Veterans Affairs (V.A.) has been under the microscope lately.
From breaking the law on spending, to ignoring veterans in need, the V.A.
has become something of an eyesore. But apparently there is more issues
which I will list here thanks to a sit down between combat veterans which was
featured on The Blaze TV network. Let us begin.
Some issue in the V.A.: For one, a veteran who murdered another
veteran named Chris Kyle (the guy American Sniper is based on) is still
receiving full V.A. benefits. Yes, that is right. A murderer in
jail is receiving V.A. benefits. It should not matter if the now
convicted murderer is a veteran or not. The fact is that murderers should
be denied any and all benefits while they are in jail despite their prior
service.
Aside from the aforementioned outrage (in
my opinion), there are other substantive issues. Marcus Luttrell (the
Navy Seal who wrote the book "Lone Survivor" which became a movie)
amongst others had to wait four or more hours to make an appointment, to make
another appointment to see a doctor. Now, does that make any sense?
Keep in mind that Luttrell is well connected due to his fame from his
book and was able to get special treatment at a certain point, but he in the
sit down on the Blaze was visibly flustered in my view that his fellow vets
were being treated in such a manner. The other veterans in the sit down
were also annoyed at such treatment of their brothers and sisters in arms and
cited other issues with respect to benefits. These issues included the
fact that soldiers who never saw actual combat getting more benefits than those
who actually fought in battle. Another issue was the fact that soldiers
with sleep apnea were receiving more benefits than amputees. I am sure
this is positively pathetic, but to add insult to injury they x-ray soldiers
with missing limbs to prove that they are amputees despite having gone to the
V.A. on multiple occasions to get replacement legs (this according to the sole
veteran with an amputated leg within this group of vets). But, this
inefficiency is apparently purposeful as each State under the Federal
government and private groups that partner with them get more funding from this
bureaucratic mess, thus making money off the veterans suffering. This is
just wrong.
Conclusion: Things need to change dramatically
in the V.A. It is no longer about helping veterans in my opinion, but
instead to make a buck off vets coming home from war and their suffering.
I believe a change is necessary, and that change may need to be drastic.
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