VA Nightmares and Real Resources of Hope for Veterans- Part 2, by Informed Consent

 Print This Post Email This Post Facebook Twitter Pinterest Reddit Google LinkedIn LinkedIn

This article is written to expose the broken VA system and provide a forum for veterans to share their story in the comments. Furthermore, at the end of this article, I will share information and resources for alternatives to the VA system. Let’s continue.

Grumpy-Pants Who Do Not Care About Veterans

I’m sure there are some grumpy-pants who do not care about veterans reading this article. I probably won’t be able to change your mind. Perhaps your heart runs cold and your eyes are scaled over. Or, perhaps you are someone who has illogically made the conclusion that all veterans are evil for participating in unjust wars.

Let me make this point as clear as I possibly can. Those soldiers who you have such a deep hatred for never desired to witness the horrors of battle. They mourn, often silently, over their lost brothers and sisters. They never desired to be exposed to live nerve agent chambers, cesium-137, cobalt-60, Monsanto’s PCBs, leaking DS2 containers, ungodly viruses/toxins in the Middle East, et cetera. Some would argue that this is the nature of serving in the military, suck it up! Okay, I can accept that. However, keeping a promise to take care of veterans after they serve is also something to consider.

Let me be the first to break it to you; soldiers are the last people who want to fight and die in war. Their families feel the same way, but they sign up to go anyways, because they are not the typical citizen. I will grant that our military has been abused (particularly by previous administrations) and sacrificed in many ways, but that does not mean these men and women are not exceptional and worthy of respect and expert medical care. This is what a love for country does to a man; it makes him selfless! You should try it sometime. It might make you less of a grumpy-pants.

Veterans In The Know

Smart veterans who are awake can see through the VA’s lies. They have realized (sometimes the hard way) that the empty VA promises will never deliver healing or hope. Perhaps, this realization comes from the fact that few former service members are even working at the VA. You are more likely to find a civilian who has never served in boots or fired a weapon at your hospital bed side. There is nothing wrong with civilian medical employees, but veterans have a certain connection with other veterans that is almost unspeakable in nature.

Moreover, veterans in the know have come to grips with the fact that you can’t get good continuity of care when you are passed from one doctor to another and time is limited for listening and evaluating the whole person. Sure, there are the rare VA clinics and hospitals that are above reproach and run by former soldiers who care (no doubt thanks to a moral leader in charge with a conscience). Yet, most veterans have come to realize that the VA is a conglomerate of second rate docs/PA’s and cast-away medical professionals who failed to find work elsewhere. After all, the pay and government benefits are pretty sweet.

How Long To See Real Evidence of Reforms?

Yes, noble VA workers exist out there who care about veterans deeply, but that is not the norm. Most have heard about the VA scandals of our day, and this can only add to the mounting evidence that the VA knows not love! Is the VA going to change? I’m not sure. If it does, how long is it going to take to see real evidence of such reforms? For some, it will be too long, and they will meet their death early. Others, perhaps those on active duty, may see a  better VA by then. For now, the VA is clearly not a safe place to seek tangible healing.

Most of the veterans who have sufficient funds to seek medical care elsewhere would never step foot in the VA; however, many have no choice due to financial limitations and are stuck with the only care they can get. This is a tragedy!

Lack of Decency is Shameful

No honorable discharged veteran should have to wait an hour for one bag of saline due to dehydration from fighting cancer, days of gastro distress, and an inability to eat. A veteran who loses every bit of water and bile should not have to wait one hour to get a bag of fluids! Have you ever waited an hour for fluids while your legs shut down, you can’t feel your hands, and you are literally preparing, with a pastor at your side, to go home? If not, just know that it would feel like an eternity. Then, after you stabilize from the one generous bag of fluids, the ER doc sics the paid psycho on you to ask if you are suicidal. Let me remind you, this is a sleepy VA ER and not a bloody battle field. The lack of decency is shameful!

