Report Finds Sharp Increase in Veterans Denied V.A. Benefits

While I DO feel that the services & the VA have a responsibility to ALL troops to provide the BEST healthcare possible. We all know in some cases, places, & situations the care LACKS! That is when it is up to the service members themselves to step up & realize they need the help! The idea that it's the military's fault, or the VA's fault is crazy. They can't read minds, they don't know you need help unless you ask.
I do realize that every case is different. I also suffer from PTSD. When I came home, I tried to handle it myself, but I couldn't. I had to step up & take care of myself. Did the guys in my shop look at me funny because I was going to counseling? They sure did! I was in an aviation support battalion, in other words a FOBbit, as many liked to call us. I'm sure they were thinking I was BSing, playing the system, so I wouldn't have to make the next jump to Afghanistan, but they were WRONG!
Besides PTSD, I also had two shattered discs in my neck, most likely due to a mortar attack about 6 months before we left country. It left me w/ a constant migraine headache, from the time I opened my eyes, til the time I closed my eyes, if I did that night.
You should NEVER let opinions get in the way of taking care of yourself! Nobody will take better care of you than YOU!
In the end I had to fight & fight for my rating! The Army gave me 70%, the VA wanted to give me 90%. So I fought like hell for that extra 10%.
Point is, if you need it, no matter what it is, YOU, made need to fight the battle to get it, even if it is on your own!

PFC Al Sethre The VAs hands in the instances described in the article are tied behind there back based on law. If the services, our beloved Corps included, are using OTH discharges as means of quickly dismissing service members as opposed to processing them for medical discharges and in some cases retirements, this issue needs to be investigated and acted upon with a quickness. In the aforementioned case, it sounds like instead of asking for help the Marine in questions ran away. While I am not in agreement with a premise that anyone who commits an act of misconduct should be discharged with an OTH, I know that each case should be evaluated as an individual instance. Thanks for posting this article and provoking this discussion. S/F, Marine.

Here is the problem really. How many were just dirtbags anyway and how many just had idiotic leadership. This issue hits close to home for me.

I've made it four and a half years through deployments and being stationed in Germany. Without a tarnish on service record. Was a proud fact of my service. I also last week just got diagnosed with narcolepsy, three weeks prior to that I was standing on the carpet getting UCMJ because I was having sleep problems that were effecting my work. Even after presenting 10 months of referrals, sleep studies, patient encounters my command team still found me guilty and did not consider for a second of extenuating circumstances.

If a veteran has a problem, connected to service, I don't care what it is they've done they still deserve to be cared for.

Even if that means For me to one day end up treating a person like bergdahl. I'll treat him no better or worse than any other patient with a service related condition...