Veterans for America

News Analysis: November 11, 2008

Today is Veterans Day, when we honor our heros who have served and continue to serve for all of us.  Yet everyday we must continue working to ensure our nation’s support for our troops, veterans and their families is worthy of their sacrifice.  To help, VFA is proud to release The American Veterans and Servicemembers Survival Guide. Download it for free.    

Too many of our troops are returning from deployments with undiagnosed and under-diagnosed psychological injury — resulting in soaring suicide rates in the ranks. Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans are ending up homeless on the streets. Veterans have filed suit over how slowly the VA process its claims. VA hospitals and other medical facilities for our veterans have long been overcrowded, leaving long lines and longer waits for help. In Fort Worth, a new VA clinic is underway to help speed treatment to our wounded. Many of our young troops don’t know that VA hospitals are there to help.

Iraq and Afghanistan combat veterans are gaining a powerful voice: their own. For our veterans and returning troops, connecting with others who share their combat experiences is a key part of a healthy readjustment to civilian life. MyVetwork, a non-profit social web community for veterans, their families and communities, debuts today to help mark Veterans Day. Visit the new site here. Sometimes, help comes on paws. Whatever works needs to be used, and spared from the budget knife that will inevitably trim some federal programs.

The stresses of combat on our National Guard are even more acute than on our active-duty military. The adjutant general of the New Hampshire National Guard said citizen-Soldiers can no longer be viewed simply as “weekend warriors” considering the number of deployments and scale of combat they’ve participated in.

For President-elect Barack Obama, some advice on Veterans Day to better honor our troops and citizens alike. Will he have a new strategy for Afghanistan?

Life-saving medical technology is helping save many of our wounded from the battlefield that never would have survived before — and creating some situations of overwhelming sadness for families brought face to face with the suffering of their loved ones. It’s what some are calling a ‘long goodbye.’

One retired U.S. General sees reason to be optimistic in Iraq. But if things are improving, why did the Army ask a 60-year-old retiree to volunteer for another hitch and deploy to Iraq? Maj. James Richards Jr., served in the Army for 22 years, and he’s pulling himself out of retirement in North Carolina to go to Iraq.

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The American Veterans and Servicemembers Survival Guide

Veterans for America is proud to release The American Veterans and Servicemembers Survival Guide today, one day before Veterans Day to better serve those who have served all of us. It is free and available for download here. 

The new Survival Guide is a follow-up to the 1985 national bestseller, The Viet Vet Survival Guide. Just as the earlier book was a must-read for Vietnam veterans, the new book will prove an invaluable resource for the 1.7 million servicemembers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, the 24 million veterans of past conflicts, and the families of all our troops and veterans. Unlike the earlier guide, the new Survival Guide is free.

The new book is as much a roadmap as a reference manual, detailing the benefits, assistance and resources available as well as the step-by-step directions for navigating the bureaucracies that serve our troops and veterans. The new Survival Guide contains 28 chapters, including 17 for veterans and their families and 11 for active-duty servicemembers, National Guard members and reservists, and their families. From legal to health services, job assistance to women’s issues, the new Survival Guide is designed to meet everyone’s needs.

What you will find in the new Survival Guide includes:

–Chapter 3, “Service-Connected Compensation,” which provides indispensable guidance for those suffering from PTSD and other psychological wounds and have questions or concerns about what they’re owed by the military.

–Chapter 11, “Employment, Self-Employment and the Small-Business Administration,” covers the issues for those veterans looking to establish a business or get a job. 

–Chapter 20, “Advice for Families and Caregivers of Wounded Servicemembers and Veterans,” is a vital resource to family members and the wider community about how to better take care, and honor, our veterans and wounded troops. It deals with issues including how to advocate effectively on behalf of the injured and how to deal with hospitals, doctors, and medical staff. It also emphasizes how stressful the role of caregiver can be and the importance of dealing with the caregiver’s own physical and emotional needs.

