Please DU my ltte re: shinseki

[w8liftinglady]

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http://www.thedailylight.com/articles/2009/01/28/opinion/doc4980c87e3afc7722730454.txt
To the Editor,

The selection of retired Army Gen. Eric Shinseki as Head of the Department of Veterans Affairs shows the forethought that President Obama has used when considering his cabinet posts. As a wounded war veteran, Gen. Shinseki will have a special insight into the needs of all veterans, current and future.

It was a sad moment when the Bush Administration forced Gen. Shinseki into retirement because he had the temerity to point out that the invasion of Iraq would be more difficult than they said it would be. He was right, and we would be in a much better position today if they had listened.

Some of Gen. Shinseki’s greatest challenges will be as follows:

1. Convincing the VA system to treat PTSD and TBI as combat injuries worthy of disability. As recently as March 2008, psychologists and social workers in the VA system were being instructed to refrain from diagnosing PTSD to discourage granting new disability claims. The reason? “We really don’t have time to do the extensive testing that should be done” in order to diagnose PTSD. In addition, veterans from Korea, Vietnam and other foreign wars need to be assessed for ptsd and offered treatment.

2. Services for female veterans need to be increased to accommodate the increase in female veterans. Access to OB/Gyn physicians and rape counselors is scarce at present.

3. Access to services needs to be expanded to include more rural areas. At present, veterans are having to travel unreasonable distances, which becomes difficult as the veteran ages or becomes ill.

4. With a nearly 800,000 case backlog, the VA needs to modernize their record keeping to accelerate claims.

Gen. Shinseki won’t be able to do this alone. It will require the support of Congress, the VA employees and the nation. We are indebted to these brave men and women, and owe them this small payment for their sacrifice.