Veterans Seeking Care Outside the System

More veterans in the know are seeking care outside the system. Despite limited funds, some will go into great debt to find cures for rare forms of cancer or debilitating immune disorders. I see more and more veterans disobeying the VA to proclaim, “We’ve had enough of the lies and manipulation and we are going to take the initiative to save our own lives.”

Not a Letter of Hate for the VA but One of Love for Veterans

This letter is in no way intended to be a hate-filled, accusatory, whining session against the VA or its employees. Furthermore, this is not a letter to proclaim that all psychologists and psychiatrists are manipulative and unethical. There is certainly a time and place for such services. However, to assume that all veterans need SSRIs or psychology is wrong. I have heard some veterans declare that it was the fight of their life to get sober from the government’s free, endless mind-altering drugs and addictive pain killers.

The True Crime– The Discouraging System That Breaks the Veteran Down

This letter is, however, intended to expose the lies and deep brokenness of a system that has promised to honor and love its greatest men and women. We did what was asked of us, and this is the treatment we get. This is how we die. I suspect that a veteran who has never been suicidal and enters a VA facility may very well walk out with much less hope than he walked in with after being poked, prodded, and interrogated by the paid psychos. This is the true crime – the discouraging system that breaks the veteran down to the point where he gives up all together.

Letter Intended to Introduce Additional Resources To Veterans

This letter is also intended to introduce additional resources to veterans who are very ill and not getting the help they deserve at the VA. There are many caring medical professionals around this country who are working their tails off to help veterans to heal. For instance, there are many ways to treat cancer, immune disorders, and toxic exposures. Let us gather together and share these resources. You never know; your link might just save a life.

I am in no way affiliated and will gain zero benefit from sharing these resources. They are simply ones that I found through research. Having personal experience watching a stage 4 colon cancer sufferer be healed at “Hope4Cancer,” I cannot recommend this organization highly enough. Of course, use your own judgment and caution in using these resources, and certainly do your own homework.

To Find a Life-Giving Solution

I’d suspect that a veteran who wants to be pain/cancer/disease free will go to the ends of the earth to find a life-giving solution. Finally, always bring a trusted advocate to attend any appointments (inside and outside the VA). From a personal standpoint, I can’t tell you how important that last piece of advice is.

If you are a veteran who has given up hope, please consider looking into alternative resources for healing. Please do not believe the lies, and never ever give up hope! There are so many wonderful people and organizations offering expert, medical help to suffering veterans around the country. I hope the readers here will join me in encouraging veterans and providing their own links to sources that honor veterans outside the system. Please refrain from posting about the typical veteran organizations. We all know about the old men who run the local VFW. No disrespect, but they have their limits.

Helpful Links and Alternative Resources to the VA System

The following list contains what I hope will be helpful links as well as alternative resources to the VA system. I repeat that you should use your own judgment and caution and do your own homework.

  1. Hope4Cancer (1.888.544.5993)
    https://hope4cancer.com
  2. Public Health Warning to Ft. McClellan Veterans
    https://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/fort-mcclellan
  3. Ft. McClellan Advocacy
    http://www.poisonedveterans.org
  4. “Veterans complain of deadly, debilitating, chronic diseases amid chemicals, bioweapons and radioactive waste at Fort McClellan” Natural News
    https://www.naturalnews.com/052718_Fort_McClellan_veterans_toxic_chemicals.html
  5. “Direct Primary Care” to anyone seeking care outside the “typical” system. Many Veterans are paying out of pocket out of desperation for quality care. For all the doctors and nurses in your life…I hear the life-style of this work environment is drastically different in a most positive way and genuinely rewarding. Below is a map of the US locations and information about “DPC:”
    https://www.dpcfrontier.com/mapper
    https://www.dpcare.org
  6. “Ft. McClellan Health Act: The health hazards of PCBs” Fox News Health
    http://www.foxnews.com/health/2014/09/19/ft-mcclellan-health-act-health-hazards-pcbs.html
  7. “Using Traditional Chinese Medicine to Treat Lung Cancer” Asbestos.com
    https://www.asbestos.com/blog/2013/12/16/traditional-chinese-medicine-herbs/

Share Any Additional Resources for Hurting Veterans

Please share any resources you may have for those Veterans who are hurting, especially Ft. McClellan veterans who are steadily losing hope that they will ever receive help. I know there are effective treatments outside the VA that have helped many Ft. McClellan veterans. Hopefully, the readers here can recommend, in their locale, professionals who truly love veterans, are experts in their fields, and are not afraid to take on a complex medical history of exposure.

