Veteran Issues Digest Number 1735

[admin]

1. FW: Army Blocks Disability Paperwork Aid at Fort Drum

Posted by: "Colonel Dan" colonel-dan@sbcglobal.net coloneldan1

Wed Jan 30, 2008 10:18 am (PST)

http://www.npr. org/templates/ story/story. php?storyId= 18492376

_____

From: Sp5kelley2nd94th@ aol.com [mailto:Sp5kelley2nd94th@ aol.com]
Sent: Wednesday, January 30, 2008 10:54 AM
To: undisclosed- recipients:
Subject: Army Blocks Disability Paperwork Aid at Fort Drum

Army Blocks Disability Paperwork Aid at Fort Drum

Hi to all,

The below I do not get at all. Nevertheless, maybe someone in our Congress
can explain what seems to be a direct attempt to deny Veterans just
compensations by the Army.

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -

A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF HOW OUR GOVERNMENT DOES NOT GIVE A DAMN ABOUT ITS
TROOPERS AFTER THEY ARE WOUNDED IN COMBAT AND CAN NO LONGER PULL THE
TRIGGER. PARENTS OF WOULD-BE RECRUITS - PLEASE TAKE NOTE AND ADVISE YOUR
CHILDREN AS TO WHAT "WE SUPPORT OUR TROOPS" REALLY MEANS - ONCE YOU ARE OF
NO USE TO THE MILITARY. IF THE MEMBERS OF CONGRESS DO NOT TAKE IMMEDIATE
CORRECTIVE ACTION - I WOULD RECOMMEND THAT YOU DISCOURAGE YOUR CHILDREN FROM
VOLUNTEERING FOR MILITARY DUTY.

IF NOBODY VOLUNTEERS, THE GOVERNMENT WILL BE FORCED TO DRAFT THE RICH TO
HELP WITH THE FIGHTING.... AND THAT, WE WOULD LOVE TO SEE.

Placido Salazar, Disabled Vietnam Veteran, 214 Parkview Drive, Universal
City TX 78148

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -

Subject: BREAKING NEWS - Nation

Army Blocks Disability Paperwork Aid at Fort Drum
by Ari Shapiro

Stephanie Kuykendal Former Health and Human Services Secretary Donna
Shalala, who co-chaired President Bush's commission on veterans' care, says
the whole disability rating system is broken and needs to change.

Morning Edition, January 29, 2008 . Army officials in upstate New York
instructed representatives from the Department of Veterans Affairs not to
help disabled soldiers at Fort Drum Army base with their military disability
paperwork last year. That paperwork can be crucial because it helps
determine whether soldiers will get annual disability payments and health
care after they're discharged.

Now soldiers at Fort Drum say they feel betrayed by the institutions that
are supposed to support them. The soldiers want to know why the Army would
want to stop them from getting help with their disability paperwork and why
the VA- whose mission is to help veterans - would agree to the Army's
request.

'A Worn Pair of Boots'

One disabled soldier, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he
fears retaliation from the military, says it feels like a slap in the face.

"To be tossed aside like a worn-out pair of boots is pretty disheartening, "
the soldier says. "I always believed the Army would take care of me if I
did the best I could, and I've done that."

At a restaurant near Fort Drum, the soldier described his first briefing
with the VA office on base. According to the soldier, the VA official told
a classroom full of injured troops, "We cannot help you review the narrative
summaries of your medical problems." The official said the VA used to help
soldiers with the paperwork, but Army officials saw soldiers from Fort Drum
getting higher disability ratings with the VA's help than soldiers from
other bases. The Army told the VA to stop helping Fort Drum soldiers
describe their army injuries, and the VA did as it was told.

It's unclear why the Army wanted to stop the soldiers from getting help with
the disability paperwork. Cynthia Vaughan, spokeswoman for the Army surgeon
general, says the VA was not doing anything wrong by helping soldiers at
Fort Drum.

"There is no Army policy on outside help in reviewing and/or assisting
soldiers in rewriting their narratives during the 10-day period which they
have to review them," Vaughan says.

