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Hi my name is Shawn Haskins, I served with your son in Iraq. He was my team leader during the first part of our tour there. I was part of his squad during the ambush. I just want to express my deepest sympathy to you on this day. Your son was a great man. He was a hard man to love, but I love him as a brother to this day. Thank you for this foundation. It almost makes it all worth going through, knowing that there are people who truely support us at home.
Sincerely,
Shawn
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Crisis in the VA
Crisis at the VA as Benefits Claims Backlog Nearly Tops One Million
Friday 05 June 2009
During the past four months, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) backlog of unfinished disability claims grew by more than 100,000, adding to an already mountainous backlog that is now close to topping one million. The VA’s claims backlog, which includes all benefits claims and all appeals at the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) and the Board of Veterans Appeals at VA, was 803,000 on January 5, 2009. The backlog hit 915,000 on May 4, 2009, a staggering 14 percent increase in four months.
The issue has become so dire that veterans now wait an average of six months to receive disability benefits and as long as four years for their appeals to be heard in cases where their benefits were denied. Rep. Tim Walz (D-Minnesota), a member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, said during a hearing in March that the VA is “almost criminally behind in processing claims.” Read More
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War’s Psychic Toll
War’s Psychic Toll
By BOB HERBERT
Published: May 18, 2009
According to authorities, John Russell, a 44-year-old Army sergeant who had been recognized as deeply troubled and was on his third tour in Iraq, went into the counseling center on the afternoon of May 11 and opened fire — killing an Army officer, a Navy officer and three enlisted soldiers. The three enlistees were 19, 20 and 25 years old.
The fallout from the psychic stress of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has been vast…there was plenty of evidence that this would be an enormous problem. Speaking of Iraq back in 2004, Dr. Stephen C. Joseph, who had been an assistant secretary of defense during the Clinton administration, said, “I have a very strong sense that the mental health consequences are going to be the medical story of this war.”
I remember writing a column about Jeffrey Lucey, a 23-year-old Marine who was deeply depressed and suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, or P.T.S.D., when he returned from Iraq after serving in the earliest months of the war. He described gruesome events that he had encountered and was harshly critical of himself. He drank to excess, had nightmares, withdrew from friends and wrecked the family car. On the afternoon of June 22, 2004, he wrote a note that said, “It’s 4:35 p.m. and I am near completing my death.” He then hanged himself with a garden hose in the basement of his parents’ home. Read More
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SOS from VFW: Combat Vets in Trouble
Posted: 06/2/09
By David Wood
Their stories are legion. The stress behind their stories, stress that combat veterans often hold tight inside, can be painful and destructive. There was the Marine in Afghanistan who told me he has post-traumatic stress disorder so bad he can’t stand to be safe at home, where he sometimes drops to the floor, thinking a loud noise is an incoming mortar. He keeps volunteering to return to combat, where his hair-trigger reflexes make sense. Where he’s comfortable.
For veterans, telling their stories can be helpful. Having someone listen? Priceless.
With a new generation of veterans returning from combat and military suicides on an alarming rise, listening is the idea behind a global alert from the Veterans of Foreign Wars to its 2.2 million members. Find a vet. Offer to listen. Read More
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Happy Birthday
Evan would have been 30 years old today. When Evan was little I would think about what he would be like at each milestone birthday. At the age of 30 he would have started his family, finished college and gone in to music, either as a career or as a hobby. He would have taken hiking and camping trips with his brother. Evan’s beautiful spirit would have emerged in full bloom as he moved forward with his life. He would have lived each moment to its fullest and treated each day of life as a gift. Happy birthday to my beautiful son, I love you and miss you.
Mom
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As I reflect back on my time with Evan during this day of his birth, I cannot help but remember a boy that loved his Mother, Father and Brother; a teenager developing into a maturity while questioning his future and his past; a man who became committed to his future and his new wife; and a soldier who devoted his life to his fellow soldiers while he became an inspiring leader. It’s a not an unusual story but it is an important story. We grew to love each other - a stepson and a stepfather. What is this “step?” Who cares? I am committed to investing that love for a boy/teenager/man/soldier who wanted one thing for his life – to do good. My hope is that will become a reality for many.
Jim
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My First Memorial Day
Here I am 44 years old and I never really “celebrated” Memorial Day. Sure I enjoyed the holiday. I was glad to be off school or have the day off work – but I never really paused to think about what it all meant. I’m embarrassed to say that I just thought of it as a holiday for old men who were killed in WWI and WWII and probably Vietnam. It was about the past. It was history. A nice day to remember your grandfather’s friends. I guess I always associated the day with old men because if I ever saw a news story about Memorial Day, it usually had a few older men talking about their buddies that didn’t make it home. And even after the Gulf War and our current Wars, I still never really thought about those that were killed. The day remained just another holiday, like Labor Day and President’s Day. Until now.
This Memorial Day is different. I finally “know” someone who gave his life for his country. I finally understand about the sacrifices made by the countless family members, mothers, fathers, wives, and siblings. I understand the real pain that will always linger for those left behind, those remembering their loved ones on Memorial Day. I look at my 9 year old son and I can’t imagine not seeing all of his young adult milestones. After all you go through with them as children – and then as they finally come into their own – watching them learn to drive, date, graduate from high school, plan for college – and then BAM! It doesn’t seem like anything a mother could survive. And yet so many do. So many are thinking about their sons and daughters on this day and wishing there had been a different outcome.
So, for the first time in my life – this Memorial Day means something to me. I am in awe of the young people that have given their lives for our country. I am honored to have met Evan and his family through this site and I am forever grateful to them for sharing Evan with me. Thank you Jim and Jane.
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Launching the new website
Welcome to our new website! We hope you enjoy the new layout and all of the added features. Please come back often to check in with Jim and Jane on this blog. We will try hard to keep you updated on all of our activities – and anything we find worth sharing regarding the current state of veterans services. Please comment if you like and email us if you need any further information or would like to take a greater roll in our organization.
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