NH hopes to help its veterans for long haul

Dave Clark remembers all too clearly that February day in 1968 when the transport truck he was driving in Vietnam was hit by enemy fire, and all the troops he was carrying were killed. He recalls, "I grabbed my weapon after I got thrown from the truck and i joined the marines in a firefight until a grenade ended it for me."

And from one veteran to another, Clark sends a message that it's more than OK, it's essential to ask for help. "They're gonna be scarred. They're gonna be scarred and they're gonna have to have somebody to talk to.

Linda Blimes Book
The Three Trillion Dollar War: The True Cost of the Iraq Conflict

VA Hospitals Investigation

Disability Rights Advocates has been conducting an investigation into VA hospital access.


While their investigation is being targeted on the Veterans Care issue with the below recent report we can see that the Military Care issue, i.e. Walter Reed and More, is still having the same problems that finally came forward through great investigative reporting and shouldn't have existed nor still exist as to care for the returning active duty Military Personal especially from these theaters of occupations.


Mold infests Okla. barracks for wounded

LAWTON, Okla. — Mold infests the barracks that were set up here a year ago for wounded soldiers after poor conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center triggered a system wide overhaul, soldiers say.

Military and Veterans Care were a major issue for us returning Vietnam Veterans, a Major Issue!


While things improved, through the fights for change that the veterans brought to the Veterans Administration they've never changed enough for those who sacrifice their years and lives for service to the country. And far to often those changes have slipped back into the problems that existed before and the need to fight for the improvements is once again waged, over and over and over................., as we Veterans are finding we are Re-Fighting the battles once again for another generation of Military Personal and Military Veteran, with the help of caring civilians, caring civilians who's numbers are way to small in a society that owes much more to those who serve it for it's National Security.


When this country supposedly switched to a Professional Military many thought every facet would be Professional, especially as to care, we're once again finding a failed system, a failed system lacking the funding and administration that still stays a political tool of party politics and apathy of the civilian population.


In these present times All of this should have been set into place, starting to upgrade the Military and Veterans hospitals and clinics, well before Any Invasion of anothers country, and we have two long running occupations, was started, by the Previous Congresses who were beating the Drums Of War, and the Civilian Population should have Sacrificed and Supported these upgrades as they were Supporting the coming Invasions and occupations.


The problems Finally coming to light in the present Congress, that are Finally conducting the Investigations and Over site, we hire our representatives to do, are once again being shown as they were before, Failed Civilian and Military Leadership playing the same Political Games with those who serve this country and the country not willing to support the military personal and demand these problems are correctly fixed. They are coming about due to the Privatizing of the 'Preventive Maintenance', once taken care of with the ranks of the military, but now farmed out to private firms for profit, many publicly owned. They are happening because of the Political Appointed leadership and hiring of political personal in the administrations under them, not being hired due to knowledge of how to administer the government programs but on political ideology.


If still active duty and under the military physical and mental care, especially from either theater of occupation, and find problems with or difficulties in yours and others care, and your chain of command doesn't seem to be taking care of these problems, you should also contact DRA to help in their investigation, the above report shows the need!


This Country Owes It's Military and Veterans of!


Now to the battle, Again, and the DRA information:

As background, DRA is one of the two law firms that challenged the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA’s) practices in failing to adequately treat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and we also have a longstanding interest hospital access for individuals with disabilities. We have brought and successfully settled several lawsuits addressing hospital access, including an action against Kaiser and one against Sutter Health, which runs a large hospital chain in Northern California. We are also working on hospital access issues in other parts of the country. Now, Disability Rights Advocates is conducting an investigation of whether or not VA hospitals and clinics are accessible to patients with physical disabilities, specifically those who use a wheelchair or have other mobility limitations, and those who are blind or deaf. We would like to hear from disabled veterans who use VA hospitals and clinics about their experiences at these facilities.


We have come up with a list of the features that are part of this investigation. This list will provide veterans with more information about us and what we are looking for. We are asking for your help by posting this flier on your website and distributing it to your membership.


Please post and email as you see fit, and feel free to encourage others to forward the notice as they think appropriate.


I'm happy to discuss the investigation in greater detail with you or anyone else, both to clarify any questions and to discuss potential additional involvement. You can reach either me or Melissa at the number below. We really appreciate your help.


