Manns Medium

I bet you, no one has ever told you that there are varying degrees of patriotism, each having its own  measurable  marker. I don’t know why not because patriotism, like all others things, is not a one size fits all concept but varies between individuals depending on the experience, beliefs and values of that particular individual. For some, the wearing of a flag pin on their lapel is enough to satisfy that they are patriotic so it has become a part of many people’s apparel.  For some, wearing a shirt or outside garment made of the flag is enough and then for others it is about flying that flag proudly in your front yard.  Now each one of these carries with it, a degree of patriotism that makes one feel good about themselves and seeks to show those around them that they have a love of country.  Sad to say that this alone does not equal another nor does it overshadow the other.  What is does is satisfy your desire to prove to those around you of how...

I attended a VA workshop yesterday, Saturday, April 16, 2016 at the regional VA Office in Chicago to help with a pilot program that is designed to help ease and lower the high number of appeals for disability and discovered that the number one reason that these agencies appear not to be working is not just the policies and procedures but mostly importantly the personnel. The policies and procedures are normally handed down by those in charge but these policies and procedures are composed by the input of those in the position to help shape them.  If the opinions and experience of those who served are not voiced as passionately as they should and those expounding those views are not willing or able to demand better treatment of veterans, then the voices with no experience except what they were told or paid to say wins out.  This is the gist of what is happening right now.  That Veteran Service Officers (VSO) who are supposed to be the veteran’s representative does litt...

As a retired U.S. Marine, there are few things that truly makes me wish to grab certain people and shake them until an apple falls out except when I read that I have lost another brother simply because some loud-mouth politician decided to start a war that they did not have to fight in.  It makes things even more frustrating when those who saber-rattle are also those who can make the changes to correct these suicides but refuse.  I assume that they believe having “yes men and women” on their payroll allows them the conscientious to sleep at night because those yes men and women are former military and tells them exactly what they wish to hear.  I guess my frustration is even more aimed at myself because even after writing a book on how to handle this, it still appears not enough and the more that I attempt to do the less it seems to matter.  That was before I read this article titled “ Suicide Claims 14th Marine From a Unit Battered by Loss ” written by Dave Philipp...

For quite some time you have heard me scream my head off about veteran unemployment, homelessness and suicides.  You have heard me say that there is more we, as a nation, needed to do and more that we, as individuals, could do.  You have also heard me advise any who would listen, that instead of just accenting the problems, if we intend to be passionate and truly care about a particular subject, we also need to provide solutions.  Well, I have taken my own advice and I believe I have discovered the perfect way to address, greatly reduce and/or completely eliminate these same issues.  It’s human nature to believe that money is and always will be the answer to any problem and while we all soon come to learn money is but a part of the over-all grand need but never will it be the total answer to anything, we must also admit that money is required to help with these problems.  But let’s not get it twisted and think that our current status of throwing money at th...

My wife stumbled upon this article titled “Few vets getting care through $10 billion VA program” written by David Caruso for the Associated Press and shared it with me.  After reading it, I became abundantly aware of how misguided some programs can become especially when they appear to be administered by people who have no earthly idea to whom they are attempting to service.  They seem to lack the understanding of the particular kind of citizen to who they are contacting and quickly lose focus behind the initial reasoning for the program in the first place. As reported “a new program that was supposed to get patients off waiting lists at Veterans Affairs medical centers by letting them switch to private-sector doctors is proving to be an even bigger disappointment than initially thought.  The Veteran's Choice program launched on Nov. 5 with $10 billion in funding and the expectation that it would instantly relieve backlogs at VA hospitals and clinics. But after a hur...

Received this email from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs around 7:24 PM yesterday 18 March 2015 in which they seemed excited to announce new improvements here let me have them tell you.  “Effective March 24th, 2015, VA is implementing improvements to make it easier for you to apply for benefits.  Online application tools, standardized forms, and a new intent to file process will create faster and more accurate decisions on your claims and appeals.  What does it all mean?  As part of the VA’s full-scale transformation in 2015, these new changes will: Streamline the benefits process, making it faster and easier Use standardized forms to file disability claims and compensation appeals Establish a new intent to file a claim process” Now to those who are or may not be aware, if the main issue was applying to benefits that you earned, this would be a welcomed change and things would began looking better for the less than 1% who don those uniforms and mak...

For years now, I have been railing about the mental health services in this country.  My biggest concern is the cost and next is the availability to those who actually need it.  I’ve read several articles and opinions about mental health and many of them say the biggest obstacle is those who need it seeking it and while that does have a scent of truth, it’s more like those who need it don’t know where or have access to it.  I finally decided to just created my own Suicide Prevention page on Facebook to offer any assistance and was content to let it go at that, until my wife sent me this article. It was written by Christie Aschwanden for Health & Science titled “ Military life is stressful on all concerned; efforts to help often fall short” .  The article touches on a number of subjects and is well-written.  It makes points that once seemed only obvious to me.  In it she writes “The military has never been a particularly family-friendly career. (Thu...

