I am not sure that anyone has quantified or set a benchmark for the definitive calculation for viral. Maybe after this little bit of flippancy, we will see what viral really means.

For sure, the small business community would endear themselves to the veteran community, as would American Express. With the massive number of us in the Boomer category, meaning the highest disposable income of all demographic groups, you know they are after us.

It was three years ago that Mayor Bloomberg and Kenneth Chenault the honcho at American Express launched this nifty idea of, ” Small Business Saturday.” I think it is working. I hear more and more folks adopting bragging rights about how they shop local. It is the latest tattoo. Even kind of chic, depending on your brand of local. Geezz, I always used to patronize local taverns!

There is clearly a celebratory aspect to this emerging movement. It has an uncanny similarity to the fondness for returning veterans. So lets just have a corporate merger here. All devised by little ole TucsonCitizen.com, with Daddy Gannett looking on.

On Small Business Saturday each business could donate $1 to the cause of Disabled Veterans. We could be all grown up like the MDA and Susan B Konen Fund. Just without the coercion and involuntary requests from all the convenience store employees. Ours would be a bit more magnanimous and sans corporate staff.

The  market researchers have indicated that this campaign to shop locally created approximately 103 million shoppers.  Can you dig it? 103 million Americans helping Disabled Veterans across America. Seems to me that American Express would get as much mileage out this marriage of causes as would one day of shopping.

Howabout just taking a combat veteran shopping on Saturday.? That makes two in the store. What do I know? I am just a street level marketer. Although, I did turn around 5 shopping centers in Tucson.

As a retired commercial property manager and landlord, I spent my adult life with local business men and women.  I think I have a feel for their community spirit.

The National Federation of Business has predicted that the consumers who are planning to shop from local merchants will be at 67%. In 2011 that percentage of all consumers was 44%.

I say, add the Veterans in  your community to the equation and we can push that to 75%.

So, lets go viral and set a new benchmark. In the process Americans will get to meet a few Veterans of War. It would look like an old Norman Rockwell painting.

Veteran Veritas  may have to copyright this scheme. I can see a new Hallmark card now!

I have spent my entire adult life in the pursuit of life, liberty and the pursuit of anyone who threatens it!

This year I would like to share some of  the aspects of the Marine Corps that have added to my quality of life and to some of the successes I have experienced over time.

There is little question about the value of discipline in ones life. Professionally, socially and  spiritually, the accrued benefits of the rigorous training of the Marine Corps become an annuity that can be drawn from in times of stress and chaos.  Little in civilian life can ever compare to the experience of war and the equanimity needed to negotiate your own internal fears and  perform at a high level.   I am convinced that the balance of mind and spirit contributed to rewarding career in commercial property management and to the attributes of being a good husband and father.

The most penetrating and lasting benefit of being a Marine has been the sustenance that comes from the unending fellowship and camaraderie of  fellow Marines. It is a  love that surpasses all understanding and has the secondary benefit of  an increased sense of spirituality in daily living.  As paradoxical as it may seem,  the Marine Corps actually makes one a better lover in the broadest sense of the word.  The espirit de corps that is so often referenced is in turn a form of Agagpe, the sort of which promotes peace and understanding.

Marine training has no false sympathy or feigned understanding. When given a job.. you do not leave the post until it is done.  I was told by my bosses that this is the reason I was hired over other applicants.

The emphasis placed on values is also something that has a very long half life. Current day Marines carry value cards that they are issued and they sign. The front has the standard Honor, Courage and Committment and the back the states that Marines lead by example, respect themselves foremost, place faith and honor above all else and give allegiance to God,Country, Corps and Family.  How can you go wrong with that value system in your pocket?

Many of us old and new breed lead our lives today with the same traditions that we were taught in boot camp.  I am a man in full as a result.

“Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they make a difference in the world. But the Marines don’t have that problem.”  Ronald Reagan 1985

“There are only two kinds of people who understand Marines, Marines and the enemy. Everyone else has a second-hand opinion.”

General Thornson, U.S Army

” The Marines I have seen around the world have the cleanest bodies, the filthiest minds, the highest morale, and the lowest morals of any group of animals I have ever seen. Thank God for the Marine Coprs.”  Eleanor Roosevelt 1945

“America doesn’t need a Marine Corps, America wants a Marine Corps.” General Krulak

Happy Birthday Jarheads!!

