Fort Hood.

[Musket Man]

I been using the VFW and sometimes I wonder how much they are actually helping. Alot of the trouble is every time you appeal a decision it takes another 2+ years to get another decision thats wrong. It never ends. If it dont get done right this time Im going to get DAV or someone to go after them.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

Without the DAV Lawyers (who didn't charge me anything) going to Federal Court and winning, I probably would still be fighting the VA.

 

[Musket Man]

Did DAV get a % of the settlement? I know some of them do. Not that I would really mind at this point. I was already in it with the VFW when I found out about DAV of I might have looked into them more. Alot of the trouble is you have no idea how to go about these things when you start out or who will actually try to help you. If I knew what I know now when I started this I think would probably would have gone alot differently.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

Did DAV get a % of the settlement? I know some of them do. Not that I would really mind at this point. I was already in it with the VFW when I found out about DAV of I might have looked into them more. Alot of the trouble is you have no idea how to go about these things when you start out or who will actually try to help you. If I knew what I know now when I started this I think would probably would have gone alot differently.

I pretty much had the DAV as my advisor/advocate for about 25 years. They kept telling me that my rating of 10% was way under what it should be. I had a VA Dr. tell me the same thing. Once we went to court and got the remand, after the new physical, the VA offered a settlement at 40%. The DAV rep told me that this was a fair appraisal and that about all I could expect. So I accepted it. I am sure I could not have done this on my own. Pretty sad that they make it so difficult to understand the system, no wonder a lot of deserving vets give up. That's the way the VA wants it....IMHO.

 

[Musket Man]

I think thats what the VA wants too and they hope we will just give up eventually. I think 1/2 of their backlog problem is from them not handling cases right the first time too. The whole process is a night mare.

 

[Musket Man]

"Lopez' mother, Carmen, an emergency room nurse in their hometown, died of a heart attack in November. A month earlier, Lopez' grandfather had died in Guayanilla."

"Lopez attended the funeral but was disappointed that it took about five days for his 24-hour leave to be approved by the military."

"Before Wednesday's shooting, Lopez stopped at the post's personnel office to pick up a leave form, according to the sister of one of the soldiers injured in the attack. The soldier was told he would have to come back later, Otis said.
"And apparently I guess he didn't want to hear that, so he came back and just opened fire, " Otis said."

Certainly no excuse for what he did but this kinda stuff is pretty standard for the army and their is no reason for it.

 

[Againstthewind]

I am really sorry to hear about the problems that seem to be common with the VA and the military system. That is a very sad situation in Ft. Hood, too. I have heard that PTSD, brain injuries, and other mental disorders are pretty common and not dealt with very well in general by civilian or VA medical personnel. I am sure there are good ones, but private sector medical care isn't always up to par either. I wish I had a solution to offer or something. Self medicating seems to be a pervasive problem with psychiatric disorders and problems, too. That can be a bad deal. Then it might take just a little shove to go over the edge. Doctors are very smart people, but their training is in medicine, not administration. There is a suicide prevention push in my state lately, and one area of emphasis is just getting it out there and talking about the problem hoping that people or people close to the problem will come get get help instead of trying to deal with on their own. I don't know if that would help or not in this type of situation.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

When I was in (50 years ago!) no such thing as being diagnosed with PTSD. I think most returning combat vets from VN who had problems spent their time trying to drown away everything with booze.

 

[Musket Man]

I have known some VN vets that did exactly that for most or all of their life after they came back. PTSD hasnt really been recognized until recent years.

 

[shootbrownelk]

I have known some VN vets that did exactly that for most or all of their life after they came back. PTSD hasnt really been recognized until recent years.

I guess in WW2 they called it being "Shell-Shocked". Whatever the hell that was supposed to mean. These days the shrinks have a name for anything that ails you mentally.

 

[shootbrownelk]

I dont know what he actually did but transportation guys were targeted quite a bit over there. One of the most dangerous jobs really.

You're not defending a murderer are you MM? So he had a dangerous job, he killed 3 people and injured a lot more. There's no excuse on earth for what he did. I do agree that the VA takes some blame for this.

 

[Musket Man]

You're not defending a murderer are you MM? So he had a dangerous job, he killed 3 people and injured a lot more. There's no excuse on earth for what he did. I do agree that the VA takes some blame for this.

I have not defended this guy in any way and never will. There is no excuse for what he did. That was in response to your post that sounded like you didnt think truck drivers could be in any danger or have PTSD, which is not true.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

You're not defending a murderer are you MM? So he had a dangerous job, he killed 3 people and injured a lot more. There's no excuse on earth for what he did. I do agree that the VA takes some blame for this.

I don't believe the VA has any or should take any blame for this. The guy was on active duty and had no connection or dealing with the VA. The VA's role is to assist and help Veterans, not active duty personnel. If ANYONE dropped the ball, it was the active duty people on post at Ft. Hood, and I'm not sure any of them did.

 

[shootbrownelk]

I have not defended this guy in any way and never will. There is no excuse for what he did. That was in response to your post that sounded like you didnt think truck drivers could be in any danger or have PTSD, which is not true.

That's not what I meant, truck drivers were targeted that's true. But according to the news media he wasn't.

 

[shootbrownelk]

I don't believe the VA has any or should take any blame for this. The guy was on active duty and had no connection or dealing with the VA. The VA's role is to assist and help Veterans, not active duty personnel. If ANYONE dropped the ball, it was the active duty people on post at Ft. Hood, and I'm not sure any of them did.

You're probably right Cowboy, you know more about the VA than I do. I was just repeating what I heard & read in the news.

 

[Musket Man]

I cant see how this would have involved the VA in any way since he was on active duty but its probably not much different when your on active. They could have atleast gave him a week off when his mother died. I doubt it would have made any difference in his unit if he was gone 2 days or 2 weeks.

 

[sneakypete]

The sad thing is that our government isn't doing enough for our warriors coming home! This guy had issues, and I'm not sticking up for him either. I'm a father of a soldier w ho made it thru Iraq with one Purple Heart and is doing just fine. God bless the ones affected by the terrible loss of life.