SAVING SERGEANT TURNER,Why today’s veterans shouldn’t expect any better than yesterday’s

PortlandPhoenix ^ | Sunday, September 14, 2003 | BY JESS KILBY

[Bringbackthedraft]

The service at the VA hospitals is in a deplorable state. There is a lack of doctors and other care givers. Funding never seems to be enough. But on the bright side Hillary "will promise" to change that if elected, you can count on it! Will she deliver? Ha!

[fight_truth_decay]

A search on Vanessa Turner will take you to: Republicans Declare War on America's Veterans !...What the Republicans are really trying to do is to STEAL from America's Disabled Veterans to pay for the massive Republican Giveaway Programs for the rich...It is time for ALL Veterans, and people of conscience, to UNITE against this great EVIL that is controlling our country.http://vetsforjustice.com/

[Khurkris]

...yeah...right...those nasty Repblicans...yeah...puh leeeeez....

[Conservababe]

All vets from WWII were told that they would be taken care of, in health care, because they served their country in time of war.

But, they did not take into account LBJ and his reforms and the introduction of Medicare.

Tis time for all vets to blame the source of problems.

[Bogey78O]

The VA is what Democrats want to do for all Americans. It didn't use to be this way with the VA. It came about the same time politicians started selling fiscal common sense for votes.

[steplock]

READ THIS CLOSELY:

Turner, a young black Army sergeant from Boston, was medically retired from the military when doctors at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center thought she was on her deathbed after collapsing in 130-degree heat in Iraq. When she miraculously recovered and found herself unemployed, homeless, and without any kind of health insurance, she reported to the VA hospital in Boston to seek further care for her unresolved illness and related injuries. The VA informed her that she could be seen on October 12.

Talk about a pack of lies trying to slam the US some more.

Medically Retired? then she receives her retirement pay! IF she is disabled, she receives additional $$$ above the standard retired pay. If she is NOT disabled ... Unemployed my ass!

Homeless? it is probably just another blatant lie - unless it was by her choice. Did her boyfriend kick her out? her hubby????? her family??????

No medical insurance? IF medically retired see above.

I have service connected disabilities, we have a brand new clinic with very good doctors, if hospitalization is required, first choice is the one of the TWO VA hospitals in LittleRock. If specialization is required, the local hospital is available thru medicare?

If you need medications and you are receiving disability from the military, it is covered 100% if you are 100% disabled or a small co-pay if you are not 100%.

Notice the city she is from....Home of the kennedy crime family and the kerry slime pit.

Why doesn't someone knock on their door first before you knock on America? It was THEIR fault. And I will give you 100-1 odds that this pack of lies has been started by the dnc/kennedy/kerry crime clan

I am 100% disabled - I DO visit the local VA clinic - I do NOT have supplemental medicare insurance and cannot receive it anyway (I lie, I can buy supplemental at around $2000/mo - my insurance agent said bank the money instead) I receive my medications from the VA I pay a $20 co-pay (My 100% is not totally caused by military - in their opinion - that's why the co-pay)

[Ace's Dad]

To mitigate this backlog, Secretary Principi was forced to make a politically unpopular move in January, and suspend new enrollments by veterans above a certain income level with health issues lacking a direct service connection.

I think this is called "means testing," and seems a fair way to handle Non Service Connected issues (disease or injury) I've been through this process in the past, and it seems fair to me. When I was sick and unemployed, the VA took care of me (Ann Arbor, MI) When I could afford my own health plan, I didn't expect the VA to take care of me anymore. Just my two-cents worth. Regards, Avery

DTOM

[joesnuffy]

Right on
If she is "Medically Retired" she is not only getting a military disability check but more than likely Social Security disability as well....
She also has a CHAMPUS card FWIW
She is also eligable for DVR through the VA (Vocational Rehabilitation) books tuition etc
She could also possibly be eligible for a VA pension on top of this
Plus she can collect unemployment Ins
She also will get Veterans Preference in hiring for Govt jobs Post Office many state and federal as well...

[vpintheak]

I am in the VA system and have been told now that because it has been so long since I have seen a doctor(pain was being controlled by medication) that I will have to wait "month and months," direct quote from VA rep until I can get more medication until I see a VA doc. In the mean time they will not even cover an emergency room visit, because it is a "chronic condition." They broke me, they won't fix me. Iraq is the excuse they are using. Vets should be the first in line for any problems, the welfare recipients last. What is happening is a disgrace, and I blame government, but mostly the lying dimrats.

[FreedomCalls]

IF she is disabled, she receives additional $$$ above the standard retired pay.

Have you heard of "concurrent receipt"? A retired service member has to forfeit dollar-for-dollar his/her retirement pay for every dollar received in disability pay. Since the disability pay is usually higher than the retirement pay for an enlisted person, this means that a retired service member must lose all retirement pay to get disability pay.

[Lucy Lake]

Seems to me veterans and the military
spend lots of time begging and groveling.
Wonder why congress doesn't just
find solutions and fix the
problems once and for all.

[Knightsofswing]

I too was medically discharged from the Marine Corps. It took several months just to get amy money started, and it was woefully not enough. Result we lost our home, I could not hold down a job as a result of my accident, and a lot more. I nearly lost my wife,children, and maybe my life. We went homeless off and on for nearly 5 years. This last strech lasted about 18 months, and to top it off I have a son with Down Syndrome to boot.
My congressman were of little to no help what ever. It took a heck of a lot of time & paperwork to get going. My disablities are service connected, but the goverment broke its promis to all of the vets.
They signed a promis in ink & the vets signed in blood, sweat & tears! What a bargin.
My injuries are as follows, rod [left calf] 6 screws,3 pins,avalsion left little finger,skin graft left palm,massive conssion left rear of skull [this resulted in a personality change, loss of a lot of other parts of me that I can not speak of....] I spent 18 months learning how to walk a stright line [which I still can not do very well] and have to use a cane most of the time. And I am only 41. I can not run with my kids, or do a lot of the things that I want to do, so I have to do without.