The study states that doctors should offer as much preventive treatment for heart disease for clients with PTSD. The researchers, are Naser Ahmadi, MD, and Ramin Ebrahimi, MD.

The research studied the electronic medicals records of 286, 194 veterans, with an average age of 63, who are being treated at hospitals in Southern California and Nevada. The cohort group includes veterans of the Korean War.

The conclusion of the study indicated that veterans diagnosed with PTSD had 2.41 times the rate of death from all causes compared to veterans who have not experienced PTSD. Or at least not diagnosed with the symptoms. They then surmise that PTSD alone is an independent predictor of death from all causes.

Now, let Veteran Veritas  enter the picture. I cannot use the the adjective that first comes to mind for this study. So let your veteran imaginations take you there.

What I will say is that I first distrust this study because it smells of the subterranean influence of the Insurance industry that does not want to provide life insurance for the young soldiers returning from war, as a result of their pre-existing conditions —which is War!   A soldier who is diagnosed with PTSD cannot currently get life insurance. Truth.

Man is this a hard pill to swallow.

So, the citizen soldier who just defended the United States of America and our system of capitalism, the insurance industry being the very DNA of that system, can in turn not be defended by the very system they just defended.  There will  be an outcry beyond belief when this becomes known nationwide. Johnny can come marching home with ribbons of valor galore, but he cannot get life insurance if he seeks a little help for his nightmares of horific events, because he  is normal. All of the literature on PTSD indicates that, “it is a normal reaction to aberrant events.”  So, where am I going here? I believe studies like this should be scrutinized way beyond their practical value, for the core intent. I suspect that some of that intent is to have on record, medical data, to support the decline for life insurance.  Not unlike the bogus studies of a Psychiatrist named Sally Satel, who was on the payroll of the American Enterprise institute to conduct their dirty work in attempting to alter the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Psychiatry, DSM, so as to not have to award do many disability claims for PTSD, this study is akin to that effort that was suspended as a result of the incredible feedback from veterans, like this writer, who are up at night combing the net.  I will have more to say about this in future postings.

I would like to see what our readers have to say about this study and why from its initial reading it is laced with errors of science.  I will be revisiting this subject frequently over the next several months.

Next week I will be visiting with some high command at Camp Pendleton, and this topic is on the agenda.

As a footnote, many seasoned journalists have a bit of disdain for medical journalism as so much of it has hidden agendas of promotion of self and product, or is bent toward the pharmaceutical industry, meaning stockholders.

Doc Holiday said it best, “my hypocrisy has no bounds.”

By Rick Maze – Staff writer,  Posted : Wednesday Sep 29, 2010 17:46:43 EDT

With just days before Congress takes a six-week break for the November elections, the House and Senate veterans’ affairs committees have reached agreement on an omnibus bill making improvements in employment, job protection, housing, insurance and other benefits.

The Senate passed the bill, HR 3219, by voice vote late Tuesday. The House is expected to approve it in the next few days.

The compromise bill surfaces just as national polls are showing wide spread discontent among voters about the glacial pace of legislative act. Getting the bill done is proof that when their backs are to the wall, lawmakers can reach agreement on veterans issues, which are largely bipartisan.

Sen. Daniel K. Akaka, D-Hawaii, and Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., are largely responsible for the agreement but there are dozens of bills wrapped into a package. Final passage by the House is expected by weeks’ end, just before lawmakers leave town. Akaka is chairman of the Senate veterans’ committee while Filner heads the House veterans’ panel.

Akaka said there are some important provisions, such as an increase in Veterans’ Mortage Life Insurance that fills a need “obvious in today’s housing market.” Currently, maximum insurance in case of the death of a service-connected disabled veteran was $90,000, far short of paying the mortgage balance on most homes. The bill hikes the maximum to $200,000.

Additionally, it increases supplemental life insurance for totally disabled veterans to $30,000, a $10,000 jump.

“Many totally disabled veterans find it difficult to obtain commercial life insurance,” Akaka said. “This legislation would provide these veterans with a reasonable amount of life insurance coverage.”

Called the Veterans’ Benefits Act of 2010, the package also expands federal work-study programs to try to help veterans find jobs and it also tried to crack down small businesses trying to take advantage of veteran-owned business set asides by making the Veterans Affairs Department responsible for keeping a database of companies where the VA can show it is owned and controlled by a veteran. This addresses a hot-button issue for many veterans’ service organizations, who have complained to Congress that business are getting contracts without having veterans involved.

