Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Gul War Vets Need Your Help

Please help us on this action!
--------------------------------------

All citizens, veterans, veteran family members and friends, employers and
employees can help! Let's make the effort to find research answers for
diagnosis and treatment for gulf war veterans both Operation Desert Storm
(90-91) and our current Operation Iraqi Freedom and Afghanistan Enduring
Freedom! It is simple show support by signing petition just sign on the
petition and then exit the site(
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/GulfWarillness/index.html) no
contribution is necessary!
We are using this as just a visual show of support. The Representatives we
are contacting listed below are being made aware of the response to the
petition in our letters and calls to them. We are also notifying media
sources of the responses to the petition when we are approaching them to
follow this issue. So we are using it as a visual demonstration of support!

Yes we have other supporters helping but we need more help with phone calls!
This is not just a one person effort but a combination with service
organizations, you, and civilians.

Then help by using a few minutes to make calls to the Defense Appropriations
Subcommittee Members in DC! Let them know America wants this done! More
Specifics
follow. Thank You for your help and time
Sincerely,
Denise Nichols
Gulf War Veteran Nurse
Specific Directions

Sign the petition
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/GulfWarillness/index.html
limit comments to appropriations (defense subcommittee) for Congressional
Direct Medical Research on gulf war illness and support for 30 million in
research funds for that in FY08.

The Defense Subcommittee on Defense appropriations (both House and Senate)
have just started this process for FY08.

When making the calls to each office ask for the staffer in charge of
Defense Appropriations!


TALKING POINTS

-The Congressional Direct Medical Research on Gulf War Illness within the
Defense Appropriations got FY06 5 million FY 07 ZERO

We want this in FY 08 at a level of 30 million

- 175,000 Gulf War veterans still suffer from chronic multisymptom illness
related to the 1991 war, according to the latest Department of Veterans
Affairs study

- There are no effective treatments.

- The VA Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans Illnesses has
found that evidence supports a probable link between exposure to neurotoxins
and the
development of these illnesses.

- Treatments and diagnostic markers identified through the GWVRP would also
serve to protect the health of current and future military personnel and
civilians at risk of similar health effects.

---30% of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom are also
returning
with ill defined conditions/syndrome Source VA document

- A $5 million pilot research program open to all researchers and conducted
by DoD attracted 80 proposals to identify treatments and diagnostic tests in
2006, compared to two treatments studied in the previous fifteen years.

- While $5 million will support only a fraction of these studies, this
response demonstrates the interest of the scientific community in improving
the health of ill Gulf War veterans.

Action requested:

- As Congress appropriates needed billions for the care of those returning
from the current war, we urgently ask that it fund this treatment research
program for ill Gulf War veterans at the $30 million level traditionally
funded by DoD for Gulf War illness research before it was eliminated from
the budget in recent years.

-

- All major veterans organizations support $30 million funding for the Gulf
War Veterans Illnesses Research Program of the DoD Congressionally Directed
Medical Research Program.

Make the phone calls:

REMEMBER ASK FOR STAFFER DEALING WITH DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS

Concentrate on HOUSE SUBCOMMITTEE MEMBERS FOR DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS
this week here is the contacts for those members:

House Committee Appropriations Defense Subcommittee

John P. Murtha (PA), Chair
202-225-5916
202-226-1176(fax)

David Morrison, Subcommittee Clerk
Room H-149 The Capitol
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-2847

Democrats
David R. Obey, Wisconsin, Chair (202) 225-3365

Republicans

Jerry Lewis, California, Ranking Member (202) 225-5861

Fax: (202) 225-6498

MAJORITY

Chair: John P. Murtha (PA
202-225-5916
202-226-1176(fax)


Norman D. Dicks (WA)
(202) 225-5916 [voice]
(202) 226-1176 [fax]

Peter J. Visclosky (IN)
phone: (202) 225-2461
fax: (202) 225-2493

James P. Moran (VA)
Phone: (202) 225-4376
Fax: (202) 225-0017

Marcy Kaptur (OH)
Tel: (202) 225-4146
Fax: (202) 225-7711

Robert E. Bud Cramer, Jr. (AL)
202-2254801
202-225-4392 Fax

Allen Boyd (FL)
(202) 225-5235
(202) 225-5615 Fax

Steven R. Rothman (NJ)
202-225-5061
202-225-5851 fax

Sanford Bishop (GA)
Phone- (202) 225-3631 Fax- (202) 225-2203


Dave Obey (WI), Ex Officio
202-225-3365

MINORITY Republicans

Ranking Member:
C.W. Bill Young (FL)
202-225-5961


David L. Hobson (OH)
202-225-4324
fax 202-225-1984

Rodney P. Frelinghuysen (NJ)
202- 225-5034

Todd Tiahrt (KS)
202.225.6216
fax: 202.225.3489

Roger F. Wicker (MS)
202-225-4306
202-225-3549 fax


Jack Kingston (GA)
Phone: (202) 225-5831
Fax: (202) 226-2269
Email: Jack.Kingston@mail.house.gov

Jerry Lewis (CA), Ex Officio
(202) 225-5861 Fax: (202) 225-6498

Monday, March 19, 2007

Iraq, the 4th Year ends

What happened to the Vice President's "we will be greeted with flowers and candy"? This will be a short war, and it won't cost more than a billion dollars, can anyone remember the name of the man who was fired for stating that the estimated the cost of the war to be 100 billion dollars? I can't, and even he was wrong with this new supplemental request the cost of the two wars will exceed 500 billion dollars, this year.

