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Vets Under Siege: How America Deceives and Dishonors Those Who Fight Our Battles

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Vets Under Siege: How America Deceives and Dishonors Those Who Fight Our Battles

From Washington, DC to rural California, politicians never miss a chance to proudly state their support for the troops. Across America, one can't miss the numerous public declarations of support through yellow ribbon decals emblazoned on hybrid and SUV bumpers alike. And, today even hometown parades are thrown for local heroes returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Thus, with so much public support for those who wear the uniform why are so many discarded by the country they fought for? As a veteran of the Iraq war with close ties to the veteran community I see firsthand the injustices veterans are forced to endure in order obtain the benefits they more than deserve and have already earned many times over.

Martin Schram's, National Affairs correspondent for the Washington Post and syndicated columnist, latest book is a scathing indictment of government agencies that neglect our veterans through callousness, incompetence, maliciousness, indifference, or combination thereof. Schram's primary focus in, Vets Under Siege: How America Deceives and Dishonors Those Who Fight Our Battles, is the Department of Veterans Affairs, often derisively called the Department of Veterans Adversaries by veterans. Researching veteran's movements, government and press reports, and conducting personal interviews, Schram sets out to tell the story of the often heartbreaking fights between veterans in critical need of their benefits and a bureaucracy which systematically denies those benefits. All Americans should be disturbed as they read Schram's detail descriptions of the horrendous bureaucratic red tape and outright wrongs committed against disabled veterans. Take the case of former Sergeant Orville Kelly who during the 1950's witnessed twenty-two nuclear explosions. After developing lymphocytic cancer he filed a claim for benefits only to be denied. For five years he fought the VA for his benefits, which were finally awarded in 1979. However, Mr. Kelly died in June 1980. Or the case of Garret Anderson who was wounded in Iraq when an IED ripped through the truck he was driving, resulting in the loss of his right arm, a broken jaw and a body full of shrapnel. When he applied for disability compensation, VA bureaucrats who never met Mr. Anderson concluded, "Shrapnel wounds all over body [are] not service connected."

Schram dutifully describes the adversarial system veterans from World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Gulf War I, the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the conflicts in between, have had to navigate and the disrespectful manner with which veterans are routinely denied benefits. Schram also hits at the root cause for why such an inverse system exists. As Schram convincingly argues, the problem is a bureaucratic cultural mindset that assumes veterans are asking for benefits that they do not deserve, especially with regards to disability compensation. As Bob Filner, San Diego Congressman and Chairmen of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs put it, "Inside the VA they see their sole job is to say to the veteran, `You are a liar and we are going to prove that you are a liar and that you didn't deserve your benefits that you have claimed.'"

Vets Under Siege should be required reading for all who believe they "support the troops," because that support must not end when the warrior returns home. As veterans of America's wars can attest to, the war often begins anew when we come home. Indeed, the American people must fight for our veterans by pressuring our national leaders to hold the VA accountable and true to its motto, "To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan."

A damning and thoroughly researched overview of the deplorable history of the VA and the pathetic results of Congressional playing around with the single system most important to sick and wounded veterans. In a system chronically underfunded and understaffed, which reached tip-over status long ago, our veterans are left twisting in the wind, ignored and forgotten once they've served their purpose fighting the country's wars. No American can afford to ignore this deplorable situation, and reading this book is a good start on becoming aware of just how miserably we treat our vets.