By Thomas Cooke
Chairman of The Board
United Spinal Association

With over 100,000 American troops fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq many of us rarely have these wars far from our minds. We must always be mindful of the terrible real-life experiences our fighting men and women are enduring in these conflicts.

While we work to ensure the specific services and assistance they’ll need as a result of their service we must also never forget the tremendous burdens borne by those who have served our country in the past. This past week, we had an opportunity to honor those outstanding men and women.

Friday, September 19 was National POW/MIA Recognition Day. Established in April of 2001, POW/MIA Recognition Day is a time where we can sit down and remember the bravery and suffering of POWs tormented at the hands of their captors, and the horrifying uncertainty of the families whose servicemen remain Missing in Action.

As this special day grows in recognition I’m pleased to see municipalities taking the time and effort to treat it with the respect it deserves. I was grateful to be invited to the commemoration put on by the Bergen County government in New Jersey this past Friday.

When I arrive at an event of special significance to our veterans I’m immediately struck by the gentlemen in the special World War II-style VFW hats. The Veterans of Foreign Wars make sure their brothers and sisters in arms are never forgotten and their presence — so recognizable by their cover — adds honor and solemnity to these occasions.

On Friday I was struck by a different hat. In the same style, but bright red, was a cap signifying status as a former POW, worn by Former US Army Air Corps Staff Sgt. Karnig Thomasian. The keynote speaker at the commemoration, Sgt. Thomasian was part of a bomber crew that was brought down over Burma in December of 1944. While in captivity Sgt. Thomasian and his comrades were regularly beaten, housed in tiny quarters, denied medical care, malnourished and generally treated with a disregard for their basic human rights. Sgt. Thomasian was in captivity for 6 months until the Japanese began a withdrawal from Burma.

Under such circumstances it would be understandable if Sgt. Thomasian was a bitter man, but he is quite the opposite. Speaking about personal responsibility, his gratitude at returning home safely and the deep reverence he holds for the men and women who never made that trip home, Sgt. Thomasian considers himself one of the lucky ones and has tried to build a life helping others and worthy of the sacrifices made by his fallen comrades.

For someone of my generation (I’m 38), just meeting Karnig Thomasian is a moving experience. I’ve seen the documentaries, the TV programs, the movies depicting war, captivity, and suffering. But here I was meeting history in-person, in the flesh, in a ceremony commemorating the horrible truths that individuals like Karnig actually experienced. It’s something quite a bit different than a documentary.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Karnig for quite some time after the ceremony. He remains very concerned with the issues that face our country overseas. He follows politics with an open mind and urges others to get involved as well. I was quite taken aback when he complimented me on the productivity I realize in my own life despite my quadriplegia. Here was a genuine hero, a World War II POW, blessing my efforts and encouraging me to continue. I didn’t know what to say.

Faced with his reminders about the young men and women who are no longer with us, I felt my own disability recede in importance. And that is what Karnig and his fellow former POWs remind us — things may get bad, things may get tough, but men and women have endured through trials every bit as difficult as anything we have encountered. We look to them for inspiration and take time to remember them, on at least one day of the year, POW/MIA Recognition Day, to reflect upon their losses with grateful humility.

The Federal Circuit’s decision reversed the CAVC’s 2006 decision in Haas v. Nicholson, in which the court struck down as unduly restrictive a VA regulation that required a veteran’s actual presence within Vietnam to be eligible for disability compensation under the Agent Orange Act of 1991. By a 2-1 majority, the Federal Circuit ruled that the VA had the authority to sever existing Agent Orange-related disability payments and deny new claims from “blue water” veterans.

Agent Orange, a now outlawed chemical defoliant that contained the highly toxic substance dioxin, was sprayed by U.S. forces across Vietnam to clear jungle vegetation that could provide cover to the enemy.The VA appealed Haas to the Federal Circuit because including blue water veterans in the group of veterans who are eligible for disability payments based on diseases that have been recognized as related to Agent Orange exposure would cost the government an additional $3.3 billion over 10 years.

The controversy is based on a provision of the VA’s claims processing manual that requires VA claims adjudicators to award service connection on a presumptive basis for certain diseases if blue water veterans had received the Vietnam Service Medal. That medal was awarded to all military personnel who served in Vietnam, its contiguous waters or the airspace above it, from July 1965 through March 1973.

On appeal, the Federal Circuit disagreed with the CAVC’s finding that the VA’s requirement that a veteran must actually set foot in Vietnam for presumptive service connection for an Agent Orange-related disease was too restrictive, in part because ships sailing offshore could have been exposed to dioxin from windborne coastal spraying and from dioxin run-off into the ocean from inland waterways.

The Federal Circuit majority opinion stated that Congress’ use of the phrase “served in the Republic of Vietnam” in the Agent Orange Act was not specifically defined and that such ambiguity left it up to the VA to define that requirement for presumptive service connection as it deems appropriate.

