Sent in by Veterans News and Information Services
From: The Retired Enlisted Association
Please distribute as far and wide to as many veterans as you can.
Dear Representative,
I am writing to you today to request your assistance in a matter of
grave importance to many Americans.
When our country needed ordinary citizens to fight its wars, they didn't
hesitate to go. They fought to preserve our way of life and defend our
nation's values, often at the expense of thier own bodies and minds. Our
nation graciously promised to take care of those who suffered injuries
and disabilities so that they could live a life of dignity, the same as
those they defended.
Today they need your help.
Many veterans have run into a stone wall when trying to obtain those
benefits that were promised to them. They naively file a claim with the
Department of Veterans Affairs, thinking that if they have sufficient
evidence to establish that their disability was incurred in service, the
VA will grant their claim. This simply does not happen in the vast
majority of claims filed.
The VA Regional Offices fail to follow the laws as they are written,
often ignoring overwhelming evidence in the veteran's favor. They cause
enormous grief to the veteran and require him or her to spend years
supplying the same evidence over and over, appealing the merits of their
claims to the Board of Veterans Appeals, and finally to the Court of
Veterans Appeals.
The tremendous number of faulty, negative decisions that have been
overturned by the Court of Veterans Appeals bears out what most veterans
know: The regional offices of the Department of Veterans Affairs does
what they want to do, instead of doing what the law says they should do.
The claims adjudicators are poorly trained and the regional ffice
supervisors are unresponsive to the pleas from veterans asking, if not
begging, for justice.
The laws currently on the books spell out what the VA must do when a
claim is received. First, they must assist the veteran in developing his
claim. They must put forth effort to obtain his military records. Then
they must fairly, and according to law, adjudicate his claim and
promptly notify him of the decision. In addition, they must grant the
veteran a
hearing and listen to his plea face to face.
This seldom happens. Claims languish for months and even years with none
or very little development. Evidence is lost or misplaced. Claims are
adjudicated incorrectly or not at all. Hearings take months or years to
be conducted. When claims are remanded back to the regional office from
either the Board of Veterans Appeals or the Court, they sometimes
languish for months or years before being readjudicated in accordance
with the Board's or Court's orders, even though the law clearly states
that those claims will take precedence over other, newly filed, claims.
Common criminals are allowed more legal representation than our
veterans. Our veterans are not permitted to obtain legal assistance in
the pursuit of their claims. It is only after they have appealed their
claim to the Board of Veterans Appeals, and that claim has been denied,
that they are permitted to hire an attorney. The veteran, with no legal
training, is up against a battery of VA attorneys. Being able to hire an
attorney after a regional office has denied a claim would even the
playing field for the veteran.
It would relieve the vast number of
claims being referred to the Board of Veterans Appeals and the Court of
Veterans Appeals and cause the VA regional offices to be more careful in
the way they handle claims, so that they get the decision right the
first time. This is exactly the method that is being used today by the
Social Security Administration. America's veterans deserve the same
treatment that is afforded non-veterans in seeking redress from their
government.
I am asking you to take a firm stand in support of these veterans
issues. I am not asking that you increase veteran's benefits or the VA
budget. I am simply seeking justice for the veterans who have put their
life on the line for their country.
Please look into this matter and do what you can to help.
Respectfully,
Mission Statement: Protect and Ensure benefits for enlisted
military retirees and their families/survivors.
The Retired Enlisted Association (TREA)
Membership Information: (800) 808-4517
Find your Senator(s) or Representative's email address at:
Email your Senator(s) at: Senators of 105th Congress
Check out The Military Coalition Web Site
Petition For Improved Veterans Claims Processing
The Retired Enlisted Association's Legislative Affairs Office
909 N. Washington Street, Suite 301
Alexandria, VA. 22314-1555
(800) 554-8732
(703) 684-1981
Fax: (703) 548-4876
The Zipper@Vets.Com
Check out TREA's Web Site at: The Retired Enlisted Association