Thank you in advance for your assistance with our outreach.


Best,

Stephanie A. Biedermann

Arthur Liman Fellowship Attorney

Disability Rights Advocates
2001 Center Street, Third Floor
Berkeley, California 94704-1204
510.665.8644
510.665.8716 (TTY)
510.665.8511 (Fax)
Stephanie A. Biedermann

The following is the most recent file that I recieved from DRA and Stephanie and Melissa.

ATTENTION VETERANS WITH DISABILITIES


What: Disability Rights Advocates is conducting an investigation into the accessibility of VA hospitals and clinics around the country.

Who: If you have a mobility disability, a vision disability, a hearing disability, and/or a Traumatic Brain Injury, we would like to hear about your experiences.

Why: You are entitled to full access to VA hospitals and clinics and reasonable accommodations, whether or not your disability is service connected. We want to make sure that you are able to access VA medical facilities and services.


Architectural Barriers: Can you access VA hospitals and clinics? This includes all physical access to buildings, including entrances, parking lots, elevators, restrooms, waiting rooms, exam or treatment rooms, laboratories and pharmacies.

Access to Medical Equipment: Can you independently access medical equipment? This includes exam tables, exam chairs, scales, diagnostic testing equipment (such as x-ray machines, MRI machines, CT scans or Pet Scans), rehabilitation equipment, and other diagnostic treatment devices.

Experiences with the Staff: Have the people staffing VA hospitals and clinics been able to respond to your needs as a person with a disability? This includes information about whether the staff was knowledgeable and helpful in responding to any obstacles you may have faced due to your disability, whether architectural, communication related, or otherwise.

To set up at time to talk about your experiences at VA hospitals and/or clinics, please email VA Access, or call toll-free at 800/332-6177 (or TTY at 510/665-8716). None of the information you provide us will be disclosed without your permission.

DRA is one of the two law firms that is challenging the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA’s) practices in failing to adequately treat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and we also have a longstanding interest in ensuring disabled individuals’ equal access to medical care. For more information about DRA, please visit DRA Legal.

I have uploaded the files I've received from DRA to an online file sharing site, you will find the links to each below. You can download these files to your computers and use them yourself or to pass along to others who might aid in DRA's research and investigation.



This link will give you the most recent file, posted above in the quote box.


This link gives you a PDFile previously received and passed along


This link gives you a RTFile also previously received and passed along


Please use the files above to help in the DRA research and investigation, not only meant for Veterans and Military personal, and their families, but also in seeking the help of the civilian population who may observe problems that Disabled Veterans and Military personal might be experiencing in their care that the country owes them.


Improving Military and Veterans care, as it should have always been, will help in the Improvements needed in the countries population as a whole and care of!

Request for Information

On another Investigation spearheaded by

Melissa W. Kasnitz
Managing Attorney
Disability Rights Advocates

Melissa sent me an e-mail, part of which is:

Disability Rights Advocates is working up a new investigation regarding the physical facilities and accessible medical equipment at VA hospitals.

Though I'm a 'Nam Vet I'm not a disabled Vet. As I sent back that info to Melissa telling her I'd search out others who would be able to give handson help to her.

Melissa is one of the Attorneys who were heavily involved in working up the Class Action Lawsuit now in Trial on the Veterans Care Issue in California that has been posted about on these boards.

You can go through their website: Disability Rights Advocates, to contact her and the other Attorneys, if you do it might be wise to make your contact Attn: Melissa Kasnitz in the subject line to be sure it gets to her.

Crisis in Veterans' Healthcare

DeJa-Vu Vietnam Era All Over Again!!

For an Arrogant, Apathedic, Wealthy country, that loves it's Conflicts and Occupations, we truely show our colors with our short term memories.

This all went on before, We Didn't Learn.

Now this time we have the cute little phrase, with magnetic car ribbons {though they must weight abit too much, don't see them anymore especially on the gas guzzling SUV's, save gas you know, get rid of excess weight.}, "Support The Troops", but like all the past times the reality of the feel good phrases quickly disappears when they return, "Forget The Veterans!"!