She says the officers who asked the VA to stop helping Fort Drum's soldiers
were part of what the Army calls a "Tiger Team"- an ad-hoc group assigned to
investigate, in this case, medical disability benefits.

According to Army spokesman George Wright, the Tiger Team thought the VA
should not be helping soldiers with their medical documents. The Army
delivered that message to VA officials in Buffalo, N.Y., who went along with
the request, even though the VA's assistance complied with Army policy.

The Army declined to provide any information about the Tiger Team members'
identities or their motivations in asking the VA to stop reviewing the
soldiers' paperwork. However, private attorney Mara Hurwitt points out that
the Army has a financial incentive to keep soldiers' disability ratings low.

"The more soldiers you have who get disability retirements, the more
retirement pay is coming out of your budget," Hurwitt says.

Qualified to Help?

Another question is why the VA would go along with the Army's request.

Tom Pamperin, deputy director of the VA's compensation and pension service,
believes VA officers are not qualified to help with soldiers' disability
paperwork.

"We do not train our employees in the intricacies of the Defense
Department's disability evaluation system, so we would feel that it would be
inappropriate for our employees to apply VA standards to a Defense
Department process," Pamperin says.

But Hurwitt argues the VA is more equipped than anyone to help soldiers with
their paperwork.

"VA counselors understand the disabilities, what the different kinds of
conditions are, how they should be properly described in the paperwork,"
Hurwitt says.

She points out that VA officials have to look at a soldier's medical history
anyway to counsel him or her on VA benefits, which are separate from Army
benefits.

"Really what it comes down to is you're just helping the soldier get what
he's entitled to under law," Hurwitt says.

'System 'Unfair'

This is just the latest in a string of controversies about disability
payments for injured veterans.

Former Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala, who co-chaired
President Bush's recent commission on veterans' care, says stories like this
one show how the whole disability rating system is broken and needs
to change.

The system is "fundamentally unfair," according to Shalala, "and that's the
point about the need for reform in the system. It has to be reformed for
everyone."

_____

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2. PARASITE WARNING FOR Vietam Veterans & FAR EAST Travelers, cholangio

Posted by: "Colonel Dan" colonel-dan@sbcglobal.net coloneldan1

Wed Jan 30, 2008 10:49 am (PST)

http://www.vva. org/veteran/ 0807/letters. html

PARASITE WARNING
I am writing to inform all Vietnam veterans about a potential health risk
that they may have been exposed to while serving in Vietnam: the
little-known danger from parasites.

My husband, who was otherwise healthy, passed away on January 20, 2006, from
cholangiocarcinoma, cancer of the bile duct of the liver. It is very rare in
the United States, but very prevalent in Vietnam and surrounding countries.
There are two known causes of this type of cancer: from contracting
hepatitis C and from ingesting a parasite from the water supply in Vietnam.
My husband did not have hepatitis C; therefore, it was determined that his
cancer derived from a parasite. I have received official notification from
the VA that his death was service related, which is not something the VA
determines without an overwhelming amount of evidence.

This cancer does not manifest itself until later in life, when you are
between 60 and 70 years old. Once the symptoms occur, which usually include
jaundice, it is very difficult to treat or beat. My husband was 58 years old
when he passed away. If he had been informed that there was a possibility
that he could have ingested a parasite while serving in Vietnam, he would
have taken precautions to have his bile ducts examined, possibly extending
his life. The parasite is long gone, but it left behind damaged cells, which
developed into cancerous tumors in the bile ducts.

If you spent time in Southeast Asia and are having gastrointestinal issues
for no apparent reason, please have your physician check for damage within
the bile ducts. It may save your life.

Mrs. Edward S. (Pete) Harrison
Horseheads, New York

********** MORE INFO ON Cholangiocarcinoma at

http://www.emedicin e.com/med/ topic343. htm Partial Reprint below

The high prevalence of cholangiocarcinoma among people of Asian decent is
attributable to endemic chronic parasitic infestation.

