{"id":9596,"date":"2009-04-11T20:39:21","date_gmt":"2009-04-12T01:39:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/valorguardians.com\/blog\/?p=9596"},"modified":"2009-04-11T20:39:21","modified_gmt":"2009-04-12T01:39:21","slug":"this-needs-to-be-stopped-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/?p=9596","title":{"rendered":"This needs to be Stopped Today!"},"content":{"rendered":"

The only thing in this story that pisses me off more than the posers sucking off the system with false veteran claims is the unbelievable incompetence at the VA that allows it to happen.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the back story<\/a>; apparently the Department of Veterans Affairs is giving benefits to former POWs who were never POWs. The incompetence is so outrageous because the Department of Defense has the list of POWs from every recent war posted on an open access website:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.dtic.mil\/dpmo\/<\/p>\n

Yes folks, it\u2019s a real DoD website and it can be accessed by anyone\u2026even the VA.<\/p>\n

There are only 21 surviving POWs from the first Gulf War in 1991, the Department of Defense says. Yet the Department of Veterans Affairs is paying disability benefits to 286 service members it says were taken prisoner during that conflict, according to data released by VA to The Associated Press.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And this is not just some dumbass hanging around the \u201cmenopause lounge\u201d preening for whatever he can lure up with a great war story and seven gin tonics. No, these ass clowns are actually getting benefits!<\/p>\n

A similar discrepancy arises with Vietnam POWs. Only 661 officially recognized prisoners returned from that war alive \u2014 and about 100 of those have since died, according to Defense figures. But 966 purported Vietnam POWs are getting disability payments, the VA told AP.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That means that half of the folks getting benefits from the Vietnam War are frauds! We\u2019re not talking chump change either good people.<\/p>\n

For one Korean War veteran, a made-up story helped to ensure more than $400,000 in benefits before his lies were discovered. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But back to the unbelievable incompetence at the VA that led to this widespread fraud that not only dishonors me and many of you who have served; we are paying for this!<\/p>\n

Would anyone believe that I developed PTSD from my space shuttle mission when I was an E5? Of course not; no idiot would ever believe that a SGT was ever on the space shuttle. But that does not deter other outrageous and obviously fraudulent claims being supported by the VA.<\/p>\n

Four women Vietnam vets blamed disabilities on their time as prisoners \u2014 even though there’s no record of female POWs in that war.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And how does one commit this gross fraud? Fairly simple actually. Make up a bullshit story, cry in front of some dumbass shrink and bingo, benefits for life!<\/p>\n

I know for a fact that PTSD is real. I don\u2019t personally suffer but I know a bunch of good men who fight this demon daily.<\/p>\n

Do you know why PTSD is so often not diagnosed leaving veterans to try to fight an unwinnable battle? Because many veterans will not report the symptoms.<\/p>\n

Do you know why they don\u2019t report it? Because so many assholes like these have filed obviously fake claims and an honorable veteran is often reluctant to be categorized with so many posers.<\/p>\n

Here is how easy it is:<\/p>\n

Normally a veteran’s “lay testimony” about traumatizing events \u2014 or stressors \u2014 is not considered proof when applying for disability with the Veterans Benefits Administration, or VBA, the agency’s claims arm. However, the regulations add: “If the evidence establishes that the veteran was a prisoner-of-war … the veteran’s lay testimony alone may establish the occurrence of the claimed in-service stressor.”<\/p>\n

So, if a veteran told a VA psychiatrist that he had been a POW, and that story, true or not, formed the basis of the doctor’s post-traumatic stress disorder diagnosis, what does that mean? <\/p>\n

“I would probably accept the paperwork,” says Richard Allen of Wichita, Kan., who retired from the VBA in January after 25 years as a claims specialist. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Apparently the VA\u2019s incompetence is not shared by the Navy who finds it fairly simple to check a readily available DoD list that is online for anyone to read!<\/p>\n

And POWs are entitled to an annual evaluation at the Robert E. Mitchell Center for Prisoner of War Studies in Pensacola, Fla., travel and other expenses paid. That applies only to those on the Defense list, says Dr. Robert E. Hain, executive director of the Navy-run facility. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is an unbelievable outrage! I will propose a solution to this situation in my next post. Right now I need a drink\u2026or two.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The only thing in this story that pisses me off more than the posers sucking off … This needs to be Stopped Today!<\/span>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9596","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9596"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9596\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}