Is the Legion Getting It on Veterans' Benefits?

I seriously doubt the national American Legion gets much of anything about disability benefits and the claims process, [local posts do a lot of good work, it should be noted].

During decades of lies, unnecessary wars, shreddergate, betrayal and outright legal attack on our veterans, the American Legion as a national entity said: Not word one.

They were part of the problem, and it's no coincidence the Veterans Benefits Administration, embedded VA neocons and its allies prevailed in their objectives to delay, deny and hope you die; or at least go away and shut the hell up.

A loose coalition of veterans and advocates has moved in to push the Veterans Benefits Administration into some sort of action forward.

Ask a veteran how successful we have been because it's obvious we're not there yet.

The services provided by the VA are arguably as bad as ever; stupid wars tend to do that when combined with think tank-inspired imbecilities that veterans just have it too easy now-a-days.

But now the American Legion is beginning to sound vaguely like Veterans for Common Sense, Dan Cedusky's outfit, and activist veteran Mike Bailey, for example.

Here's their press release dated today. One prefers the language and slashing comments we get here from our readers, and it's obvious the Legion is getting their share of it from veterans and rightfully so.

For what it's worth, from the Legion:

American Legion Presses VBA to Improve Work Quality and Timeliness

WASHINGTON, June 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Legion told Congress yesterday that, while the Veterans Benefits Administration has made some recent progress, it believes "there are clearly areas for improvement" in the way VBA processes disability claims for veterans.
"VBA has, to be fair, made many strides forward in recent history, but there are still many areas that must be addressed," said Ian de Planque, deputy director of The American Legion's veterans affairs and rehabilitation division, in his written testimony before a House subcommittee. "VBA struggles with the quality of work and timeliness, not only in the adjudication of claims but also in the implementation of internal regulatory changes and those directed by Congress."

In addition, de Planque said, the accuracy of VBA's work is suffering from the pressures of moving a high volume of disability claims through its own system -- a system that has serious flaws, according to a March 2009 report from the Dept. of Veterans Affairs Office of the Inspector General.

The OIG report found that VBA has been remiss in reviewing and analyzing its own systemic problems: while 20 reviews were planned for the grant/denial rates for veterans' disability claims, only two were conducted. "Furthermore," the report said, "VBA officials did not initiate either of the two planned evaluation reviews to analyze and improve the consistency of disability compensation ratings, and to reduce the variances between states."

"VBA is not following up on their own projected plans for analysis," de Planque told the House Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs. "Regardless of the potential of STAR (Systematic Technical Accuracy Review, introduced in October 1998), if it is not implemented as intended, it cannot hope to be an effective tool for correction. The exertion of outside pressure would seem essential to enforcing the application of the procedures in place."

The American Legion has already proposed three changes that would improve STAR: develop a system to track errors nationwide, use the gathered data to improve training programs, and strengthen the program's effectiveness with independent oversight.

If VBA is, indeed, gathering information on its own errors, "it does not appear to be used in any fashion for analysis to detect trends which could indicate larger, systemic problems," de Planque told the subcommittee, chaired by Rep. John Hall, D-N.Y.

While the OIG report estimated that nearly one-fourth of all claims processed by VBA contained mistakes, de Planque said the error rate at VA regional offices "is even higher," at least among veterans' claims being filed through American Legion service officers.

"During quality-review visits conducted by The American Legion, which encompass a weeklong review of operations in Regional Offices, VBA's error rate often reaches a third of all claims evaluated," he said.

Recent legislation passed by Congress has directed VBA to use measures already in place to expedite the claims process, such as granting interim disability ratings until veterans can submit more supporting documentation. Also -- instead of denying a claim outright -- well-documented health issues can be granted immediately while others that need more data can be deferred for later decisions.

"VBA, however, has been slow in implementing these types of ratings," de Planque said. "All of the good intentions of VA and Congress to improve the system for veterans are for naught if the measures are not implemented."

In his testimony, de Planque highlighted two areas where veterans are still experiencing substantial delays in getting their claims processed: the confirmation of stressorsforpost-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and three new presumptive conditions related to the herbicide Agent Orange: ischemic heart disease, Parkinson's disease, and B-cell leukemia.

De Planque told the subcommittee The American Legion fields dozens of calls every day "from concerned veterans, asking what progress is being made on the final implementation" of VA regulations that must be in place before disability benefits can be awarded for the additional Agent Orange-related diseases.

While veterans qualify for back pay of benefits once VBA decides in their favor, de Planque reminded the subcommittee that veterans must also wait for the health care to treat their conditions.

"The effects of heart disease and Parkinson's, when untreated, can be devastating. VA must act to move forward on this and grant these deserving veterans their claims with all due haste so they can receive the preventive health care they are entitled to," de Planque said. "The time for delays has long since passed, and this must be a priority for resolution, with no more obstacles thrown in the way of these veterans."

But VBA is making some progress, de Planque said, noting that nearly 40 pilot programs are being conducted, most of them aimed at improving operations of the benefits system. American Legion officials have observed several of the programs and gave them positive evaluations, according to de Planque.

The American Legion testimony's main theme was that VBA needs to pay greater attention to detail in processing disability claims for veterans who have earned their benefits through honorable service in the military.

