I can not afford to leave town however so my "vacation plans" are not so elaborate. I will stay around the house and watch movies and read some books by my favorite authors and watch Keith, Rachel in Iraq, and do the same thing I do the rest of the year.
It's hard to being a disabled person who thinks a trip is getting out of the house to go see one of my doctors. I have a few of them so I take frequent trips to Augusta VA, they have a much more compassionate and I prefer to think better physicians and nursing hwlp than the VA hospital 5 minutes frommy home called Dorn. They give the name "vet hospital" the meaning that most people think of a place for animals except I like my animals and I would never take my pooties there for treatment, I want them to live. Not all veteran hospitals are equal they may have similar names but it ends there.
I have excellent medical care from the doctors and other health care workers at Charlie Norwood VAMC in Augusta GA. I have been a patient there since the early 1990s. There was a point in 1998 I refused to go back after I had a triple bypass there and the old management team seemed to have the idea that all of their disgruntled employees should be assigned to the cardiac ward. Just what people suffering heart atacks and recovering from cardiac surgery want is a pizzed off employee, a simpe 4 day operation turned into a 6 week nightmare for me, what could go wrong did go wrong, was it me, or was it their health care? I don't know but I know I hated ward 4D West.
I did not return until I was unemployed and no longer had any medical insurance and I had no choice either go to the VA or die. But some point between 1998 and June 2002 they changed the management team at the hospital and instead of surly pizzed off employees, there were smiling competent people all over the hospital, it was like a light switch had been flipped.
I have had nothing been excellent treatment since June 2002, I see a cardiologist every 6 months, a primary care doc every 6 months and a shrink every 3 months, and I can walk in to LSU (life support unit) for an emergency but if it's a life or death matter I usually go to lexington medical Center and the VA Fee Basis office pays the bills. When I am having a heart atack I am not going to drive 70 miles when I can go to a quality hospital 5 minutes away. They stabilize me and then transfer me to the VA. I haven't had to do that in a few years (knock on wood).
I have nothing bad to say about the healthcare I receive at Augusta VA, I refuse to go to Dorn VAm the problem is management, and until they change it they will not fix their problems.
But back to vacation, the pool is clean, the hot tub is hot, and the grass has been cut, I spend the day going between the hot tub and coffee in the morning to a swim in the pool, on the computer to check my veteran boards and read the new posts from vets asking for help with their claims or how to utilize facilities that disabled veterans are allowed to use. It varies on degree of disability and what a local base commander will authorize from golf courses to access beaches at places like Camp Pendelton or govt hotels at Disney World or in Hawaii or the Morale, Welfare and recreation sites (MWR) PX's and commissaries. Free fishing licenses, hunting licenses, etc. It is amazing some of the fantastic benefits that some states offer 100% disabled veterans besides property tax exemptions.
My wife is making one of the spare bedrooms into a "man cave" for me, why I don't know but whom am I to argue with the woman who puts up with me being home 24/7 for the past decade. We have spent more time together than most married couple that have been married for 40 years spend together, I was not disabled when we met and started dating, although I was totally disabled before we married, so she was not blind sided by it, one day I was healthy and working and the week end her father died my legs and lower body swelled up to the point I had to buy new shoes and pants just to go to the funeral, she took me to the VA the following Monday, she wanted to take me Friday the funeral was Saturday and me being in a hospital while her family was burying her father was not really optional we belonged in Columbia with the family, her mother and sister needed her.
The doc at the VA read me the riot act on Monday and put me on some type of water pills to relieve the Congestive Heart Failure and put me back on all kinds of medications for high blood pressure, to control my choloesterol etc. Meds I had quit taking in 1998 after my 7th heart attack within 2 years the meds weren't helping why take them?
Well the new doc and Dori showed now the meds may help and Dori gave me reasons to want to try and keep breathing, the new VA doc was also good at her job, she got me tests quickly that in the past would have taken months to get appts for. So since she was trying so hard I decided to go along with the new program.
Lucky for me, she did the tests I needed to show I was totally disabled by Social Security standards based on what they term the "grid" my ejection fraction is less than 30% and 2 of the 3 bypasses have closed off and are irreparable, my SSD claim was approved in 4 months based on VA heart cath results.
My VA claim took considerably longer to get approved for PTSD and cardiac issues but I eventually prevailed on those issues as well. So thanks to the "PROMISE" made to all military personnel when they enter active duty either thru the draft or enlistment (I enlisted and re-enlisted a few times) my Army service ran thru the Vietnam Era thru Desert Storm. So my fellow Americans now support me and I and my wife greatly appreciate it.
If I could I would rather still be working I was a level 6 Letter Carrier and I made about 70,000 a year with overtime for the last few years I did work. But I can't so we live well within our now monthly stipend from Uncle Sam, all benefits I earned or paid for either trhu my SS taxes and body parts for the "Promise". Every disabled vet I know would rather have their "health back" and gladly give up the "check" since we can't it's justly deserved compensation. President Bushs VDBC Commission which lasted 2 years and made about 130 recommendation which were all ignored stated that disabled veterans compensation should be raised by 25%......that never saw the light of day in Congress along with any of their other recommendations, and this was a commission that was 13 Republicans and 6 democratic appointees on it. They couldn't call it a "liberal" idea. so they just chose to ignore it. Pretty much what I think will happen to this "Budget Commission" that President Obama has set up and Congress did not want, that report will end up on the shelf along with the VDBC Report and thousands of other "blue ribbon reports" paid for by us the tax payers.
