Women Veterans! Do You Have Health and Benefits Questions? Ask Questions Now!

I am looking forward to answers to my questions I have had since 1983.

I enlisted in 1981 in the delayed entry program to serve three years active duty in the U.S. Army as a trained Combat Medic and Patient Care Specialist, 91B, 91C10. I began basic training in Oct 1981 and advanced to the rank of E-3 while successfully excelling in Class room and on the job training while stationed at Ft. Sam Houston and Fitz Simons Army Medical Center. My first and only permanent party at Ft. Hood proved to be traumatic and disabling, within days of my arrival as a new recruit at 6th Cav HHC 34th Support, I was targeted for relentless sexual harassment and was a victim of two significant military sexual trauma events I reported and sought help up the chain of command. I was criminalized starting April 83, court martialed on fabricated minor alleged entrapment charges and discharged under other than honorable conditions with bad conduct papers. I was misdiagnosed but not ever treated by the ARmy or VA with a Borderline Personality disorder and rediagnosed and treated with dirty bandaids by the VA Health care system from 1995 - present with a confirmed 'Severe and chronic PTSD/MST' diagnosis the VA and DOD claim along with the ARmy I will never be compensated for or properly medically treated for due to the character of discharge that the VA Health cares system actions and inactions in medical negligence and VA administrative fraud! How do I have PTSD diagnosed by the VA Health care system since 1995 - present specifically for Military Sexual trauma but continue to be told by the benefit side that it is not military service connected and/ or the patriarchal sexist discriminatory blatant hostile DOD and ARmed Services and VA and all the Service organizations and government, quasi government and non profits won't help any of the hundreds of thousands of vets like me. Shame on all of you but God forgive us all.

So glad you are with us.

Good afternoon Mary
Please reach out to Department of Veteran Affairs Women's Veterans Call Center [login to see] for assistance and resources. Also the Veterans Crisis Hotline is available 1 800 273-8255

I enlisted in 1981 in the delayed entry program to serve three years active duty in the U.S. Army as a trained Combat Medic and Patient Care Specialist, 91B, 91C10. I began basic training in Oct 1981 and advanced to the rank of E-3 while successfully excelling in Class room and on the job training while stationed at Ft. Sam Houston and Fitz Simons Army Medical Center. My first and only permanent party at Ft. Hood proved to be traumatic and disabling, within days of my arrival as a new recruit at 6th Cav HHC 34th Support, I was targeted for relentless sexual harassment and was a victim of two significant military sexual trauma events I reported and sought help up the chain of command. I was criminalized starting April 83, court martialed on fabricated minor alleged entrapment charges and discharged under other than honorable conditions with bad conduct papers. I was misdiagnosed but not ever treated by the ARmy or VA with a Borderline Personality disorder and rediagnosed and treated with dirty bandaids by the VA Health care system from 1995 - present with a confirmed 'Severe and chronic PTSD/MST' diagnosis the VA and DOD claim along with the ARmy I will never be compensated for or properly medically treated for due to the character of discharge that the VA Health cares system actions and inactions in medical negligence and VA administrative fraud! How do I have PTSD diagnosed by the VA Health care system since 1995 - present specifically for Military Sexual trauma but continue to be told by the benefit side that it is not military service connected and/ or the patriarchal sexist discriminatory blatant hostile DOD and ARmed Services and VA and all the Service organizations and government, quasi government and non profits won't help any of the hundreds of thousands of vets like me. Shame on all of you but God forgive us all.

Thanks for joining!

I enlisted in 1981 in the delayed entry program to serve three years active duty in the U.S. Army as a trained Combat Medic and Patient Care Specialist, 91B, 91C10. I began basic training in Oct 1981 and advanced to the rank of E-3 while successfully excelling in Class room and on the job training while stationed at Ft. Sam Houston and Fitz Simons Army Medical Center. My first and only permanent party at Ft. Hood proved to be traumatic and disabling, within days of my arrival as a new recruit at 6th Cav HHC 34th Support, I was targeted for relentless sexual harassment and was a victim of two significant military sexual trauma events I reported and sought help up the chain of command. I was criminalized starting April 83, court martialed on fabricated minor alleged entrapment charges and discharged under other than honorable conditions with bad conduct papers. I was misdiagnosed but not ever treated by the ARmy or VA with a Borderline Personality disorder and rediagnosed and treated with dirty bandaids by the VA Health care system from 1995 - present with a confirmed 'Severe and chronic PTSD/MST' diagnosis the VA and DOD claim along with the ARmy I will never be compensated for or properly medically treated for due to the character of discharge that the VA Health cares system actions and inactions in medical negligence and VA administrative fraud! How do I have PTSD diagnosed by the VA Health care system since 1995 - present specifically for Military Sexual trauma but continue to be told by the benefit side that it is not military service connected and/ or the patriarchal sexist discriminatory blatant hostile DOD and ARmed Services and VA and all the Service organizations and government, quasi government and non profits won't help any of the hundreds of thousands of vets like me. Shame on all of you but God forgive us all.

PVT Mary Bagnaschi God bless you, Mary! The AF tried to railroad me, too, but I was fortunate enough to ask for an honorable discharge guarantee, before relenting.

Habitat for Humanity has/had a home improvement program available in my Community. Also check with Home Depot. Lots of paperwork will be involved but we'll worth your time in these days of high costs, imho!

I highly recommend Operation Finally Home. https://www.operationfinallyhome.org/ They are a dedicated group of builders that truly help veterans with home repairs/modification and builds.

You are amazing for sure!

SSgt Jennifer Dane - I learn from the GREATS like you!

Michelle "G-I"
Director, Women Veteran Small Business Initiative, Office of Small Business, Department of Veterans Affairs. https://www.va.gov/OSDBU/WVOSBI_resources.asp

Thank you for your service! I am so glad you are here.

Great question! Please check out the Military Sisterhood Initiative. It's a national peer support community with over 5,500 members from all 50 states and 21 countries. The community is easy to search by location as well. militarysisterhoodinitiative.org

I love this idea and fully support. I appreciate local peer support myself.

Thank you for ALL that you do for Women Veterans!

Thank you for ALL that you do @SSgt Lourdes Tiglao!

Thank you so much Andi Martinez

Thank you so much for asking about Survivor Benefits and support. While I don't have the exact answer for you, I recommend checking out this link https://choose.va.gov/burials-memorials?utm_source=google&utm_medium=paid_search&utm_campaign=ar_chooseva_fy22_nca&gclid=CjwKCAjwzeqVBhAoEiwAOrEmzZ6KTTg1w-HOvdradyeB28XP_Jms31zUjRtkUZsmN-m6gDbEOEXz8xoCd1AQAvD_BwE

Another helpful link for families is https://www.va.gov/family-member-benefits/

Shirley -- thanks for the great question. As you have likely found, the DD214 is your "golden ticket" to any VA benefit. NCA's website about burial benefits -- https://www.cem.va.gov/cem/burial_benefits/index.asp -- has all the information you need. I also recommend going through and filling out the VA brochure "Planning Your Legacy" -- https://www.benefits.va.gov/BENEFITS/docs/VASurvivorsKit.pdf -- it is a great way to discuss the future with a veteran/aging parent.

Ma'am, as a reservist we do not get a consolidated DD form 214. We only get one if we get deployed for active duty. It does not reflect our service history. If a reservist never deployed, they do not have this document. They usually have a retirement letter or assignment orders to a unit. This will change in 2025 for reservists in the future, but it makes it challenging under the current system to prove service and toget benefits.