TO ALL VETERANS WITH TEARS ON VETERANS DAY !

[vetwife]

Tonight is very hard for me as it is I am sure for many of you. My husband the horrors of combat, suffers from Agent orange and yet he battles each day as I do with him. I want to thank each veteran and active service member for serving their country. True the wars that many of have fought were based on lies and you answered a call for what you believed.

I want to say Welcome Home but this Veterans Day I don't know if you recognize the America you are being welcomed to.
We have a man who clearly does not represent the democratic way of life. We have a man sitting in the oval office who dare not show the fallen brothers and sisters in an unjust war based on lies. We continue to fight for those who are unable to fight and the battle rages on in Fallujah and other parts of Iraq. The lack of freedom has come home to our own soil, via THE VOTE !

Little by little we are slowly beginning not to recognize America for the greatness (imperfect) but great just the same as it was just 4 years ago, as we watch democracy fade away. I HONOR you and your service and am sorry I cannot do more to reach those in power to help you. Once a veteran puts the uniform away, your country wants to forget you. How sad, that so many of you have fought for a country that is treating many of you so badly. I honor your service and sorry that vet has been pitted against vet and that our battles for you are even harder this Veterans Day.

Please review the letters (just a small sampling that I get daily ) and understand why I have to continue to fight so hard and honor you so greatly. God Bless and this Vetwife remembering you on Veterans Day. It is sad your country seems to have turned away from your needs.
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Dear Vetwife,
This seams like a movie where the few that was left behind never came home, or did they, still left fallen upon the soil they proudly served for freedom. I served in the Vietnam War and came home to find it would have been better to be left behind. That was 32 years ago and today I stand to loose everything because I am divorced, disabled, white male with no children. I was married for 28 years and had no children for I am sure caused by a back injury while in the service 32 years ago. Over the years I have Sean doctors private and through the VA. At the last information by the first MRI, I have a multitude of ruptured disk, one shattered and missing, and bone spurs. Last December I had a massive heart attack that left me with more issues and a mental condition that started 32 years ago. Today I still have not received any help from the VA to run test for disabled, just pills for pain. I have applied six months ago for VA Disability. I have also applied for Social Security Disability. At the time of the heart attack I had 2 short term and along term insurance providers. On December 18th of 2003 the Doctors removed me from work. Was told I would be disabled from now . I applied and to day ( 6 months) I have been denied from the VA, SSD, and both insurance companies. The Doctors are the ones taking me off work. This is not my idea. I have worked for 32 years with back issues and also mental issues, with out hesitation. I also have a condition with my right shoulder that was re-operated on 3 weeks ago, leaving my right arm unable to move until its healed. This future problem is unknown at this time. Current issues I am having are as follows.

<DIR>
<DIR> <DIR>

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Heart issues
Respiratory issues
Right Shoulder Issues
Back Issues
Neck Issues
Mental health Issue
Leg Issues
Feet issue
Knee issues
Head issue
Chronic Fatigue issues
Dental Issues
Eye issues
Stomach pain issues
Lack of Energy issues
Chronic pain and suffering issues
<DIR> <DIR>
</DIR></DIR>

</DIR></DIR>
June 4th my home begins it repo process, 30 days they take my vehicle, so in about 60 days I am homeless and still it will be 8 months with no income. The only help I have received is 143.00 in food stamps. Some help on the electric bill and way behind on all other bills. I can not find help from anyone that does not take years to make it happen. I need someone (Doctors) to evaluate these conditions and tell me what can or can not be treated. What is disabled and if I can work what can or can not do. I just need some help
Vic


Will he join this fellow?
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THIS IS INCREDIBLE!

From: The Corpsman (Original Message) Sent: 10/28/2003 9:50 AM
You serve your country. You are proud to serve your country! You are a prisoner of war, disabled by the enemy. You can not get POW benefits because a Federal Court says the foreign policy of the United states in the region is at stake and could be jeopardized by a precedent setting case. The fact that our current govenment uses the courts against us makes the government of the country we served no better than the enemies we fought. Why did we even bother to go? Why are we sending our sons and daughters out to be slaughtered in the name of Special Interests and , if they come home, to have the courts deny them their benefits in the name of due process? Does someone have the answer to this question?
_______________________________

U.S. court blocks payouts to ex-POWs

White House says money is vital for a new Iraq

October 27, 2003

BY MILES BENSON
NEWHOUSE NEWS SERVICE

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration is quietly piling up victories in a legal battle to block payments to 17 U.S. combat veterans who were captured and tortured in the 1991 Persian Gulf War and won a suit against Iraq for nearly $1 billion.

The former POWs -- whipped, beaten, burned, electrically shocked and starved by their Iraqi captors in 1991 -- say they are baffled by the administration's refusal to let them collect any of Iraq's assets now under U.S. control, and by the Justice Department's efforts to overturn a federal court decision upholding their claims to compensation.

"I don't understand why they want to see this case go away," said Lt. Col. Dave Storr of Spokane, Wash., who currently is an airline pilot and serves in the Air National Guard.
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Hello Amanda

As soon as I recover from a car accident I had on Sunday,
I will help out with phone banking with the Kerry-Edwards Campaign office
on Wornall in Kansas City.