There is also no end in sight, there are also the future bills that this war has created that no one is accounting for, what of the tens of thousands of men and women who will require medical care, pyschiatric care and compensation for the next 50-70 years? How many billions of dollars or is that going to hit trillion dollar marks?

What have we done to the Iraqi people while freeing them, how many families have been destroyed in the Neocon ideal for a "free middle east", PNAC got the war they wanted, but I can not for the life of me think even they wanted this to be the end result, unless it was really about no-bid contracts for Hallibutron and other administration friends like IAP Services, SAIC, and other military industrial complex benefactors of the war machine, they only make profits if we are at war. I hope this war was not about money, but it is begginning to see it as any other reason. The "oil contract" with the new Iraqi government seems to benefit American oil companies more than it does the Iraqi people.

The Walter Reed fiasco has shown what privatization has done to building maintenance at our nations premier medical care facility for the wounded, and has now opened the question about the VA medical care facilities. Many of us disabled veterans have known for years the mismanagement of these facilities, and we have been calling our elected officials, Congressmen/women and Senators, seldom is anything done to correct the issues. In 2004 the VA decided to review 72,000 cases of PTSD that had been awarded compensation at either the 70% TDIU rate or the 100% schedular rating, they suspected large cases of fraud. After a few suicides of Vietnam veterans upset about having to reprove or vailadate again the issues which caused their PTSD symptoms some ate bullets or overdosed due to the stress. The VA cancelled the review after Congressional pressure and the initial review of 2100 files showed there was no fraud on the veterans part, all the evidence showed was poor paperwork processing by the VA Regional Offices employees who took short cuts, or failed to put the right papers in the files that verified the veterans "stressor" and Secretary Nicholson ended the witch hunt.

The largest problem remaining today is the months and years it takes for the claims process to approve or deny the claim, many of us know that the VA will approve a claim but instead of the 50% or 70% the PTSD symptoms may warrant the VA first awards 10% or 30% to see if the veteran will be satisfied the the lower amount, and not file any appeals, then if the veterans have a piss poor Service Officer, they will tell them they should be grateful for the 10 or 30% and shut up. I know this because when I was awarded my 50% and wanted to file the Notice of Disagreement I had an American Legion Rep at the Blue Goose in August Ga tell me that very thing, "you should be happy with 50%, you weren't even in combat" yes I was but not for the incident that was the main focus of my PTSD. I had several "stressor incidents" during my 14 years of Army and national Guard service. But the claims system needs one incident to focus on for the award of benefits, and in my case they chose the attempted murder and robbery by 7 fellow soldiers in Feb 1975 when they left me for dead in a snowbank unconcious at Fort Wainwright Alaska after robbing me.

I am still appealing heart disease and other issues I feel are related to the chemical weapons and drug experiments at Edgewood Arsenal in June thru August 1974, but the VARO is acting like a brick wall when it comes time to discuss these issue's. I will keep appealing it until my family gets the security they deserve, or I die, whichever comes first. In the veterans claims process the claim dies with the veteran. Like my step father one of the Air Force veterans who flew thru the Nuclear clouds in Nevada, he died before the RECA Act was approved paying compensation to the men and women exposed to radiation that caused cancer, Dale had three types of cancer on the RECA list, he was entitled to 75,000 dollars lump sum payment, he died before it was approved and the family can not collect it, just the widow, and Mom died before dale passed away.

I hope they don't do this to Gulf War Illness and depleted Uranium injuries, but it appears DOD is taking the same approach, by denying any links for decades, before allowing the links to be "discovered" as in the case of radiation illnesses and Agent Orange.

Saturday, March 17, 2007

Iraq Memorial



We will see if the imbedded images work or not good luck

Monday, March 12, 2007

the wicked witch is dead

LT Gen Kevin Kiley (I don't do barracks inspections) has been forced to resign to be the Acting Secretary of the Army, since he hasn't been a 3 star long enough, he should be reduced to his permanent rank of Major General and be retired at the 2 star level, no one has deserved it more. As long as that sorry bastard stayed as Surgeon General no soldier would feel safe and secure being wounded, they would be worried about the treatment their families would be getting while they were at Walter Reed or other military medical facilities. There is nothing worse than treating wounded soldiers or their families like shit, especially by the Chain of Command, this is the worst kind of Command failure there is, it had to be nipped in the bud.

Saturday, March 10, 2007

Blog name change

Since I was asked a month or so ago to change the name of my blog, I have been thinking about what I really wanted to call it, and this is it, now will it actually be updated daily, I intend to but you all know what happens to best intentions, sometimes they just don't get met, but I will try that's all I can say. If you don't see what you are looking for here can I suggest the VA Watchdog and read today's headlines for VA news

Friday, March 09, 2007

McClatchy Papers blog

The uproar from the Walter Reed fiasco has exposed the long known problems of military medical retirement boards and bad treatment for medical holding company personnel and the Veterans Affairs claims processing and the health care or rather the lack of it at the VA and this is one of the best blogs created about it by a newspaper http://washingtonbureau.typepad.com/veterans/ please go here and add your own comments and read the other stories there Hoooooah McClatchy