Sorry if I am complaining, but it is how I feel and deal with all that has happened to me & my family. There are times I feel like, we have been raped and plundered. And it was done to us by our own goverment.

[Susannah]

Veterans' care is lumped in with the same piece of funding as military, war, foreign aid, etc ( all Defense budget items).

Veterans' care should be moved into the "social spending" category so they can compete with Medicaid and other social programs. Veterans should not have to compete with funding for wars and foreign aid.

[judicial meanz]

Medically retired consists of only 30 percent disability from the military service she was in. It doesnt provide insurance, and probably they only paid severance pay to cover her retirement amount, meaning no pension.

Then she runs into a concurrent reciept issue from the VA when she gets the 30 percent retirement pay.

[Rodney King]

When she miraculously recovered and found herself unemployed, homeless, and without any kind of health insurance

One, people don't just find themselves unemployed and homeless. But leaving that aside, what do you expect from government hospitals? The whole VA hospital system should be abolished and vets should be bought private health insurance policies so that they can go to any hospital to get the care that they deserve.

[MistyCA]

Priority to Gulf War Vets? For God's sake, what about the Vietnam Vets, the WW2 Vets, the Vets who supported our country for years but never went into a war zone? Our Federal Government has made a mockery of our Constitution which says it's priority is to defend and protect.

My brother died just last week because the VA failed to act on his behalf. I am still reeling from my family's loss and it's very hard to explain to his two little kids why they were standing next to a coffin accepting a flag rather than bringing a living dad back home. When it comes to Veterans, it shouldn't matter how old they are, what war the fought in, or even whether or not they saw actual combat or supported the efforts from home........they deserve better! I saw last night where a prisoner was bumped to the top of the transplant list because he was given special medical protection by the State of California, but my brother, a disabled Vietnam Vet whose heart was damaged in Vietnam was told they couldn't do anything until it was too damned late to do anything!!!!

Vanessa should have definitely received the care she deserved, but so should ever single other vet out there! Instead we are catering to illegals and people who have forfeited their positions in society by their own actions.

Teddy Kennedy helped her? That was big of him. Isn't it pathetic that she should have to go ask for Congress to get her into treatment? Just like my brother, lying on his death bed functioning at only 10% heart capacity (which is considered incompatible with life) wrote his own letter to Lois Capps to finally be given a bed at the VA hospital in California! That should NEVER happen! What about all those who simply don't have the will of steal to face the redtape and continue battles? The battles they see on the homefront trying to get their benefits causes far more destruction then the battles fighting a war. At least in war you can recognize your enemy.

Sorry for the rant. I am so hurt and angered by this. Every single Vet deserves to be considered a priority! This sucks!

[fight_truth_decay]

Page 2 of this story had an error; but also I wanted the editor to read your comments. This is the e-mail I received.

thank you - I'll fix the link If someone would like to write a letter to the editor for publication, I could include that in this week's paper.

Sam Pfeifle
Managing Editor
Portland Phoenix

If anyone has a letter they would like to contribute on this story for publication, this is the address: portland-feedback@phx.com

[USNBandit]

The military often medically retires terminal patients. They try to make this happen within 72 hours of when they think the person is going to expire. I am not sure why, but it has something to do with benefits. I've seen it happen to a couple of my friends who were dying of non combat related illnesses.

The question here is how this Sgt was dumped out of the miltary so quickly, when she was still ill. You would think she would qualify for a medical hold to avoid just this kind of disconnect. Many of these stories boil down to uninformed personnel not knowing their rights and chains of command not looking after their people.

A similar story popped up this summer about a guy activated with his Guard unit whose family was left without medical insurance. That story blamed the Guard when it is still the servicemembers responsibility to take the ten minutes to fill out an insurance enrollment form. During the mobilization prep units are supposed to take care of all that stuff.

[MistyCA]

I am so sorry. I know how difficult it must be for you and your family. The loss is something that goes way behind anything most of us humans can even comprehend or calculate. Again, I am so sorry. Thank you for your service.

My brother also lost his benefits in error after his first open heart surgery. The story was, "sorry....we can't find your records!" As he was trying to recover on his own, the VA was not giving him any of the monetary support he needed to survive. After open heart surgery he was doing odd jobs for a neighbor just to get something to eat! And it's just not right! The medical community at the VA treated him well at the time and did a lot for him, but the VA redtape kept screwing up. He was supposed to have a transplant before he died recently, but it was withheld for two years because someone had written in a report, "Denied." He was denied supposedly because he had to get an infection under control before it was safe. Once that happened, no one would take the time to look behind the words "denied" to learn that he would be eligible as soon as the infection cleared. I am livid! My brother is dead. All of the resources of the US Government should go into correcting this problem because our military units are the very backbone of our society. We are here because they were willing to put their lives on the line.

I still say, let no Congressman EVER earn more than a man in uniform fighting on the line to protect and defend our country. NO Congress person is worth as much as those young men and women who do battle. And NO Congress person should be given medical benefits and retirement plans that surpass those in the military. Then maybe they will get a clue.