Veterans' Advocate Jim Strickland answers questions from VA Watchdog dot Org readers.

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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...  And, be sure to use Jim's:  A Military Veterans Guide To Disability Compensation and Pension Benefits -- A Compendium of Resources and Knowledge For The Disabled Veteran -- click here...   JIm's series for new vets, "Welcome Home," is also featured on Military.com. And, you can follow Jim on TWITTER here ...

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by Jim Strickland

NOTE:  Letters in my Q&A columns 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.

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Jim;

I too agree with other posters that you were and are a great patriot, and I thank you for your sacrifice and service. I too, am a disabled vet, and I do recieve benifits from the VA. I have been at different levels of disability compensation, depending on which service center I am evaluated at. I have experienced some of the best care, and some of the worst. I know that these benifits are my right, and for the sake of my family, I accept them. I can see that you do much to help our community of servicemembers, but I feel you could help even more if you examined one small thing. Your tone smacks of contempt and bitterness for "the system"(the VA and DAV) which civilians already do not trust or support. The run-around, paperwork, lost files, inadiquite care, appeals, ect...are all par for the course in military life!lol And we all did the next right thing, as you did. The process of appeals is there because someone fought for them. Our benifits are there because someone fought for them, and our cost of living increases and tax rebates are being fought for every single day. So rather than be an independant voice of (however helpful) dissention, would you not consider becoming a service rep for an association or for the VA itself, so that you may not only assist a veteran in recieving compensation, but also to be a positive experience WITHIN the system,to help to restore the hope that every veteran, their family members, and this country need? Just think of the good you could do for all, rather than a few. Sleep on it.

Reply;

Thank you for your kind words. You've hit the nail on the head each time.

There are two reasons I don't work within the system.

My disability rendered me as "unemployable" in 2003. That I can sit at home to type and that my brain continues to function doesn't mean that I'm able to endure the rigors or expectations of a 40 hour work week. Although you can't see it to appreciate it, I have days that I can't leave my house and I'm dependent on my wife, friends and family to assist me with activities of daily living.

Then there is the money. In my mind as soon as I begin to view what I do as a way to earn a living, my commitment changes. You may not understand that I accept no form of remuneration for my efforts. That includes salary, gifts, honorarium, etc. If I work for VA or DAV I'd want to excel in my position and get a promotion...such is the nature of the beast. To be promoted and earn more would require that I march to the company drum. I would have no pulpit from which to preach and my voice would be silenced. Neither of those organizations tolerate rabble-rousers in the ranks.

It seems to me your idea is upside-down.

Today my words and deeds reach thousands and thousands of veterans. I work with veterans in countries around the world. I manage dozens of cases at any given time, assisting veterans who seek my help. Because of "hit counters" I'm confident that thousands more who never write to me benefit from my writing and find some value in the advice I offer.

You're suggesting that I take a job and become a cog in that giant wheel so that I may be neutered and forced to follow orders from incompetent senior officials who don't want change.

While I agree with you in a way...to get into the belly of the beast is the best way to make change...I don't see it as my role today. I'm effective in my little niche, doing what I do.

Thanks for the thought though. I appreciate that you're thinking about ways that we can better serve veterans.

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Jim;

i work for the 95th div
we are the Iron Men of Metz that liberated Metz France
i am the command section secretary

I have a letter from one of our WWII vets wifes and she says
she would like a medallion that apparealy the VFW furnishes for graves
that holds a flag

have you ever heard of this ??
yours or anyones help would be appreciated. i think i have seen this
but am not sure what she is talking about

she is from New Jersey so it may the VFW in the East that does this???

Jo Ann Gilley
Command Section Secretary

Reply;

Thank you for writing to me. Your email brought back a huge wave of
memories. I often visited the Lorraine American Cemetery in France
when I was stationed in Germany.

It was the first of many military and veterans cemeteries I've visited
and I well recall the feelings that held me that day in 1968.
Somewhere around here I still have the photos I took.

Thank you for the important work that you do to keep those memories alive.

I know that most VFW posts as well as many other Veterans Service
Organizations will sometimes supply the medallions you asked about.

I can't speak for VFW but to my knowledge, there isn't any uniform
policy that dictates when or how this may happen.

There are a number of manufacturers who design and build these things.
Please click here http://www.flagguys.com/gmarker.html

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Jim;

I wish I would have known about this web site before I started my claim. A few columns ago you wrote that the VBA has about a 2 yr backlog. Did you mean 2 yrs in getting to the veterans appeal or 2 yrs in making a decision. I had my AO appeal video conference on May 7, 2009 at the Columbia, SC RO and was just wondering how long it might take for a decision to be made. The American Legion rep that was at the appeal hearing with me said not to call her to find out the status of the decision.
 

Reply;

I suggest that in the majority of claims that I've seen over the last
4 years that the usual initial claim takes one to two years to reach a
decision.

Then, I believe that at least 70% of those decisions are flawed and
must be appealed. Adding a DRO appeal will add about one year to the
claim for a total of two to three years for a decision at the local
level.

Going to BVA may add two to four years to all of that.

This is why I do my best to ensure that the veterans I work with don't
go to BVA. BVA is a terrible sort of trap to fall into with endless
remands...the "hamster wheel". Once on it, you may never get off.

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TOPICS: veterans, veterans' benefits, VA, Department of Veterans' Affairs, Jim Strickland, Veterans' Advocate,