Reporting for ROLL CALL 10:39AM 6/18/13
This morning, at Panera Bread here in Elk Grove, CA, I ran into an old buddy. He was in combat in Vietnam, is my age, and is well off. Happily married, a wonderful retirement and a fantastic home. He has it all, and then some. We got to talking about the VA, and by the time we finished, I had him on his way to the VA Advocate at our local VA Hospital.
Here's the long and short of it. By now, here on ROLL CALL, we have 14 Posts with many replies. We have 4 Rules and 3 Steps. If in fact I could have read this all when I was honorably discharged from the US Army on Feb 4, '69, my life today would be noticeably different. Of course, there were no personal computers then, and no Internet. With this in mind, we are now about ready to tackle one of the most dreadful wounds of war: PTSD. Last week I heard a statistic that 47% of all American Veterans suffer from PTSD. In one degree, or the other. Some not so bad, some totally awful. We are about to enter another room on ROLL CALL, and that is dealing with PTSD.
We already know there are @ one million backlogged claims at the VA today. Many of these deal with PTSD. Many of the Cherry Troops today, many with the '7 Year Burn', have been deployed more than one tour in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some have severed 4 or more. Let me assure you, these people are suffering from PTSD, in some form or the other. And, from this point on, I am going to be dealing with the PTSD procedures at the VA.
Getting back to my friend an our conversation this morning, come to find out even though he 'doesn't need the VA', he does have a VA Card. And he is receiving @ $200 per month for a disability. (Maybe 20%?) In Vietnam, he was a helicopter door gunner, and he also hauled Agent Orange. He is now a diabetic, and there is no history in his family of this disease. I told him to go to the VA Advocate this morning at the VA at Mather and sign up for 100% disability for Agent Orange 'wounds'. He hesitated. He told them the last time that they told him to go for PTSD. His ears ring. And, he actually did not believe me so much.
Then I asked him if he can remember when he was first diagnosed with diabetes. He said 6 years ago. I told him that he is 100% disabled, and he needs to put in a claim. And, when he is 'awarded' his disability by the VA, it will go back 6 years to his original diagnosis for diabetes. That means he will received a check for the rest of his life, tax free, for his 100% disability. AND, he will receive a HUGE check for retroactive compensation going back to the first diagnosis for his diabetes 6 years.
He stood there and looked at me like I was trying to sell him some ocean front property in Utah. Will he go to the VA Advocate? Will he fill out the forms for his 100% disability from Agent Orange poisoning? IF NOT, then he is crazy. And, that's what PTSD is: mentally ill.
So, now we are going to go into the subject of the Black Snake: PTSD.
LT