But it gives the talking heads a lot to talk about for the summer and when the report does come out in December I believe.
I was honored by having my name added to the Commissioners list of the North American Truth Commission
List of Commissioners I am the second name on the list I tried to beg off due to health problems but Hank didn't want to hear it. He kept my name on the list.
About NATAC
The NATAC is a private, citizen-based investigatory commission composed of 28 individuals representative of the United States of America and Canada. NATAC’s principle objective is to explore, investigate, present, promote, publicize, expose, and to eventually and hopefully resolve the CIA’s and Department of Defense’s past and present illegal human experimentation programs involving North American citizens and military service men and women. NATAC will also explore and investigate human experiments conducted overseas by entities of the U.S. government. The Commission’s 28 commissioners are a respected group of individuals selected for their diverse perspectives, strengths and resolve to fulfill their mission.
Mission
COMMISSION CHARTER: The truth and accountability process, most notably and partially modeled on the successful efforts of South Africa, Latin America and Greensboro, North Carolina is designed to examine and learn from a series of divisive and horrible events and incidents in our nation’s past in order to build the foundation for a more unified and humane future where human rights are regarded as important in all facets of government operations. The truth and reconciliation process, used extensively and quite successfully in other countries, has developed into an effective global tool and strategy for dealing with war crimes and other human rights abuses.
The Commission’s approach seeks to be one that centers on ‘restorative justice,’ which differs from the customary adversarial and retributive justice. The truth and reconciliation process seeks to heal relations between opposing sides by uncovering all pertinent facts, distinguished from lies, and allowing for acknowledgement, appropriate private public mourning, restitution, forgiveness and healing.
We are not unmindful of the past and present horrors that have been and are committed in the name of the State. We do not see our opposition to these horrors as being political or partisan in nature. Our opposition, in our view, is a natural and proper human response that has nothing to do with political parties, alliances, or beliefs.
Before there can be reconciliation there must be truth, and then a sincere, heartfelt intention on all sides to make things right.
I will probably make a road trip to Kos's neck of the woods when this finally comes to trial Edgewood Testvets which will probably be in 2011. I do have an interest in the case, despite not being one of the named "plaintiffs" I do know all of the plaintiffs and hopefully it will be given class action status and represent all veterans used in human experiments at all military facilities world wide and veteran facilities. One issue will be the "Feres Doctrine" at some point the Supreme Court is going to over turn the bad precedent that was set in 1950 with the "Feres decision" I don't think anyone ever imagined it would be used to give military or federal officials cover from intentionally harming military personnel in human experiments knowing that the personnel were more likely than not to be harmed during the experiences.
Feres was to prohibit military personnel from suing Commanders issuing orders dealing with military operations not in "secret illegal medical experiments".
I was happy to see the coverage of the "last combat Brigade" to leave Iraq and move into Kuwait 2 nights ago, but with 50,000 plus military personnel still in Iraq, I am not naive enough to believe the "war" has ended, it is just moving into another phase, people will still be in "harms way" just as they are in South Korea more than 50 years since the cease fire was declared. That tends to make me believe that Iraq will be no different, Americans will stay there and incidents will continue to happen, just as they do in Korea, the recent ship that was torpedoed, border incidents etc. Personally I don't see any reason to stay in Iraq we do not have any long term national security interests there, we haven't since the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990. I could care less who's in charge Sunnis or Shiites, Iran or Saudi Arabia it doesn't matter to me, we need to quit trying to be the worlds police. We can NOT afford this style of diplomacy, it hasn't worked well for us any other time, yes WW1 and WW2 were necessary evils we were involved and those were of national security issues.
Vietnam, Panama, the drug war in Colombia even the Balkans did not have a real US national security interest, we got involved because corporations wanted us involved, they were money making ventures for most of them. Look at all the money going to private contractors, other nations, such as Pakistan, Georgia, other russian break away states that we pay for basing rights, or flight space.
It seems like we have been at war somewhere in the world either a hot war or the Cold War since I was born 55 years ago, why? Other nations haven't, so why are we always in the middle of someone else's political unrest? Many of the times it has been our government stirring the pot, either thru above board diplomacy or the CIAs private wars and black ops.
They seem to dance with the devil to obtain their objectives regardless if it helps our nation or hoping they can make "new friends" like Kissinger and Pinochet. How we backed the Mujahadeen during their war with the Soviet Union and as soon as it was over, we cut all aid to Afghanistan and then we seemed shocked when the Taliban gave Al Qaeda treaining bases all over their nation, forgetting that Osama Bin Ladin and friends were the Mujahadeen whom we gave missiles and hand held rocket launchers to shoot down helicopters and planes with. I am pretty sure they didn't use them all against Soviet targets, they had some still hid away in 2001, that were still operational.
I am sorry I think we should pull out all the ground forces, keep some aircraft carriers off the coasts and use drones or steath planes to take out new Al Qaeda bases in the future, it would be a lot cheaper than this current fiasco, with or without General Petraeus in charge.
9 years later it is time to end the never ending war........