VA's Katz Should Leave Now, and Anyone Else Involved In Shirking Duty!!

I don't need to add anything to the below, one: I'm not there, two: what's below says it all, three: this Country put it's Military Through All This Before to my Brother 'Nam Vets and followed up with Every Deployment Since!

How many know what's happening with the Gulf War I Vets!

Murray: VA's Katz Should Leave
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., says she wants "honesty, openness, and directness" from the Dept. of Veterans Affairs, and says Dr. Ira Katz, the VA's top official for mental health, should step aside.

Harkin: 'Cover-Up' At VA
Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, responds to emails exposed by CBS News that show the Dept. of Veterans Affairs withheld information about suicide risk among veterans. "Some heads oughta roll," says Harkin.

A little backround as the Trial started on monday.

Lawsuit: Veterans Affairs Has Failed To Prevent Suicides
Lawsuit Accuses Dept. Of Veterans Affairs Of Failing To Prevent An 'epidemic Of Suicide'

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs isn't doing enough to prevent suicide and provide adequate medical care for Americans who have served in the armed forces, a class-action lawsuit that goes to trial this week charges.

The lawsuit, filed in July by two nonprofit groups representing military veterans, accuses the agency of inadequately addressing a "rising tide" of mental health problems, especially post-traumatic stress disorder.

"CBS News RAW": Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., questions Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs Gordon Mansfield about allegations that the VA tried to cover up the true risk of suicide among veterans.

After a Senate hearing, CBS News' Armen Keteyian asks Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs Gordon Mansfield if Dr. Ira Katz, the department's top mental health official, will remain at the VA.

CountDown - KO

VA official accused of covering up suicide rates
Dems call for mental health chief to quit after e-mails contradict reports

Class-action suit against Veterans Affairs opens

SAN FRANCISCO -- The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs may paint a rosy picture of improving healthcare for veterans, but the agency has systematically denied benefits to sick veterans and delayed claims so long that many of them commit suicide, a lawyer for two advocacy groups argued in federal court Monday.

"The court faces an agency that is in denial and a healthcare system and an adjudication system that are broken down and in crisis," said Gordon P. Erspamer, one of the plaintiffs' attorneys, in an opening statement in the class-action suit against the VA.

Attorney leading suit a veteran in battling VA

Gordon Erspamer, the attorney who brought the lawsuit against the Department of Veterans Affairs that went to trial this week in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, is a big, unresponsive government agency's worst nightmare.

He's a rainmaker attorney for a major firm in the city who has set aside time to take legal action that doesn't earn a penny. And besides that, he's got a compelling and personal back story and a chip on his shoulder to prove it.

Minn. veterans tell House Speaker Pelosi that too many vets fall through cracks in the system
Congressman Tm Walz and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi listened to questions and concerns brought up during a round-table discussion with Minnesota veterans at the Minneapolis Veterans' Hospital.

MINNEAPOLIS - Too many Iraq War veterans are slipping through the cracks and aren't getting the benefits they've earned, veterans told U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Monday.

Care and clarity at the VA

War affects different people in different ways. We know more about that because of advances in various sciences, technology and computing power. There's still a lot left to learn. But this is certain: The price of war isn't limited to the cost of bullets.

That's why it's so important to have a strong, efficient, accountable federal agency to disburse care to those among us whom our nation sent off to fight. For the first time in its modern incarnation, the Department of Veterans Affairs is led by a general who is also a doctor, James B. Peake.

Let a few of the Families speak as well:

Veterans Families Speak Out
"Only On The Web": Chief investigative correspondent Armen Keteyian speaks to the families of five soldiers who, allegedly suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, took their own lives.

What's happening is just 'The Tip Of The Iceburg', as they say!

You had better prepare yourselves Country, you Wanted It, and You Allow It To Continue, the Human Costs have already started mounting!

And keep in mind the little Country We Destroyed and the Deaths and Maimings 'In Your Name'!!!