According to an article titled “ Iraq Veteran, Now a West Point Professor, Seeks to Rein In Disability Pay “written by Dave Philipps with credit to Nathaniel Brooks for The New York Times, tells us that “Nearly 200 sick and wounded soldiers in a gym at Fort Carson last month listened silently as Lt. Col. Daniel Gade offered a surprising warning: The disability checks designed to help troops like them after they leave the service might actually be harmful.  As he paced back and forth in front of the soldiers, some of them leaning on crutches, Colonel Gade said that too many veterans become financially dependent on those monthly checks, choose not to find jobs and lose the sense of identity and self-worth that can come from work.  “People who stay home because they are getting paid enough to get by on disability are worse off,” he said. “They are more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol. They are more likely to live alone. You’ve seen these guys. And the system is driving you to...

Heard a story about this new bill working its way through Congress called “The Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for America Veterans Act” on the Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC.  This bill calls for independent evaluations of all mental health-care and suicide-prevention programs in VA and the Defense Department, a student loan repayment program that would offer up to $120,000 per year to recruit psychiatrists who commit to working for VA, and a program that would take back unneeded prescription drugs from patients at VA facilities.  Now while all this may sound good and is needed much of it is actually worthless in solving the problem of veteran suicide.  Clay Hunt’s mother said that after he finally got in to see a  psychiatric , he called her and said that he was not going back, the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA)  and other veterans groups believe to solve this problem VA needs more psychiatrist.  Both completely ignoring the fact that mor...

According to an article titled “ VA Moves to Prevent Veteran Violence Over Disability Claims ”  “Veterans Affairs officials want to change when soldiers can view some of their medical records online, fearing veterans could become violent if they see negative comments and think their disability claims will be denied.  Veterans must get a medical exam as part of the process for filing a disability claim for a service-related injury. Within days or weeks of the exam, veterans can see the doctor's forms or notes by using the "Blue Button" on My HealtheVet, the VA's website for health records.  A group of department officials said Monday that they fear veterans could see the notes from the exam, assume from this partial picture that their claim is being denied, and take out their anger on local VA officials. They voiced their safety concerns Monday to members of the department's Advisory Committee on Disability Compensation at their meeting this week in Washington. ...

For some time now, I have been a very vocal critic of the Veteran’s Administration, not because what they refused to do but for the things that they have not done.  With the news today, I may have to re-think my stiff opposition to their procedures and step back enough to see that in many places where I feel they have failed, there are those that they appear to have either taken the lead. Where they appear to have taken the lead is found in this article from the VA Office of Economic Opportunity in which they report that “the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry (UA), who launched the Veterans in Piping (VIP) accelerated welding training program in 2008.  This program, which began in Washington State, trains and certifies Veterans to meet union standards for welding.  The VIP program is truly a grassroots effort comprised of local educational institutions, equipment suppliers, partner contractors, and support from ...

I have said several times and many times when no one seems to wish to wish or even care enough to consider, that PTSD is a factor but it is not the main cause of why so many who are treated for this or other mental issues flip out. The best evidence can be found in an article titled “White House intruder an Iraq war vet with "plenty of firepower" written for CBS News.  Notwithstanding, the title strictly worded to get more people to read it and so very misleading that it ignores the real problem.  The story should not be concerned with how much firepower Gonzalez has or the lack of security around the White House, it should have focused more on the drugs which are being handed out like candy by the legal drug dealers which make mental symptoms worse.  The evidence is there but the main topic of the piece is nowhere near it. The article reports that “The former stepson of a man accused of sneaking into the White House said the Iraq war veteran owns "plenty of fir...

In an article written by Barnini Chakraborty titled “ Sick veterans who served at shuttered, toxic Army base turn to Congress, VA for help” for Foxnews.com you can find out things that many people do not want you to know or seem to care about at all.  Monsanto settled with the city and the civilian population on this subject but for some unknown reason all military personnel was left out.  No one knows and no one has the balls to step up and tell us why, maybe because we were seen as government property and therefore less than human.  Maybe we were still under some contractual agreement that we could not sue the government so that protected Monsanto and those local lawmakers from having to think much about us or maybe it was that those who were in charge was paid handsomely to omit the military.  Either way, you need to read this article and if you have any love for your military, you need to begin calling your member of congress and demanding that they find their ...

