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Link Only..................... http://www.militarytimes.com/story/veterans/2015/07/15/ig-report-la-shred-bins-disability-claims-va-veterans-affairs-los-angeles/30197103/

Johnnie H. Hodges, who lived in his Buffalo, N.Y., home for some 60 years, refused to leave after he fell behind on his mortgage payments while caring for his sick wife, so authorities carried him out on a stretcher.The story of Johnnie H. Hodges, a 90-year-old Navy veteran of World War II, and the home that he lived in for some 60 years is chock-full of sadness and missed chances. Hodges lived in his Buffalo, N.Y., home with his wife for decades. About four years ago, Hodges spent most of his income caring for his wife, who had Alzheimer’s disease....

According to a leaked internal document from the Department of Veterans Affairs, nearly one-third of veterans awaiting healthcare coverage at the VA have already died. The April 2015 report, leaked to the Huffington Post by VA whistleblower Scott Davis, indicates that 238,657 of the 847,882 veterans waiting to be enrolled in VA healthcare are already dead, suggesting that over 28 percent of veterans applying for health coverage perished while waiting for it. VA spokeswoman Walinda West played down the number, insisting that some of those listed as having “pending” status may well have not completed their applications for healthcare coverage...

An internal Veterans Affairs Department report states that about one-third of the veterans waiting to receive medical care from the agency have already died. ... as of April, 847,822 veterans were awaiting healthcare and that of those, 238,647 were already deceased. The report was handed over by Scott Davis, a program specialist at the VA's Health Eligibility Center in Atlanta He also sent copies to the House and Senate VA panels and to the White House. ... VA wants you to believe, by virtue of people being able to get health care elsewhere, it's not a big deal. But VA...

A World War II fighter pilot received an extra special present when vintage aircraft flew over Boeing Field, about five miles south of downtown Seattle, honoring Dorothy Olsen's 99th birthday, NBC Station KING reports. She was one of about 1,000 female pilots during the war and flew 22 different types of fighter planes from factories to U.S. Army Air Force bases from 1943 to 1945. After Olsen delivered the plane, male pilots would fly them overseas to combat destinations. Dorothy Olsen, left, watches the sky as vintage aircraft fly over Boeing Field, honoring her 99th birthday. "I've been lucky," Olsen...

Many families look forward to Fourth of July celebrations that typically include delicious food and fireworks. While there's nothing wrong with observing the day, it's important to keep those who served in mind, as they might struggle with post-traumatic stress. The nonprofit Military with PTSD is hoping to raise awareness about the effects fireworks can have on men and women who served in the military. Unfortunately noisemakers and firework displays used to commemorate our nation's independence can oftentimes be the very things that cause emotional distress on combat veterans.

Recently the Free Beacon sat down with several World War II veterans to ask them about Memorial Day. After explaining the importance of the holiday, the veterans were kind enough to share their stories. Each veteran told the Free Beacon about their own unique experience in the military.

Veterans Affairs employees in Aurora, Colorado, who played a role in the agency’s expanding scandal, have found a way to escape punishment – they’re retiring. In May, the building of the Aurora Veterans Affairs department was $1 billion over budget and more than a year behind schedule, ABC News reported. Taxpayers were forced to shell out hundreds of millions of dollars to bring it back on track. Contributing factors to the project's slow progress included "changes to veterans' health care needs, site-acquisition issues, and a decision in Denver to change plans from a medical center shared with a local medical university to a...

The Department of Veteran's Affairs apparently doesn't have time for the nation's veterans and recently turned at least one young man away after he sought treatment for PTSD. The excuse? The VA just isn't "taking new patients right now." ... Iraq war veteran Chris Dorsey figured that no one would believe he had been turned away from a U.S. Department of Veteran's Affairs clinic when he sought an appointment for post-traumatic stress disorder. So when he went on Tuesday to another facility, the VA Oakwood, Georgia, Community Based Outpatient Clinic, he flipped on his smartphone camera. ... Unforunately, Dorsey's case...

No one at the VA has gotten the ax for falsifying records that showed veterans waiting months for medical care. And no one will probably be fired for continued incompetence at the VA. Washington Times: The number of veterans seeking health  care but ending up on waiting lists of one month or more is 50 percent higher now than it was a year ago when scandal over false records and long wait times wracked the Department of Veterans Affairs, The New York Times reported. The VA also faces a budget  shortfall of nearly $3 billion, the Times reported in a story posted...

happy father's day for those whom served. But have passed away. did not see any thread honoring those whose Fathers who have served but have passed away.