Here are some of the key provisions of the compromise:

• The Office of Special Counsel would be used on a test basis to enforce employment and re-employment rights for veterans when a federal agency is the employer.

• Homeless veterans grants from the Labor Department would be expanded specifically to help women veterans and homeless veterans with children by including child care services along with training, counseling and placement services.

• A pilot program would provide grants in three states to try to help veterans find jobs in energy-related fields. The states are not named.

• In an expansion of the ability of service members to cancel leases and contracts when deployed or reassigned to new duty stations, the bill would prohibit early termination fees for residential leases and also allows service members to terminate cellular telephone contracts, including family plans, at any time when they have military orders to relocate for 90 days or longer or move to an area not served by the cell phone company.

• Veterans’ burial benefits would increase to $700, effective Oct. 1, 2010, when a veteran dies in a VA facility or is eligible for burial in a national cemetery.

• Parents of deceased service members could be buried alongside their child in a national cemetery if the service member was not married and did not have a child and when the service member was killed by hostile fire or in a training accident.

__._,_.___
God Bless
Jose M. Garcia
Past National Commander
Catholic War Veterans,USA
josegarcia4@sbcglobal.net
Better to understand a little than to misunderstand a lot.
In God We Trust

Contact:
Mokie Porter
301-585-4000, Ext. 146

North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr, the leading Republican on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, said yesterday, as reported by the Associated Press, that he has “concerns about a proposal to spend billions of dollars on disability compensation for Vietnam veterans who get heart disease and wants to make sure that science supports the expansion of benefits.”

The “proposal” Burr is referring to is a decision by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, based on the recent National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine committee report, “Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 2008.”

A little history is in order: From 1962 to 1971, the U.S. military used Agent Orange and other herbicides in Vietnam and elsewhere to defoliate the jungle canopy, to destroy crops, and to clear the perimeters of U.S. bases. These herbicides were sprayed from fixed-wing and rotary aircraft, trucks, and backpack sprayers. The drums that stored these chemicals were often recycled and put to various other uses, sometimes to collect rain water, to serve as barbecue grill, etc. Nearly three million veterans served in Southeast Asia.

Contained in these herbicides was dioxin, 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-paradioxin—one of the most dangerous chemicals known to man.

On August 31, 2010, in the Federal Register, the Department of Veterans Affairs published the final rules amending the adjudication regulations concerning presumptive service connection, concluding that there was a positive association between exposure in Vietnam to certain herbicides and the subsequent development of three diseases: hairy cell leukemia & B-cell leukemias; Parkinson’s disease; and ischemic heart disease.

And for the first time in history, on September 23, Burr and his colleagues will call into question the authority of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, as outlined in the Agent Orange Act of 1991.

Recognizing that Burr was voted into the House of Representatives in 1994, it is obvious that he was not involved with the passage of the Agent Orange Act of 1991 (Public Law 102-4), which passed the House and the Senate without a single nay vote. In fact, today, 19 years later, there are only 36 members of Congress still serving who voted for passage of this act in 1991.

The Agent Orange Act of 1991 acknowledges the culpability of toxic exposures in health conditions that manifested years after a veteran’s service. Included in the law is the authority for the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs to enter into an agreement with the National Academy of Sciences to, on a biannual basis, provide a review of all scientific studies and research on the association between dioxin and specific diseases; and include recommendations for future research.

The act further grants the Secretary of the VA the authority to determine if a presumption of service connection is warranted for any of the health conditions addressed in the report.

If Sen. Burr is uncomfortable with the Secretary’s determinations based on the National Academy of Sciences recommendations, perhaps he would be more comfortable with the finding of the U.S. Air Force Ranch Hand Study, conducted by the U.S. Air Force on those who participated in the aerial spraying program, as sited in the 1992 testimony of Dr. Barry L. Johnson, Assistant Surgeon General, before the House Subcommittee on Human Resources and Intergovernmental Relations:

A recent study on the health status of Vietnam veterans who participated in Operation Ranch Hand did not find any signs of liver disease, but did report increased levels of triglycerides and cholesterol in the blood (a second report does not support these increases). In addition, an increase in body fat, diabetes, and blood pressure were also noted. These effects were strongly associated with TCDD levels in the serum. Ranch Hand veterans also had changes in blood (increased white blood cells, platelet, IgA, and sedimentation rates) which suggest a chronic inflammatory response, although no immunologic system diseases were identified. These immune system changes were also strongly associated with serum TCDD levels. These results differ from those reported in previous analyses of the Ranch Hand group in 1982 and 1985. The earlier analyses did not include an assessment of serum TCDD levels. A physical examination of Ranch Hand veterans is currently under way.

