{This blog is not affiliated with the VA. Though a Veteran, four yrs. all shore in Navy last year In-Country Vietnam, I don't work for the VA}
**USN All Shore '67-'71 GMG3 Vietnam In Country '70-'71 - Independent**

In 2003 some 72% of Americans fully supported the Abandoning of the Missions and those Sent to Accomplish so extremely Quickly after 9/11!!
At least some 95%, if not more as less then 1% serve them, not only still support the, just below, total lack of Sacrifice, they ran from any and all Accountability and left everything still on the table to be continually used if the political/military want was still in play in future executive/legislative wants!!
DeJa-Vu: “With no shared sacrifices being asked of civilians after Sept. 11", Decades and War From, All Over Again!!
Especially for the Corporate and Wealthy Community, investors in Defense Industries, and for these, Afghanistan and Iraq, came Two Huge Tax Cuts, with more sweetheart deals to same from states and the fed!!


Thousands of people across America don’t just talk about honoring Veterans; they walk the walk. Dedicated Volunteers Serve Veterans for Decades

On this Executive Administration, it's Cabinet and those directly around same, "Best - Ever": "We haven't had this kind of visibility from the White House—ever." Joyce Raezer National Military Family Association - Dec. 30, 2011, and plenty more of similar since Joyce, others, spoke and continues!

Ask yourself: If the Veterans Administration is so corrupt and mismanaged, as the conservative ideology, under which the seeds of are planted when they control, wants everyone to buy into as they obstruct the budgets and do extremely little after they charge same, then why does the Private sector, many problems within rarely heard about, adopt so many practices and advanced technologies developed within the VA, for free?! The VA, DoD, and in partnership with Universities and Colleges, not just Health Care are constantly in R&D and that developed that works is quickly moved into the private, for profit, sector, even as the VA is long under funded, decades, and especially during and after our wars that the few are sent into!

* * * * *
President Obama 26 August 2014
Fact: "This is not just a job of government. It’s not just a job of the veterans’ organizations. Every American needs to join us in taking care of those who've taken care of us. Because only 1 percent of Americans may be fighting our wars, but 100 percent of Americans benefit from that 1 percent. A hundred percent need to be supporting our troops. A hundred percent need to be supporting our veterans. A hundred percent need to be supporting our military families."

Fact: "We’ve been able to accomplish historic increases to veterans funding. We’ve protected veterans health care from Washington politics with advanced appropriations. We’ve been able to make VA benefits available to more than 2 million veterans who didn't have them before, including more Vietnam vets who were exposed to Agent Orange. We’ve dedicated major new resources for mental health care. We’ve helped more than 1 million veterans and their families pursue their education under the Post-9/11 GI Bill."

August 26, 2014 - Secretary Robert A. McDonald's Remarks for the American Legion's 96th Annual Convention, Charlotte, NC
Fact: "Unlike, P&G, VA may not be concerned about quarterly profit and loss statements or shareholder value, but it does have a bottom line—Veterans. "
{which is why No Government agency should be turned into a private corporate entity feeding for profit off the Countries duty and responsibility, especially the VA}
* * * * *

Fact: “We are dealing with veterans, not procedures—with their problems, not ours.” —General Omar Bradley, First Administrator of the Veterans Administration

Facts: Matthew Hoh {former Marine and foreign service officer in Afghanistan}: "We spend a trillion dollars a year on national security in this country."
"And when you add up to the Department of Defense, Department of State, CIA, Veterans Affairs, interest on debt, the number that strikes me the most about how much we're committed financially to these wars and to our current policies is we have spent $250 billion already just on interest payments on the debt we've incurred for the Iraq and Afghan wars." 26 September 2014

Fact: "If military action is worth our troops’ blood, it should be worth our treasure, too — not just in the abstract, but in the form of a specific ante by every American." -Andrew Rosenthal 10 Feb. 2013

Fact: "12 years also is a long time. We now have a lifetime responsibility to a generation of service members, veterans and their families." Dr. Jonathan Woodson 11 Sep. 2013: With 9/11 Came Lifetime Responsibility
 {two tax cuts, especially for the wealthy, came with these two recent unpaid for wars, nor the results of, DeJa-Vu all over again from the previous decades and wars from! Ignore the many issues, by those served, no need to fund!}

Fact: Sen. Bernie Sanders told Republicans: “If you can’t afford to take care of your veterans, than don’t go war. These people are bearing the brunt of what war is about, We have a moral obligation to support them.” February, 26th, 2014

Fact: 25 June 2014 U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller: Veterans' Affairs issue an 'all too similar' scene

Fact: How We Could Do More For Our Vets: "We need to go into debt to pay our debt to U.S. veterans to make sure they get the care and services we owe them."