The dissenting judge disagreed, stating that the majority did not consider that by allowing presumptive service connection for Agent Orange-related diseases, Congress intended to make it easier, rather than more difficult, for exposed veterans to receive VA disability benefits. Consequently, the judge believed that the phrase should be liberally interpreted.The National Veterans Legal Services Program (NVLSP), whose attorneys represent Mr. Haas, plans to ask the Federal Circuit for en banc reconsideration before all of the court’s seven judges.

The handbook is revised every year to reflect the most current VA benefits and health care programs and services, as well as the rates for certain benefits payments. The 2008 version of the handbook also contains a state-by-state listing of VA medical facilities, including locations and contact information, an overview of programs and services for veterans provided by other federal agencies and a list of related Internet websites.

Some of the programs discussed in the handbook include disability compensation for veterans with service-connected disabilities, VA health-care, burial benefits, home loan guaranties, special housing and automotive adaptations, educational assistance, training and vocational rehabilitation, income assistance pensions, life insurance and survivors’ benefits.

The handbook can be downloaded free from VA’s website at http://www.va.gov/OPA/vadocs/current_benefits.asp. Printed copies of the handbook may be ordered from the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO). The GPO accepts credit card orders by calling 866-512-1800 (toll-free) for a cost of $5.00 per copy to U.S. addresses, or $67.00 for bulk orders of 25 copies. The handbook may also be ordered by mail from the GPO at Superintendent of Documents, P.O. Box 979050, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000 (stock number 051-000-00233-4), or on line at www.bookstore.gpo.gov.

When a disabled veteran gets well enough to rejoin the workforce, it’s a slap in the face to run into employment discrimination. The honorable men and women who have become disabled in the service of our country deserve our support in every way.

Often the best healing agent is to return to the workforce with a decent job at a living wage.

That’s why United Spinal Association, with help from Vietnam Veterans of America, took the lead in pointing out to veterans and military groups how important it is to support the ADA Restoration Act – to restore the employment protections of the Americans with Disabilties Act. The result – 22 veterans and military organizations have signed letters to Congress supporting a bill that protects people with disabilities from discrimination on the job. VetsFirst United Spinal Association
Disabled American Vets
Jewish War Veterans
Veterans of Modern Warfare
Veterans of Foreign Wars
Blinded Veterans of America
Federation of Govt. Employees
National Assoc for Uniformed Services
Reserve Enlisted Association
Naval Reserve Association
Non-Commissioned Officers Association Vietnam Veterans of America
Paralyzed Veterans of America
AMVETS
Military Order of the Purple Heart
Military Officers Association of America
National Association for Black Veterans Amer.
Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America
American GI Forum of the U.S.
Air Force Sergeants Association
Enlisted Association of the National Take Action Now! A vote in the House is expected in April. Then it will go to the Senate. Tell your Senators and Representative to support the ADA Restoration Act.
Click here to take action now. What is the problem with employment of veterans and others with disabilities? The problem is that many employers have not hired, not promoted or fired a person because of a disability – whether or not the person is a veteran. Then the employer gets away with it by successfully arguing in court that the person does not have a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act.This means that the courts have set up a bizarre Catch-22 whereby an employer can say that a person is “too disabled” to do the job, but “not disabled enough” to be protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act. This is not what Congress intended when it passed the ADA in 1990. Congress expected to prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability.This is also not fair to veterans and others with disabilities who are able to work.The ADA Restoration Act will fix this problem for veterans and others with disabilities.   ]]> http://www.vetsfirst.org/ada-disabled-veterans/feed/ 1 http://www.vetsfirst.org/veterans-sue-government-over-mental-health-services/ http://www.vetsfirst.org/veterans-sue-government-over-mental-health-services/#comments Tue, 14 Aug 2007 03:51:56 +0000 admin http://www.unitedspinal.org/publications/vetsfirst/veterans-sue-government-over-mental-health-services/ By Aaron Glantz

“(IPS/GIN) – Two veterans groups sued the Department of Veterans Affairs Monday for alleged “shameful failures” to help veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.

The lawsuit, which was filed by Veterans for Common Sense and Veterans United for Truth, seeks to be a nationwide class-action suit on behalf of an estimated 320,000 to 800,000 post-9/11 vets with post-traumatic stress disorder, which is commonly known as PTSD. The groups sued the department in federal court in San Francisco.

The VA’s motto, which was taken from Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, is “to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan.”

Melissa Kasnitz, an attorney with Disability Rights Advocates, said that “instead of living up to this motto, the VA is abandoning disabled veterans and following a path that will lead to broken lives, homelessness and staggering social costs.” Kasnitz’s group is one of the organizations that prepared the lawsuit.”

Read the entire article at http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/article_3808.shtml 

In the final hours of last year’s session, the 109th Congress passed its major benefits bill for the year, which became Public Law 109-461. Despite strong objections by the DAV and other veterans organizations, Senator Larry Craig used his position as then Chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee to insert provisions in this bill to remove the bar against attorneys charging veterans a fee for claims representation. Legislators were reluctant to vote against this bill because it otherwise contained provisions beneficial to veterans. The DAV is now working to have these provisions on attorneys fees repealed, and there is support in Congress for repeal of this ill-advised legislation.
Read the entire Disabled American Veterans position.