There is no doubt, that Burr, though too young to have faced conscription during the Vietnam Conflict, views himself as a supporter of those who served.

In fact, seven months ago, it was Sen. Burr who introduced a resolution recognizing March 30 as “Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day.” Proclaimed Burr, “There’s no question that our troops served our country bravely and faithfully during the Vietnam War, and these veterans deserve our recognition and gratitude.  Unfortunately, when these service members returned home, they were caught in the crossfire of public debate about our nation’s involvement in the war.”

Today, Vietnam veterans are again caught in the “crossfire of public debate,” as Burr and others balk at the price of providing for the continuing cost of care for those whom he and others recognize “served our country bravely and faithfully during the Vietnam War.”

Words of praise and gratitude do not cost anything. Veterans’ compensation for service-related health conditions do. Sen. Burr, which is it? Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) is the nation’s only congressionally chartered veterans service organization dedicated to the needs of Vietnam-era veterans and their families.  VVA’s founding principle is “Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another.” ]]> http://veteranveritas.com/?feed=rss2&p=366 11 http://veteranveritas.com/?p=360 http://veteranveritas.com/?p=360#comments Tue, 21 Sep 2010 02:37:28 +0000 http://tucsoncitizen.com/veteranveritas/?p=360 Continue reading Veterans Memorial Stadium? →]]> One of my pals suggested I just post my comment that was in response to the Arizona Daily Star article about re-naming Tucson Electric Park.

I said, I had no courage to do so. He said, “honesty is a lonely word.”  “And…. are you not suppose to be a veteran advocacy blog?”  He won. So here it is in raw honest form.  Be nice now. The comment follows.

“I like Carlos’s (Chazman1) idea. Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium is the right name and packed with the dignity and respect that needs to be returned. I say returned,as the original name of the park,the one that was sold to voters in the bond election, and the establishment of a Stadium District, was Veterans Memorial Stadium. When it was removed without input,(they could have kept the name Veterans Memorial when granting naming rights),they essentially dissed the veterans,whose name was used to get the bonds passed. Bad news, bad karma. One of the many reasons the place was star-crossed from the outset. Not to mention some shady real estate transactions that Jim Click had to step in to ameliorate. Myself and tons of veterans boycotted the park,without fan-fare, since its opening. Too bad, cuz we like the sport not the  organizational structure. Sort of like a kid having a dysfunctional Dad. Ain’t his fault. Without anyone ever knowing or drawing attention,this may well have been a reason for poor attendance. It was a thing of integrity.Something the veterans had, not the electeds.

The subterranean agenda, that was jammed through the old Pima County Sports Authority, in order to establish the new Stadium District, would now, with a new fund of knowledge, most likely result in indictments of both elected officials and some former members of the Sports Commission.

I know, as I was the Executive Director of the Pima County Sports Authority,(which has never been legally sunset-ed), from 1995-97. The other one. If I told all, I would have to be in the victim-witness program!
As the late and talented Chris Limberis once said after leaving journalism to work for the County, when asked how he liked it, stated, “I feel like I need to take a shower three times a day.”

For penance….and atonement…..say two Hail Mary’s, two Our Father’s and return the name; Veteran Memorial Stadium. It will be good for the soul of Tucson.”

At the rate that Vietnam Veterans are dying from Agent Orange related illnesses, the cynicism in the ranks of us who have those illnesses, is such, that one might say, the contract disputes will assist in reducing the cost of delivery as many more will simply be dead before their claims are completed.

If a veteran dies with a disability rating and a service connected illness, the spouse will then be eligible for benefits.  Add those costs to the treatment costs of the returning combatants, and you have an actuarial nightmare.

There have already been grave concerns about the delays in Agent Orange claims for the past 30 years. One of those speculative concerns is that the bean counters realize, the longer the delay the less the outlay. They never quite planned for the overwhelming number of veterans with AO issues to still be in the system this long.

Now in our 60’s, we are a tenacious lot, evidenced by the 1980’s movie with the late John Ritter, titled, “Unnatural Causes.” A must see for anyone familiar with the subject. It is a docu-drama based on the true story of a Veterans Benefits Counselor named, Maude DeVictor, who refused to quit.

