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JIM STRICKLAND'S MAIL BAG: VOLUME #41 FOR 2008 --

Veterans' Advocate Jim Strickland answers

questions from VA Watchdog readers.

Veterans' Advocate Jim Strickland provides regular columns for VA Watchdog dot Org.

If you would like to contact Jim about his columns, you can email him here...

The archive of Jim's articles is here...

To find an answer to a specific VA benefits question, use the VA Watchdog search engine... click here...

-------------------------

by Jim Strickland

NOTE:  Letters in my mailbag are reprinted just as they come to me. Spelling and grammar are left as is and only small corrections are made to improve readability, ensure anonymity or delete expletives that may offend some readers. This is not legal advice. You should always seek the advice of an attorney who is qualified in Veterans' law before you make any decisions about your own benefits.

Jim;

You seem to be man whom is well informed about a good many thing so I value your advice and opinion.. The Hass case has been lost as you told me. What is the new direction to take? There is a Federal courthouse here in Peoria, IL., in the downtown area. Would you advise filing suite for problems with bone mending due to agent orange contamination? Do you have any suggestions on legal representation in the pursuit of this cause?

I have a good many problems but life is not all bad. I keep myself busy in my sound studio writing songs and producing music. It is a hobby at the present but I learned enough about audio to record other musicians with quality sound. I have been involved in the art for over ten years. I have produced three albums worth of work myself.. No pay yet, but, now that I know where I stand with the claim I can move on and find other avenues to improve the quality of life. I would like to send you guys a copy of my art and am also interested in any ideas or lyrics your organization might have to help the cause of veterans everywhere.

I have a landlord right now that pays the utilities and twice in the last five weeks the power was shut off because they neglected to pay the bill. I can't have this so I have applied and been pre approved for a mortgage.. The claim was going to help by me by being able to get a better property but now I know what means I have to work with. The ceiling of the loan I qualified for is low but I don't mind living in a financially depressed area. The crime rate is higher than I would like to deal with but I am also always home unless I am in the hospital. Vacations are a luxury I cannot afford, at least not yet. That was the worst of this whole thing, the not knowing what was going to happen and putting life on hold waiting for the decision.

One thing is bothering me. I watched part of the series on PBS called Carrier. There was this air dale working on the flight deck and he was talking about all types of skin problems he was having from all the jet fuel and chemicals involved with his job. I am sure a flight deck of a carrier is not what one would consider a safe working place. I don't want to see these young people that are serving now filling a claim in twenty five years going through the same thing they are doing to us. I feel it is our duty to protect their right to file a claim without all of this political crap getting in the way. That is what the fight is really all about, the next generation of dedicated young people that need to be protected from this type of abuse by the system and the change should start now. If I don't get my claim that is just fine, I don't care anymore. I don't want to see them suffer in twenty five years from the same broken system that we have to deal with .Any thoughts on these subjects would be appreciated.

PS: I still think some of them are white collar criminals

Reply;

This was the 3rd of a series of rambling letters you've written telling me about the criminals who run our government and how everyone should be in jail.

You may sue the VA or anyone else if you like. To get started you'll need maybe $20,000.00. Lawyers don't work for free. To get your suit to a high court will set you back another $100,000.00 or so. Again, why would a lawyer work for free?

Then you'll lose of course, the issue was just lost in another court.

Your problem is that you want money, not just and deserved compensation for a disability. You told me, "I have applied and been pre approved for a mortgage.. The claim was going to help by me by being able to get a better property" and most of what you've written to me is about the low quality of your life and lack of money.

You haven't said much of why you are disabled. You did tell me something about being mugged and robbed but that you were mugged in a civilian setting is hardly the fault of VA. You told me you served on board a ship but you didn't tell me you were ever in Vietnam or how you were exposed to dioxin. You haven't attempted to tell me anything that would validate a claim for disability.

You have diabetes and that's too bad. Millions of civilians who never served at all have diabetes too. They aren't eligible for VA compensation and you apparently aren't either.

The VA is a mess and I do what I can to help those deserving veterans get compensation. I can't see anything at all I can help you with.