I am an enlisted Navy Veteran, and I'm ready to help a superior officer
named John Kerry to get his well-deserved promotion to Commander-In-Chief.

I live in Olathe Kansas, where a vote against a Republican Presidential candidate
is all but futile. But I live minutes from the Missouri border,
and I can help Kerry to win in Kansas City, and therefore, also in Missouri.

Count me in!

- Doug
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Vetwife
Im also a disabled vet and the gov could care less WE NEED A NEW GOV FROM THE TOP DOWN most of the vets that have been in touch know what are gov is and none of us like it and if the people would unite we could vote out all of the cheats and vote in good people are gov is no good
roger2000
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Mrs. Kato.
Please correct me on this, but the employers of the Unided States are required by law to furnish a Workmans Comp insurance for all employee's. But he Military does not. Because of their own hospitals and Doctors and (The Vetrans Administration).

Just a thought!

I am currently ingaged in a dispute with the (VA) over a service connected Disablity. For thirty years this has been going on and today I run into the same thing. I filled this last claim in late 2000, (Documented). December of 2003 they inactivated it. I had to call and get this information after recieving a award for a pension not compisation. This award amitts to a disabled condition of 100%, and multitude of conditions that are above 60%, that together renders me disabled. But for three years the evaluation board does not reconize the cominsation even though its documented in my medical records.

The point being if this was a Workmans Comp claim it would have be ( by law) at a quickly manor. This is not just a VA thing its a government thing. Apply for SSD and look how much time it takes. I've been denied for the last 9 months and on to a hearing it goes. The lawyers that I have to pay say it will take 6-12 months to get it to courts. With privite insurance comany's by law they are on a time table to comply with all claims and to keep contact. The VA and SS seam to have only one agenda and thats to take all the time in the world.

Reprocutions and effects are not their issue, not the insurance company's and creates no effect on them personally. So why be modivated to insure quick justace when it comes to a Vet or a disabled American.

I thank God each day for the award I recieved it will help in finding a place to live. Because the time it takes to get the government to comply with any requist, I will loose my family home and be on the street October 26th, 2004.

I have written emails to governers, senators, congressman, and even the Presedent. In nine months, I have not recieved any corespondence from none of them. I have gone to VA reps, Lawyers who what money up front, and written letter to the editors of news papers. After nine months of no income I have become divistated to poverty. But what the h... I am just one Vet and only one American. But I am also a born american for many many generations. I am a white male with an unregistered indian background. But the commetties, the programs for govenement help, or compisation does not apply to a white male U.S. Citizen.

Sorry just got carried away. But in reallistic terms the lower class has no rights in the united states but to pay taxes and try to live. I think the people of the United States should vote for a new reformed government, one that is (for the people, by the people).

So does the VA represent the Vetrans workers comp and if so why does the government not treat it that way, or just provide work comp insurance for the vetrans and cut out the VA. That way the Vet would be treated by regular doctors and newer medical treatment. Ok, it was just a thought!

Thanks
A disabled Veitnam Vet, with a sence of humor
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Dear vetwife,

My name is Melissa, and I live in PA. I've always read and enjoyed your messages and just read the one about Pete. I'm writing to you to ask if you can tell me, not in specifics but in a general sense, if there is indeed something in the works behind the scenes. I just have to know. I had a friend, 19 years old, who made me promise him before he was deployed to Iraq, that I would do everything I could to see Bush not re-elected. Mikey was killed a few weeks later, and since the Bush "re-election" vetwife, "devastated" is not the word. I have not eaten since Tuesday except for a few crackers, most of which I've thrown up. To say I am heartsick and devastated would be an understatement. I am overcome with guilt and pain because I feel like I let Mikey down, and I'm angry at John for not fighting for him and his friends still there. I just can't live with the outcome as it appears to be (please know I am not in any way suicidal or anything crazy like that, b!
ut I am definitely feeling extremely depressed). If we fight and lose, well, I can live with that. I just can't accept that we conceded so quickly and that's it. I'm writing to you because I know you will understand where I am coming from with what happened to my friend, and I just need some reassurance that the fight for the presidency is not over yet - since it seems you are in the know more than I am. I need to know there is at least a glimmer of hope that perhaps the presidency is not Bush's again.

I hope to talk to you soon and thank you for reading.

Most sincerely, Melissa
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GOD BLESS AND BLESSING TO YOU ON VETERANS DAY !

[dave502d]

1. ALL VETERANS should read this.thank you for this post. n/t

[merh]

23. Thank you vetwife for the thread!

Thank you vets for your service & sacrifice!
:loveya: :yourock: :hug:

[Pushed To The Left]

2. A very positive website

http://www.defendamerica.mil/nmam.html

This is a note people can sign to thank the men and women serving in the military.

[vetwife]

3. Thank you for that site......

[Left coast liberal]

4. Ok, so I haven't cried for a couple of days. I've just lost it.

Thank you Veteran's! I am so sorry that our country has let you down. If it were up to me, and many others, it wouldn't be so.

