In a mass mailing to all of VVA’s 60,000 members, VVA President John Rowan told us how the VA is not doing its job, and asked us to spread the word on Veterans Health Council. We at VT say let’s help VVA spread the word, but also contact members of Congress who sit on the Senate and House Veterans Affairs Committee and ask them the hard questions like how come VVA has to send out this mass mailing plus form the Veterans Health Council, because the Department of Veterans Affairs which they provide oversight for IS NOT DOING THE JOB?
In his mass mailing, Rowan asked that we help him make an empty promise right. We say members of Congress, Secretary Eric Shinseki, and President Obama it is your collective responsibility and obligation to America’s Veterans to "make an empty promise right," NOT the Veterans Health Council, VVA, Veterans of Modern Warfare, Veterans for Common Sense, Veterans for America or what have WE.
Robert L. Hanafin, Major, U.S. Air Force-Retired
Editorial Board of Directors, VT News Network, Life Member, VVA
President Rowan reminds us all, but especially those in Congress who oversee the VA that "when our nation sends men and women off to war, we promise them we will care for them if they are injured. We can’t imagine a more solemn pledge or noble cause. This promise applies to battlefield wounds, of course, but also to diseases and conditions contracted in a war zone, emotional wounds, and exposure to the hazardous materials [wastes] of modern warfare."
He reminds us that "what makes this promise empty are that few veterans know the diseases and exposures they lived with on the battlefield. And far too few know what kind of help they are entitled to. Only about one out of five Veterans who is entitled to VA health care for serious injuries or illnesses related to their service even uses the VA. This is true of Veterans from the War on Terror, the Gulf War, and especially Veterans of the Vietnam War, many of whom suffer from chronic debilitating diseases like Hepatitis."
Major Hanafin’s comment: Over 10,000 and maybe more Veterans have been recently exposed to HIV and Hepatitis because THE VA JUST ISN’T DOING THE JOB. There is a significant amount of tax payer dollars being diverted from patient (Veteran) care to the VA fighting endless and expensive malpractice and related legal litigation. Veterans are finding it becoming almost essential to seek an attorney just to get their benefits even if law suits by major Veterans Service Organizations have gotten stifled the legal costs involved and message sent to America’s Veterans is undeniable and no partisan judge can hide: THE VA JUST ISN’T DOING THE JOB.
The result members of Congress are that when THE VA JUST ISN’T DOING THE JOB, "an enormous amount of suffering among Veterans, especially those who served honorably and courageously who are not debilitated by illnesses and wounds they unknowingly received during their service."
To help end this suffering, and because THE VA JUST ISN’T DOING THE JOB, Vietnam Veterans of America created a new initiative, the Veterans Health Council. Though this is a great thing, and we will help VVA spread the word because of the good it does other Veterans, we must asked members of the House and Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, Secretary Eric Shinseki, and President Barrack Obama who promised reform and change at the VA. Is that too an empty promise? This is not a partisan question, and we mean not to place blame on this administration for they did not create the environment in which THE VA JUST ISN’T DOING THE JOB. WE do however blame the members of Congress, especially on the House and Senate Veterans Affairs Committees because YOU JUST AREN’T DOING THE JOB of oversight, demanding reform and change at the VA.
In sum, why does VVA or creation of the Veterans Health Council have to DO THE JOB that you are responsible for? Why even have a House and Senate Veterans Affairs Committee or even Department of Veterans Affairs if Veterans Service Organizations of the 21st Century has to DO YOUR JOBS?
I cannot and will not speak for other members of VVA, much less other Veterans or military families, but my family assures our members of Congress who are on the House and Senate Veterans Affairs Committees that come next election regardless which party you represent (I refuse to use the word constituents you represent), WE WILL REMEMBER at the ballot box that you forfeited your responsibility, accountability, and job to VVA and the Veterans Health Council.
About the Veterans Health Council
VVA and Veterans of Modern Warfare have organized more than 30 professional organizations to join this Health Council. Organizations such as the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Heart Association, Easter Seals, and Mental Health America 
now committed to working with VVA to:
– Inform Vets and their families about health issues and benefits available to them.
– Educate health care professionals outside the VA system about health issues related to military service.
– Develop materials to teach medical professionals about Veterans’ health care issues.
– And advocate for Veterans on health care issues.
If the VA were not wasting so much money fending off legal litigation, that could be money well spent to do what VVA and the Veterans Health Council are now raising funds to do.
The list of illnesses that have been linked to service in Vietnam now includes: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), birth defects in children, Hepatitis B and C, HIV/AIDS, substance abuse, military sexual trauma, and a host of skin diseases and cancers related to Agent Orange Exposure.