See Also:

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

This has been part two of a two part entry for Round 77 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $11,000 worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A $3000 gift certificate towards a Sol-Ark Solar Generator from Veteran owned Portable Solar LLC. The only EMP Hardened Solar Generator System available to the public.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses, excluding those restricted for military or government teams. Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  4. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper. These have hammer forged, chrome-lined barrels and a hard case, to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR-type rifle to have a quick change barrel. This can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools. It also provides a compact carry capability in a hard case or in 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  7. Two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value), and
  8. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

Second Prize:

  1. A Model 175 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a $439 value),
  2. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  3. A gift certificate for any two or three-day class from Max Velocity Tactical (a $600 value),
  4. A transferable certificate for a two-day Ultimate Bug Out Course from Florida Firearms Training (a $400 value),
  5. A Three-Day Deluxe Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $190 value),
  6. A $200 gift certificate good towards any books published by PrepperPress.com,
  7. RepackBox is providing a $300 gift certificate to their site.

Third Prize:

  1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  2. A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard, and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206,
  3. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances, and
  6. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).

Round 77 ends on July 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.


17 Comments

  1. Thank you sooo much Informed Consent. This is a topic that I’ve been waiting for on this blog. I have a few good friends who served during the Vietnam and Desert Storm “campaigns”. I will pass this info onto them. Your description of situations mirrors those that I’ve heard my fellow veteran friends speak of. Again, thank you and may all our spirits be renewed with the hope of reformation in this matter. God bless you and all who have served and sacrificed to protect our brothers and sisters.

    1. Ohio Guy,
      Unusually kind words of encouragement! Thank you for caring about your veteran friends. I’m sure they appreciate you for that!

  3. Informed Consent, many thanks for taking the time and effort to write and present this article. I think it best to walk a mile in the “other man’s shoes” before criticizing or condemning. I pray that opportunity passes me by and is removed from those with that burden. Each time I go to the VA it is a stark reminder for me that “there but by the grace of God go I”. The VA is not perfect. Thank God they are there. The VA can do better….much better. God bless brother. I hope someone from the VA is reading this and takes it upon them self to take a deep look into this issue and do the right thing.

  4. I remember the burial mounds (underground storage). I went through CDTF (nerve agent chamber). We trained with Radiac EQ using a real radioactive source. All chemical corp and MP corp soldiers trained at Ft McClellan prior to 99. The polygraph institute was a trip for the trainee guinea pigs. An Iranian dude made his suicidal thoughts known on the grenade range making for super happy drill sergeants. That’s all I recall about that time that was neat or pertinent.
    I am writing this blerb in case it helps any sickened vets. I was not injured to terribly from MY time there that I know of.
    AIRBORNE!!!!!!!!!! ! !(All the Way!!!)
    /\

  5. 1. VA is “Single Payer”. Be afraid, be very afraid.
    2. There are also cases where after 8 years in Iraq, after having been severely injured in the head, veterans end up signing something and they are said to have had some problem where they would not have been eligible to serve, so lose benefits.
    There are lots of trumped up “less than honorable discharge” veterans, but you need years, cash, and lawyers to even attempt to fix this.
    3. This is a promise we must keep because Veterans earned it.

  6. I know a very fine attorney who represents veterans in cases regarding their benefits. He is a Navy veteran and a kind man. OPSEC restrains me from offering his name. Ask Grandpa Google (or your chosen recon device) to find you a fierce and devoted to justice attorney in your area.

