How America really treats its vets.
Journalist Joshua Korshas been at the forefront of chronicling the injustices veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are facing. In his articles about Specialist Jonathan Town, hereand here, Kors was one of the first to investigate the fact that some Iraq and Afghanistan veterans have been discharged due to what is labeled a personality disorder which is deemed by the Veterans Administration to be a pre-existing condition and therefore bars that individual from receiving full veterans' benefits.
Recently, Kors attended the trial regarding the lawsuit brought by veterans' organizations against the VA for its systemic bureaucratic failures which hurt the very people VA was created to help. In what is a well researched article Kors describes the ridicules barriers in place which limit a veteran's access to benefits and services, the firing of Dr. Murphy after she dared to shed light on the failure of VA to implement the mental health plan VA routinely touted as proof of VA's foresight, the attempted cover-up of the staggering number of veterans suicides, veterans' lack of legal representation and the manipulation of claims processing times in order to make it appears claims are processed faster than they are in reality.
Be sure to read the article in its entirety.
The Nation: How the VA abandons Our Vets
Sgt. Juan Jimenez had one of the most dangerous jobs in Iraq, ushering top Administration officials through the war-torn streets of Baghdad. He returned home with two Purple Hearts and shrapnel lodged in his right arm. Today he is gravely ill.
What Jimenez didn't realize is that before he could receive benefits for his wounds, he'd have to prove that those wounds came from war. Three and a half years later, the sergeant is still making his case. The Department of Veterans Affairs isn't convinced. And it won't give him his benefits until it is.
The VA requires all veterans to prove their wounds are "service-connected" before it writes them a check. Jimenez thought that hurdle was merely a formality. The Army sergeant had been struck by two roadside bombs. The first sliced into his arms; six months later, a second bomb sprayed scrap metal into his face, knocking him unconscious and leaving him brain damaged. He began having seizures and suffering from memory loss. The blast left a persistent ringing in his right ear. The stress sparked nightmares, flashbacks and acid-reflux disease.
"I'm a different person now," Jimenez says glumly. "I come home; I lock myself in my room. I don't really talk to anyone. I used to be fun." Now, he says, he can't even have a bowl of cereal. It gives him heartburn for days. "That second bomb, it killed me--it just left my body." Sick, suicidal, the sergeant sought help from the VA.
The VA's diagnosis: too much caffeine. "They said I was drinking too much Red Bull. That's what was causing my problems." Read on...