De Planque told the committee that "quick fixes" made by VBA in correcting its errors on claims "are fixes that not only save the veteran years of delays, they save [VBA] years of work. Get it done right the first time and there is no need to clog the system with second, third and fourth times."

SOURCE The American Legion

The Fallen and the Living

Updated - Saluting Veterans for Common Sense

The Wisconsin State Journal ran my response to an article by national Associated Press writer Allen Breed this month disparaging veterans' disability benefits.

The benefits system is so veteran-friendly that Breed mocks it as "an open invitation to fraud," an absurd insult to our veterans.

One wonders if neocons like Breed still really believe what they write.

A thank you to the State Journal's editorial staff on this Memorial Day weekend, honoring the fallen and those who survived as we thank the families and veterans always.

Pictured above is a shot from a Marine friend in China Beach, 1969. Makes me laugh.

But like most of the young sent off to war for lies, this dude did not come home the same guy who left. So, have a happy Memorial Day weekend and a cold Pabst Blue Ribbon or anything else brewed in Wisconsin.

PTSD Continues as Veteran Bashing Grows

by Michael Leon

As the political fallout continues over Allen Breed's AP hit job published over the weekend asserting that U.S. veterans and reformist DVA elements effectively colluding to commit widespread fraud, we note that blaming veterans for illness and injury has a long tradition.

There is a wide political coalition of forces in American politics of several parties who are proficient at waving the flag and giving lip service to our veterans, while simultaneously shafting these very same veterans, even going to far as to bad mouth and dishonor them explicitly.

This obscene veteran-bashing tradition applies emphatically to Vietnam War-era veterans, many of whom U.S. Census enumerators count this year as they encounter them with non-permanent residences, living in non-sheltered areas, i.e., homeless.

To put it a different way, membership in the Republican and Democratic parties means nothing when it comes to veterans' advocacy. A Texas libertarian like Tom Dillman of the Veterans Today's community supports veterans every bit as much as our lefties here, though we agree about little else.

Veterans Today and mal contends will have more on this story in the following days.

[VT Senior Editor and General Manager's Note: Veterans Today's managing editor and staff writer, Mike Leon, broke the story on Wisconsin Navy veteran Keith Roberts and has done much of the original reporting identifying the nexus of veterans, the U.S. Attorneys Scandal and ideological antipathy toward delivering benefits to veterans generally. Leon says, "Roberts is the tip of a very deep iceberg composed of some cold characters, one of those characters is Renée L. Szybala, the Bush administration's national DVA Director of Compensation and Pension Services during the DVA targeting of Roberts." Szybala is number two at the U.S. VA Office of General Counsel (OGC) in charge of the Ethics office. Mike Bailey, Veterans Today staff writer, veteran of the Vietnam War Era, Gulf War One, U.S. Army, Infantry, SSG, and Operation Desert Storm Medical volunteer Edgewood Arsenal 1974 (Cold War Experiments), has reportedly told a VT colleague that he promised not to drop dead after hearing that Szybala is still at the VA and is number two at OGC Ethics.]

Paul Sullivan's people over at Veterans for Common Sense have a piece knocking down Allen Breed's AP article and it is printed below in its entirety.

Veterans for Common Sense (VCS) was formed in August 2002 as a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization by war veterans who believe that we, the people of the United States of America, are most secure when our country is free, strong, and responsibly engaged with the world. Our mission, based on the pragmatic ideals of the American patriot Thomas Paine, is to raise the unique and powerful voices of veterans so that our military, veterans, freedom, and national security are protected and enhanced, for ourselves and for future generations.

PTSD Is Real, PTSD Fraud Is Not
Written by VCS
May 3, 2010, Washington, DC (VCS) - Last weekend, the Associated Press printed an incomplete and inaccurate article about veterans who file disability claims against the Veterans Affairs Department (VA) for post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The AP wrote, “The problem: The [VA claims] system is dysfunctional, an open invitation to fraud. And the VA has proposed changes that could make deception even easier.”The AP is wrong, and VCS asked AP to correct the story.

Here are two very important facts the AP overlooked. If AP had included these two facts, then readers would understand more about VA and veterans suffering with PTSD after deploying to the brutal Iraq and Afghanistan wars, sometimes two or three times.

Fact Number One. There is no widespread fraud problem at VA. Out of more than one million claims per year, less than a score are ever investigated for fraud.Furthermore, in November 2005, VA auditors randomly selected 2,100 PTSD claims. After an exhaustive investigation, VA found zero cases of fraud. VA has extensive methods to prevent fraud, contrary to AP's baseless assertion.

VA’s investigation began when a reporter at the Chicago Sun Times observed that VA pays different average amounts in disability benefits based on a state-by-state comparison. The true culprit: poor leadership, staff shortages, and a lack of consistent training. VA Secretary Shinseki is taking bold steps to address these challenges, and he has broad support among veterans’ groups.

A few people opposed to healthcare and benefits for our veterans have attacked PTSD in the past. VA Watchdog wrote an op-ed about this, and Boston Review published a news article.

The AP article was a disservice to veterans as it may perpetuate stereotypes of veterans with PTSD as frauds, when the science shows they are not. At VCS we encourage our veterans with PTSD symptoms to seek care from VA. They may have to wait and wade through red tape, yet we are working hard to fix that, too.

Fact Number Two. The standards for reviewing PTSD claims won’t be “loosened” as AP asserted without attribution.