  9. I think it would’ve been far more economical, efficient, and effective if the military would’ve just paid for insurance to cover vets. Given the amount of money they spend annually for the worst service imaginable, had they gone private sector they would be money ahead right now, and those who need it would have far better service than they have received so far.

    1. As a veteran, I have had the same thoughts/questions that you bring up ever since I started using the VA healthcare system. Choice and competition for the consumer (in this case the veteran) almost always brings about lower costs and better treatment. Why can’t anyone in government see the advantages that private sector insurance/treatment would provide? I suspect that much of that has to do with the nature of government itself. Once a government program is started, it is extremely difficult or impossible to shut it down. We must always remember that it is in the nature of all governments to constantly expand their power, control, and influence over their citizenry. To give veterans a “choice” in determining their medical treatment runs contrary to that goal!

      1. On that note. My health care provider, a local hospital clinic, sent out flyers that they could take veterans who were waiting on the VA. I don’t use the VA and probably never would so I didn’t pay much attention to it. That has been a year or so I think it was the result of the recent VA scandal. But if my hospital is taking them I have to assume other civilian health care providers are too.

  10. An additional “resource” is to hie thee hither and read
    thisainthell dot us
    A blog site run by vets, for vets, commentated by vets. Others can join in the fray as well, it’s not exclusive.
    The consensus there is that the VA system is broken due to the mid and upper level GS bureaucracy.
    Most of the doctors and lower level staff (nurses, aides, etc) do the best they can for the troops, with what they’re given. It’s the ones who decide who gets what treatment, the ones who make the schedules, and the ones who DON’T bother to vett the vets (phony and altered DD214s, Stolen Valor) are what make the VA system so “broke” and broken.
    That, and the usual Gubberment union “rules and regulations” (not laws) that prevents the firing of the lazy and incompetent.

  11. Those unwilling to fight for freedom don’t deserve it.

    We owe our vets the best care we are capable of giving. That’s what they did for us. They deserve our best – they gave us their best! Payback is NOT hell, when it comes to veterans!!!!! Rather, its the right thing to do. The VA should step-up and do the right thing, but if they can’t, giving the Vet the option of being treated in the civilian economy is the best answer. Competition isn’t bad; its good for vets.

    My management philosophy has always been “lop the top!”

  12. I am retired from uncle sams confused group and as such I have USFHP, a TRICARE alternative. I Also have a 20% disiblilty so I have access to the VA. Finally I’m a paramedic and I’ve picked up many a vet and carried them to and from the va. I needed a sleep study done and I checked at the va to get it done. The wait time was TWO YEARS! I went to my private dr using my USFHP insurance, and had it done within 2 weeks. The care I’ve seen at the VA was the argument that I used against obummer care. If you can’t take good care of a few million vets, what makes you think you can do better with 300+million Americans? As a group I’ve found vets to be by far the worse case patients. My real peeve was the government employee nurses. Getting the info on the patient that I was transporting was like pulling teeth. I usually left hoping karma bit them in the butt.

  13. Appreciate all of your thoughtful feedback!

    Hope these articles helped to shed some light on the core issue of what causes VA nightmares.

    Moreover, I hope that the resources shared here and feedback is helpful to those who are downtrodden.

  14. All vets are NOT equal! I have noticed that the Veterans of World War I and II and Vietnam are far more humble and respectful and certainly worthy of being supported as in “service connected” so they can get the help they deserve from the corrupt VA, however, unfortunately, nowdays you see so-called younger vets running off at the mouth, not humble and serving only a few years then building a rap sheet with Primary Care (VA) Physician for the intentional purpose of getting 100% service connected. What does that mean you ask? Well, it means that Mikey or Shirley can enlist and come out after 3 or 4 years and whine and complain to a physician about this or that until they get 100% service connected which means you and every other working American will be paying their monthly government paycheck of $2k to 3k for the rest of their lives.

    INJUSTICE!! and a CORRUPT VA!!

Comments are closed.