Veterans Voices- ‘Like a giant X-ray’ They had a front-row seat to secret nuclear weapons tests. Now they’re fighting for recognition and compensation
- An Army of One: Oregon widow dedicates everything to providing housing for homeless veterans
- The Lost Graves of Tarawa: Hastily buried following one of World War II’s most horrific battles, the remains of missing Marines are coming home
- Growing Veterans: A Marine Corps veteran teams up with a trauma counselor to prevent suicides, through farming, fellowship and an effort to end the stigma of getting help
- ‘Nothing wrong with you:’ Twenty-five years later, Gulf War Illness often treated as a mental condition
- Home at Last: Seventy-five years after the attack on Pearl Harbor, men who died on USS Oklahoma are finally being returned to their families
- Thoroughbred Therapy: How Saratoga WarHorse rekindles life for soldiers dealing with PTSD
- ALASKA’S VANISHING CARE: How VA’s “Choice” program sabotaged a hard-earned network of local health care across the state’s vast and inaccessible wilds
- Wrongful discharge? Board that corrects military records ‘stacked against servicemembers’ critics charge
- BOOTED AFTER BATTLE Thousands of combat veterans have been kicked out of the military for misconduct without regard to PTSD, TBI or their right to medical retirement
Tag Archives: VA
Mystery in Hot Springs: Veterans are baffled and furious as VA prepares to abandon a medical center that serves three states
By Ken Olsen (Copyright 2014, All Rights Reserved) John Renstrom used to get all his medical care at a VA hospital near his home in the southern Black Hills of South Dakota. Now he drives 120 miles round-trip for everything from PTSD … Continue reading
Last Rites : As demand at national veterans cemeteries soars, VA scrambles to add burial space – and one community takes matters into its own hands
By Ken Olsen (Copyright 2014, All Rights Reserved) Kristie Roberts’ family was disheartened to learn that she didn’t qualify for burial in the national veterans cemetery near their home in upstate New York. It was Roberts’ wish when she first … Continue reading
Veterans and widows are bewildered by VA’s unpredictable — and seemingly unfair — approach to Agent Orange claims
By Ken Olsen (Copyright 2014, All Rights Reserved) When Mary Warner’s husband became too sick to care for himself, she took early retirement and a reduced pension to attend to his needs. It was a significant financial risk. The Warners … Continue reading
Upside Down Lives: Spouses and parents of severely injured veterans struggle under weight of 24/7 caregiving
By Ken Olsen (Copyright 2012/All Rights Reserved) By the time Debbie Schulz got help, she had been her wounded son’s full-time caregiver for more than six years. She had lost her husband, her teaching career and her retirement. She lay … Continue reading
Rare Victory: Vietnam Navy veterans struggle to prove, and keep, Agent Orange benefits
By Ken Olsen (Copyright 2012, All Rights Reserved) Surgeons started removing strange growths from Mark Crosbie’s body a few years after he came home from Vietnam. Over the next three decades, they took sebaceous cysts from the Navy veteran’s back, … Continue reading
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Tagged Agent Orange, B-cell leukemia, Blue water Navy, Blue Water Veterans, boots on ground, Brown Water Navy, Brown water veteran, Bush Asministration, cancer, Charles Yunker, cysts, inland waters, John McCain, Ken Olsen, Lloyd Thomas, Mark Crosbie, Parkinson's, Patty Murray, Sen. Akaka, The American Legion Magazine, Tom Coburn, VA, Vietnam, Vietnam Navy veterans, Vietnam veterans
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When doing everything right isn’t enough: A Marine’s suicide shows that even the unlikeliest veteran can fall through the cracks.
By Ken Olsen (Copyright 2011, All Rights Reserved) Of all the questions raised by Clay Hunt’s suicide, perhaps the most perplexing is this: why did a 28-year-old former Marine who was receiving VA health care, taking medications for post-traumatic stress … Continue reading
The War Within: The battle against post-traumatic stress
By Ken Olsen (Copyright 2011, All Rights Reserved) Melissa Seligman started shaking when her husband described the aftermath of a suicide bombing he witnessed during his first deployment to Iraq. She had heard that same flat, detached tone from her father, when … Continue reading
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Tagged American Legion, Chris Piper, Her War Her Voice, Ken Jones, Ken Olsen, Melissa Seligman, mental health, Military Families, post-traumatic stress, PTSD, The American Legion Magazine, traumatic brain injury, VA, Vet Centers, Vietnam veterans, War in Afghanistan, war in Iraq
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Brown Water Update: VA updates list of Vietnam Navy ships exposed to Agent Orange
By Ken Olsen (Copyright 2011/ All Rights Reserved) The VA has finally posted an expanded list of U.S. Navy ships exposed to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. The so-called Brown Water ships list comes a year after U.S. Sen. … Continue reading
Brown Water Bungle: Paperwork error excluded hundreds of Vietnam Navy veterans from receiving Agent Orange benefits
By Ken Olsen (Copyright 2011/All Rights Reserved) Hundreds of Vietnam Navy veterans whose Agent Orange claims were denied because the VA failed to obtain key military records will receive benefits as a result of a review requested by U.S. Sen. … Continue reading
Broken System: Despite 30-year battle, federal court victory, Vietnam veteran’s disability claim remains unresolved
By Ken Olsen (Copyright 2011 / All Rights Reserved) A federal appeals court ruled in his favor two years ago, but Leroy Comer’s decades-long fight for less than $30,000 in VA disability benefits remains mired in the bureaucracy. Comer, who … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged American Legion, Dion Messer, disability claims, Ken Olsen, Leroy Comer, PTSD, VA
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