Today’s young Veterans of the War on Terror have suffered from PTSD, traumatic brain injury (TBI) the signature medical issue of their war, drug resistant bacterial infection by Acinobacter, Leishmaniasis, vision loss, traumatic amputation, and exposure to depleted uranium.
VVA and the Veterans Health Council have created an excellent website that offers information to Veterans about which diseases can now be connected to military service. Let’s help VVA spread the word to Veterans you care about so they can find it at www.veteranshealth.org
Though we emphasize the need for Veterans to have inexpensive or free access to attorneys, especially in the VA Appeals process, there’s also a Vets Health Council webpage that will help Vets locate a nearby Veterans Service Officer, from VVA, or some other Veterans group, who can help Vets apply for VA health benefits. Due to the long and winding road that is the VA Appeal process, we recommend seeking an attorney only upon denial of your VA Claim.
Just as after Vietnam when THE VA JUST WASN’T DOING THE JOB, now again in the 21st Century we find innovative Veterans Service Organizations having to DO THE JOB FOR THE VA. Does members of the House and Senate Veterans Affairs Committees, Secretary Shinseki, and President Obama see nothing WRONG with this picture? Is this what they meant by REFORM and CHANGE at the VA?
WE strongly suggest you contact Congress, Secretary Shinseki, and President Obama and ask them.
The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee
http://veterans.senate.gov/
To contact a member from your state
http://veterans.senate.gov/committee-members.cfm
To contact the Chairman, Senator Daniel K Akaka, (D.HI)
http://veterans.senate.gov/contact-chairman.cfm
To contact the Ranking Republican Member, Senator Richard Burr (R.NC)
http://veterans.senate.gov/contact-ranking.cfm
House Veterans Affairs Committee
http://veterans.house.gov/
To contact member from your state
http://veterans.house.gov/about/members.shtml
To contact the Chairman, Congressman Bob Filner (D.CA)
http://www.house.gov/filner/contact.htm
To contact the Ranking Republican Member, Congressman Steve Buyer (R.IN)
http://stevebuyer.house.gov/
Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Eric Shinseki
https://iris.va.gov/scripts/iris.cfg/php.exe/enduser/home.php
[Note: the first place Secretary Shinseki can start with change is to make access to the VA Secretary clear with a contact point to the Office of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs that is not hidden behind a Palace Guard??? Major Hanafin]
Contact President Barrack Obama
http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
[Note we would have to say that the best way to get through Secretary Shinseki’s Palace Guard is to get through President Obama’s Palace Guard to get a message to Secretary Shinseki??? Major Hanafin]
In closing, I threw a bit of humor on a very serious subject to make a point, getting our message as Veterans to the House and Senate Veterans Affairs Committees maybe far easier that getting our message through to Secretary Shinseki or President Obama, don’t take my word for it just ask any Veterans Service Organization (VSO) why they have direct access to the Congress but have to go through Palace Guards to get to the VA Secretary or President of the United States? If a VSO has heartburn getting our message across – what will it finally take?
Robert L. Hanafin
Major, U.S. Air Force-Retired
Editorial Board of Directors
VT News Network
Life Member, VVA
Readers are more than welcome to use the articles I’ve posted on Veterans Today, I’ve had to take a break from VT as Veterans Issues and Peace Activism Editor and staff writer due to personal medical reasons in our military family that take away too much time needed to properly express future stories or respond to readers in a timely manner.
My association with VT since its founding in 2004 has been a very rewarding experience for me.
Retired from both the Air Force and Civil Service. Went in the regular Army at 17 during Vietnam (1968), stayed in the Army Reserve to complete my eight year commitment in 1976. Served in Air Defense Artillery, and a Mechanized Infantry Division (4MID) at Fort Carson, Co. Used the GI Bill to go to college, worked full time at the VA, and non-scholarship Air Force 2-Year ROTC program for prior service military. Commissioned in the Air Force in 1977. Served as a Military Intelligence Officer from 1977 to 1994. Upon retirement I entered retail drugstore management training with Safeway Drugs Stores in California. Retail Sales Management was not my cup of tea, so I applied my former U.S. Civil Service status with the VA to get my foot in the door at the Justice Department, and later Department of the Navy retiring with disability from the Civil Service in 2000.
I’ve been with Veterans Today since the site originated. I’m now on the Editorial Board. I was also on the Editorial Board of Our Troops News Ladder another progressive leaning Veterans and Military Family news clearing house.
I remain married for over 45 years. I am both a Vietnam Era and Gulf War Veteran. I served on Okinawa and Fort Carson, Colorado during Vietnam and in the Office of the Air Force Inspector General at Norton AFB, CA during Desert Storm. I retired from the Air Force in 1994 having worked on the Air Staff and Defense Intelligence Agency at the Pentagon.
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