VA and independent scientists overwhelmingly agree, the diagnosis of PTSD is very real. Our goal at VCS is for the scientific evidence to match VA’s rules for obtaining disability benefits and healthcare.

Here’s what independent scientists found. In 2007 the Institute of Medicine at the National Academy of Science reviewed scores of peer-reviewed and published scientific studies and validated PTSD. In VCS July 2007 Congressional Testimony describing how the previous Administration fought against PTSD healthcare and benefits for our veterans.

PTSD is a very real and very serious problem increasing in scope the longer the current wars continue. The scientific challenges understanding PTSD are similar to the many years scientists and VA took to recognize disabilities associated with Agent Orange / dioxin poisoning among Vietnam War veterans. Science is now catching up.

This important regulatory victory for veterans, based on decades of peer-reviewed, published scientific research, represents a bold, pro-veteran improvement by VA Secretary Erik Shinseki to open the doors for benefits and treatment to hundreds of thousands of deserving veterans suffering years or decades with PTSD who earned and who need VA assistance.

In our view, PTSD is real, and charges of PTSD fraud are not.

Veterans Court Orders VA Info in Jailed Vet Case

As Wisconsin Navy veteran Keith Roberts fights for his innocence in veterans’ court, the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC), a development in the case may signal a heightened scrutiny on allegations that the Dept of Veterans Affairs (DVA) bypassed laws and regulations to target Roberts in a coordinated hostile act.

Last week, the Court in Keith A. Roberts v. Eric K. Shinseki (05-2425) announced that it:

has determined that additional information from the [DVA] Secretary would be helpful to the Court's resolution of this appeal. The Secretary will describe the procedures, practices and polices used for severing service connection of protected ratings due to fraud in effect at the time of the August 2005 Board decision and the date those procedures, policies and practices were implemented. Additionally, the Secretary will provide the Court with any materials that support these procedures and any associated policies or practices, such as VA General Counsel Opinions, VA Manuals, Chairman of the Board Memoranda, VA Fast Letters, Directives, Circulars, or any training materials.

From July 29, 2009:

The Court is hearing the 13-years-long claim of Keith Roberts, an innocent Vietnam-era, Navy veteran wrongfully jailed through a George W. Bush DOJ prosecution after he was targeted by the U.S. Dept of Veterans Affairs (DVA) for “tenaciously pursuing a claim for benefits” and his whistle-blowing accusations that the VA was fraudulently altering his C-file.

The en banc (full) hearing before CAVC, the national veterans court, will consider issues raised by Roberts including the imperative of the DVA to follow administrative rules and protect veterans' due process, and the mandate of the DVA to avoid a general adversarial posture towards veterans.Roberts was convicted of wire fraud in 2007 after U.S. Atty Stephen Biskupic's office had convinced a jury that Roberts and a deceased Navy airman (Gary Holland)--who was crushed to death by a C-54 aircraft at an airbase in Naples, Italy--were not friends though the two men had parallel service histories.

Not being friends and exaggerating his efforts to rescue his fellow airman; this does not seem just cause for a prosecution.

Most any veteran would tell you when the airbase equivalent of a general quarters alarm sounds, any man or woman on line duty would not ignore the alarm as is the U.S. government's official position in this perhaps most ludicrous case in DVA history.

Reads Roberts CAVC brief:

Employees of the Department [DVA] have failed to follow the requirements of the laws and regulations mandated for fraud determinations relevant to veterans. The violations of due process in this case are too numerous to list. Because the conduct of the employees of the agency have been so extreme in this case, the remedy should be extraordinary. The Court should make clear that the requirements found in [U.S. Code and federal regulations] ... are mandatory, not advisory.

An affirmative decision by CAVC may affirm that the argument made by veterans in the class action law suit by veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars that the DVA must perform its Congressionally mandated function to serve veterans.

Roberts has been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) by several private and public medical professionals, but again this documented medical condition is insufficient to establish his innocence of fraudulently receiving benefits.

Contra the government's case, writes Scott Horton in Harpers Magazine (Sept 7, 2007), "The prosecution smacks of retaliation and a plan to suppress veterans claims—Roberts was prosecuted for tenaciously pursuing a claim for benefits, which VA resisted and which is still in the benefits review process."

On appeal, Roberts' criminal conviction for wire fraud was upheld last year with the Court opinion reading in part: "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. It is beyond our authority to disturb such a finding on appeal."

Writes James W. Ervin, stationed in Naples with Roberts, who supports Roberts' version of the circumstances in Italy that Roberts has for decades asserted was a Navy cover-up that resulted in a friend's death:

I was stationed @ NAF Naoles, Italy at the time of this 'incident,' July 1968 thru Nov.1969 . I also remember the young sailor be trapped / crushed up inside the wheel well (nose) of the aircraft inside the hangar of NAF naples, Italy. I do remember someone wanting to drive a forklift into the side of the aircraft; but an officer or someone of authority would not let them do that....so what they did was have men climb up into the plane & go to the rear of the plane to put weight in the rear of the plane to let the nose come up to release the trapped sailor. Unfortuately that process was too slow to save the sailor from death. I also remember taking photographs of the 'Pin' that was in the nose gear at the time. I remember it as being a homemade looking pin without a locking clip to keep it from being removed without unlocking the device. As for the names of the people involved , I don't remember ; but there definitely was someone there who wanted to use the foek lift to rescue the sailor from the collapsed nose wheel and was ordered NOT to use the fork lift.

