Comments on: Are Expectations For VA Mental Health Care Achievable?

By: mike_brewer

mike_brewer — Tue, 24 May 2011 06:16:40 +0000

Roger that. I volunteer at the Merritt Retreat Center Veteran Program. It is free to all veterans and one of the best kept secrets in the nation. I know tons of vets rated 100% disabled who spend all their waking hours helping fellow vets. We are a fortunate nation to have that underground workforce that is accessible to their brothers and sisters of war.

By: mike_brewer

mike_brewer — Tue, 24 May 2011 06:12:44 +0000

Small footnote that never made MSM news. This Administration passed a firm budget for the VA, before the end of the calender year, twice now. It allowed them to plan in advance for returning soldiers. This has never happened in the previous 26 years. But then as they say in journalism, “you cannot tell a story about..there was NO plane wreck today.”

By: Gordon Soderberg

Gordon Soderberg — Mon, 23 May 2011 16:12:32 +0000

As a Corpsman I dealt with a lot of mental health issues from attempted suicides to drug and alcohol related injuries and abuses. After I got out, I started volunteering for disaster relief efforts both here in the United States and abroad. I found many other veterans do the same thing after their active duty service. Every veteran volunteer I’ve talked to said they did it to help people in need as well as help themselves recover from their personal experiences in the military. By helping others rebuild their lives they gain a renewed sense of self worth and the confidence to live productive lives again.

By: Jim S

Jim S — Mon, 23 May 2011 13:46:09 +0000

AMEN on a reality article!!
May I add, it’s been a Decade Plus, of the recent conflicts, that few are Demanding ‘Sacrifice’ in the greater population especially the ones claiming ‘patriotism?’, with their ‘purple heart bandages’, Vietnam ’70-’71 In-Country Navy last of my four, as they didn’t in the decades previous!! Finally we have VA leadership, a few tried before with a certain party obstructing as they recently have, who is trying to upgrade the agency and correct what wasn’t done nor mentioned as we waged these two wars of choice!

By: mike_brewer

mike_brewer — Mon, 23 May 2011 10:35:44 +0000

Thank you Bruce for your insightful comments. I was hoping more OIF/OEF Vets would chime in to talk with us. I too had a head injury in Vietnam, and never did get care that was nuanced to the nature of the injury. My claim took about 3 years from start to finish with those wonderful “gatekeepers” assuming the mantle.

By: petrol

petrol — Mon, 23 May 2011 06:24:20 +0000

Oh…and….Alcohol is usually involved.

By: petrol

petrol — Mon, 23 May 2011 06:21:20 +0000

Y’all forgot all about the Dead Soldiers. Suicide. It isn’t about money, honey.
Focus, boys. Not everything is a talking point.

By: Gayle M. Montgomery

Gayle M. Montgomery — Mon, 23 May 2011 04:45:46 +0000

Are you serious? You may have visited the VA Centers, but did you actually talk to any of the Vets who are having to put up with the egregious violations of lack of care? These men and women are coming back, being held out for about 5 years before they see any real treatment, are required to self-advocate at a time when they are least capable of so doing, and often do not have mental health service even available to them. The service is available at the larger centers, but not in the outlying clinics. The “experts” get 2.5 days of training to be considered a specialist. This isn’t politics. This is incompetence and intransigence. The VA was tasked with trying to mediate the situation; they did nothing of the sort. The process is set up so as to defeat the Vets if they contest the findings of the VA, and they’re not allowed to have an attorney until several years down the road. The protections of the VA were instituted beginning with Lincoln. This isn’t process that is being challenged, it is malpractice! I have dealt with too many Vets who tell the same tale. They come home with what used to be considered shell shock, now known as PTSD. They run into the equivalent of a government worker who doesn’t much care, and they are lost. The system is broken and must be fixed. These men and women who put their lives on the line come home with loss of limb or eyesight and then have to be mentally defeated by a system that was there to assist them in reintegrating into society. It was designed to detox them. Nothing could be further than the truth. Don’t talk to the workers at the VA. Talk to the Vets themselves. Do you think they really wanted to sue for the due process that was guaranteed them. Honestly.

By: mrBruce

mrBruce — Mon, 23 May 2011 02:01:36 +0000

Mr. Brewer, I thought the “speedy” care was meant to solve the enormous wait times we endure to see a practitioner, especially for those in crisis? My interpretation of the lawsuit implies that access to the Doc is the problem, not the length or type of treatment. My personal experiences with the VA include a 24 month claim processing time and frequent roadblocks from VA support staff (gatekeepers) who regularly ignore emails and voicemails in my search for care. A shining example of the unconstitutional behavior of the VA is my 6 week attempt to secure an opthomologist for a rapid and recent reduction in vision from a TBI. Life, limb and eyesight injuries will get a Soldier a rapid Medevac to Germany; but apparently loss of visual acuity means nothing to the VA gatekeepers. I like your war tax for the corporations who profit from these wars, but that is a dream that will never flourish as we all know our so called representatives are on the take for thousands in political contributions from those same private companies. We the people no longer own our government. Perhaps that in itself is the true cause of our nations PTSD epidemic? I know my moral compass was destroyed knowing that so much death and suffering was delivered by me, and to me, for lies told by these same representatives. In the end I greatly appreciate the work of Vets for Common Sense, and believe that the embarrassment of our government for their failings, is truly one way to force positive change. It’s that, or violence, and I can speak for many of us in saying I have had a lifetimes share of that in two tours, and wish to experience no more. Thanks for the article, and keep up the good work of speaking for those of us who cannot speak or write as well as you. We recent Veterans can never repay the earlier generations of Veterans who regularly and selflessly fight for the OIF/OEF Veterans now. From me; Thank You!!

By: mike_brewer

mike_brewer — Mon, 23 May 2011 00:24:00 +0000

There is not an ounce of truth in this narrative that has been flying around the Internet for 10 years. You only need be concerned about your concealed license if you have felonies coupled with documented threats. As a retired private investigator, I checked this out when the rumors first started being promulgated.