Research - Rehabilitation - Re-Employment

Sgt. Shaft 09/10/2001

Dear Sgt. Shaft:
As I am a member of the Non Commissioned Officers Association as well as several other Veterans Organizations, I wanted to take time to thank you for the tireless efforts that you have done in support of the Concurrent Receipt issue. It is long past due as you and many others have said that this is disservice to our many disabled retirees be corrected.

The situation is made worse when you consider that the retirees hurt the most are the enlisted and NCO's who now and have always born the brunt of the battles.

Military retirees never complained or balked when ordered into hostile fire areas or all during the Cold War, yet when they retiree they are required to give up the dollar for dollar of retired pay in order to get their VA Disability Pay. Many of the ailments our retirees are suffering are at the hands of our own government, i.e., Agent Orange, Gulf War Syndrome, Atomic Vets, etc., yet the Pentagon continues to balk at supporting this inequity.

As usual, we get the shaft.

Again, thank you from a proud member of the NCOA and its Legislative Coordinator for New York.

Gary F.
Albany, NY

Dear Gary:
Thank you for your own service to America and for your continued support of our nation's veterans. Your voice helps inform the Congress of the United States that a terrible injustice is borne by military retirees because of the current law on concurrent receipt. Concurrent receipt denies military retirees the right to both compensation earned as a result of a career in the military and VA disability compensation should they have been wounded or disabled in military service. NCOA has been one of the organizations leading the charge on this issue and their president's letter published in this column (July 9, 2001) has helped mobilize citizens across America to contact their elected officials and demand the law be changed. Military retirees are the only group of Federal retirees denied receipt of earned longevity retirement payment and VA disability compensation. Tragically, World War II veterans that fall in the category of military retired and entitled to disability payments have been denied their just compensation for over 56 years; Korean veterans denied for over 50 years; after them, Vietnam veterans and all the countless others who went in harm's way when asked by their country. WWII veterans are dying at the rate of over 1,000 per day and still Congress has not acted to provide equity for retired military disabled veterans. Recently, the House of Representatives, recognizing that repeal of concurrent receipt in all probability will not pass in the 107th Congress, proposed an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act to authorize full concurrent receipt for military retirees, requiring the President to budget for payment, and secondly, that Congress must pass offsetting legislation (take the money from another program for this entitlement). Thanks to Congress, World War II disabled veterans it seems will now have more chance of seeing their Memorial built on the Washington Mall than receiving concurrent receipt. 

But there may be hope yet ... 

Word also has it that U. S. Senator Harry Reid (R-NV) will again attempt to work his magic in the Senate with his bill S. 170. And a pat on the back to G. Gordon Liddy, emcee of the highly syndicated talk program now heard in the Washington, D.C. metro area on WTNT 570 AM Radio, for his great interview of NCOA's president regarding this outrageous injustice. 

Shaft Kudos

To House Veterans' Affairs Committee Chair Chris Smith (R-NJ) for introducing legislation that would feature new low-income housing vouchers, increased grants, and renewed emphasis on housing programs for homeless veterans. The Homeless Veterans Assistance Act of 2001, H.R. 2716, would authorize new Section 8 housing vouchers in Fiscal Years 2002 through 2005, provide $60 million in Fiscal Year 2002 for the VA's Homeless Grant and Per Diem Program, and authorize the VA Secretary to award grants of up to $5,000 each for community-based efforts to assist veterans recovering from alcohol or substance abuse. Said Rep. Smith, "There are an estimated 225,000 veterans who are homeless each and every night. For these veterans, access to VA benefits, specializes services and effective outreach are vital components to any hope of individual stability and improvement in their prospects. "H.R. 2716 would require that HUD, in coordination with VA case manager, provide housing vouchers to homeless veterans who are receiving and agree to continue VA care, especially for mental illness or substance abuse disorders. The bill would also authorize $5 million for both 

Fiscal Years 2003 and 2004 to support expanding domiciliary care for homeless vets in establishing 10 new Domiciliary Care for Homeless Veterans programs; strengthen the requirement that the Department of Labor's Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program assist the return of homeless veterans to the labor force through training and counseling; direct the VA to expand contracts with community agencies that serve veterans incompetent to manage their own financial affairs; direct the Secretaries of HUD and VA to undertake a six-site demonstration program of referrals and counseling for about-to-be freed incarcerated veterans.

The Sarge hopes that all veterans will attend the September 19 10:00 a.m. hearing on Chairman Smith's bill H.R. 2716 and ranking House Veterans Affairs member Lane Evans (D-IL) homeless vet bill H.R. 936. Those testifying include VA Secretary Anthony Principi and a high-level HUD official; others who may testify include Miss America 2000 Heather French, Bruce Springsteen, singer Jewel, and sports stars from the NBA and NFL. Those interested in attending the hearing should contact the House Veterans Affairs Committee at 202-225-3527. 

Send letters to Sgt. Shaft, c/o John Fales, P.O. Box 65900, Washington, D.C. 20035-5900; fax to 301-622-3330; call 202-462-4430 or email sgtshaft@bavf.org.

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