Interesting news releases for your review
CAMP LEJEUNE TOXIC EXPOSURE: Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-NC) said 19 JUL that military officials should directly inform hundreds of thousands of Marine families and workers that they drank and washed in toxin-contaminated water at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. Dole, wants to force the secretary of the Navy to locate and notify Marines and civilians who were exposed to the water up until the mid-1980s when the base shut down contaminated wells. In a new twist, Marine officials raised the prospect that the same contaminants may endanger residents in the form of vapors that can be inhaled. The base is testing to see if vapors are seeping through soil into homes and buildings from a groundwater plume. Officials said the drinking water has been safe for many years. Previous monitoring from the Environmental Protection Agency showed the underground plume was "no where near any of the buildings or residential areas," according to Maj. Nat Fahy, the base spokesman. However, the base and EPA recently began testing when health investigators from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry reported that their new water model showed the plume had migrated beneath homes and a school as far back as the 1960s. The model only went up to 1994 and contained some inherent uncertainties, according to agency investigators, who are studying health effects from the past contaminated water. Some hazardous clean-up work also has occurred since then.

Dole's notification requirement was in an amendment she offered to a broad military money bill before the legislation was pulled from the floor in a showdown over Iraq. The larger bill (NDAA) may be back as soon as September. Government health officials have estimated that as many as one million people may have been exposed during three decades of water contamination going back to 1957, a situation examined in a recent Associated Press investigation. The numbers include Marines in barracks and military families living on the sprawling Atlantic training and deployment base, and civilians who worked there. Her measure also aims to help answer questions about health effects by having those exposed give government health investigators information on their illnesses. Declining to comment specifically on Dole's proposal, spokeswoman Capt. Amy Malugani said the Marines "continue to work closely" with Dole and other lawmakers on the issue. The Corps is seeking "ways to improve and enhance our communications and notification processes," she said. The base in 1985 told residents about "minute, trace amounts" of contamination, when some levels had reached more than 200 times today's safe drinking water standards.

The groundwater contamination stemmed from industrial activity and hazardous waste on the base and from a neighboring dry cleaner. Trichloroethylene and tetrachloroethylene, solvents used for degreasing and dry cleaning, and other toxic chemicals were identified in water sampling that eventually led to the well closures. Studies have linked the chemicals to leukemia, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, birth defects and several other cancers. Dole's amendment differs from an earlier measure that allows the military to reach out through the media rather than directly notifying those exposed, and requires notification only after completion of a government health study. Dole's new measure would require notification to begin shortly after the bill's passage. Officials at the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry said they received some 1,500 calls from citizens who didn't know of the contamination until they read about it in an Associated Press investigative story and subsequent coverage of a congressional hearing in June. Many of those who called were former base residents who wondered if their cancers and other illnesses were related to it. Concerned personnel who want to let their representatives know how they feel on this issue can access a preformatted letter or draft their own at http://capwiz.com/military/issues/alert/?alertid=10049766&type=CO. [Source: Associated Press article 19 Jul 07 ++]


VA CLAIM BACKLOG UPDATE 09: House Republicans are proposing a plan to overhaul veterans’ disability claims processing, including a move that would automate portions of the process. The automated system, Republican officials said, would handle simpler claims and allow employees to handle more complicated ones. The Veterans Affairs Department has a backlog of 400,000 pending claims. H.R.3047 introduced 16 JUL by Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO) and Rep. Steve Buyer (R-IN) seeks to reduce the backlog by speeding up the process. VA already uses some automation, but no claim decision is completely computerized, said Jeff Phillips, a spokesman for the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee’s Republican office. The proposed program would streamline that automation by using a system similar to one insurance companies have been using for 30 years. “Currently the VA does what it’s been doing for generations, and that is deciding cases manually,” Phillips said. “We here in the minority office think that there is a better way for some of the claims.” The program would use a rules-based automation software where information is input and vetted with little human interaction, Lamborn said. “We think technology is available that would speed up simple claims and requests,” he said. “Simple claims through automation hopefully go a lot faster, and that would reduce the backlog and get veterans what they deserve faster.”

At least 20 percent of VA’s claims can likely be automated through the technology, said Craig Weber, senior analyst with Celent, a Boston-based consulting firm that handles information technology. “It turns out in almost any business process, rules-based processing is useful,” he said. “There’s typically 20 to 40% of the work items that can be processed in an automated fashion.” Weber, who has studied and used the software since the late 1980s, said the biggest hurdle frequently is convincing human adjusters they are no longer needed for some claims. “It’s hard to change human behavior, and people don’t want to admit that what they’ve been doing can be boiled down to 10 questions and yes and no answers,” he said. “But the point to make for those people is that we’re not taking away work where you’re adding value, we’re freeing you up to add more value elsewhere.” VA officials declined to comment on the pending legislation but said new rules, regulations and programs from Congress can cause further headaches for the department. “We’re constantly being impacted by court decisions as well as legislation by Congress that says you’re going to do this, that and the other thing,” said Steve Westerfeld, a VA spokesman. [Source: Federal Times Amy Doolittle article 23 Jul 07 ++]


