VA [satellitescommunications]

VA [satellitescommunications]

Ok well this is one of Sparky's Flaw's new songs that they played at the Satellite Ballroom 11/17/07. It's called Back Again, I think.

satellitescommunications.blogspot.com Sparky's Flaw - New Song- Live @ the Satellite Ballroom

The Veterans Administration: You're Just A Number

4/18/07

To be a Veteran in the United States and try to obtain help is a step into a maze of bureaucracy, mismanagement, and lack of attention. It is so bad that the Governor of Arizona has had to appoint Dr. Kirscner to have a review of the Veterans Home in Phoenix. Assisting Dr. Kirschner will be Inspector General Pete Francis and Inspector Debby Dominguez, Operations Manager, Arizona department of Administration. As a Vietnam Veteran, I'm going through this maze and the lack of attention by the VA is truly startling.

In 2006, I made a VA claim, having several step infections due to Agent Orange contact in Vietnam. Too I made a claim for post traumatic stress, MS, fractured right hand from an explosive device at Ft. Hood, Texas in 1973, and more. The clock started ticking, the claim was in; however, the process was stagnant.

Month after month my claim set in the Phoenix office, no progress was made. I had provided all my civilian medical records to the VA in August 2006. Yet in April 2007 I found that the VA was sending off again to obtain these records. After a year, after the VA had received all these documents, they apparently lost them. The process would take even longer.

Also in 2006 at the VA Hospital in Temple, Texas I had met with the VA representative and shared with him several military records that showed my dates of military service; however, the VA records still only showed that I served in the military for two years, 1972 and 1973, even though the records clearly showed that I have enlisted in 1966 and served in Vietnam with the 519th MI Battalion, 1967 to 19968. I again shared my military records with the VA Hospital in Prescott, Arizona.

Again, the VA showed no records.

I was then forced to try to obtain my DD214 from Military Personnel Records in St. Louis, MO. I made a request for those records in 2005, 2006, and 2007, but received nothing. The VA in Phoenix stated that the Personnel Records Center could not find any record of my military service. I then called the records center directly and they had stated that the records had been sent to the VA in Phoenix. Calling Phoenix VA, they still claimed they had not received them. Calling back to the records center it was found that they did indeed have my records but it would take 25 weeks for me to receive my DD214 even after two years of request. Meanwhile, the VA in Phoenix sits on my claim, doing nothing. Today, the claim still sits in Phoenix and they do nothing.

Since I cannot work, make money, or buy food, I finally wrote Senators Kyl and McCain. After weeks of trying to obtain help, these offices did not attempt to get to the bottom of the VA mismanagement. It was not until Debby Dominguez, Arizona Department of Administration, heard of this problem did an investigation start. Yet the process might still take months while I still sit, unable to work, walk correctly, and continue to have mini strokes and loss of vision.

To make the matter worse, the VA Hospital in Phoenix said, due to my MS, I should see a neurosurgeon at the VA Hospital in Phoenix. That referral was in November 2006. Still in April 2007, I have not been able to get an appointment.

In Washington, when a politician gets sick, they get to see a doctor. When they need a specialist, they get to see one, quickly without delays, without problems. When a Veteran needs to see a doctor, they wait, sometime months.

Trying to get help from the VA is like pulling teeth. While people suffer, they do not communicate or provide help in anyway. The situation gets more critical everyday. People lose their homes; they cannot buy food, or pay for a car. All because when a Veteran needed help, they're only a number.

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