Wisconsin Veteran Awaits Word from U.S. Supreme Court

C-54 Aircraft killed veteran's friend, began the VA vendetta
against Keith Roberts

Update: Court shoots down veteran; won't hear case.

Innocent man wrongfully convicted, stripped of PTSD benefits for tenaciously pursuing his disability claim. The U.S. government has $1,000,000s at its disposal to pursue a vendetta; a veteran’s family in northern Wisconsin has his service to our country.

The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to soon announce a decision on whether Navy veteran Keith Roberts's case will be granted cert.

Roberts was targeted by top officials of the U.S. Dept of Veterans Affairs for in the words of the human rights attorney, Scott Horton, "tenaciously pursuing a claim for VA disability benefits," an alleged crime that led to an indictment on wire fraud.

In a bizarre prosecution, Roberts was specifically accused of not knowing his fellow airman, Gary Holland, and exaggerating his efforts to save his fellow airman who was crushed to death by a C-54 aircraft in a Navy air base in Naples, Italy in 1969.

Weak grounds for a federal prosecution? These are the grounds on which the government successfully pursued a prosecution against this honorably discharged Navy veteran who served during a combat era.

Roberts and Holland

Roberts and Holland were both on line duty when Holland was killed, and served together during their time in the Navy:

• Took two weeks-long classes together while stationed together in Memphis, Tennessee in 1968
• Were quartered in the same barracks at Lakehurst, NJ where they also trained together for weeks
• Went into the Naval Air Force base in Naples, Italy together as two young airman
• Slept in close quarters (feet away from each other) while at the base in Naples, Italy
• Worked in the same and only base air hangar together
• Took an advancement test together on the morning of the day Holland was killed on Feb. 4, 1969

Roberts, like everyone else on duty, rushed to save Holland who slowly was being crushed to death by the aircraft in a gruesome scene.

Navy Airman Keith Roberts

Subsequently, Roberts followed the advice of his Veteran’s Service Officer (Shawano County (Wisconsin)) who had determined that Keith Roberts was entitled to an earlier effective date for his diagnosed PTSD.

Roberts is basing his appeal to the Supreme Court on the denial of due process, a long list of administrative law regulations thrown out the window, and an array of misrepresentations made at his trial.

The VA bureaucracy, a hell for many veterans, was the source of outrage for Roberts who reportedly treated the VA like dogs in phone conversations. The VA returned the treatment.

The August 2005 Board of Veterans' Appeals (BVA) decision [page A928] the BVA determined:

Keith Roberts Petition to U.S. Supreme Court

"The evidence cited by the RO (VA Regional Office) (the death certificate) does not refer to the veteran's participation or presence at the time of Gary (Holland's) death. The death certificate, alon, in no way supported the claimed stressor event and was patently inadequate to meet the requirements of Sec. 3.304(f). THE ONLY OTHER EVIDENCE IN SUPPORT OF THE CLAIM WAS THE VETERAN'S OWN UNVERIFIED STATEMENTS WHICH ARE INADEQUATE TO ESTABLISH SERVICE CONNECTION AS A MATTER OF LAW (emphasis and capitalization added)."

Of course. The whole base was on the equivalent of a general quarters alarm, and frantic efforts to save Holland went unnoticed. But a lot of officers were at pains to save their careers.

The BVA's decision raises the question since when is a veteran's unverified statement sufficient to form the basis for a bizarre fraud prosecution, but not sufficient to establish service connection for a claim.

Doesn't this bureaucratic admission constitute a formal waiver of proof that relieves the VA from having to prove the admitted fact and bars the VA from disputing it.

A decision by the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recognizes the weakness of the government argument of the intent of Roberts to allegedly devise a scheme and defraud the VA.

"The record might also have supported a jury determination that Mr. Roberts sincerely believed that his statements were true and that he had no intention to defraud the Government," reads the opinion by Justice Kenneth Ripple. But Ripple notes of the guilty verdict, that, "It is beyond our authority to disturb such a finding on appeal."

The hurdle for an appellate court to overturn the judgement of a jury is high.

At the jury trial, Roberts was faced with knocking down the arguments and investigations of the United States Attorney's office and top VA officials who were determined to get Roberts, as veterans' advocates have said since the inception of the Roberts criminal proceedings.

"[T]he only reason Airman Roberts was ever prosecuted was because he was a ‘belligerent ass’ who kept insisting that he get paid back to discharge. He was demanding an appeal in Washington," said a background source at the Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center in Milwaukee who e-mailed the Lee Rayburn radio show in Madison in early June 2007 about the Roberts affair, and asked to remain anonymous out of fear of losing his job. "I'd have to say that you guys are TOTALLY (uppercase in the original) right about Roberts' conviction being bullshit ... ."

Up to now, the Roberts affair reflects that a veteran can win on the merits (alleged criminal intent for pursuing a disability claim) but still lose on procedure. The U.S. government has two federal agencies and $1,000,000s at its disposal; a veteran's family in northern Wisconsin not so much, except his service to the country.

Obama VA, DoD Hit Stigma Surrounding PTSD and TBI

The symptoms are evident, and the consequences life-long for Veterans and their families

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) has moved away in the last few years from targeting and criticizing servicemembers and veterans suffering from trauma to treating victims of trauma.

Now, the stigma of trauma is diminishing as the DVA and military culture move away from the mindset that trauma is a personal failing, lack of faith in God, a dodge or fraud to a health-centered approach.

Just last year Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli came under heavy criticism from veterans' advocates for his part in treating suicide and trauma in such a manner as to blame the soldier, treating this trauma "as a lack of moral character, and a lack of intestinal fortitude, when it is really a medical issue," as Steve Robinson wrote in August 2010 in reaction to the Army's “Health Promotion, Risk-Reduction and Suicide Prevention Report.”