With far more women in the ranks than ever before, the new Survival Guide deals head-on with the problems of sexual discrimination, harassment and assault as well as discrimination. The chapter for women in the military details how to report harassment and other problems. It also helps military families deal with the problems that occur with the deployment of one or both parents.

This is only a fraction of the information and resources inside The American Veterans and Servicemembers Survival Guide. The guide is available for download here.

News Analysis: November 5, 2008

Our next president and commander in chief, Barack Obama, wins an historic election. Setting a record, more than 130 million Americans voted. In a gracious concession speech, Sen. John McCain urges the country to rally around Obama. Even in the Middle East, “everyone” is with Obama. The win is already helping to give a battered U.S. brand a lift around the world. The Pentagon has a plan for a smooth transition.

Yet the world remains a dangerous place, no matter the size of the post-election celebration here at home. Russia is moving to counter U.S. missile defense plans; Iran is issuing more warnings; Afghanistan is infuriated by its civilian casualties; and no one in Iraq is holding their breath for immediate change. President-elect Obama has inherited one of the most challenging situations in generations, with our troops engaged in two wars and the strains piling up on our military, military families and our communities - not to mention a financial mess potentially trillions of dollars deep. Obama acknowledged these challenges in his stirring victory speech last night. He will be sworn into office on January 20, 2009.

A 92-year-old Marine and World War II veteran voted yesterday aboard an ambulance. Sixty-eight years after casting her first ballot, for a Republican, Betty Owen voted for Barack Obama. 

With Senator Joe Biden now Vice President-Elect Biden, his senate seat is about to come open. Biden’s son Beau, the state attorney general, is considered the leading contender to fill the seat — but he is about to deploy to Iraq with his National Guard unit, raising some confusion about what will actually happen in Delaware. 

Testing has begun on a drug to help treat post-traumatic stress. The study is funded in part by $1.4 million from the Pentagon. A new book aims to help heal the invisible wounds of war. For one veteran, closure comes after four decades of pain.

At Fort Campbell, a cruel hoaxer is calling military families and falsely claiming their loved ones have been killed overseas. “This outrageous conduct must not stand.”

More pay for servicemembers wounded during service in the global war on terror.

The Alaska Star: Report says Guard provides inadequate care

By Jill Fankhauer, Octover 23, 2008

Veterans For America, a veterans advocacy group based in Washington, D.C., released a report on the Alaska Army National Guard Oct. 15 that stated the Guard does not adequately care for soldiers who return from deployment. The report accuses Gov. Sarah Palin of not taking action to address this issue.
The final finding of the report said “it would be unwise for the United States to continue to deploy the Alaska National Guard in large numbers until this situation facing Alaska National Guard members and their families is adequately understood and remedied.”

Lt. Gen. Craig Campbell, commissioner of the Alaska Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, said the report is unsubstantiated.

Campbell called a press conference Oct. 13 regarding the preliminary report that was released to the public Oct. 1. The Guard did not see the preliminary report before it was released, nor did it know when the final report would be released.

“There are always things we can do better,” Campbell said. “And in Alaska we are challenged by a large geographical area and sparse infrastructure on getting people back and forth, but what the VFA fails to do, and I wish they had of done, is to be objective to help us with some constructive ideas, constructive solutions, not just accusations and unsubstantiated accounts.”

The final VFA report was released Oct. 15.

The final report included the same findings as the preliminary report, but delved deeper into issues and provided further details on possible solutions.

Campbell criticizes the VFA report for lack of scientific data.

For example, the VFA report states “Food Bank of (Alaska) has seen an increase of 400 percent of military families relying on their assistance.”

Susannah Morgan, executive director of Food Bank of Alaska remembers being interviewed by an advocate for VFA a few weeks ago.

“I told him that our food pantries are reporting a 20 to 30 percent increase in clients, but that I did not have specific data for veterans. I advised him to call the Armed Services YMCA,” Morgan said.

The report did not include references to the Armed Services YMCA, nor did it note that Food Bank of Alaska and many Alaska food pantries do not collect data on military status when handing out food. Also, Food Bank of Alaska does not directly serve clients — it serves as a wholesale supplier to food pantries and kitchens.

