Posts Tagged ‘ burn pit ’

Burn Pits: VA Needs to Reflect Soldiers’ Commitment and Sacrifice

September 20th, 2010. By Hunter West

Signing up for military service—in other words, putting your life as you know it on hold for the benefit of your country—should not be met with questions, stonewalling, or delays from the US Department of Veterans Affairs (the VA) when you come back from some god-forsaken sector of the world half the man you used to be.

The VA should kiss the ground you walk on—that is, if you can even walk at all.

Tim Wymore can barely walk. He can do so only with a cane. He can barely stand. Of course, he can’t work. Worse, it seems he can’t look after himself, either. His wife has had to put her career on hold, and suffer the loss of her income (a loss felt by the entire family of five) in order to care for her husband.

Yes, Wymore gets VA disability benefits. But he doesn’t get the full measure of his due. That’s because, incredibly, the VA does not consider his disability permanent. In fact, the VA, according to an article at stltoday.com, thinks Wymore’s condition “may improve”. The obvious question is that if his condition “may” improve, then isn’t it reasonable to think it also “may not”?

So even though the man cannot work, can barely stand, can only walk with a cane and is 44 years old, the VA is withholding benefits that would ensure his family would be looked after once Wymore is gone.

For the Wymores, that sad day is not an ‘if’, but a ‘when.’ And they worry that the ‘when’ is Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: burn pit, burn pit lawsuit, Iraq, VA, Veterans, Veterans Benefits
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