It is always been a question as to where all these radical groups who truly hate America came from.  Now the homegrown ones, we know when, how and why they were created but the mystery about foreign haters always perplexed us that are until now. The extreme hatred of this nation can be traced back 31 years beginning with the  Beirut  Bombing when the Honorable Ronald Reagan was in the White House, George H.W. Bush was by his side and Richard (Dick) Cheney was in his ear.  Want proof of what I say, consider this. Prior to October 23 rd , 1983, President  Reagan  had Okayed shelling from the waters of Lebanon villages without discretion.  Killing women and children because he wanted to “teach them a lesson”.  The brains of the administration decided to give those angered by this shelling a target so they sent over Marines to act as peace keepers, tying their hands and making the Rules of Engagement policy so tight tha...

Imagine this, you being told that if you sign on the bottom line, so many benefits will come your way.  You will be able to serve your country and make a decent living too.  You join for the education, medical, dental, housing and the other hundreds of benefits that are said would be earned but for many the service to the country is the real driving force. You spend 2, 3, 4, 6 plus years putting your life on the line or just waiting until they call you into action.  You train from basic and even during your active time for that moment when your unit will get the order to suit up.  You tense up each and every time you hear of any unrest in the world anywhere or you hold your breath as some politicians shoots off their mouths about military intervention.  You serve during or take part in any conflict with hostile forces/countries and you travel the globe to train with other countries military not knowing when you may be called back for real.  You survive...

So many employers contend that they do not have an issue with hiring seniors and in this time of economic struggle no one is being more damaged than seniors and veterans.  To listen to these employers speak, you would think that both sections of society got it really good with all of the different programs available for them.  They would be wrong. It is assumed that the only requirement to take advantage of all those opportunities is age but that would be a misnomer and an outright lie.  Seniors and veterans are limited not only but age but also by experience.  You see, it’s easy to say your support the troops or even support seniors but to actually put that support into actions take a wide range of people who do not take as serious, your personal pledge to do better by these groups. You have your hiring managers whose job is to provide the best possible candidate to their employer and by some mental connection or osmosis connection that they have with that ...

Matthew Daly of the Associated Press penned an article about the Senate and House Committee finally reaching an agreement regarding the emergency bill to help relieve the very large number of veterans waiting on VA doctor’s appointments.  In it he reports “After more than six weeks of sometimes testy talks, House and Senate negotiators have agreed on a compromise plan to fix a veterans health program scandalized by long patient wait times and falsified records covering up delays. The chairmen of the House and Senate Veterans Affairs committees have scheduled a news conference Monday afternoon to unveil a plan expected to authorize billions in emergency spending to lease 27 new clinics, hire more doctors and nurses and make it easier for veterans who can't get prompt appointments with VA doctors to obtain outside care.  Louis Celli, legislative director for the American Legion, the nation's largest veterans group, said the deal would provide crucial help to veterans who have b...

With all of this recent discovery of the trials and tribulations that veterans have to endure daily just to get those benefits that they were promised and those that they earned, one would think that this was just a flux accident and that these occurrences are not as common as many have claimed.  Those that think that way would be gravely mistaken.  For years now, promises made to those who were willing to get up their very lives to keep this country safe have been reigned upon by so many. It is nice to sometimes hear people say to you that they appreciate your service but because of the numerous obstacles and hurdles you have to overcome just to get those benefits you earned makes that saying mute.  It’s not that we are ungrateful for the sentiment but we would like to see more accomplish to make our returning journey home a little bit more easier to make that sentiment mean what those who say it think it does. Maybe the best way to explain this and how it should be...

Yesterday, VA Secretary of State Shinseki offered President Obama his resignation and the president accepted it.  He gave an elegant speech about how disloyal, distrusting and irresponsible the treatment of veterans were.  He apologized to veterans, their families and all of America.  So now I assume, those who screamed for his head can now relax and began looking for something else to scream about because none of those screaming ever made any attempt to help fix the problem. Will the problem ever get fixed?  It will if the firings of those in charge take root and those coming after them know now that the mistreatment of veterans will never be tolerated.  It wills if those further down the line continue to stand up and step up to make known any questionable actions or policies that they believe will lead to the mistreatment of veterans.  It wills if congress stops looking at the letter before the name and start looking at the people behind the name. ...

Listen to those in political office and many others who wish to capture some attention and the one constant is how much they love and respect the troops.  Everyone tends to favor veterans especially when it comes to getting face time in front of a camera but few every go further than that when the lights goes out and the cameras stop rolling.  That is except for the majority of those very same veterans who live by that military code daily.   That military code of leaving no man/woman behind. We have individuals claiming to care about the troops while playing games with their benefits, denying their earn rewards and keeping them from even seeing a doctor.  These same lovers of the military speaks to a veteran about what he/she earned as if the assistance that they are seeking is coming directly out of their very own pockets.  Politicians are quick to smile for the camera along side of a veteran but are now where to be found when it is time to put your m...