John F. Youmans is a retired prior-enlisted (E-7) USAF major and a well decorated disabled Vietnam Veteran who served at Bien Hoa AB from 1966-1967. Mr. Youmans served 30 years in the USAF. One of his most enjoyable positions was as the executive officer at the USAF Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, CA. Media relations and coordination was an important part of the job, working with and meeting flying legends like Chuck Yeager. Mr. Youmans was a reporter for the Daily Record in Dunn, N.C. for several years when forced to resign due to his disability stemming from Hodgkin’s Disease and Agent Orange. Mr. Youmans has taken the task of advocating improvements for veterans’ benefits as a personal goal. Confined to home, he has joined the new breed of Internet journalists. His articles have been published in many hometown newspapers across the country. Mr. Youmans is a also a staff writer for www.supportthevets.com and submits articles for several others on the Internet such as www.usdr.org
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President Bush is saluting troops that stormed Baghdad and ousted Saddam Hussein's regime, a day after he visited an Army hospital to pin the Purple Heart on soldiers wounded in the war on terrorism. At the same time, his administration is secretly attempting to drastically eliminate funds to protect them in the future and provide adequate health care.
It appears the Disabled Veterans’ Tax, H.R.303, has a good chance of being repealed this year in one form or another. Disabled retired veterans are closer than ever to a decision to allow them to receive both their full retirement pay and VA disability compensation. But it has been a hard fight; a fight that has been blocked every foot of the way by the present administration.
Bush greets an injured soldier.
Many of us have been told not to believe everything we read. Some insist on only believing what they see. Current events tell me to only believe what I have all the facts about. In this day and time, what you see or read is not necessarily correct.
The picture above is a perfect example. President George W. Bush and the administration jump at every opportunity to use brave heroic servicemen and women as backdrops for great photographs and propaganda. This picture would indicate there is strong and sincere support for our military, and particularly our wounded and disabled warriors, by the Commander-in-Chief. But this is far from the truth. Like an old tank or a worn out truck, it appears this administration prefers to add the disabled, aged and worn out to the junk pile and spend its money on buying something new or giving it away.
A good example is a recent reply of SECDEF Donald Rumsfeld when he was asked why the administration is so against allowing disabled retired veterans to collect their full retirement pay instead of having their VA compensation snatched away from them, dollar-for-dollar, by the DOD.
Mr. Rumsfeld said, "The argument that's been against it in the past has been cost ... and to the extent they end up costing billions of dollars a year, then the people making those decisions have to ask what are we giving up for what we are getting, and who would the beneficiaries be?"
Sounds like he means, " Why would we waste our money on disabled vets when we get nothing in return." This is a slap in the face of every veteran still alive.
President Bush promised to support veterans during his campaign. "In order to make sure that morale is high with those who wear the uniform today, we must keep our commitment to those who wore the uniform in the past. ... We will make sure promises made to our veterans will be promises kept," he said.
For the last two years the Bush administration has strongly fought to prevent disabled veterans from collecting both their retirement pay and Veterans Administration (VA) disability compensation. This is in spite of overwhelming Congressional support and in spite of the fact that all other retired federal employees are allowed to collect both, even if they only served two or four years.
Last year a compromise was almost reached in Congress to repeal this unjust and very discriminatory archaic law, but instead, a last minute plan was approved for only those with combat-related injuries or illnesses rated 60 percent disabled or higher. It also included those who were awarded a Purple Heart with a 10 percent disability or higher. It only affects about five percent of the total retired disabled veterans and DOD has only approved about eight percent of those who applied. But it was a start.
That plan ignores 95 percent of the disabled retired veterans who continue to have their retirement pay snatched away and deposited into some mystery fund for SECDEF Rumsfeld. The Military Retirement Trust Fund (MRTF) should have more than sufficient funds to pay for repeal of this 100 percent tax imposed on disabled retired veterans. The interest from the MRTF alone is more than sufficient. Veterans can’t understand where this money has gone or why it can’t be used to pay their earned full retirement pay.
The Bush administration has recently considered cutting hazardous duty and family separation pay for our troops on the front lines fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq, again saying it is too expensive. VA hospitals are being closed and funding for health care for veterans is far short of what is needed to maintain it. Some vets are waiting six months or more just to get an appointment. Thousands of others are waiting to be evaluated for disabilities by the VA. And this will only get worse with an expected 30 percent increase from the present conflicts. Promises made are not being promises kept.
