Why are there so many poor or homeless veterans in the U.S.? Does the VA not take care of them?
Take your pick.There is a sacred tradition in the military: leave no one behind on the battlefield. But many veterans are beginning to believe their country has left them behind at home, once they're out of uniform and in need of help[1].Officials who are managing the construction of a Denver facility, which is more than $1 billion over budget and nearly four years behind schedule, received bonuses ranging from $4,000 to $8,000.One study discovered that approximately one-third of all military veterans returning from Afghanistan and Iraq were officially determined to be mentally ill by government officials.All over America, u201cmental illnessu201d is being used as a reason to take guns away from military veterans.The federal government is increasingly labeling military veterans as u201cpotential domestic terroristsu201d if they express viewpoints that are critical of the government. The following is from a recent article by John White:Making matters worse, thanks to Operation Vigilant Eagle, a program launched by the Department of Homeland Security in 2024. military veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are also being characterized as extremists and potential domestic terrorist threats because they may be u201cdisgruntled, disillusioned or suffering from the psychological effects of war.u201d As a result, these servicemen and womenu2013many of whom are decoratedu2013are finding themselves under surveillance, threatened with incarceration or involuntary commitment, or arrested, all for daring to voice their concerns about the alarming state of our union and the erosion of our freedoms.An important point to consider, however, is that the government is not merely targeting individuals who are voicing their discontent so much as it is locking up individuals trained in military warfare who are voicing feelings of discontent. Under the guise of mental-health treatment and with the complicity of government psychiatrists and law-enforcement officials, these veterans are increasingly being portrayed as ticking time bombs in need of intervention.President Obama defended embattled Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki Wednesday, but warned that someone will be held accountable for any revealed shortcomings amid allegations that 40 veterans died awaiting care. Gwen Ifill gets two views on the troubles inside the VA from former Defense Department official David McGinnis and Joseph Violante of Disabled American Veterans.The average claim for veteran benefits takes more than half a year to be processed.The Department of Veterans Affairs has a backlog of more than half a million overdue claims for benefits that are at least 125 days old.In 2024. the number of veterans that had been waiting for more than a year to have their benefits approved was 11,000. Today, that number has soared to 245,000.PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: I will not stand for it, not as commander in chief, but also not as an American. None of us should. So, if these allegations prove to be true, it is dishonorable, it is disgraceful, and I will not tolerate it, period.GWEN IFILL: These allegations range from delaying treatment to falsifying records. And, overnight, the VA inspector general expanded his investigation to 26 VA facilities, up from 10 last week.The VA hospital reports in Phoenix, Arizona, note that 40 veterans died while awaiting care. Nice work President Obama, way to lead from the front Mr. Commander-in-Chief.Thousands upon thousands of military veterans that are waiting for their claims to be processed are dealing with absolutely horrible injuries.Of those who have sought VA care:u2024 More than 1,600 of them lost a limb, many others lost fingers or toes.u2024 At least 156 are blind, and thousands of others have impaired vision.u2024 More than 177,000 have hearing loss, and more than 350,000 report tinnitus u2024 noise or ringing in the ears.u2024 Thousands are disfigured, as many as 200 of them so badly that they may need face transplants. One-quarter of battlefield injuries requiring evacuation included wounds to the face or jaw, one study found.At one VA hospital in Wisconsin, one military veteran with a broken jaw that was seeking treatment still had not had his jaw fixed after a month and a half.Today, it takes military vets an average of seven months to get an appointment at a VA facility.Many VA facilities are in absolutely horrific condition. A while back, ABC News conducted an investigation of conditions at VA facilities across the United States. What ABC News discovered was absolutely shocking. The following are just a few of the things that they found during the course of their investigationu2026*Bathrooms filthy with what appeared to be human excrement*Dirty linens from some patients mixed in with clean supplies*Examining tables that had dried blood and medications still on them*Equipment used to sterilize surgical instruments that had broken down*Some patients were forced to beg for food and water*Veterans that were neglected so badly that they developed horrific bedsores and dangerous infectionsApplying for veteran benefits is extremely complicated, and VA employees are actually paid bonuses for denying claims:The truth is that we have made it extremely difficult for our military veterans to claim the benefits that we have promised them. Vets have to fill out an absurdly complicated 23 page application and if they make even one small