Fact: “Why in 2009 were we still using paper?” VA Assistant Secretary Tommy Sowers “When we came in, there was no plan to change that; we’ve been operating on a six month wait for over a decade.” 27 March 2013

WHY? GOOD QUESTION THOSE SERVED SHOULD ANSWER!


Bob Herbert Losing Our Way : "And then the staggering costs of these wars, which are borne by the taxpayers. I mean, one of the things that was insane was that, as we're at war in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Bush administration cut taxes. This has never been done in American history. The idea of cutting taxes while you're going to war is just crazy. I mean, it's madness." Bill 'Moyers and Company': Restoring an America That Has Lost its Way 10 Oct. 2014

Presidential Proclamation -- Veterans Day, 2013: "As we pay tribute to our veterans, we are mindful that no ceremony or parade can fully repay that debt." read more>>>


Under two previous Executive administrations and wars from, father and son. With son and conservative congresses leading the extremely quick abandoning of the missions and those sent to accomplish after 9/11:

ProPublica and The Seattle Times Nov. 9, 2012 - Lost to History: Missing War Records Complicate Benefit Claims by Iraq, Afghanistan Veterans
"DeLara's case is part of a much larger problem that has plagued the U.S. military since the 1990 Gulf War: a failure to create and maintain the types of field records that have documented American conflicts since the Revolutionary War."

Part Two: A Son Lost in Iraq, but Where Is the Casualty Report?

Army Says War Records Gap Is Real, Launches Recovery Effort

3/27/15 - U.S. Nerve Gas Hit Our Own Troops in Iraq
"During and immediately after the first Gulf War, more than 200,000 of 700,000 U.S. troops sent to Iraq and Kuwait in January 1991 were exposed to nerve gas and other chemical agents. Though aware of this, the Department of Defense and CIA launched a campaign of lies and concocted a cover-up that continues today."
"When Brown and others tried to obtain their medical records to prove their illnesses were service-related, they learned that the records had disappeared."



Add in the issues of finally recognizing in War Theater and more Veterans, by the Shinseki Veterans Administration and the Executive Administrations Cabinet, what the Country choose to ignore from our previous decades and wars of: The devastating effects on Test Vets and from PTS, Agent Orange, Homelessness, more recent the Desert Storm troops Gulf War Illnesses, Gulf War Exposures with the very recent affects from In-Theater Burn Pits and oh so so much more! Tens of Thousands of Veterans' that have been long ignored and maligned by previous VA's and the whole Country and through their representatives!

How does a Country HONOR It's Fallen, by Their Own 'Sacrifice' in Taking Care of the Brothers and Sisters They Served With!!


"You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today." - Abraham Lincoln

"To care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan" - President Lincoln

She wrote that she's proud of her service but added this: "That doesn't change the fact that I contributed - however indirectly - to human beings vanishing from the earth in a moment of sheer agony."



Homeless Veterans/Stand Downs

Are You Concerned About a Veteran? The Veterans Crisis Line Can Help>>>

For our sisters: National Women Veterans Hotline, call 1-855-VA-WOMEN1-855-VA-WOMEN (1-855-829-66361-855-829-6636) New Hotline now up and running

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Veterans Administration, Health Care, Audits

“Why in 2009 were we still using paper?” VA Assistant Secretary Tommy Sowers “When we came in, there was no plan to change that; we’ve been operating on a six month wait for over a decade.” 27 March 2013

Salisbury VA Director: "No major concerns" found in audit
May 20, 2014 - The director of the Salisbury VA Medical Center says "no major issues" have been uncovered in a partial audit of three of the four sites providing healthcare to veterans served by the center.

In a statement provided to WBTV Tuesday morning, Director Kaye Green said she and her staff are committed to the well being of veterans.

"Presently, VA is conducting a nationwide audit of access to care issues," Green said. "The purpose of this audit is to ensure a full understanding of VA's policy and continued integrity in managing patient access to care."