Jim;

I'm an attorney practicing SSA disability and VA disability law. I have recently heard from a VA employee that I can expect all my cases to be slowed down tremendously because of a new precedent setting case that requires a lot more work on the VA's processing end of a case. I have not yet looked it up and was wondering if you heard anything. It might be an interesting article for you to write about on your website. For instance on one of my cases I requested the file, filed a NOD and requested a DRO process. I was told not to waist my time requesting DRO or traditional appeal anymore because a separate letter has to be sent out from the VA asking what process the veteran wants. I told him I sent the form requesting the DRO and he said it does not matter because they have to ask first. I wonder what else this new law has in store. Let me know if you hear anything about this and I will do the same. I feel extremely bad for this veteran since it took the VA a year to find his file.

Reply;

I reached out to my friends who I sometimes refer to as “VA Insiders”. These are VA employees who I rely on to tell me the truth as they know it. They aren't disgruntled workers trying to stir anything up, rather they are dedicated VA employees who work hard to serve veterans.

They've informed me of another huge shift in the way VA communicates with us. When you dial the toll free number, you're connected to a relatively lower ranking VA employee. While their intentions may be good, they're often new employees, poorly supervised and the computer screen they're staring at isn't easy to read or updated often. This is exactly why I recommend to my readers that they never call the toll free number unless it's to ask for the weekend weather report.

In the past, when you dialed the toll free number, you were connected to your VARO. Today, regional call centers are taking over the function of answering the phone and then answering your question. When you dial the toll free number, not only will you not connect with your VARO, you'll connect with the newest and least experienced people around.

My friends educated me quickly. Excerpts of replies are below;

"Jim...I checked with a DRO who knows of no change in the process. Here's her response: 'My understanding is that when a vet files a NOD, he can ask for de novo review up front. He can also wait until he gets the letter asking if he wants de novo review but he must respond within 60 days of the letter. He cannot ask for de novo review after the SOC has been issued or after the 60 day period we give him to elect.' I think the reason your friend got that bogus answer is less sinister than you think. VA has just opened several 'call centers' where people with no background in the actual work are scrambling for replies just to get people off the phone."

Another VA employee also educated me with much the same information. The new call centers don't appear to work very well. This fellow stated his opinion a bit more forcefully...

"Jim...The call centers are filled with retards and morons. They don't seem to know s*!t and I haven't met one that knew his a$$ from a hole in the ground."

So, there you have it. One step forward and two steps back at your Department of Veterans Affairs.

My advice is unwavering; Do not call about your claim. Write a letter, send it via certified mail with return receipt requested and wait.

Jim;

I ask that you read this and share to your mailbag if you would all I ask is please don't reveal my name and email address I would like to respond about the latest article about Sally Satel's message.

As a returning Iraq veteran I am offended she would help introduce some legislation like that as far as treatment before compensation. I was medically retired from the army due to PTSD when I came home. I stayed and received treatment to get better to try to stay in the Army was my dream. I wanted to be a career soldier. I loved the life of being a soldier so I took advantage to all their new treatments and their new ideas. I was for it and still am but I also knew before I came home from Iraq while I was still in that country I was going to need mental health help for things we did earlier in our deployment

Added it up I had over 1 years worth of therapy and medicine pumped into me. The doctors said you did your job you haven't done anything to display as a problem soldier actually you were left in a condition's. Our job was to help refugees and wounded Iraqi's. The average was 500 of them and 5 of us, yes this is true. So for her to say treatment before compensation is a understatement been there done that. Now the only hope I got is praying night and day that my IU paperwork goes thru. Jim I was once a better man than I am now I am only 27 and scared to death when our gov gets a mouth piece like her around Jim I thank you for your time I have the utmost respect for what you do.

Reply;

Everyone who writes to me will remain anonymous unless I ask for and you give me permission to print your name.

Your story is true, I have no doubt.

Dr. Satel is infamous for her slanted and anti-veteran rhetoric. In 2004 she testified, “It is generally put forth as an established truth — that roughly one-third of returnees from Vietnam suffered PTSD. This is at best debatable, given that fifteen percent were assigned to combat units.”

http://veterans.house.gov/hearings/schedule108/mar04/3-11-04/ssatel.html

In other words, unless you were assigned directly to a “combat unit” in Vietnam, you couldn't suffer PTSD. This discounts the service of any veteran who was in a quartermaster corps, medical care, graves registration or any other combat support command. In her naive and inexperienced world, none of the men and women who performed bravely in a support role were exposed to the horror of war.