However, the worst assault to date by the Bush administration against retired disabled veterans and active duty warriors both occurred Sept. 5. Words can’t adequately describe the audacity of this latest attempt by GOP leaders to rob active duty and disabled veterans of their hard earned benefits.
Because of tremendous political pressure by Democrats -- who support repealing The Disabled Veterans’ Tax -- extraordinary grass roots efforts, Rep. Jim Marshall’s Discharge Petition, and pressure from Republican party members to break ranks, the GOP leadership attempted to offer a compromise on behalf of the White House.
While minor disability rating changes may be warranted, the GOP leadership is using a chain saw where a scalpel would be more appropriate. The GOP leadership appears to go to any means to further degrade and insult veterans. They met with several major veteran organizations, behind closed doors, and suggested they agree to the repeal of The Disabled Veterans’ Tax if they could offset the cost by drastically reducing disability benefits and presumptive laws included in Title 38 of the VA disabilities guidelines.
The recommendations they suggested included only recognizing disabilities that originate while on duty and at work. It would eliminate injuries going to and from work, injuries while on leave, injuries at home, injuries while eating lunch and any injuries or illnesses that do not occur while actually performing duties at work. Active duty troops are considered on duty 24 hours a day.
In addition, they wanted to recognize only injuries or illnesses documented in medical records at the time of discharge and to disallow any future requests for increased disability ratings as illnesses and injuries progress over time. If this is approved, DOD would profit, even more than they are now, by billions of dollars each year at the expense of our present and future disabled veterans.
This is a dangerous course of action when one considers the cover up of Agent Orange and other similar Gulf War illnesses. Present Malaria vaccines given to our military and possible problems from radiation may be causing problems now. Future illnesses and severe medical problems, including cancer and many others, may not be known for a decade or more. It appears the Bush administration is trying to prevent future disability claims for our active duty troops before they even get home.
Trying to connect repeal of The Disabled Veterans’ Tax to reform of Title 38 is just wrong. These are two completely different programs. Mr. Rumsfeld will probably get his way again and have Title 38 reformed, but any attempt to pit veterans against each other will not work.
Republicans and Democrats are furious at this latest attempt by the Bush administration to cut back on the budget at the expense of veterans. Rep. Christopher Smith (R-NJ) chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs said, changing the intent of service-connected disability "could have far-reaching and unintended consequences for millions of service members and veterans."
Minority leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) and Rep. Harry Reid (D-NV) said in a letter to President Bush that it was "outrageous to pit one group against another."
The letter also said, "It is impossible to overstate the magnitude of this proposed change. Using veterans’ disability compensation as a bargaining chip in closed-door negotiations on the defense bill is an insult to the millions who have served our nation. They deserve better."
The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) conferees are considering several options for repealing The Disabled Veterans’ Tax. One plan would include all retired vets and would be phased in over four or five years. Other plans could approve only the severely disabled rated at 60 percent or above. Senator John Warner, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee prefers letting Combat Related Special Compensation (CRSC) run another year before repealing The Disabled Veterans’ Tax for service-connected disabilities.
White House spokeswoman, Clair Buchan said there was no specific proposal but congressional plans would be considered. "The president is committed to America’s servicemen and women and has taken a lot of actions to help veterans," she said.
This is in direct contrast to another statement Mr. Rumsfeld made recently in a letter to the House and Senate Armed services Committee leaders. He said he would "join other senior advisors to the President in recommending that he veto the FY2004 Defense Authorization Bill if it includes Senate-passed provisions authorizing concurrent receipt of military retirement pay and veterans' disability compensation benefits, or expands TRICARE."
What should be a nonpartisan issue has become very political. The Democrats, with support of a hand full of Republicans, are pushing in favor of veterans benefits across the board while it appears the GOP leadership will go to no end to deplete as many as possible. The present administration, the administration that sent our warriors to war to be killed or permanently disfigured, should not be trying to cut back on benefits to care for them.
Hundreds of thousands, possibly millions, of veterans are promising to keep their promise and not vote for those who don’t support them. Many were registered GOP members. Their new motto is "Out the Door in 2004." Veterans in Florida have even gone as far as to start their own political party, the Veteran's Party of Florida (VPF). In 67 counties across Florida, veterans, family members and friends changed their voter registration to the VPF. They said they were "tired of not having their voices heard by members of congress, and broken promises from the Bush administration."