mistake their applications can be stonewalled for years. The U.S. Veterans Administration actually has a policy under which they pay large bonuses to employees that meet certain application processing goals. This explains why approximately 70% of the claims submitted to the Veterans Administration are refused or sent back to be redone. In fact, using the Freedom of Information Act, one local NBC station was able to learn that $250,000 was paid in bonuses to VA employees who work inside the Poff Federal Building in Roanoke, Virginia in just one year alone.Let me add some additional information. I am a U.S. Marine Veteran, and the VA outpost at 3030 Downing Street in Denver canu2019t even get my REQUIRED DD214. Instead, a piece of paper comes in the mail saying that records from years blah-blah-blah were moved out of Kansas City, and nobody knows how to get them. (Congress, fire all of those lazy #&%&&*&u2019s and put me in charge of the VA, Iu2019m sure I canu2019t do much worse, and I played a BM Hunter in World of Warcraft, so I am great at multi-tasking.)Large numbers of military veterans that legitimately should be getting benefits are having their claims denied by the federal government. Just check out the following example from a Veterans Today article:In one case, we found a veteran with 40 percent of his brain removed found to be healthy and employable. He was also missing his right arm. The physician who examined him over looked the arm and failed to note the cognitive degeneration the traumatic brain injury had caused.Last year, more than 85,000 military veterans were treated for sexual abuse that they suffered while serving in the military. 40 percent of them were men.According to a recent Defense Department survey, approximately 14,000 men in the U.S. military were sexually assaulted by other men during 2012.According to the Washington Post, there is an epidemic of sexual assaults being committed by military recruiters. The Pentagon is pledging to do something about the problem:u201cThe secretary has made it clear that we will spare no effort to rid our military of sexual abuse,u201d said George Little, the Pentagon press secretary. u201cThe fact that there have been problems of sexual abuse during the recruiting process is simply intolerable.u201dThe number of active members of the U.S. military that are killing themselves now exceeds the number that are dying on the battlefield.Since the beginning of the Iraq War, twice as many members of the Texas National Guard have killed themselves as have been killed in combat.According to one recent study, 22 military veterans kill themselves in the United States every single day.At this point, combat veterans account for about 20 percent of all suicides in the United States.The unemployment rate for military veterans is significantly higher than for the population as a whole. This is especially true for younger veterans.On any given night, hundreds-of-thousands of military veterans are homeless in the United States.All over America, monuments that honor military veterans are crumbling and falling apart. For much more on this, please see this article.Under the Obama administration, many military veterans have had to pay to have their medals shipped to them. For example, one soldier actually had to pay a 21 dollar shipping fee to get his Purple Heart. The following is from the Huffington Post:War comes with an incalculable human cost. And apparently a shipping fee of about $21.Retired Sgt. Major Rob Dickerson says thatu2019s the price he was forced to pay when his Purple Heart u2024 the medal issued to soldiers wounded in action u2024 arrived at his door, C.O.D.Instead of being awarded the military honor in a formal ceremony, the vet with 29 years in the service was handed his award, and a shipping invoice, by a FedEx deliveryman outside his Sioux Falls, S.D., home.In some areas of the country the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has been caught banning the words u201cGodu201d and u201cJesusu201d during funeral services for veterans.Today, the federal government provides u201cend of lifeu201d literature to veterans that helps them to determine when their lives are u201cno longer worth livingu201cu2026u201cYour Life, Your Choicesu201d presents end-of-life choices in a way aimed at steering users toward predetermined conclusions, much like a political u201cpush poll.u201d For example, a worksheet on page 21 lists various scenarios and asks users to then decide whether their own life would be u201cnot worth living.u201dThe circumstances listed include ones common among the elderly and disabled: living in a nursing home, being in a wheelchair and not being able to u201cshake the blues.u201d There is a section which provocatively asks, u201cHave you ever heard anyone say, u2018If Iu2019m a vegetable, pull the plugu2019?u201d There also are guilt-inducing scenarios such as u201cI can no longer contribute to my familyu2019s well being,u201d u201cI am a severe financial burden on my familyu201d and that the vetu2019s situation u201ccauses severe emotional burden for my family.u201dWhen the government can steer vulnerable individuals to conclude for themselves that life is not worth living, who needs a death panel?(Secretary Shinseki) Heu2019s trying to eliminate homelessness amongst veterans. Thereu2019s been a lot going on since heu2019s come in. And, again, the funding issue existed long before he came in. The problem with demand and access has existed for a long time.Footnotes[1] Why the VA frustrates veterans
