A Very Pissed Off Monkeyman

[Monkeyman]

Today I was sent a EM by a friend Amy in Florida. Her Husband Russ is dying from lung cancer. Its Service related lets say he was Rained On (Agent Orange) Now he is just holding on for his benefits.He has been fighting for years for his PTSD benefits. The VA knows he has a very short time to live. So now they tell Amy we lost his records. This is pure dam bullshit. These MF's know what they are doing. Russ is a good man who has helped vets all his life. Now that he needs help no one is there but a few of us. Amy needs dependent status . So I got pissed and send a EM to Adam Putnam his dam congressman. Well something happened they are moving Russ to John Hopkins. Russ keep the fight up Brother I will be there in my prayers. Just had to let it out. I am sick of Nicholson and Bush cutting cost on our backs. IMPEACH THIS SOB

[Kurovski]

1. K&R. (nt)

[hobbit709]

4. Seconded nt

[Big Pappa]

2. This is BS

I keep a copy of my medical records at all times. This happens a lot.

[Kurovski]

7. It does indeed.

Particularly when they want to "run out the clock."

There must be something in the manual.

Or maybe folks working at Social Security and the VA get bonuses when they "lose" records.

[Big Pappa]

15. After I retired

in 03 it took the VA 8 months to decide upon my rating. 8 damn months.

[Monkeyman]

12. Me Too Bro she made a huge mistake gave them last copy PUFF into thin air

[dflprincess]

19. How very odd, I knew two people whose dads were Atomic Vets

all of their records disappeared too. I'm sure it's all just coincidences. :mad:

[Olney Blue]

3. We keep marching against the war, and nothing happens.

:grr:

[bdamomma]

5. we have to keep the pressure on those Senators and Reps

they get their clues from us, we have to keep the pressure on them.

[jwirr]

6. All soldiers/vets should demand a copy of their medical records

every time they see a doctor. In fact this should be law. Every young soldier now in the military should he told to guard their back.

[Jackpine Radical]

8. Thanks for helping a brother, Monk.

[femrap]

9. Impeach, Indict, Imprison.

Russ and Amy deserve so much better.

We've become the old Soviet Union.

[Gregorian]

10. It's trickle down carelessness. An epidemic in this country.

Damn, you deserve a huge amount of credit. We're not talking about my credit card. They're stringing me along, having just lost $1200 bucks for me. I can live with it. But your friend is in need, in the most dire way. That's the bottom line. Health.

You've done something big. He may not ever gain his health, but even if not he'll know the value of true friendship.

You did right, man. We CAN change the world. And thanks for sharing, because that gives me strength just knowing.

[wildbilln864]

11. Damn right!

Impeach, indict and incarcerate the whole Bush/PNAC cabal!

[ljm2002]

13. Good on you for helping him!

And prayers and best wishes to him and his family, here's hoping they get the support they are entitled to.

[brer cat]

14. You are a life saver, Monkeyman!

Please give a DU :hug: to Russ and Amy. They will be in my thoughts and prayers.

[kineneb]

16. thanks for helping fight the good fight

I think what the VA is doing is criminal. Supporting the troops, indeed. Humph.

Social Security offices also tend to "lose" disability medical paperwork. I had to hand deliver the information to them from the dialysis clinic when Hubby was switched over to permanent disability. The clinic was pissed and so was I, because they had already mailed a copy of the paperwork once. We are talking mailing stuff across town... a town of 5,000 population!

[JohnnyLib2]

17. How many times, how many times.

Fight the good fight, Monkeyman. It helps many.

K & R

[Smarmie Doofus]

18. Mighty suspicious. VA 'lost' my brother's...

>>>The VA knows he has a very short time to live. So now they tell Amy we lost his records. This is pure dam bullshit. These MF's know what they are doing.>>>>

... first disability application. Seems like they drag their feet hoping a certain percentage will die and a certain percentage will give up.

What a world.

Sorry about Russ.

[madrchsod]

20. the forgotten war....

god only knows how many du and other toxin related dieases the gw1-2 soldiers will be facing in the future

[bonito]

21. You have stepped up to the bat for your Friend!

I applaud you! Rock on brother, that is what it takes, I too am a patient advocate. It's not that people don't care, but its that it must be brought to their attention.:yourock: monkeyman I've been reading your post for a while :thumbsup: :hi:

[sam sarrha]

22. Bu$h isnt a snob.. he's a Pimp.. as said..only job he ever has was to keep the beer cold and the

Chicks hot.. for the skybox Corporate suits... now he is pimping out our economy to the Chinese

is it possable to be a corporate whore and a F'n Pimp.. strange but true

[rockymountaindem]

23. Contact Senator Nelson's office

They may also be able to pitch in on this matter.

