Posted on Oct 27, 2015
Do you think that the Veteran Community has a sense of entitlement?
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It seems to me that many in the Veteran community have a growing sense of entitlement. Examples would be using the VA for services that are not related to their service, Exaggerated or completely false VA claims such as PTSD or exposed to agent orange when the details or their service do not support such a claim. The idea that just because they served for a few years that the US as a whole owes them.
I ask this because I am seeing it more and more. I have spoken with several people over the last few months that served for a few years and are now in their later years that honestly believe that they should be supported for no other reason than they are a Vet. They are told to make a VA claim such as PTSD or agent orange or some other impossible to prove claim.
Your thoughts?
Edit, I in no way intended this to be pointed at retired Service Members. You Guys put in the time and and like any company you had an agreement as to what you would receive for putting in your time. What Iam talking about are the people who did a few years and got out.
I ask this because I am seeing it more and more. I have spoken with several people over the last few months that served for a few years and are now in their later years that honestly believe that they should be supported for no other reason than they are a Vet. They are told to make a VA claim such as PTSD or agent orange or some other impossible to prove claim.
Your thoughts?
Edit, I in no way intended this to be pointed at retired Service Members. You Guys put in the time and and like any company you had an agreement as to what you would receive for putting in your time. What Iam talking about are the people who did a few years and got out.
Posted in these groups: 
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
Edited 9 y ago
Posted 9 y ago
This is a duplicate discussion. Click below to see more on this topic.
It seems to me that many in the Veteran community have a growing sense of entitlement. Examples would be using the VA for services that are not related to their service, Exaggerated or completely false VA claims such as PTSD or exposed to agent orange when the details or their service do not support such a claim. The idea that just because they served for a few years that the US as a whole owes them.
I ask this because I am seeing it more and more. I have spoken with several people over the last few months that served for a few years and are now in their later years that honestly believe that they should be supported for no other reason than they are a Vet. They are told to make a VA claim such as PTSD or agent orange or some other impossible to prove claim.
Your thoughts?
Edit, I in no way intended this to be pointed at retired Service Members. You Guys put in the time and and like any company you had an agreement as to what you would receive for putting in your time. What Iam talking about are the people who did a few years and got out.
I ask this because I am seeing it more and more. I have spoken with several people over the last few months that served for a few years and are now in their later years that honestly believe that they should be supported for no other reason than they are a Vet. They are told to make a VA claim such as PTSD or agent orange or some other impossible to prove claim.
Your thoughts?
Edit, I in no way intended this to be pointed at retired Service Members. You Guys put in the time and and like any company you had an agreement as to what you would receive for putting in your time. What Iam talking about are the people who did a few years and got out.
Responses: 12
I know I do: A sense of entitlement to my retired pay, and that is all.
As regards medical care, if the medical condition is service related, then the VA should deal with it, for free (IMHO).
I tend to agree with you: I've seen some flagrant abuses on the part of veterans who take advantage of the system. That's unfortunate, but on the whole, I think people (vets) are honest about it.
As regards medical care, if the medical condition is service related, then the VA should deal with it, for free (IMHO).
I tend to agree with you: I've seen some flagrant abuses on the part of veterans who take advantage of the system. That's unfortunate, but on the whole, I think people (vets) are honest about it.
In general no, however there are certain concepts which cross the line.
When we signed on the dotted line, "commitments were made." It wasn't a singular obligation. We wrote a check, and so did the Government. Unfortunately, "we" (the vet community) sometimes forget that the Government and the People are NOT the same thing.
The People have NO obligation to us. I repeat, the American People have ZERO obligation to us. The US Government does.
It's a hard concept to wrap our heads around sometimes. Because we inadvertently place our obligation on the wrong "entity" this can create a sense of entitlement regarding the existing obligations.
Now, as for "false claims," repeated studies have shown them to be around 5%, right in line with normal "fraud." Neither growing nor shrinking. But the growing ability to communicate globally does make it more easy to spot.
When we signed on the dotted line, "commitments were made." It wasn't a singular obligation. We wrote a check, and so did the Government. Unfortunately, "we" (the vet community) sometimes forget that the Government and the People are NOT the same thing.
The People have NO obligation to us. I repeat, the American People have ZERO obligation to us. The US Government does.
It's a hard concept to wrap our heads around sometimes. Because we inadvertently place our obligation on the wrong "entity" this can create a sense of entitlement regarding the existing obligations.
Now, as for "false claims," repeated studies have shown them to be around 5%, right in line with normal "fraud." Neither growing nor shrinking. But the growing ability to communicate globally does make it more easy to spot.
You are always going to have people who try to take advantage of the system. No matter how small the percentage is they will always make the rest of us look bad. A thousand of us can do great things in the community and all it takes is one asshole to do something stupid and all veterans are bad. The news doesn't report about the good being done only the bad.
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I think to limit your view of who is entitled and who is not, is a self defeating proposition. If we start to challenge folks for not doing twenty years then the next step is to start looking at the positions of some folks who have completed their twenty.