how government, when run amok, will treat its Veterans was about to begin. The advocate was a fine young man and enjoyed his work, even with the many disability claims cases on his desk. He saw...

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said every American should be outraged at the scandal in the Veterans Administration in which at least 40 veterans reportedly died after being placed on secret waiting lists. She asked Americans to "be determined to right the wrongs our vets face today." "Please remember our active veterans today as well as those who have fallen," Palin wrote in a Memorial Day Facebook post. "Every American should feel outrage at any injustice done to our veterans seeking what was promised them when they volunteered to defend the homeland. They are owed the health care they have...

[Morganton, NC] By Brianne Fleming bfleming@morganton.com Morganton will be hosting its very first Murph Challenge on Monday, a nationwide and annual Crossfit fundraiser to benefit The Lt. Michael P. Murphy Memorial Scholarship Foundation, which is in honor of a fallen military hero who gave his life to save another while at war in Afghanistan. Some might also know the name Michael Murphy from the 2013 film “Lone Survivor,” which is based on the true story of four Navy Seals on the Operation Red Wings mission in Afghanistan. Murphy is played by actor Taylor Kitsch and is known as the man...

I told Vivian that some cultures believe the eagle is a symbol, not only of patriotism and dignity, but a messenger between heaven and earth. She nodded solemnly. "I'd say the eagle had a very good eye when he landed on Maurie, and he was respected," she said. "I miss him," said Vivian as she picked up the photo. "He was a good man and a good provider." "The eagle couldn't have picked a better person," said Kiefner. He paused. "This has been kind of fun hasn't it?" Tears welled in Vivian's eyes.