"As of today, the Salisbury VA Health Care System has undergone a partial audit with three of the four Salisbury sites being complete. While the audit team shared no specifics during their out-brief, no major concerns were voiced about scheduling practices." read more>>>

Good marks, bad marks in audit of Montana VA health system
21 May 2014 - The VA Montana healthcare system ranks near the top of the VA system in some key categories, according to a VA Inspector General report released Monday.

The 37-page document gave the Montana VA high marks for its low patient mortality, infection and readmission rates.

But the report placed Montana near the bottom of the system in employee satisfaction, wait times for service, and nurse turnover.

The Montana VA Director at Fort Harrison agreed with findings and recommendations in the report.

The study took place in March and is unrelated to a nationwide audit currently in motion across the system on wait times for medical care. read more>>>

Obama Addresses Alleged Misconduct at VA

"If military action is worth our troops’ blood, it should be worth our treasure, too" "not just in the abstract, but in the form of a specific ante by every American." -Andrew Rosenthal 10 Feb. 2013

Obama: People 'Will Be Held Accountable' For Veterans Affairs Problems
21 May 2014 - Anybody found to have manipulated or falsified Veterans Affairs records "will be held accountable," President Obama said Wednesday. The president condemned the reported widespread problems at the VA, defending Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki.

Obama spoke after he and Shinseki met in the Oval Office Wednesday morning with White House deputy chief of staff Rob Nabors, who since last week has been detailed to work with the VA. Neither of those men attended the president's news conference.

Speaking about reports of long wait times — and efforts to cover up the delays — Obama said that if they're proven true, the behavior is "dishonorable" and "disgraceful."

"I will not stand for it," Obama said. "None of us should." read more>>>

President Obama's remarks on veterans health care

Republicans outraged over treatment of veterans filibustered better health care for vets in February

May 21, 2014 - Someday the Republicans and Fox News will be outraged enough about our treatment of veterans that they will agree to do something about it. Why, Reince Priebus is beside himself.

Don't bet on it, though; remember, it was less than three months ago that they again blocked the expansion of health care programs for those same veterans: read more>>>

Our Forgotten Wounded

May 21, 2014 - Nine years ago I originally posted this. With the focus on the VA "scandal" front and center, I thought it might be worth posting it again.

Our Forgotten Wounded

Sun Apr 17, 2005

When I turned on the tube last week, I flipped to CSPAN for some reason and low and behold there was Senator Larry Craig - (R - ID) followed by Kay Bailey Hutchison - (R - TX) speaking against the Murray amendment for a $1.9 billion emergency supplimental increase in the VA's budget. This was diaried that day by Ioo Screw the Vets, Let them Eat Cake. I contributed a shot of the cover of Life magazine from May 22, 1970 "Our Forgotten Wounded".. I had received a copy of that issue the week before while volunteering at the American Friends Service Committee traveling exhibit "Eyes Wide Open. Between now and then I have scanned the article and converted to a PDF file which I will be printing and taking to my High School counter recruitment presentations. The file is too big for download (54 megs) so I would like to share the results with you in a diary. The pictures are downsized (still kinda big) and I have included the text of the article and captioned the pictures as they were in the magazine.

The Article was written by Charles Child, photographed by Co Rentmeester.

Where are the journalists today?

Press Release from Disabled American Veterans (Shame on Republicans) - Apr 15, 2005 - "Less than half way through the current fiscal year, Veterans Affairs medical facilities across the country have already run out of money and face huge deficits, an emergency situation if there ever was one,"

--Disabled American Veterans National Commander James E. Sursely read more>>>

The double tragedy of Eric Shinseki
May 21, 2014 - As you may recall, the Bush administration's reaction to Shinseki's February 25, 2003 testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee was immediate and vicious. Less than a month before the invasion to topple Saddam was to begin, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld blasted Shinseki's warnings that a massive American occupation force would be needed in "a piece of geography that's fairly significant" like Iraq with a history of "ethnic tensions that could lead to other problems." As CNN reported on February 27, 2003:
Rumsfeld said the post-war troop commitment would be less than the number of troops required to win the war. He also said "the idea that it would take several hundred thousand U.S. forces, I think, is far from the mark."
Paul Wolfowitz, Rumsfeld's number two man at the Pentagon, echoed that point. Wolfowitz, who just days after the invasion claimed "we're dealing with a country that could really finance its own reconstruction, and relatively soon," lambasted Shinseki at a hearing of the House Budget Committee: read more>>>

May 21, 2014 - Republican Medicaid refusal leaves over 250,000 veterans uninsured


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