She goes on with more her peculiar brand of flawed logic as she questions why there is sometimes a significant delay in the exhibition of PTSD symptoms. She hypothesizes by comparing the Vietnam veteran to the civilians who were exposed to danger during the Oklahoma City bombing.

“The frequently proffered answer is that the start of the disorder can be delayed for months or years. This belief, however, has no support in epidemiological studies. And consider the striking absence of delayed cases in long-range studies like that of people affected by the Oklahoma City bombing. Such studies have found that symptoms almost always develop within days of the traumatic event and, in about two-thirds of sufferers, fade within a year.”

The comparison of Oklahoma civilians to Vietnam based soldiers is striking for its absurdity. While such an event as the bombing was tragic and horrible, it was unexpected and lasted only moments. Those victims weren't on edge for a year or two or often three years, waiting and anticipating an attack from an unknown enemy. She says, "symptoms...fade within a year." She ignores the fact that stress and anxiety that began at the first of the year may not "fade within a year" if you're still in the same hellish setting that you were at the beginning.

Satel blithely ignores the year or two or three that Vietnam veterans may have sat on edge, waiting for that other shoe to drop. She contends that PTSD is from an event. Then, a year or so later, you're recovered. She seeks to justify that PTSD is caused by a stressor...an intense firefight might be a good example. She ignores the effects of life in a hooch for 11 months with the constant sounds of gunfire and artillery a couple of miles away. To her distorted view, that isn't comparable to an Oklahoma City bombing event in momentary intensity so PTSD doesn't result.

Disarming an explosive isn't a stressor unless it explodes! Patrolling through villages of Vietnamese who you know hate you isn't a stressor unless the try to kill you. Even then, a year later, you should be able to get a grip man! Dr. Sally says so. I can imagine Dr. Phil and Judge Judy would agree.

If you didn't actually die, what the hell are you worried about?

When it was over, the sympathy of the world was there waiting for the people of Oklahoma City. They were universally seen as victims and sheltered, coddled and offer every form of public assistance and sympathy that was even remotely available. Outpourings of flowers and instant memorials lined those shattered streets.

The Vietnam veteran started the effects of PTSD in basic training. We were trained to kill or be killed. “Locked and loaded” quickly became a part of our vocabulary as we stumbled through training courses with live fire over our heads and trip wires setting of dummy explosive devices. Drill Sergeants jumped out in our exhausted faces to tell us we had been KIA. “Charlie just killed you Strickland. You weren't doing it like I told you and now you're dead!”

We were never welcomed home. There was no massive outpouring of caring for us. As I was processing out at Ft. Dix I was instructed to return home in civilian clothes and that I shouldn't engage in any conversations with protesters. I was never spit on or called a baby killer...people were usually kinder to me as I didn't go to Vietnam but rather I served in Germany.

But even Germany in the 1960s was not an Oklahoma City, friendly and warm and caring when tragedy was on us all.

The monuments were quick to rise in memory of those who died there that day. This is as it should have been and America and the world acted correctly to care for all the unfortunates who were affected by the criminals who brought that tragedy on to American soil. Those perpetrators quickly paid for their crimes too. There was closure.

There has been no such closure for the Vietnam veteran.

As long as people like Dr. Satel insist on spewing their venom toward soldiers there never will be closure. Far be it from her who has never soldiered to offer a single, “Welcome home.”

Dr. Satel is an elitist, an Ivy Leaguer of the worst kind, never getting her hands dirty by associating with those hoi polloi beneath her. She does what she needs to do and says what she is supposed to say to pad her own nest and remain in her comfort zone rubbing up on the other members of the Peerage she clings to.

Make no mistake. Satel isn't seeking fair treatment or equity for veterans. She seeks to repress us downward to elevate her own worth. She and her kind are not a veterans friend.

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posted by Larry Scott
Founder and Editor
VA Watchdog dot Org

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