History: Symptoms may include jaundice, clay-colored stools, bilirubinuria
(dark urine), pruritus, weight loss, and abdominal pain.

Causes: The etiology of most bile duct cancers remains undetermined.
Currently, gallstones are not believed to increase the risk of CCC. Chronic
viral hepatitis and cirrhosis also do not appear to be risk factors.

* Infections

* In Southeast Asia, chronic infections with liver flukes, Clonorchis
sinensis, and Opisthorchis viverrini have been causally related to CCC.

* Other parasites, including Ascaris lumbricoides, have been
implicated in the pathogenesis.

* Inflammatory bowel disease

* A strong relationship exists between CCC and PSC. CCC generally
develops in patients with long-standing ulcerative colitis and PSC.

* The lifetime risk of developing this cancer in the setting of PSC is
10-20%. At increased risk are patients with ulcerative colitis without
symptomatic PSC and a small subset of patients with Crohn disease.

* Chemical exposures

* Certain chemical exposures have been implicated in the development
of bile duct cancers, primarily among workers in the aircraft, rubber, and
wood finishing industries.

* CCC occasionally has developed years after administration of the
radiopaque medium thorium dioxide (ie, thorotrast).

* Congenital diseases of the biliary tree, including choledochal cysts
and Caroli disease, have been associated with CCC.

* Other conditions rarely associated with CCC include bile duct
adenomas, biliary papillomatosis, and alpha1-antitrypsin deficiency.


3.
Military homeowners feeling the pinch

Posted by: "Colonel Dan" colonel-dan@sbcglobal.net coloneldan1

Wed Jan 30, 2008 12:54 pm (PST)



http://www.navytime s.com/news/ 2008/01/military _foreclose_ 080126w/news/ 2008/0
1/military_foreclos e_080126w

Military homeowners feeling the pinch

By Karen Jowers - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Jan 29, 2008 16:23:54 EST
Even if they don't have risky or costly home loans themselves, many military
homeowners are feeling the pinch of the nation's recent housing crisis - or
soon will be.

Housing values and prices are plummeting in many regions of the country (bad
for sellers), and lenders are tightening credit standards (bad for many
buyers).

As a result, military families with permanent change-of-station orders are
squeezed on both fronts.

And for those who got caught up in the hyped-up housing boom and
overextended themselves with risky mortgages or cashed in on now-vanished
home equity, the market is even scarier.

Three factors are driving the crisis, with the first two essentially
creating the third:

* The proliferation in recent years of high-interest "subprime" mortgages.
The bulk of these are adjustable-rate mortgages that begin with low "teaser"
interest rates, and many borrowers cannot make the higher monthly payments
when these loans reset, usually in the third year.

* Adjustable-rate mortgages, which have become popular with homebuyers who
do not necessarily have credit problems. These types of loans have a set
rate for a certain initial period, after which they can fluctuate up or
down. With interest rates rising in recent months, most ARMs have headed
upward, in some cases beyond the means of borrowers.

* Problems with foreclosures and defaults on subprime loans and ARMs are
depressing housing values and feeding the housing glut - a serious issue for
service members who recently bought homes at or near the market's peak. Many
troops receiving reassignment orders these days find that they either can't
sell their homes or can sell only at greatly reduced prices that result in
big financial losses.

Subprime mortgages have been the tinder fueling the fire. The Center for
Responsible Lending says an estimated 2.2 million families who got subprime
loans from 1998 through 2006 either have lost their homes to foreclosure or
will in the next few years. And since foreclosures cause property values to
drop, nearly 45 million homes not facing foreclosure will decline in value
by an estimated $233 billion in the next two years.

Subprime mortgages are higher-cost loans aimed at people with blemished
credit histories. On the positive side, they made home ownership possible
for some people who couldn't previously afford it, said Sharon Reuss,
spokeswoman for the Center for Responsible Lending. But in the process,
lenders made loans without carefully considering a borrower's ability to
repay.

In recent years, the subprime market has been flooded with "exploding" loans
that come with initial low "teaser" interest rates but later reset to much
higher rates - typically 30 percent to 50 percent higher in the third year.
They may continue to adjust every six months.

Reuss said borrowers often were steered to higher-cost adjustable-rate loans
even when they could have qualified for a lower interest rate on a regular,
fixed-rate loan.

No statistics are available on how many military homeowners have
adjustable-rate loans and are having problems.

"It depends on where you are. If you're in a state experiencing a high
foreclosure rate, and you're in a subprime loan, you could be in trouble,"
Reuss said.

But some of the states hit hardest by home foreclosures and mortgage
delinquencies, such as Georgia, California, Florida and Ohio, have large
military populations. And it's not just subprime loans that are getting
people in trouble.

In Ohio, the Springer family's home is in foreclosure, like 5.5 percent of
all mortgage loans in the state.

In early 2007, Air Force National Guard Tech. Sgt. Timothy Springer and his
wife, Teresa, took out a second mortgage for $30,000 at 10.5 percent
interest because they had money problems for a variety of reasons related to
Timothy deploying, Teresa losing her job because of medical problems and
child care issues, along with costly home repairs. Timothy is home now, but
will probably deploy again in May.

The lender valued the Springers' house over the phone at $132,000, without
an appraisal, before giving them the $30,000 second mortgage, Teresa
Springer said.

A rate of 10.5 percent is on the high side for a home-equity loan; Navy
Federal Credit Union, for example, offers equity loans with fixed rates as
low as 6.15 percent. But home equity rates are based largely on an
applicant's credit history; those with shaky finances pay more.

Teresa Springer acknowledged that the interest rate was high. "All we did
was delay the inevitable," she said, by putting off a problem that they knew
was looming large for them.

The combination of their primary mortgage and new second mortgage propelled
the Springers' monthly payments from $775 to $1,400.

A few months later, when the Springers had no choice but to put their house
on the market, real estate agents told them the house was worth just $59,000
- half of what they owe.

So in addition to the house being in foreclosure, Teresa Springer said,
"We're not going to have any option other than bankruptcy." That's on top of
a previous bankruptcy as a result of medical bills.

Problems related to such "piggyback" second mortgages are also common
problems among homeowners in financial distress, Reuss said.

When people such as the Springers can't make mortgage payments, they put
their homes on the market in desperate straits. In a glutted housing market,
prices drop. And when foreclosures rise, property values plummet.

Ripple effects

A sailor in San Diego who bought a home for $417,000 two years ago using a
loan backed by the Veterans Affairs Department now finds that his home is
worth $317,000, said Keith Kaufman, personal financial management program
manager for the Fleet and Family Support Center for the Navy's Southwest
Region.

That means the sailor is upside down on his loan - he owes more than the
house is worth.

"There is no program that protects him from the housing market going down,"
Kaufman said. "We're seeing the first huge readjustment of home values in 50
years here. Even people who did buy with appropriate mortgages are
affected."

Those who can ride out the storm and avoid selling their homes until the
market turns around may do OK, he said.

But military members often have no choice about whether and when to move,
Kaufman said.

If they're just squeaking by where they are, and then move to another area
with a lower housing allowance rate at the same time their mortgage interest
rate is resetting to a higher rate, they will be unable to make their
payments while also maintaining a residence at the new duty station, Kaufman
said.

Foreclosures negatively affect a person's credit rating - which can affect
service members' security clearance and harm their careers, he noted.

A consumer credit counselor in Manhattan, Kan., near Fort Riley, is seeing
more military personnel asking for help to save their homes because they
have homes in other states in areas where the value of homes has dropped
dramatically.

"The scary ones have been those in [adjustable- rate] loans who got in
thinking they would live in the home a few years, the home would appreciate
in value, then they would be relocated and sell the home at a profit before
the interest rates ever reset," said Joscelyn Stephenson, a certified
consumer credit counselor for the nonprofit Housing and Credit Counseling
Inc.