[TomInTib]

24. Stay pissed off, Monkeyman.

I do.

A little rage helps me get thru the bs.

[Monkeyman]

26. Hey Tom Larry Posted it and got it in the news

I think that's way the movement Putnam does not want bad press

[vickitulsa]

25. Every bit as pissed of as you, Monkeyman! Give em hell!

Sometimes I think if I hear one more story like this one of your friend Russ, I'm going to explode and do something totally crazy.

I've dealt with the VA quite a bit just helping my Nam vet pals trying to get their justly deserved benefits and healthcare, and it's a neverending fight with that system. You know it, I know it, a lot of us know it, yet nothing ever seems to get DONE about it!

What burns my ass the worst about it all is that the delays and screwups with appointments and "lost" records are all very f'ing deliberate. They are absolutely doing this on purpose, knowing that a lot of vets don't want to "whine" in the first place and are easily disuaded from appealing a case. Just like with Social Security Disability claims, I believe the VA knows full well all those who are ill and failing are likely to just DIE if they can put them off long enough.

They also know that a great many of the vets have PTSD and just can't stick with the fight as long as it takes to get their benefits, absorbing all the humiliation the VA dishes out along the way.

Every time I've learned of a specific case and word was sent out to fellow vets and their supporters like me, THEN calls are made and letters are written and a huge stink is raised -- and finally the bastards at the VA get off their asses and do something.

It should not require our vets to go through this quagmire of paperwork and doubting their word and grilling them -- and all the humilitation the system puts them through -- just to get what they were promised when they signed up! This is so very wrong, and we should not keep letting it happen ... though I swear I don't know what to do except keep tackling the problem one case at a time.

The worst story of all those I know of personally was a vet and his wife I met online and then in the flesh in DC when I finally went to the Wall in Nov 1999. Eravette (she was a Nam vet too) did everything she could to get Jim's disability deemed service-related for several years. He had been a recon sneak and peak in Nam, and he had a horrible case of tropical sprue that was slowly killing him -- tortuously so.

After some of us pitched in to write letters and help them, it seemed finally we were getting somewhere. Eravette arrived home from work one afternoon and picked up the mail at their box at the road. She was so happy -- FINALLY the damn approval letter came! She ran in the house, excited, and upstairs to tell Jim -- and found him dead in his bed.

THIS IS JUST SO TYPICAL of what the damned VA does! It's not an unusual case at all, as your friend's situation shows, Monkeyman.

I used to think that at least the military would have learned after poisoning so many of the soldiers in Vietnam and wouldn't keep on doing THAT. BUT NO, it is still happening right up to this very day, continuing right along as if it was just FINE to do this to our troops!

Sorry for my rant, but I'm furious too. Talking about this so much when the Walter Reed horror story broke set off my own PTSD (childhood trauma, but I know how bad it can be), and I had to avoid the subject for awhile.

But every time I see a post about yet another case demonstrating just how well this rightwing nutjob administration "supports" our troops, I just get bent so out of shape I can't stand it.

Glad you got it out, Monkeyman ... it can help a lot just to sound off about it. I'm pulling for Russ and his family.

[CrazyOrangeCat]

27. kick

miserable lyin' scoundrels.

to the Hague with the lot of them.

[roguevalley]

28. my cousin Ross died of agent orange and got his bennies after his

death and a herculean fight. God bless your friend, hon.

[puebloknot]

29. K&R Veterans give so much and get so little! nt

[Kurovski]

30. Kick.(nt)

[Just-plain-Kathy]

31. This is BIG...I wonder how many vets this happens to.

I spoke to a young vet who came back from Iraq last summer. He was very upset because the army promised him an education and they weasled out of their promise.

The military has to be held accountable.

[porphyrian]

32. Abandoning veterans like this administration is doing is treason. - n/t

[vankuria]

33. Don't give up!

This is exactly what the VA wants you to do. I had a fight on my hands with the VA, when my Uncle applied for benefits they said the same thing, they "lost" his records. Even when I tried to get help through the local veterans service agency, they were rude and obnoxious to me. It was a long haul, but I'm happy to say we kept up the fight, and won. It should not have to be so hard.

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

34. We should start a veterans' "LOST RECORDS" list because,...

,...I have heard this story, over and over and over, again (the VA losing the records). I'll bet my life that list, if complete, is so long that the entire nation would be horrified by all the 'buried' veterans by their own government.

[lonestarnot]

35. No other fucking answer Monkeyman! He must be IMPEACHED!

[Horse with no Name]

36. My Uncle was exposed to Agent Orange.

They lost his records as well.
Must be SOP.