VA CLAIM BACKLOG UPDATE 10: In a Wednesday interview taped for C-SPAN’s Newsmakers program, that aired 29 JUL, VA Secretary Nicholson said he was willing, on a trial basis, to try to tackle the large and growing backlog of disability claims with a program that would assume anyone who filed for compensation deserves the payment. After the first check is issued, a claim could be reviewed, with the possibility that payments could be adjusted, Nicholson said. This speedy process would apply only for initial claims, not for people already receiving disability pay who are seeking to have their ratings revised upward. More than half of the estimated 600,000 claims pending at any time are for people who are already receiving disability compensation for a service-connected injury or disease, Nicholson said. The automatic payment process would take many changes in law and “a new cultural frame of mind,” Nicholson said, but added, “We want to do it quicker. It irritates people. Everybody would have to understand the new system, including the possibility that the benefits they are receiving could be reduced, increased or even canceled. This would be quick but not necessarily permanent,” he said of the payment.

He won’t be around to see such a change, however, as he has announced he will retire no later than 1 OCT to return to private business. The Bush administration and many veterans’ groups have raised red flags over the initiative endorsed by Nicholson out of fear it could lead to widespread cheating by veterans who would assume they could get paid without having to provide any proof of their medical condition. In the interview, Nicholson mentioned the possibility that veterans found to be ineligible or who receive a bigger payment than warranted could be forced to repay the government, something rarely required under current law because the initial claims process, which now takes an average of 177 days, weeds out most blatant errors and fraud. Automatic processing of at least simple claims is getting a lot of attention in Congress as a potential way to speed initial paychecks while allowing VA to concentrate on the more difficult claims, such as veterans with multiple disabilities and complicated medical histories that make it challenging to determine whether there is a military cause for the problems.

A big push in Congress for automatic benefits approval came after a March discussion before the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee where Linda Bilmes of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government warned that radical change is needed because the backlog of benefits is only going to get worse. By her estimate, 250,000 to 400,000 disability claims will be filed over the next two years by Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans. She proposed having VA pay all disability claims filed by new combat veterans under a streamlined system that included only four ratings levels instead of the current 10. Bilmes’ idea has since been introduced as legislation by several lawmakers. Nicholson’s endorsement of the basic concept could be of limited help to sponsors because his 1 OCT resignation date means he will not be around to see even a pilot project implemented. [Source: NavyTimes Rick Maze article 26 Jul 07 ++]

I posted this on the Blue Water topic
Herbicide exposure presumption extended to USS Ingersoll (DD 652) Crewmembers. The Ingersoll operated as a Navy destroyer gunship providing fire support for military ground operations along the Vietnam coast during 1965. In addition to coastal duty, the Ingersoll traveled up the Saigon River on October 24th and 25th 1965 to fire on enemy bases. C&P service has reviewed the ship's deck logs, located at the National Archives and record Administration, and confirmed this service in the "inland waterways" of Vietnam. As a result the presumption of herbicide exposure, as described in CFR 3.3307(a)(6)(i) should be extended to any crewmember who served aboard the ship during October of 1965. This presumption is authorized by M21-1MR section IV.ii.2.C.10.b. Regional offices should reevaluate any disability claim based on herbicide exposure from one of these veterans that has been denied.



Note from Dave: Carefully note the feet on the ground issue is not mentioned. Stay tuned as we will keep updating.

quote:

Originally posted by 12483107:
What about the 150,000 who committed suicide sinjce the war?

Not certain your quoted number is accurate, but the Vietnam Veterans' suicide rate isn't any higher than the rest of the US population.

"The same is true for the nonsense that Vietnam vets have high rates of suicide, often heard as the "fact" that more veterans had died by their own hand than in combat. But that's a myth, too. A 1988 study by the Centers for Disease Control found Vietnam veterans had suicide rates well within the 1.7 percent norm of the general population"

http://vvof.org/factsvnv.htm

quote:

A 1988 study by the Centers for Disease Control found Vietnam veterans had suicide rates well within the 1.7 percent norm of the general population"

The CDC report of 19 years ago does not reflect on today. Also as far as the CDC goes their stats never impress me as indicated quite strongly in my book "In Search Of the Truth For Vietnam Combat Veterans."
However any rate except zero of suicide is to high in my opinion.

I am a young guy, but I have the utmost respect for Vietnam veterans. I haven't been to DC since I was a kid, but if I ever go again...I'll be sure to visit the wall.

All gave some, some gave all. HOOAH!

quote:

-- 87% of Americans hold Vietnam Veterans in high esteem.

This is the only bad thing I can see...it should be much higher.

quote:

Originally posted by SteveLord:
I am a young guy, but I have the utmost respect for Vietnam veterans. I haven't been to DC since I was a kid, but if I ever go again...I'll be sure to visit the wall.

All gave some, some gave all. HOOAH!