I'm not sure what to do...

[vetwife]

5. Left Coast, its the tears that keep me strong and going ! Thanks

[vetwife]

6. They call me unpatriotic.......I call them foolish !

http://groups.msn.com/UnitedVeteransofAmerica/whatsnew/

[vetwife]

7. Proudly kicking for vets !

[vetwife]

8. Kicking !

[fwiff]

9. Thanks for this post.

kick.

[vetwife]

10. You are welcome !

[vetwife]

11. Please help me keep this kicked for the veterans who are hurtin !

[LiberalAndProud]

12. A call for justice.

Seems that memorials don't quite suit the purpose.

[vetwife]

13. True...Memorial Day and Veterans Day are different and these

folks are trying to live among us and no memorial or stone cold honor would help as much as our people lending a hand up and calling out the VA for their betrayal to those who borne the battle.

[vetwife]

14. Please keep kicked for our veterans and active military today !

[Bozita]

17. Look at this frontpage Vet Day series (screwing vets is US policy)

Headline article in Wednesday's Detroit Free Press
http://www.freep.com/news/nw/vets10e_20041110.htm


DUTY, HONOR, BETRAYAL: How U.S. turned its back on poisoned WWII vets

BY DAVID ZEMAN
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
November 10, 2004

This is the story of patriots deceived -- not once but three times: first as young recruits, conned into entering chambers of lethal gas during World War II; then as war-hardened soldiers, shipped home with no warning of the time bombs lurking in their bodies; and finally as aging veterans, misled by a government that promised to find them, wherever they lived, and compensate those who were harmed.

-snip-

By the end of World War II, the military had exposed more than 70,000 Army and Navy recruits to poison gases in various forms -- from swabs of mustard agent on their arms, to the more than 4,000 servicemen who marched into chambers or through fields soaked with chemicals. The mission was noble: to develop protective gear and ointments that would insulate troops from enemy chemical attack. The means were not: Officers deceived the men about the health risks and intimidated those who balked.

The recruits, many still teenagers, were sworn to secrecy. In the decades that followed, some of these veterans sought benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs for illnesses linked to the tests. But the military had a ready reply: The tests never happened. Not until 1991, when four Navy vets swayed an influential congressman to their cause, did the Pentagon acknowledge the secret program and apologize. The government, at long last, vowed to make amends.

But the Free Press has found that Washington broke its promise. The VA, which pledged a painstaking effort to track down and compensate the men, contacted nobody. Not one letter. Not a single phone call -- even after the Pentagon turned over lists of thousands of potential victims. The VA relied mainly on unpaid public service ads in veterans magazines, even though the agency was aware that most veterans don't see those publications.

In recent years, a few veterans who did press claims were rebuffed -- often with form letters, and even when it was clear they had diseases linked to the wartime experiments.

-snip-

more, lots more ...

[Bozita]

21. part 2 0f 3 -- Mistreatment of veterans (horrible stuff)

in LBN:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x980119

[vetwife]

19. Thanks for the pic and thanks for listening to Guy and the rest of us

As I watched that WAR president who never got any closer to a war than a spanking from Mama, I almost cried, when he laid that wreath at
Arlington Cemetary. No Clinton never served, but he never claimed WAR PRESIDENT and never started unnecessary wars. Its a strange thing to me, we can show so called terrorists caskets but cannot show our fallen soldiers. The world is upside down and this bunch tilted it even further !

[UTUSN]

15. Thanks to vetwife for All You Do. & in My Locality, the Count Is 14

One town has a huge flag that they lower for all of the dead from our 100 square mile area. They don't leave it down for a full 30 days each. Over the past year, it's up, it's down, it's up, it's down...

[HEAVYHEART]

16. Thank you

Thanks for sharing this. By the way vetwife, I heard you on the Guy James show this past weekend. I thought you were excellent! Happy Veteran's day to you. :hug:

[DemoTex]

18. Thanks Vetwife ... thanks for the post and the "Welcome Home."

As a former and long-time volunteer at the Stewpot in downtown Dallas, I know all too well the plight of the poor veteran. My cousin, Mike Smith, died in Dallas in 1996. He was homeless (I later learned) and addicted to drugs and alcohol. Mike was a client of the Stewpot (free lunch, medical & dental clinics, mail, etc), although that was before I ever moved to Dallas. He was never "right" after his second Vietnam tour with the US Marines. He was wounded in Hue City in February 1968. In fact, he was medivaced through Hue on the tank pictured below (or one like it). I last saw Mike in 1969, after his convalescence from his wounds. He had the classic 1000-yard stare. War robbed Mikey of his youth, and later of his life. Veterans Day is always sad for me.

[vetwife]

20. These letters are but a few I receive from all over the country ..

Sad.....

[vetwife]

24. Kick for the evening crowd !

[fwiff]

22. Kicking.

[eleny]

25. Thank you Amanda

{{{{Amanda}}}}

[silverchair]

26. kick

:kick: