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i heard a radio report on NPR that really shocked and saddened me. The topic was how injured soldiers are treated when they get back home. It seems that the Veterans Administration has been working very hard to delay and deny soldiers from getting their benefits [in particular for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder] when they come back from Iraq.

It seems even getting a purple heart is not enough to verify that the soldiers were injured in Iraq. The soldiers have to have all of their certifications to present even if they’ve been certified as injured and treated in Iraq. Additionally, they need to have written statements from fellow soldiers corroborating their injuries. Unfortunately, these statements are impossible to get in the worst cases where the witnesses have been killed in fire.

From the report, I leared that the US Veterans Administration has been focusing on their statistics of cases closed [including denied claims] to report back to Congress. Unfortunately, the cases of suicides count as cases closed to the VA! Also, the average amount of time for a veteran to be approved for their benefits when they get back home after all of the delays that the VA puts in front is around 3 years!

We talk about supporting our troops but the support should focus on when the soldiers get back as well as when we send them off. It is heartbreaking to think that these men and women who risk their lives for what they believe in are not being treated with dignity.

Here’s another report on a related topic. The grim reality of the Iraq war is that suicides are at an all time high in the military. This is all inter related in my view.

Fort Drum Highlights Suicide Prevention
Something must change.

Technorati Tags: CONGRESS, Iraq, npr, politics, traumatic stress disorder;, US Veterans Administration;, veterans, Veterans Administration;