So the 'Troops', fresh from the battles and occupations we send them to, this time after Multiple Tours some now of their fifth, have to face the reality of the new battles, with little help, against the country that sent them but Refuses to Pony Up The Monies Needed to Care for them, funny how they Ignore the Costs of waging the Occupations and Destruction of Others, and the War Profitteers who reap from those monies!

Class-action suit against Veterans Affairs opens
E-mails noting high rate of veteran suicide are shown, but agency says it is doing its best to provide healthcare.

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.

VA stalling on care, judge told at S.F. trial

More than 120 veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq commit suicide every week while the government stalls in granting returning troops the mental health treatment and benefits to which they are entitled, veterans advocates told a federal judge Monday in San Francisco.

This afternoon, for those able to tune in online:

On Tuesday, April 22nd, KPFA/ Pacifica Radio will broadcast a three-hour live national special delving into the crisis in the VA health care system. The special broadcast will include live updates from the San Francisco Federal Courthouse, interviews with veterans’ attorney Gordon Erspamer, advocates from Veterans for Common Sense and Veterans for America, as well as interviews with veterans and their families, including Joyce and Kevin Lucey who are suing the VA claiming their son Jeffrey committed suicide after being turned away from the VA.


KPFA host and former Army medic Aimee Allison and award-winning journalist Aaron Glantz will anchor the broadcast and take calls from listeners. Listeners can also participate in a blog on KPFA’s interactive warcomeshome.org website, which highlights the human costs of the Iraq and Afghanistan occupations for those in the United States. The special airs on KPFA from 10am PDT (1pm EDT) to 1pm PDT (4pm EDT) on 94.1 FM in Northern California and online at kpfa.org and warcomeshome.org, as well as on Pacifica stations and affiliates around the country.

( Click here to visit KPFA to listen live }

The broadcast comes on the heels of KPFA/ Pacifica’s broadcast of the Winter Soldier hearings last month in Silver Springs, Maryland, where scores of US veterans spoke out about war crimes perpetrated by the US government in Iraq and Afghanistan, including crimes they had witnessed or participated in.

Watch

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.

Keep In Front Of Mind, Who Had Total Control.......

As they Rubber Stamped Two Major Conflicts!

Signing off on Conflict Budgets with No Oversite and No Questions!

Whatever this administration wanted They Got, and are Still getting even though the People Want the Complete Opposite and Spoke out for last election!

Well we have now been watching the Results of Their 'Tough On National Defense and Supporting The Troops'!

They sent our Military into these Wars of Choice, and showed a Total lack of Concern about our returning Military Personal. Speaking hollow words of 'Support'!

Their Choice, to follow the Failed Policies and Incompetent Corrupt Leadership!!

Tampa Bay VA hospitals forced to turn away patients
Overloading is the reason for denying services. Critics say it's a national crisis.

Two Tampa Bay veterans hospitals turn away critically ill patients for huge chunks of the year because of an overloaded veterans' health-care system.

They managed to take an already strained VA Health Care system, thanks to inaction for far too long, and not only strained it further but once again broke it, as it was after our last major debacle.

"The VA has never dealt with its capacity issues seriously," said Bill Geden, district director in west-central Florida for the Blinded Veterans Association. "They're underfunded, undermanned and overloaded."

With the Billions, 'rubber stamped', and spent creating another generation of major numbers of maimed Combat Veterans, not only are these recent Veterans not being cared for properly, as we've been finding out, but Veterans of past conflicts are being pushed aside by a Nation, who through their Representatives, shows the lack of caring and concern!

Now who can Speak of 'Strong on National Defense', it certainly isn't those who base their political ideology on those words, they can't even take care of those who serve to make Defense Strong!

Who can speak of 'Supporting The Troops', it certainly isn't those who's Representatives show their total lack of 'Support'!

I went way beyond Fed Up long ago.

I want any and all running for National Office against any, who still call themselves republicans, asking the Questions of why our returning Military and our Veterans are facing these Major Problems. But especially our returning Combat Troops at a time of two Major Theaters of Operations!

They beat the drums of war and gave our Military the Finger!

UPDATED

New report on Military Suicides

Iraq, Afghan vets at risk for suicides

By KIMBERLY HEFLING, Associated Press Writer 31 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Mary Gallagher did not get a knock at the door from a military chaplain with news of her Marine husband's death in a faraway place. Instead, the Iraq war veteran committed suicide eight months after returning home.