But Ervin was not heard at trial so Roberts sits in prison.Roberts was an early whistle blower in the shreddergate veterans scandal, accusing the Milwaukee VA Regional Office of destroying documents in his file and engaging in fraud as the VA was in the process of determining the date from which his retroactive disability pay was to become effective.Roberts, of Gillett, Wisconsin, sought a new retroactive date per the advice of his Shawano County (Wisconsin) Veteran’s Service Officer.

Anger and frustration with the VA drove Keith Roberts to phone the VA Inspector General’s regional office at Hines, Illinois in November 2003 to complain.Roberts spoke with one VA Special Agent Raymond Vasil.

When he accused the VA of outright fraud in November 2003, Vasil retaliated against this Vietnam-era who had reportedly become a pain to the VA regional office.Several VA e-mails point to top officials in the VA engineering a criminal prosecution while gaming the veteran’s VA benefits adjudication, and subsequently putatively financially assaulting the veteran’s family. Roberts is but one victim of a stacked-against-the-veteran benefits system that was the subject of an that found as fact benefits-hostile practices at the VA.

Exercising an utter lack of prosecutorial discretion, the U.S. Atty after prodding from U.S. Dept of Veterans Affairs (VA) officials began the bizarre prosecution that drew immediate fire from veterans’ groups, such as Colonel Daniel K. Cedusky’s, AUS, (Ret.) and the American Legion.

Adding insult to injury, the VA also began immediate collection actions against the veteran and his two young daughters who had received education benefits related to their father’s service in the Navy, though Roberts' claim is still pending to this day at CAVC.

What prompted the U.S. Atty’s office was a puzzle to many readers who have followed the case of Roberts who has been serving 48 months in a federal prison since 2007, as well as incurring associated costs of some $500,000.

But Keith Roberts was indisputably a major political and legal target of the VA that retaliated against this veteran for seeking retroactive PTSD-related disability benefits and calling out the VA on altering his C-file, a practice that was found to occur in 41 of the 57 VA field offices which have now adopted new procedures to preserve records such as what Roberts complained about in November 2003.

Revealing the Alice-in-Wonderland nature of the case is the fact that if Roberts claim is affirmed by CAVC, Roberts will have been found guilty of receiving benefits which he was found to be entitled.

In August 2005, the DVA, taking its cue from the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) had announced plans to review 72,000 PTSD cases with a 100 percent disability ratings like Roberts’.But a torrent of criticism by veterans’ groups and Democrats forced the Bush administration to back down.

On August 10, 2005 then Sen. Barrack Obama (D-IL) blasted the administration in a letter to then VA Secretary Nicholson:

In order to truly create fairness in the claims system, the VA should concentrate its efforts on reviewing denials of PTSD claims. Without assessing why some PTSD claims are denied, it will be impossible to fully understand how the VA’s PTSD rating system can be improved.

The process of gathering evidence to prove PTSD disability is extremely time-consuming. It requires the compilation of medical records, military service records, and testimonies from other veterans who can attest to a person’s combat exposure. I cannot fathom why the VA would require veterans to go through this emotionally painful process a second time.

Roberts became a target. Now many veterans' advocates are optimistic that under President Obama a change will come in how the DVA treats its veterans in the face of a hostile and selfish entrenched bureaucracy. There is now a political will from the administration to respect veterans.

For now the DVA claims process can be so frustrating that many vets (especially those suffering from PTSD) are thrown into fits of rage directed at the DVA itself, with nothing less that a sordid history, including such scandals demeaning veterans for seeking help with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in this “culture of trauma.” The Pentagon at one point even blamed veterans “personality disorders” and lack of faith in God for veterans suffering after service.Concludes the Roberts brief filed at CAVC:

The Court should craft a remedy for Mr. Roberts which orders the Secretary to restore to the Appellant his full panoply of V.A. benefits Nunc Pro Tunc [now for then, meaning retroactive restoration dating back to a point prior to the DVA's crusade against Roberts] to November 1, 2004, regardless of 38 C.F.R. § 3.665. His daughters should have their educational benefits restored and all collection activity against the Appellant and his family should cease. Roberts will still languish in prison, but will have some vindication and hope for an early release based on the order of this Court.

See also:
- VA Document Contradicts US Atty in Jailed Vet Case
- Weakening US Criminal Case, VA Turns Down Jailed Wisc Vet’s PTSD claim
- Jailed Wisconsin Veteran Sent to Solitary Confinement, Seeks Help
- DVA Attacks Veteran
- National DVA Director Pushed US Atty Biskupic to Indict Wisconsin ...

Jailed Vet's Case Heard by Top Veterans Court

Update: Listen to Wisconsin Public Radio's Veteran fights for his innocence by Gil Halstad.

Today the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC) is hearing the 13-years-long claim of Keith Roberts, an innocent Vietnam-era, Navy veteran wrongfully jailed through a George W. Bush DOJ prosecution after he was targeted by the U.S. Dept of Veterans Affairs (DVA) for “tenaciously pursuing a claim for benefits” and his whistle-blowing accusations that the VA was fraudulently altering his C-file.