One year after outrage over health care allegedly shook the Department of Veterans Affairs, the agency is but again facing crisis. The number of veterans on waiting lists of one month or more is now 50 percent higher than it was during the height of last year’s institutionalized: "delay is cheaper than dirt" directive and "dead vets cost less" budget cover-ups came to light. Mr. Gibson, deputy secretary indicated possible savings options — by rationing new treatments to older veterans and excluding patients who have advanced terminal diseases or a “persistent vegetative state or dementia”. The agency (also) needs to...

The payments couldn’t help but catch the attention of the top procurement official at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Employees in the purchasing department of a VA hospital in the Bronx had used government purchase cards like credit cards at least 2,000 times to buy prosthetic legs and arms for veterans. Each time they swiped the cards, it was for $24,999. That was precisely one dollar below VA’s charging limit for purchase cards. When word reached Congress about the $54,435,743 worth of prosthetics bought under such odd circumstances over two years — the subject of an inspector general investigation announced...

A legal team investigating the Obama administration’s order that certain American military veterans deemed “incompetent” give up their weapons says the problem is worse than expected. People who live with veterans now are being ordered not to possess a gun, and some veterans are told they can “buy back” their Second Amendment rights by giving up their veterans’ benefits. “This is simply unbelievable, On the one hand the [Veterans Administration] and the FBI have found veterans to be mentally ill and too dangerous to be allowed to own firearms, while on the other hand allowing these allegedly dangerous people to...

Elderly French veterans of Algerian war attacked during annual picnic: “We’re going to Charlie Hebdo you, you filthy French shit!”For me, dear readers, this is a personal matter. My French relatives lost everything in Algeria. I grew up during that war, and I learned a few things about Islam back then. (SY)The incident took place on Sunday afternoon close to the district of Grandes Terres in Saint-Fons close to Lyon. As it does every year, the FNACA (Federation of ex-servicemen in Algeria) of Saint-Fons organised a picnic. But this time, nothing happened as expected. .When the tables had just been set up...

I am having an argument with a Lib, his stance is that the Repubs have filibustered all veterans bills in the senate, when I look at the congressional record, it seems the bill never got out of committee. However, there are a mountain of websites claiming the repubs are filibustering vets, for example: Some of the bills that they filibustered - bills that would have helped American people in this difficult economy: H.R. 12 - Paycheck Fairness Act H.R. 448 -- Elder Abuse Victims Act H.R. 466 - Wounded Veteran Job Security Act H.R. 515 - Radioactive Import Deterrence Act...

The numbers tell the story as bidding and buying come to a close for the second annual The Four-Star Salute™, an online charity auction, in-store promotion and online sweepstakes sponsored by Cracker Barrel Old Country Store® to support military families. A total of 935 bids were received on 87 auction items during the 15-day online auction. $60,000 was raised to be donated to the USO, a nonprofit dedicated to lifting the spirits of America’s troops and their families.

Seth Moulton had earned two medals in Iraq for his valor. He’d witnessed brutal combat in four tours with the Marines. But none of that mattered when he showed up at the Veterans Health Administration hospital in Washington, D.C., where staff could not find records. “We’ll consider taking you as a humanitarian case,” a hospital staffer told Moulton, unaware that the would-be hernia patient was also a newly elected Massachusetts congressman. Thus began Moulton’s frustrating experience with the Veterans Affairs health system, a personal sampling of a chronically troubled medical bureaucracy that has drawn complaints from veterans, demands for improvements...

* Iowa Senator Joni Ernst and co. are taking off from a Harley-Davidson dealership this morning in Des Moines for a 39 mile ride to Boone * Ride honoring the nation's veterans attracted only one candidate for the White House: Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker * Perry will also ride with a group of veterans to Ernst's first annual 'Roast and Ride' but he's starting in Perry, Iowa * Will keep the spotlight on Perry, who is making the journey with Taya Kyle, wife of 'American Sniper,' and Marcus Luttrell, the 'Lone Survivor' * A half a dozen current and presumed...

<p>For years, Ryan Broderick has been trapped inside his mind, watching a constant reel of explosions that rocked the Army vehicles he had scrubbed of blood during three combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.</p> <p>Since January, Broderick has been stuck inside a real jail, fortified by cinder blocks, surrounded by barbed wire. The government that Broderick upended his life to serve locked him up in Edgecombe County, about 75 miles east of Raleigh.</p>