A Desperate CAll OUT for a Mission for A Ill Gulf War Veteran

ALERT ALL—-Veterans Together WE CAN MAKE SOMETHING HAPPEN I BELIEVE THAT IN MY OLD NURSE OFFICERS HEART!

Please ANYONE WITH ANY CONNECTIONS to help in this Misson contact me at [email protected]

WE need ACTION NOW.  We need a Trucking firm, a rail shipment, John Deer Tractor Company, or even AIR GUARD mercy flight to get this veterans tractor home to MO from where it is now in Alexandria VA.

It is hard to keep an old combat veteran from doing things even when their health says they should not!  Points that he values his tractor does not want others driving it back he is protective of the few things he has left!

He was ill medically before this trip for years and has not been very successful with the VA for his medical care in MO and his Claim is still not resolved.  He is still in the hospital but he is finally getting a bit better and maybe discharged next week. 

So we have a deadline to get the tractor home.  Matt will be sent home re transportation air by the VA.   So we have to move fast and get his tractor on its way back to MO!

Lets do one mission to help a Gulf War Veteran!   

Matt Letterman, A MO Veteran, who made a tractor ride of 1,000 miles and five days to make a Stand not just for himself but all ill Gulf War Veterans of 1990-91 is still in the Hospital in DC at VA Hospital.

He collapsed the day after he made it to DC and ended up hospitalized.  What you dont know is that he tried desperately over the last several years to get help!

He has SS, 5 children, has had to sell off everything on his farm that he can hogs, equipment, etc.
He was denied his VA Claim and went to DC in September 08 because he knew he was not the only one.  He spoke up to the VA’s Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans.  His paperwork after that was passed all over the VA headquarters.  They admitted he was disabled and claim was still denied.

He got SS in 5 days unheard of but it happenned!  He got a ride from a fellow Gulf War veteran in September 08 the other veteran drove from Kentucky to MO to pick him up and they then drove to DC.

When I met him this 45 year old veteran was obviously having continuing deterioration in his health.  He could not walk very fast and his feet were already swollen like Balloons!  His health since has been going down hill.  He was being seen at a rural VA clinic and they didnt seem to take notice of his swelling and worsening physical condition.  AT my insistence of he needed to get to an ER of a hospital he got to VA Little Rock.  He tried for 2 days to get medical care!  He was seen in the ER twice and discharged.

He had two bad episodes of chest pain that he refers as a heart attack but living in a rural area and having no medical insurance he sat it out.  So we do not know what was happenning medically but he felt like he was not going to make it very much longer.  February the DR did say his spleen was enlarged but no treatment or further testing.  All this time he was having more swelling…from the feet it had expanded all the way up his legs and into his abdomen.

He felt his time on earth was limited and he decided to do the only thing he could think of and that was to get on his tractor and head for DC.  He had met DR Lee at the VA DC hospital back in September and felt he could get care there.   Yes probably he should have gone to a civilian hospital ER but he is a proud man and knew he did not have health insurance, he did not get Medicare/Medicade because that would have meant money out of his SS and he is struggling to support his 5 children.

So out of disperation he did the tractor ride and he knows he is not the only GULF WAR VETERAN from 1990-91 that is not getting the help that the nation thinks that the gulf war veterans of 90-91 are cared for….well that is not true and everyday we hear from other Gulf War veterans from all parts of the nation that are hanging on by their fingernails to survive.

Mr Letterman is getting better with finally a change of a diuretic.  He was approximately 40-45 lbs over his normal weight and a majority of that is water weight that had third spaced.  Finally we are seeing some of that water weight being pulled off. 

I was sincerely worried and scared for this veteran since the time I met him and that worry was higher this past week when he was not able to move much at all and was increasingly not being able to stay awake.  To me the old nurse this was looking bad…re build up of waste products and water weight causing his memory to not work well at all and for the increase in his not being able to function!

I am now issuing the most urgent plea to any veterans with connections, any business, any elected official….help us get his tractor shipped back to MO from Alexandria VA.  WE do not need him when he gets discharged to try and drive it another 1,000 miles and 5 days to get it back home.  Please help us find some patriotic individuals or companies to donate the service to ship on a flat bed or by train rail shipment back to MO!

Special Report: Calling Out for A Patriotric Company to Perform A Mission to Help Ill Gulf War Veteran-Haulers Needed
Posted on August 13, 2009 by DSNurse 
 
 
 
Our Tractoring Gulf War Veteran Needs a Large Favor From A Patriotric Company!

Matt Letterman, who barely made it to DC driving his tractor from Willow Springs MO to Washington DC for a hearing on the Hill for Gulf War Illness on July 30th at 0330 AM.  He was there on the Hill and afterwards to make a statement that Gulf War Veterans are ill and disabled and not getting a fair shake from the government that they put their lives on the line for in 1990-91.  Mr Letterman’s Rally Call was and is WE DO NOT LEAVE OUR VETERANS IN THE FIELD OF BATTLE.  Our Field of Battle has followed us home and for 19 years we have fought to get the best care, treatment and compensation when it is really needed.

Mr Letterman never even got a Compensenation and Pension Exam from the MO VA Regional Office when he submitted his claim years ago.  We wonder How many other claims were denied due to a missing Compensation and Pension Exam.  His service officer at the time from the DAV also failed this soldier veteran.  Congresswoman Emerson’s staff had a chance and that didn’t work.  Now Senator Bond is leading the charge to get the situation corrected!

The kicker here is that the US Social Security Office found him disabled in five days!   The veteran came to DC a year ago to try and get the situation resolved by going to the Gulf War Veterans Advisory Committee what resulted was another denial and no help.

Now he risked his life and went against medical advise in driving his John Deer Tractor to DC.  He ended up on the 31st of July at the ER at the VA DC Hospital and was admitted.  He has now gotten his Compensation and Claim Exam done finally, he is getting a new service officer on Thursday, his claim has been reviewed by a certified claims officer in KS and found to have a load of Clear and Unmistakable Errors on the part of VA.  You would think VA headquarters would have helped a year ago but no. 

He made a statement that was heard by other veterans and people on the Hill but not one Major Network News covered the story!  They thought the Missouri veteran didnt speak well enough for mainsteam media.

Now we are searching for a Patriotic Company to get his tractor , A John Deer Tractor, back home.  Matt Letterman remains hospitalized at VA DC  Hospital.

John Deere Tractor 5093e

http://www.deere.com/servlet/ProdCatProduct?tM=FR&pNbr=5093ELV

He has a bucket loader on the front and a mower on the back can be detached

28 ft from Bucket loader front to end of mower
Vehicle is 8 ft wide
Vehicle is 8ft 9 inches Tall
MFWD Dimensions Wheelbase, in. (mm) 85.7 (2178)
Front Tread Range, in. (mm) 52.8 – 75.0 (1340 – 1904)
Front Axle Clearance, in. (mm) 15.8 (4.81)
Turning Radius w/Brakes, ft. (m) 10.2 (3.10)
Turning Radius w/o Brakes, ft. (m) 12.5 (3.81)
Limited Slip Differential Yes
Unballasted Operating Weight, lb. (kg) 7,435 (3372)
Approx. Ship Wgt, lb. (kg) Open; Cab 7,385 (3350)