The en banc (full) hearing before CAVC, the national veterans court, will consider issues raised by Roberts including the imperative of the DVA to follow administrative rules and protect veterans' due process, and the mandate of the DVA to avoid a general adversarial posture towards veterans.

Roberts was convicted of wire fraud in 2007 after U.S. Atty Stephen Biskupic's office had convinced a jury that Roberts and a deceased Navy airman (Gary Holland)--who was crushed to death by a C-54 aircraft at an airbase in Naples, Italy--were not friends though the two men had parallel service histories. Not being friends and exaggerating his efforts to rescue his fellow airman; this does not seem: Just cause.

Most any veteran would tell you when the airbase equivalent of a general quarters alarm sounds, any man or woman on line duty would not ignore the alarm as is the U.S. government's official position in this perhaps most ludicrous case in DVA history.

Reads Roberts CAVC brief:

Employees of the Department [DVA] have failed to follow the requirements of the laws and regulations mandated for fraud determinations relevant to veterans. The violations of due process in this case are too numerous to list. Because the conduct of the employees of the agency have been so extreme in this case, the remedy should be extraordinary. The Court should make clear that the requirements found in [U.S. Code and federal regulations] ... are mandatory, not advisory.

An affirmative decision by CAVC may affirm that the argument made by veterans in the class action law suit by veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars that the DVA must perform its Congressionally mandated function to serve veterans.

Roberts has been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) by several private and public medical professionals, but again this documented medical condition is insufficient to establish his innocence of fraudulently receiving benefits.

Contra the government's case, writes Scott Horton in Harpers Magazine (Sept 7, 2007), "The prosecution smacks of retaliation and a plan to suppress veterans claims—Roberts was prosecuted for tenaciously pursuing a claim for benefits, which VA resisted and which is still in the benefits review process."

On appeal, Roberts' criminal conviction for wire fraud was upheld last year with the Court opinion reading in part:

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. It is beyond our authority to disturb such a finding on appeal.VA Shreds

Writes James W. Ervin, stationed in Naples with Roberts, who supports Roberts' version of the circumstances in Italy that Roberts has for decades asserted was a Navy cover-up that resulted in a friend's death:

I was stationed @ NAF Naoles, Italy at the time of this 'incident,' July 1968 thru Nov.1969 . I also remember the young sailor be trapped / crushed up inside the wheel well (nose) of the aircraft inside the hangar of NAF naples, Italy. I do remember someone wanting to drive a forklift into the side of the aircraft ; but an officer or someone of authority would not let them do that....so what they did was have men climb up into the plane & go to the rear of the plane to put weight in the rear of the plane to let the nose come up to release the trapped sailor. Unfortuately that process was too slow to save the sailor from death. I also remember taking photographs of the 'Pin' that was in the nose gear at the time. I remember it as being a homemade looking pin without a locking clip to keep it from being removed without unlocking the device. As for the names of the people involved , I don't remember ; but there definitely was someone there who wanted to use the foek lift to rescue the sailor from the collapsed nose wheel and was ordered NOT to use the fork lift.

But Ervin was not heard at trial so Roberts sits in prison.

Roberts was an early whistle blower in the shreddergate veterans scandal, accusing the Milwaukee VA Regional Office of destroying documents in his file and engaging in fraud as the VA was in the process of determining the date from which his retroactive disability pay was to become effective.

Roberts, of Gillett, Wisconsin, sought a new retroactive date per the advice of his Shawano County (Wisconsin) Veteran’s Service Officer.

Anger and frustration with the VA drove Keith Roberts to phone the VA Inspector General’s regional office at Hines, Illinois in November 2003 to complain.Roberts spoke with one VA Special Agent Raymond Vasil.

When he accused the VA of outright fraud in November 2003, Vasil retaliated against this Vietnam-era who had reportedly become a pain to the VA regional office.Several VA e-mails point to top officials in the VA engineering a criminal prosecution while gaming the veteran’s VA benefits adjudication, and subsequently putatively financially assaulting the veteran’s family.Roberts is but one victim of a stacked-against-the-veteran benefits system that was the subject of an that found as fact benefits-hostile practices at the VA.

Exercising an utter lack of prosecutorial discretion, the U.S. Atty after prodding from U.S. Dept of Veterans Affairs (VA) officials began the bizarre prosecution that drew immediate fire from veterans’ groups, such as Colonel Daniel K. Cedusky’s, AUS, (Ret.) and the American Legion.

Adding insult to injury, the VA also began immediate collection actions against the veteran and his two young daughters who had received education benefits related to their father’s service in the Navy, though Roberts' claim is still pending to this day at CAVC.What prompted the U.S. Atty’s office was a puzzle to many readers who have followed the case of Roberts who has been serving 48 months in a federal prison since 2007, as well as incurring associated costs of some $500,000.

But Keith Roberts was indisputably a major political and legal target of the VA that retaliated against this veteran for seeking retroactive PTSD-related disability benefits and calling out the VA on altering his C-file, a practice that was found to occur in 41 of the 57 VA field offices which have now adopted new procedures to preserve records such as what Roberts complained about in November 2003.

Revealing the Alice-in-Wonderland nature of the case is the fact that if Roberts claim is affirmed by CAVC, Roberts will have been found guilty of receiving benefits which he was found to be entitled.