"Now they can't get the home sold, and not only could they not afford the
house payment after relocating, but now the interest rate has or is
scheduled to reset, causing the payments to go up $300 to $500," she said.

Even people who play it safe are getting caught in the housing-market
turbulence. Case in point: the Battles, whose home in Bremerton, Wash., has
been on the market since June 4.

The Navy family had a traditional fixed-rate loan, but the sour market has
prevented them from selling their home for an adequate price. In early
January, after their home had been on the market for seven months, the
Battles turned down an offer about $15,000 less than their asking price.
They would have had to come up with the difference to pay off their loan.

Their experience has soured them on buying another house, at least until
retirement.

"This has scared us," said Michelle Battle, who has been living with family
members in Missouri with their two children after her husband, a Navy chief
petty officer, moved to a new duty station at Naval Station Great Lakes,
Ill.

They can't afford to rent or buy a home in Illinois as long as their
Washington home is on the market.

The market downturn did not happen gradually, she said. "It happened
overnight. This is our first shore duty in eight years, and we're still not
together."

Mortgage pain can spur gains

The Bush administration is helping some people refinance adjustable-rate
loans through a new government-backed mortgage loan, FHASecure. The option
will save the average subprime homeowner about $400 a month, or $30,000 over
the life of a loan, said Steve O'Halloran, a Department of Housing and Urban
Development spokesman.

To qualify for the refinancing program, and include delinquent payments,
homeowners must:

* Have an adjustable-rate mortgage that has reset and is not insured by the
Federal Housing Administration.

* Have sufficient income to make the mortgage payment.

* Have a history of on-time payments before the loan reset.

The administration has also reached an agreement with major mortgage lenders
to freeze interest rates for five years. It applies to homeowners who got
adjustable-rate subprime loans between Jan. 1, 2005, and July 31, 2007, and
who face a sharp jump in interest rates before July 31, 2010.

Meanwhile, for military members just moving to bases in Georgia - and other
areas where the home market is slumping - there is some good news.

"It's a buyer's market ... builders are cutting prices, sellers are cutting
prices," said Tracey Burdette, chapter president for the Mortgage Bankers
Association of Savannah, Ga., an area that includes Hinesville and Fort
Stewart.

It's much the same in the Bremerton area, where housing prices have dropped
by about 20 percent, said Joana Hoover, a real estate agent with RE/MAX Town
and Country in Port Orchard, Wash.

"The inventory is extremely high," she said, and prices are returning to
earth after years of soaring increases.

"It had gotten to the point where military couldn't afford to buy."

Avoiding foreclosure

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has a wealth of information
for homeowners facing foreclosure because they can't keep up with their
mortgage payments. Visit http://www.hud. gov/foreclosure/ . Seven basic tips:

1. Don't ignore the problem.

2. Contact your lender as soon as you realize that you have a problem.

3. Open and respond to all mail from your lender.

4. Know your mortgage rights.

5. Understand foreclosure prevention options.

6. Contact a HUD-approved housing counselor by calling (800) 569-4287.

7. Prioritize your spending.

Source: Department of Housing and Urban Development



4. FW: Agent Orange Korea

Posted by: "Colonel Dan" colonel-dan@sbcglobal.net coloneldan1

Wed Jan 30, 2008 1:23 pm (PST)

a lot of info for veterans http://www.veterans info.org/ index.html and on
AO

See Korea info at <http://www.veterans info.org/ id56.html>
http://www.veterans info.org/ id56.html

_____

From: Steve Burns [mailto:snakecharmer550@ yahoo.com]
Sent: Tuesday, January 29, 2008 3:38 PM
To: Colonel Dan
Subject: Agent Orange Korea

http://www.veterans info.org/ id56.html

Col. I have been working on this page and as I get info I will add to it.
Steve

http://veteransinfo .org <http://veteransinfo .org/>

"Keep on, Keepin' on"
Dan Cedusky, Champaign IL "Colonel Dan"
See my web site at:
http://www.angelfire.com/il2/VeteranIssues/