VETERANS ISSUES GET LITTLE MENTION IN NATIONAL PRESS
ELECTION GONE, VETS FORGOTTEN
By Gordon Duff STAFF WRITER
Last year we had the Walter Reed scandal pushed by the Washington Post filling papers. Today we may not even get parades. Is Veterans Day (Remembrance Day elsewhere) today or Monday so the post office and VA can get their holiday? Does anyone really care? I entered the military 40 years ago. I am including a photograph from then. Equipment and body armour has changed but note, the weapon is prettymuch the same. I love government. If it doesn’t work, keep doing it.
There are dozens of issues that we don’t look at. As a VSO, I work with a variety of veterans and retirees. Last night I got a call from a lawyer friend about a retiree who is very ill. His long time companion will need his pension to live while he does not. He is a Marine, one of us, facing what we all will face. He has paid his insurance, the 360 payments, and, when he marries, she will get 55% of his meager pension. This will insure her the ability to live in poverty with that, social security and a part time job. Is this what a retired Marine who served in Korea and Vietnam should have to face?
Yesterday another one hit me. Did you know the VA allows schools to establish any level of attendance to count as full time? The University of Toledo considers full time for graduate students 12 credit hours. The University of Michigan says 8. We have many GI Bill and Chapter 35 Students in both schools. The grad students using their well earned and paid for with blood federal benefits at the University of Toledo can never qualify for benefits as 12 credit hours of grad school is almost impossible.
I don’t know who to blame most. The university fails to see the difference in course load, which is easily double and the VA and DOD allow this kind of irregularity to victimize veterans, making it impossible for many to receive full benefits.
Even full benefits are next to nothing. One of my children is a student at the University of Michigan on Chapter 35. This now pays $915 per month or about $6000 dollars per year. In state tuition is well over $20,000. The state pays $2800 per year as "their half." This comes to about 35% of tuition, with the purpose of the combined programs to pay full tuition.
65% of tuition, about $14,000, is meant to be paid by a veteran out of their disability compensation. This equals half their yearly income. So, lets get this one right. Combined federal and state aid, which used to pay 100% of tuition, now only pays 35% at a STATE UNIVERSITY, not a private college. If a veteran only has one child in college, it takes an additional 50% of his gross income to send a child to school. There are very few veterans who qualify as we know. What they qualify for is sending their kids to college and starving to death. Veterans who work can lose their benefits and the insurance, such as it is, and educational benefits for their kids. Thus, they are trapped. Congress has had decades to look at this but have been busy elsewhere.
Another issue for this year is Space A travel for veterans retired on disability. Currently, they are banned from using government aircraft although they use all other government facilities, actually more than a standard retiree, providing they can pay full air fare. The reason given is that "their wheelchairs" can’t be used safely on government planes. This is idiotic, of course.
As huge new airports have been built at Ramstein, with a beautiful new hotel, Aviano and other bases, all for Space A retiree travelers who wish golfing vacations at government expense, perhaps deserved in many cases, why do we deny disabled veterans the same capability?
Who is more deserving? A worst case would be a retiree working in an office in Washington compared to a veteran from Iraq or Afghanistan who has lost a leg and hand but still wishes to travel with his family to Disney World or Germany. We maintain a wonderful hotel at Disney called Shades of Green and a dozen fine hotels in Germany and many more elsewhere.
Every few years someone in congress tries to pass this but it is blocked by the retired officers lobby. This is the same group that pushed so hard for the wrong side in the election. Maybe we can pay them back by making this sit next to a disabled veteran the next time they take their family for a skiing vacation in Switzerland on the government dollar.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Gordon Duff is a Senior Staff Writer for VeteransToday.com. He is a U.S. Marine Vietnam Veteran and regular contributor. He is a specialist in banking and economics and holds a United Nations diplomatic post.
Gordon Duff posted articles on VT from 2008 to 2022. He is a Marine combat veteran of the Vietnam War. A disabled veteran, he worked on veterans and POW issues for decades.
Gordon is an accredited diplomat and is generally accepted as one of the top global intelligence specialists. He manages the world’s largest private intelligence organization and regularly consults with governments challenged by security issues.
Duff has traveled extensively, is published around the world, and is a regular guest on TV and radio in more than “several” countries. He is also a trained chef, wine enthusiast, avid motorcyclist, and gunsmith specializing in historical weapons and restoration. Business experience and interests are in energy and defense technology.
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