In August 2005, the DVA, taking its cue from the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) had announced plans to review 72,000 PTSD cases with a 100 percent disability ratings like Roberts’.But a torrent of criticism by veterans’ groups and Democrats forced the Bush administration to back down. On August 10, 2005 then Sen. Barrack Obama (D-IL) blasted the administration in a letter to then VA Secretary Nicholson:

In order to truly create fairness in the claims system, the VA should concentrate its efforts on reviewing denials of PTSD claims. Without assessing why some PTSD claims are denied, it will be impossible to fully understand how the VA’s PTSD rating system can be improved.The process of gathering evidence to prove PTSD disability is extremely time-consuming. It requires the compilation of medical records, military service records, and testimonies from other veterans who can attest to a person’s combat exposure. I cannot fathom why the VA would require veterans to go through this emotionally painful process a second time.

Roberts became a target. Now many veterans' advocates are optimistic that under President Obama a change will come in how the DVA treats its veterans in the face of a hostile and selfish entrenched bureaucracy. There is now a political will from the administration to respect veterans.

For now the DVA claims process can be so frustrating that many vets (especially those suffering from PTSD) are thrown into fits of rage directed at the DVA itself, with nothing less that a sordid history, including such scandals demeaning veterans for seeking help with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in this “culture of trauma.” The Pentagon at one point even blamed veterans “personality disorders” and lack of faith in God for veterans suffering after service.

Concludes the Roberts brief filed at CAVC:

The Court should craft a remedy for Mr. Roberts which orders the Secretary to restore to the Appellant his full panoply of V.A. benefits Nunc Pro Tunc [now for then, meaning retroactive restoration dating back to a point prior to the DVA's crusade against Roberts] to November 1, 2004, regardless of 38 C.F.R. § 3.665. His daughters should have their educational benefits restored and all collection activity against the Appellant and his family should cease. Roberts will still languish in prison, but will have some vindication and hope for an early release based on the order of this Court.

See also:
- VA Document Contradicts US Atty in Jailed Vet Case
- Weakening us criminal case, VA turns down jailed Wisc vet’s PTSD claim
- Jailed Wisconsin Veteran Sent to Solitary Confinement, Seeks Help
- DVA Attacks Veteran
- National DVA Director Pushed US Atty Biskupic to Indict Wisconsin ...

Support Veterans Always

"They were careless people, Tom and Daisy. ... They smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made."

- F. Scott Fitzgerald in The Great Gatsby (1925), condemning hubris and disrespect -

Were he alive today, Fitzgerald could be describing the Department of Justice and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) under George W. Bush. For that matter all the warmakers and chickenhawks who turn their backs on the people who fight these ridiculous wars.

Those two are for us to clean up now.

This Independence Day weekend is dedicated to jailed Wisconsin veteran Keith Roberts, and the Vietnam-era veterans that the American rightwing to this day treats like dirt.

Roberts is an honorably discharged Vietnam-era veteran jailed and effectively fined some $500,000 because he blew the whistle on fraud committed against his veteran's Claim File and insisted on getting his disability benefits paid back to his date of discharge.

Not a popular thing to do under the reckless Bush-led VA and the Bush DOJ that had morphed into hostile, uncaring creatures.

Now, cautious optimism defines the feeling among supporters of jailed veteran Keith Roberts.

Optimism because Keith Roberts—an innocent Vietnam-era veteran wrongfully jailed through a Bush DOJ prosecution—has been granted a rare en banc hearing before seven members of the national veterans court, the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC), for the appeal of his 13-years-long claim. Recently scheduled oral arguments are set for July 29.

Anxiety because Roberts, who was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) after seeing his friend, Gary Holland, crushed to death by a C-54 aircraft, and his family were relentlessly pursued by the Bush Department of Justice and Dept of Veterans Affairs (VA) for Roberts’ “tenaciously pursuing a claim for benefits” and Roberts' whistle-blowing accusations that the VA was fraudulently altering his C-file, records containing documents related to his VA claims.

U.S. Atty Stephen Biskupic's office had convinced a jury that Roberts and a deceased Navy airman (Gary Holland) were not friends. That was the basis for the prosecution along with the allegation that Roberts exaggerated his efforts to save Holland, which constituted wire fraud for which he was convicted in November 2006 by a jury in northern Wisconsin.Roberts was on line duty at a Naval base in Naples, Italy on February 5, 1969 at the time that Holland was crushed to death by the aircraft.The two men had parallel service histories that would make it unlikely that Holland and Roberts were not at least friendly in their relationship, and that contradicts the prosecution’s indictment and trial statements.

Writes Scott Horton in Harpers Magazine (Sept 7, 2007):

The prosecution smacks of retaliation and a plan to suppress veterans claims—Roberts was prosecuted for tenaciously pursuing a claim for benefits, which VA resisted and which is still in the benefits review process.

On appeal, Roberts' criminal conviction for wire fraud was upheld last year with the Court opinion reading in part:

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. It is beyond our authority to disturb such a finding on appeal.

VA Shreds Veterans

Roberts was an early whistle blower in the shreddergate veterans scandal, accusing the Milwaukee VA Regional Office of destroying documents in his file and engaging in fraud as the VA was in the process of determining the date from which his retroactive disability pay was to become effective.Roberts, of Gillett, Wisconsin, sought a new retroactive date per the advice of his Shawano County (Wisconsin) Veteran’s Service Officer.