One thing is for sure, the true cost of war,  in prolonged real time,including the Un-Declared ones is now a matter of increasing transparency.

Must we really trouble ourselves with  wondering why there is no money left over for jobs?  How sophomoric to even worry about the answer.

While we build and prop up nations across the globe, without the substantial financial  support of our Allies, we cannot build or prop up our own.

Tax cuts, schmax cuts! Red State, Blue State.  Second Amendment

rights and Mosque mania, are all distractions from the cost of war. And they are working!

Humpty Dumpty  never did join a political party. He is awaiting his claim to be completed from his fall.

In my view, we are in an Alice and Wonderland, upside down world, America is the disabled veteran and we are the leaders, even with our Agent Orange, Senator Simpson.

The following is for your information and distribution to your members.

John A Miterko

Veterans Advocate

VA abruptly issues second contract for Agent Orange claims system

BY BOB BREWIN 09/08/2010

The Veterans Affairs Department awarded IBM a contract in July to develop within three months a system to process claims for veterans suffering from diseases related to the Vietnam-era chemical Agent Orange. But last week officials inexplicably issued another contract searching for a second contractor to do the job in one-third the time, while the IBM contract remains in place.

VA needs the new system to process up to 240,000 claims for 15 illnesses determined to be the result of military personnel being exposed to Agent Orange, a defoliant sprayed on the jungles during the Vietnam War. VA presumes all personnel who served in Vietnam were exposed to Agent Orange, and the 15 illnesses they might have are a result of coming into contact with the chemical.

According to VA, its policy of presuming the diseases are a result of exposure to the chemical will simplify the process for veterans receiving compensation because the department will forgo the normal process of requiring veterans to prove their illnesses began, or worsened, during their military service in Vietnam. Paying Agent Orange claims will cost the United States $13.4 billion.

Department officials decided this year to process the claims separate from the other systems the Veterans Benefits Administration uses. In March, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki said he wanted to tap private sector skills to fast-track the development of the system. “This will be a new way of doing business and a major step forward in how we process the presumptive claims we expect to receive over the next two years,” he said at the time.

VA initially planned to award the contract in April, but delays pushed that move up to July. IBM eventually won the $9.1 million pact. The procurement calls for delivery of a production-ready prototype by October and full production by December.

VA asked IBM to develop a fully automated system and a machine-readable claims form that veterans can electronically download and, at their option, electronically submit.

Officials want the forms to be shorter than the current document, well-suited to an automated processing method, and they expect IBM to use commercial systems to the fullest extent possible. They also want employees and veterans to be able to access the system via the Web, with a separate data repository linked to existing departmental systems.

But on Sept. 3, officials quietly posted on the Federal Business Opportunities website a second procurement for the same processing system. The document was not accompanied by any public announcement. The new procurement includes roughly the samerequirements as the original contract, but a shortened delivery deadline.

VA wants the selected contractor to demonstrate the capability to electronically process claims within 15 days of the award and to provide a production-ready system 15 days later, a daunting task, according to one contractor who declined to be identified.

The system must be operational next month, and bidders must submit their proposals by Friday, only a week after the solicitation was issued, which are due Friday.

Harold Gracey, a consultant with Topside Consulting who served as chief of staff at VA from 1994 to 1998, said he assumed the department put out the second procurement as a backup plan in case IBM cannot deliver its system on time.

Gracey added VA could find a second contractor to meet its requirements, but bidders also have to recognize the negative publicity that would result if they fail to deliver. A source familiar with VA said he viewed the second source procurement as a poke at IBM to fulfill its requirements on time.

Veterans groups said whatever the reasons behind the second procurement they were worried the department might not be able to meet its deadlines. “VA’s unusual announcement for a second contract, without any details released to the public, raises significant concerns among veterans about VA’s transparency and VA’s ability to process Agent Orange claims in a timely and accurate manner,” said Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense. “We hope VA issues an explanation about this and puts to rest veterans’ concerns.”

VA officials did not reply to numerous requests from Nextgov to comment on the status of the IBM contract and did not respond to a query on why they issued a second procurement. IBM executives also did not reply to calls and e-mails about the status of the company’s contract.

God Bless
Jose M. Garcia
Past National Commander
Catholic War Veterans,USA
josegarcia4@sbcglobal.net
Better to understand a little than to misunderstand a lot.
In God We Trust