The VFA report states they were told the 3rd Battalion, 297th Infantry Regiment had experienced a dramatic rise in suicides. The Guard responded that there have been no post-deployment suicides of Alaska Guard members.

“VFA’s report suggests otherwise and is flat wrong,” Campbell said.

In a press conference, Campbell was clear about his opinion of VFA and its findings.

“What’s reflective of Veterans for America is that they don’t understand Alaska,” Campbell said.
The VFA report is based on a year of submissions to the group’s Web site that included statements about struggles with post-deployment mental health, lack of access to medical care and hardships on Alaska Native villages who lost men to deployment — men who would be home providing food from hunting and fishing.

Those submissions triggered VFA to send an employee to Alaska in September 2007 for initial research. Last month, VFA sent a three-person team to Alaska for 10 days to assess the needs of veterans in Alaska.

The VFA report states “the VFA National Guard Program has found that the post-deployment challenges facing the Alaska National Guard are more daunting and widespread than any other that VFA has encountered.”

The organization recommends the Guard and Veterans Administration work with the Alaska Tribal Health Consortium to provide more localized medical services to veterans.

The Guard said it is already working with the Veterans Administration, which was given legal authority by Congress in September to allow veterans to get care from Indian Health Services, a federal medical program, or tribal health organizations.

Campbell said this issue has been one of Palin’s priorities. Campbell also said the Guard sends reintegration teams to rural Alaska to address these issues and make sure veterans get the benefits they are due.

The Guard said Palin has advocated for improved benefits for veterans, including becoming one of five states to provide veterans with home loans from the proceeds of issuing tax-exempt Qualified Veterans Mortgage Bonds. Palin also signed into law a provision allowing veterans free hunting and fishing licenses.

“We need to set the record straight,” Campbell said in a press release. “The Alaska National Guard is a professional organization that works hard to ensure its Guardsmen and families receive the highest level of care and this report has substantial claims that need to be corrected.”
VFA did not return the reporter’s calls regarding the final report.
The full report is available online at www.veteransforamerica.org.

VFA News Analysis: October 20, 2008

The Defense Department is holding a live webcast family summit today to determine how best to support military families who have suffered the loss or injury of a service member. The summit will also tackle how best to coordinate actions by the state, local and federal agencies that all have a role to play in supporting our military families. To follow the summit online today, click HERE. At least one of those agencies responsible for caring for our military families is, instead, “an insult to veterans,” said Rep. Rep. Bob Filner, the California Democrat who chairs the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee. He said he knows why veterans have lost confidence in the Department of Veterans Affairs: “they are bunglers.” Claims sent to the VA have been found in piles bound for the shredder, instead of being reviewed and approved.

A wounded Iraq veteran is taking her experience to the director’s job at the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs, and has instituted a program that helps service members get the PTSD and traumatic brain injury treatment they deserve. “It was something that I approached our governor about doing when I realized that many of our returning veterans had never been screened for post traumatic stress disorder or specifically the traumatic brain injury component of it,” she said. One pilot project is already underway to help combat veterans fight combat stress in Pennsylvania. With PTSD, its often the moms who are first to know. How about establishing a Bill of Rights for American Veterans?

Retired Gen. Colin Powell, the Republican former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and former Secretary of State in George W. Bush’s administration, endorses Sen. Barack Obama for President. It could mean a new administrative job for Powell should Obama win two weeks from tomorrow. Powell isn’t the only one in the military unafraid of being politically “blue” this year instead of “red.”

Tensions are growing between Iraq’s prime minister and the top U.S. commander in Iraq. Meanwhile, doubts are continuing to arise around a security agreement between the U.S. and Iraq. Victory does not look like this. “Victory” isn’t a word Gen. David Petraeus will ever use for Iraq. Meanwhile, Afghanistan is no bed of roses…more like a “hornet’s nest.”

Some of the faces of our bravest…