Anger and frustration with the VA drove Keith Roberts to phone the VA Inspector General’s regional office at Hines, Illinois in November 2003 to complain.

Roberts spoke with one VA Special Agent Raymond Vasil.When he accused the VA of outright fraud in November 2003, Vasil retaliated against this Vietnam-era who had reportedly become a pain to the VA regional office.Several VA e-mails point to top officials in the VA engineering a criminal prosecution while gaming the veteran’s VA benefits adjudication, and subsequently putatively financially assaulting the veteran’s family.

Roberts is but one victim of a stacked-against-the-veteran benefits system that was the subject of an unprecedented class action law suit by veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars that found as fact benefits-hostile practices at the VA.Exercising an utter lack of prosecutorial discretion, the U.S. Atty after prodding from U.S. Dept of Veterans Affairs (VA) officials began the bizarre prosecution that drew immediate fire from veterans’ groups, such as Colonel Daniel K. Cedusky’s, AUS, (Ret.) and the American Legion.

Adding insult to injury, the VA also began immediate collection actions against the veteran and his two young daughters who had received education benefits related to their father’s service in the Navy, though Roberts' claim is still pending to this day at CAVC.What prompted the U.S. Atty’s office was a puzzle to many readers who have followed the case of Roberts who has been serving 48 months in a federal prison since 2007, as well as incurring associated costs of some $500,000.

But Keith Roberts was indisputably a major political and legal target of the VA that retaliated against this veteran for seeking retroactive PTSD-related disability benefits and calling out the VA on altering his C-file, a practice that was found to occur in 41 of the 57 VA field offices which have now adopted new procedures to preserve records such as what Roberts complained about in November 2003.

Politicalization under Bush

Revealing the Alice-in-Wonderland nature of the case is the fact that if Roberts claim is affirmed by CAVC, Roberts will have been found guilty of receiving benefits which he was found to be entitled.

In August 2005, the VA announced plans to review 72,000 PTSD cases with a 100 percent disability ratings like Roberts’.

But a torrent of criticism by veterans’ groups and Democrats forced the Bush administration to back down.

On August 10, 2005 Sen. Barrack Obama (D-IL) blasted the administration in a letter to then VA Secretary Nicholson.

In order to truly create fairness in the claims system, the VA should concentrate its efforts on reviewing denials of PTSD claims. Without assessing why some PTSD claims are denied, it will be impossible to fully understand how the VA’s PTSD rating system can be improved.

The process of gathering evidence to prove PTSD disability is extremely time-consuming. It requires the compilation of medical records, military service records, and testimonies from other veterans who can attest to a person’s combat exposure. I cannot fathom why the VA would require veterans to go through this emotionally painful process a second time.

Now many veterans' advocates are optimistic that under President Obama a change will come in how the VA treats its veterans in the face of a hostile and selfish entrenched bureaucracy.

There is now a political will from the administration to respect veterans.

There are plenty of candidates for condemnation in this affair where the environment persists that agencies of the U.S. government usurped by the Bush administration lacking in conscience and public accountability, politicized virtually every agency in sight, including former U.S. Atty Biskupic’s office.

- Special Agent Raymond Vasil of the regional VA Inspector General’s office [“A cop Vasil is not, just an idiot with a badge,” said one veteran assisting Roberts] who lied to and vocally mocked Roberts while flying around the country fabricating a case against Roberts.

- The VA benefits process that systemically wears down veterans with the apparent intention of inducing them to give up their fight for benefits [this process is being adjudicated in the unprecedented class action suit by veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan.] In fact, the VA claims process can be so frustrating that many vets (especially those suffering from PTSD) are thrown into fits of rage directed at the VA itself.

- The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) that demeans veterans for seeking help with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in this “culture of trauma”·

- The Pentagon that blames veterans “personality disorders” and lack of faith in God for veterans suffering after service.

But veterans advocates and Roberts' many supporters remain optimistic.

See also:

- Weakening us criminal case, VA turns down jailed Wisc vet’s PTSD claim
- Jailed Wisconsin Veteran Sent to Solitary Confinement, Seeks Help
- VA attacks veteran
- National VA Director Pushed US Atty Biskupic to Indict Wisconsin ...

Rare Hearing for VA Claim by Jailed Wisconsin Veteran

Cautious optimism defines the feeling among supporters of jailed veteran Keith Roberts.

Optimism because Keith Roberts—an innocent Vietnam-era veteran wrongfully jailed through a Bush DOJ prosecution—has been granted a rare en banc hearing before seven members of the national veterans court, the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC), for the appeal of his 12-years-long claim.

Anxiety because Roberts, who was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) after seeing his friend, Gary Holland, crushed to death by a C-54 aircraft, and his family were relentlessly pursued by the Bush Department of Justice and Dept of Veterans Affairs (VA) for Roberts’ “tenaciously pursuing a claim for benefits” and Roberts' whistle-blowing accusations that the VA was fraudulently altering his C-file, records containing documents related to his VA claims.

U.S. Atty Stephen Biskupic's office had convinced a jury that Roberts and a deceased Navy airman (Gary Holland) were not friends. That was the basis for the prosecution along with the allegation that Roberts exaggerated his efforts to save Holland, which constituted wire fraud for which he was convicted in November 2006 by a jury in northern Wisconsin.