I am in the DC area all the time, but seldom go into the city. I suggest you also visit the WW II Monument and the Korean war memorial. They are both worth the visit. I used to live in the city near the mall and it was the first time in years back and I was impressed by all the new memorials.

To the VN Vets, Salute,

I recently met a young man at FSH, who has returned from Iraq.. He stated he has nightmares because he had to shoot a kid who refused to halt, kept going...
I told him, that this is not the first war that's happened in. My brother was killed in 67 in VN. He had written home, that even children were given hand grenades to put in soldiers tents. I told him War is hell, it was him, you, or your unit...you were following orders.

I remember growing up in the 70's and hearing VN vets called all kinds of names by the media.
I wish there was some kind of organization that older soldiers could share stories with younger soldiers, and lend support. Combat Vets often feel alone. It would be good for returning soldiers to have someone besides the VA, that has been there..done that and made it.

There is a place right here there are quite a few threads we share story's with each other.And I for one think it help's. CLEAR RIGHT

So much respect for the VN war Vet.

I was born in 1957 in a idealist setting, a farm in up-state NY, good times, field cars and horses. Very small town, USA.

Even then as I saw the turmoil, my Warriors came first, my Country home and safety. My third grade teacher's husband is still MIA, and thats sad at third grade level I could see her tears.

quote:

Originally posted by RETEODSFC:

quote:

-- 87% of Americans hold Vietnam Veterans in high esteem.

This is the only bad thing I can see...it should be much higher.

Yes!

Like 100%

All honorably discharged veterans should be held in high esteem. Those who served so others did not have to, should be respected. However it just does not work out that way.

quote:

Originally posted by DaveBarker:

quote:

Originally posted by RETEODSFC:

quote:

-- 87% of Americans hold Vietnam Veterans in high esteem.

This is the only bad thing I can see...it should be much higher.

Yes!

Like 100%

All honorably discharged veterans should be held in high esteem. Those who served so others did not have to, should be respected. However it just does not work out that way.

*

No offense to anybody, but why is respect for 'Nam Vets posted under AO?

Shouldn't this be on it's own thread or under another posting thread? I think we'd get more comments somewhere else. Kepp this thread for AO.

My reason for being here...

I met with a "specialist" outside the VA to discuss PTSD (Dave knows what I'm talking about). When asked if I had AO, before I could answer she said "it's a given, everyone who was in 'Nam was affected". The dixon soaks into the fat tissue and remains there, when you lose weight it begans to appear.

Now, I know why I'm not losing weight.

quote:

Originally posted by DaveBarker:

quote:

Originally posted by RETEODSFC:

quote:

-- 87% of Americans hold Vietnam Veterans in high esteem.

This is the only bad thing I can see...it should be much higher.

Yes!

Like 100%

All honorably discharged veterans should be held in high esteem. Those who served so others did not have to, should be respected. However it just does not work out that way.

I think even more so for Nam Vets.
They served their country when it wasn't fasionable, even concidered wrong by their peers.

For that fact alone I salute all Vietnam Vets a bit more.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: RETEODSFC,

quote:

Originally posted by Schwanke:
Thanks for the post Dave, it is good to review the statistics once in a while, since I am one.
Something I have never seen is a breakdown of deaths and wounded by job classification. I think it would be cute to furnish this to the VA since they seem certain that only infantrymen with a CIB saw any type shooting action over there. I have searched, but apparently this information was not kept.

I agree.
100%.
I agree.

If you read my book "The Combat Veteran From WWII To The Present" you will see the chapter about the Marine in Vietnam who's MOS was Machine Gunner. The original development letter in 1984 stated "Your MOS is not clearly combat position. Position?

Here is a clip from that chapter:
VA excuses range from: not enough proof of unusual life threatening conditions, or, the VA may state the veteran was not in a MOS that matches their criteria. To expand on that thoughtless position of the VA, I represented a veteran for PTSD in 1983 who was a member of the Marines. His MOS was not considered a combat position. He was in operation Starlight. During this operation, he was wounded in action, he also earned the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal . The veterans DD 214 clearly states: #25 Specialty number and title 0311 Machine gunner. The original VA letter to my client was a denial, which included a sentence "your MOS was not clearly of a combat position".

We won the appeal...

By the way he is now spending his last period of his life in the VA Nursing Facility. The Agent Orange conditions got him; but his PTSD is max as well.

Welcome JCruiser!

Thank you for the WELCOME, Dave. I look forward to hearing from other Vets, and lets work together to identify problems and then find a way to resolve them with how Vets are seen in our society, how we interact with th Veterans Affairs Offices and get positive results.

Cruiser

Atlanta

quote:

Originally posted by Schwanke:

quote:

Man shoots you, you return fire, combat last time I checked.

WRONG! (Loud irritating buzzer sounds). My so-called VSO and I thought the same thing when he "helped" me put in for PTSD, but the VA quickly straighened my arse out on THAT misconception!

Just curious...what does the VA define as combat? Inviting them to play tiddly-winks?