Letter to Senator Maria Cantwell

Hi everybody!  I just sent a letter to Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington State, and I though you all would be interested in reading it.  I also cc'd it to Senator Patty Murray who is the Chair of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.

August 19, 2012

Dear Senator Cantwell,

I am a Vietnam veteran who, like so many veterans from that war, has a claim for Special Monthly Compensation under consideration with the Department of Veterans Affairs.  I served in Vietnam from February 1968 to June 1970 as a photo lab tech, company clerk and flight-follow observer in the 225^th Surveillance Airplane Company, a unit of the 1^st Aviation Brigade.  Our base, Phu Hiep Army Airfield, was located where Agent Orange was regularly used during that period.

I was diagnosed with Diabetes Mellitus (Type 2) on December 30, 2010.  Since this is an Agent Orange presumptive disease, I filed a claim for special monthly compensation with the VA on January 11, 2011.  This claim was approved on June 10, 2011, effective January 1, 2011.

On September 14, 2011, I was diagnosed with prostate cancer (malignant neoplasm of prostate), also an Agent Orange presumptive disease.  I submitted an additional claim for special monthly compensation the VA on October 14, 2011.  When I called the Disable American Veterans (my representative with the VA) in June I was told that my claim was now on a desk at the VA Regional Office in Muskogee, OK, waiting to be rated.  I checked again last Thursday and was told that it was still in Oklahoma and that it had probably just moved from one desk to another.  The DAV could not give me an estimate as to when it would be rated.

I am writing not only for myself but also for so many other veterans of all wars (nearly a million I understand!) who have claims that are outstanding.

For Vietnam veterans, we were unable to tell our draft boards that we would look at our calendars to see if we have time available to take our pre-induction physicals.  We didn’t have the option of going into the Army or other service!  We couldn’t tell them that we would show up in six months to a year!  Yet the VA tells us consistently that it will take 12 to 18 months for a claim to be processed!

I know the VA is overwhelmed, but our veterans are overwhelmed with the disabilities they have incurred because of their honorable service to our country.  We all deserve swift service from a department that has as its mission statement “To fulfill President Lincoln's promise ‘To care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan” by serving and honoring the men and women who are America’s veterans.’” (VA website http://www.va.gov/about_va/mission.asp)

We served our country with courage and honor, and the government promised to care for us because we served.  We deserve better!

Thank you.

Gordy Darragh

Cc:  Senator Patty Murray, Chair, Senate Veterans Affairs Committee