Roberts was on line duty at a Naval base in Naples, Italy on February 5, 1969 at the time that Holland was crushed to death by the aircraft.

The two men had parallel service histories that would make it unlikely that Holland and Roberts were not at least friendly in their relationship, and that contradicts the prosecution’s indictment and trial statements.

Writes Scott Horton in Harpers Magazine (Sept 7, 2007):

The prosecution smacks of retaliation and a plan to suppress veterans claims—Roberts was prosecuted for tenaciously pursuing a claim for benefits, which VA resisted and which is still in the benefits review process.

On appeal, Roberts' criminal conviction for wire fraud was upheld last year with the Court opinion reading in part:

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. It is beyond our authority to disturb such a finding on appeal.

VA Shreds Veterans

Roberts was an early whistle blower in the shreddergate veterans scandal, accusing the Milwaukee VA Regional Office of destroying documents in his file and engaging in fraud as the VA was in the process of determining the date from which his retroactive disability pay was to become effective.

Roberts, of Gillett, Wisconsin, sought a new retroactive date per the advice of his Shawano County (Wisconsin) Veteran’s Service Officer.

Anger and frustration with the VA drove Keith Roberts to phone the VA Inspector General’s regional office at Hines, Illinois in November 2003 to complain.

Roberts spoke with one VA Special Agent Raymond Vasil.

When he accused the VA of outright fraud in November 2003, Vasil retaliated against this Vietnam-era who had reportedly become a pain to the VA regional office.

Several VA e-mails point to top officials in the VA engineering a criminal prosecution while gaming the veteran’s VA benefits adjudication, and subsequently putatively financially assaulting the veteran’s family.

Roberts is but one victim of a stacked-against-the-veteran benefits system that was the subject of an unprecedented class action law suit by veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars that found as fact benefits-hostile practices at the VA.

Exercising an utter lack of prosecutorial discretion, the U.S. Atty after prodding from U.S. Dept of Veterans Affairs (VA) officials began the bizarre prosecution that drew immediate fire from veterans’ groups, such as Colonel Daniel K. Cedusky’s, AUS, (Ret.) and the American Legion.

Adding insult to injury, the VA also began collection actions against the veteran and his two young daughters who had received education benefits related to their father’s service in the Navy, though Roberts' claim is still pending to this day at CAVC.

What prompted the U.S. Atty’s office was a puzzle to many readers who have followed the case of Roberts who has been serving 48 months in a federal prison since 2007, as well as incurring associated costs of some $500,000.

But Keith Roberts was indisputably a major political and legal target of the VA that retaliated against this veteran for seeking retroactive PTSD-related disability benefits and calling out the VA on altering his C-file, a practice that was found to occur in 41 of the 57 VA field offices which have now adopted new procedures to preserve records such as what Roberts complained about in November 2003.

Politicalization under Bush

Revealing the Alice-in-Wonderland nature of the case is the fact that if Roberts claim is affirmed by CAVC, Roberts will have been found guilty of receiving benefits to which he was found to be entitled.

In August 2005, the VA announced plans to review 72,000 PTSD cases with a 100 percent disability ratings like Roberts’.

But a torrent of criticism by veterans’ groups and Democrats forced the Bush administration to back down.

On August 10, 2005 Sen. Barrack Obama (D-IL) blasted the administration in a letter to then VA Secretary Nicholson

In order to truly create fairness in the claims system, the VA should concentrate its efforts on reviewing denials of PTSD claims. Without assessing why some PTSD claims are denied, it will be impossible to fully understand how the VA’s PTSD rating system can be improved.

The process of gathering evidence to prove PTSD disability is extremely time-consuming. It requires the compilation of medical records, military service records, and testimonies from other veterans who can attest to a person’s combat exposure. I cannot fathom why the VA would require veterans to go through this emotionally painful process a second time.

Now many veterans' advocates are optimistic that under President Obama a change will come in how the VA treats its veterans in the face of a hostile and selfish entrenched bureaucracy.

There is now a political will from the administration to respect veterans.

There are plenty of candidates for condemnation in this affair where the environment persists that agencies of the U.S. government usurped by the Bush administration lacking in conscience and public accountability, politicized virtually every agency in sight, including former U.S. Atty Biskupic’s office.

- Special Agent Raymond Vasil of the regional VA Inspector General’s office [“A cop Vasil is not, just an idiot with a badge,” said one veteran assisting Roberts] who lied to and vocally mocked Roberts while flying around the country fabricating a case against Roberts.

- The VA benefits process that systemically wears down veterans with the apparent intention of inducing them to give up their fight for benefits [this process is being adjudicated in the unprecedented class action suit by veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan.] In fact, the VA claims process can be so frustrating that many vets (especially those suffering from PTSD) are thrown into fits of rage directed at the VA itself.

- The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) that demeans veterans for seeking help with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in this “culture of trauma”·

- The Pentagon that blames veterans “personality disorders” and lack of faith in God for veterans suffering after service.

But veterans advocates and Roberts' many supporters remain optimistic.

See also:

- Weakening us criminal case, VA turns down jailed Wisc vet’s PTSD claim
- Jailed Wisconsin Veteran Sent to Solitary Confinement, Seeks Help
- VA attacks veteran
- National VA Director Pushed US Atty Biskupic to Indict Wisconsin ...