Veterans with Disabilities Deserve More

http://img2.newser.com/square-image/43005-20110401000746/iraq-vets-hit-by-financial-woes.jpeg

The Department of Veterans' Affairs is supposed to take care of our fallen comrades when they exit the military, and according to all accounts I have heard they are failing miserably in this task.  Veterans are struggling to pay their bills as it takes over a year for a disability rating to be approved, they have to suffer from PTSD because of the horrible things they went through, and they have to fight the system to get the benefits they are most deserving of.  I know that the people that work for the VA are not purposely depriving Veterans of their benefits, but the system seems to be set up to slow things down and to keep Veterans upset and annoyed.
One thing that really gets me upset is that the VA has specific rules that are meant to slow down the process of disability claims.  I applied for an increase in a few of my disabilities and for some new disabilities, about 5 new claims overall.  They gave me a partial rating for about three of them and said that they were waiting to hear back from my surgeon on one claim and to hear back from my Army company for my PTSD claim.  My Army company abused me, and they will never admit to this and I feel that they will never respond to the VA's letter.  They are waiting to move forward with my claim until they hear from them, no matter how long it takes.  I asked them to at least move forward with the other part where they are waiting to hear back from my surgeon and it seems that they are unwilling to do this.  It has now been 14 months since I started this claim and it is stressful waiting for them to finish my claim.

Things need to change, and we need to fight back.  Please contact your congressperson or write to the White House to have your voice heard.  I would also love to hear about your struggles so I can write about them on this site.

Have a happy 4th of July, and I hope you and your families have a great weekend!