By Alex Horton

Many active duty folks and Veterans have an impressive sense of history. They can recall specific battles in World War II, name obsolete military equipment from past eras and fondly recall their relative’s own military experience. But we also have a strong sense of the pervasive stereotypes that have haunted Vietnam Vets. Stigmas wrongfully attached to them still carry weight today.

Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli recently spoke on the importance of recognizing post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury as real injuries despite their invisible nature. The symptoms are evident, and the consequences life-long for Veterans and their families:

“The truth is, because we don’t see these injuries…they don’t receive the same level of attention as amputations, burns, shrapnel injuries,” Chiarelli said. “There is simply a bias – and I really mean that — there is a bias either conscious or subconscious toward invisible wounds and injuries…It exists everywhere including in the medical community.”

PTSD and TBI are marks of war, as real and permanent as those mentioned by Gen. Chiarelli. Read up on post-traumatic stress, as well as traumatic brain injury, to determine if you have symptoms associated with those ailments. I know some folks who have waited for years for a diagnosis when they could’ve been in a treatment program. Don’t wait to get help.

Why Are We Throwing Traumatized Vets in Jail for Calling 911?

Joe Bangert is being jailed for doing exactly what he was trained to do: calling for backup when he feels threatened.

Penny Coleman has the story.

Fondy Mourns

Officer Craig Birkholz, 28, shot in Fondy.

A veteran killed himself this morning, it is reported. (Fond du Lac Reporter)

Not before he killed another Fond du Lac veteran, a cop [28-fucking-years-old].

Another fights for his life in critical condition.

The perp killed himself on a cold, rainy Sunday morning.

Shitty world sometimes.

Our thoughts, our best to what holds us together as a community.

Battle Over Science, Money Blocks Widely Recommended TBI Therapy

Pentagon blocks cognitive rehabilitation therapy promoted by health experts in show of foolishness unusual even by DoD standards

From the VA:

Running a very similar version of a story that first appeared on the NPR website, Stars And Stripes (12/21) says that "despite pressure from Congress and the recommendations of military and civilian experts, the Pentagon's health plan for troops and many veterans does not to cover" cognitive rehabilitation therapy -- a "limitation that could affect...tens of thousands of service members who have suffered brain damage while fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan."

While officials with Tricare "say the scientific evidence does not justify providing comprehensive cognitive rehabilitation," an investigation conducted by NPR and ProPublica "found that Tricare officials have privately worried about the high cost of cognitive rehabilitation, which can cost $15,000 to $50,000 per soldier. With tens of thousands of troops and veterans suffering long-term symptoms from head injuries, treatment costs could quickly soar into the hundreds of millions, even billions of dollars - a crippling additional burden on the military's overtaxed medical system."
The NPR(12/21, Miller, Zwerdling) website profiles cognitive rehabilitation therapy provided by "Project Share, a charity to help brain-damaged soldiers." NPR says "providing the kind of care available at Project Share to even the small percentage of brain-damaged soldiers who need it would require a tremendous commitment of time and money from military and veteran medical systems." ProPublica (12/21) runs the same story.
Intrepid Center "Making Difference" In Lives Of Wounded. The American Forces Press Service(12/21, Miles) reports, "When it officially opened its doors in June, the National Intrepid Center of Excellence at the National Naval Medical Center" in Bethesda, Maryland, "set out to provide a new level of care for warfighters suffering traumatic brain injuries and psychological disorders. Six months later," the $65 million center, a "gift from the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund," is "making a difference in the lives of servicemembers struggling to deal with the unseen, signature wounds of war with hopes they can continue their military service."
Researchers Develop Shock Wave Exposure Patch. According to the current edition of the Army Times (12/27, 104K), researchers with the Center for Brain Injury and Repair at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have "created a patch that, when attached to a service member's helmet, can signal exposure to shock waves from a bomb." The researchers "plan to calibrate the color change of the badge to indicate the intensity of the blast so medics will immediately know the potential harm to the brain."
Researcher Suggests "Surge Against Brain Disease" May Be Needed. In an op-ed for the "Congress Blog" of The Hill(12/21, 21K), Dr. Stephen N. Xenakis, who founded a "nonprofit conducting research on brain-related diseases," says an "epidemic" facing the US is the "disabling legacy" that improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and post-traumatic stress disorder have on Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. According to Xenakis, blast "concussions from IEDs contribute to homelessness, suicide, unemployment, fractured families, and weaken the fighting force." Xenakis concludes, "It may be time for the White House to engage in the Surge Against Brain Disease."

Senate Candidate Ron Johnson Runs His 'No-Details' Campaign

By Michael Leon

Amid sporadic and below-the-political-radar Tea Party threats to privatize the U.S. Dept of Veterans Affairs (DVA), Wisconsin Republican-Tea Party Senate candidate Ron Johnson maintains his secret policy specifics to be revealed should he assume office.

Asked what the Department of Veterans Affairs’ responsibility is to homeless veterans, Johnson recently declared that his election campaign is not “about details” such as the welfare of America's 107,000 homeless veterans.

The Wisconsin Senate race is being portrayed nationally as a bellwether election on the strength and political vitality of the Tea Party, and the inclination of the American electorate to stand behind President Obama in the face of near constant, unanimous GOP opposition that is long on talking-point criticism and short on policy initiatives.

Johnson's opponent, Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Middleton, Wisconsin), has stepped up his criticism of Johnson, blasting his GOP opponent for a lack of specifics in their final debate last week.

Feingold now has hit back with a new ad blasting Johnson for maintaining his silence on specific initiatives addressing policy issues.