Veterans and the United States Goverment
Veterans and the Department of Veterans Affairs
“The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) was established on March 15, 1989, succeeding the Veterans Administration. It is responsible for providing federal benefits to veterans and their families. Headed by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, VA is the second largest of the 15 Cabinet departments and operates nationwide programs for health care, financial assistance and burial benefits.
Of the 24 million veterans currently alive, nearly three-quarters served during a war or an official period of conflict. About a quarter of the nation’s population, approximately 74.5 million people, are potentially eligible for VA benefits and services because they are veterans, family members or survivors of veterans.
The responsibility to care for veterans, spouses, survivors and dependents can last a long time. Three children of Civil War veterans still draw VA benefits. About 232 children and widows of Spanish-American War veterans still receive VA compensation or pensions.”
Salt in the wounds? Accessible care for region’s veterans
“A class-action lawsuit was filed in July against departing Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson, his agency and other governmental plaintiffs by veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. They say they didn’t receive the medical care to which they were entitled for post-traumatic stress disorder. The lawsuit came amid intense political and public scrutiny of the VA and Pentagon following reports of shoddy outpatient care of injured soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and elsewhere.”
Veterans and the Department of Defense
Wounded Vet Told To Pay Back Bonus
“Jordan Fox received a $10,000 signing bonus when he joined the Army. The Mt. Lebanon man served his country in Iraq, where as a sniper he survived machine gun battles and a roadside bomb that knocked him unconscious and blinded him in his right eye.
The injury forced the military to send him home. A few weeks later, Fox received a bill from the Department of Defense, saying he owes the military nearly $3,000 from his original enlistment bonus because he couldn’t fulfill three months of his commitment.”
Veterans and the House of Representatives
House Passes Veterans Guaranteed Bonus Act of 2007
“The House has just passed the Veterans Guaranteed Bonus Act of 2007, which will ensure that members of the armed services who are discharged as a result of combat-related wounds receive the full compensation to which they are entitled by the Department of Defense. According to Department of Defense rules, enlistees cannot receive their full enlistment bonus unless they fulfill their entire military obligation. Unfortunately, members of the armed services who are wounded while on active duty are not receiving their full bonuses because their service was prematurely cut short. The Veterans Guaranteed Bonus Act, H.R. 3793, will correct this problem by requiring the Department of Defense to provide veterans who have been discharged due to combat-related wounds with full payment of remaining bonuses within 30 days of discharge.”
