  The American Veteran's On-Line News Magazine Click here to make VA Watchdog dot Org your homepage VA NEWS FLASH from Larry Scott at VA Watchdog dot Org -- 10-19-2008 |
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The American Veteran's On-Line News Magazine Click here to make VA Watchdog dot Org your homepage VA NEWS FLASH from Larry Scott at VA Watchdog dot Org -- 10-19-2008 |
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OF PAPER -- "Any training the VA does as a result of this latest incident needs to address the handling of people's lives, not the handling of sheets of paper."
All stories regarding the VA's shredder scandal
can be found on this page... click here... Story below:
------------------------- UPDATE: COMMENTARY -- THE VET IS JUST ANOTHER PIECE OF PAPER "Any training the VA does as a result of this latest incident needs to address the handling of people's lives, not the handling of sheets of paper." by Larry Scott
Although my name appears at the top of this
article, the credit goes
One of the great pleasures of being Founder & Editor of VA Watchdog dot Org is the interaction with so many veterans of different eras. The insights these veterans provide make this web site so much better than if I tried to do it all myself. You know who you are. Occasionally, I get an email that I absolutely have to share. Below is one of those, from the afore-mentioned Michael Smith. I firmly believe Michael speaks for all veterans of all generations with his spot-on analysis of the VA shredder scandal. Thank you for this, Michael. --------------- by Michael Smith Solving a problem requires the identification of the root cause. The VA's shredding of claim info indicates a root cause that matches the experience of many war veterans. We were told (in my case) that the Vietnamese were just 'gooks,' placed no value on life, and were pretty much sub-human. This helped many of us kill with less remorse. Consider the VA's shredding of claim paperwork in light of this concept. The VA has reduced their view of veterans away from the idea that they're dealing with human beings; we are simply pieces of paper to them. It is much easier to shred something if it's not conceptually attached in the shredder's mind to a real person. None of the VA employees who destroy documents think that they are likely destroying someone's life; at least not someone who 'matters.' The vet who is confronted with losing his home experiences the 'lost' paperwork in a horrible way, but the VA employee who destroyed his claim information to boost the VA's 'timeliness' stats cannot possibly consider this personal impact. The vet is just another piece of paper (read 'gook') to the shredder. I believe you are a vet also - how many times have you and I been told that VA health care is 'free?' When I hear this, I think of the napalm runs I saw, and I realize that the VA healthcare worker has no concept of the price I paid for his 'free' care. I was impressed with the way you put the point across about those of us who think the VA conspires against us, some to the point of paranoia. Although I don't put it past the VA to individually target a vet for bad treatment, I believe our current status with the VA is that we are pieces of paper. Therein lies the root cause of our treatment and the reason for the existence of your VAWatchdog.org. What would happen if one delayed case were tracked through to its outcome, and the VA employees were presented with the fact that the veteran whose paperwork they ignored or destroyed was found dead? Confronted with the fact that he lived out his life in a cardboard box under a bridge as a DIRECT result of their ignoring his claim, could they continue to shred information? Justification of the VA employees' individual actions requires that they view vets as nothing more than eight-and-a-half by eleven sheets, and this has become the organization-wide concept of veterans within the VA. There's your root cause, buddy. Any training the VA does as a result of this latest incident needs to address the handling of people's lives, not the handling of sheets of paper. ------------------------- -------------------------
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