Research - Rehabilitation - Re-Employment

Sgt. Shaft 11/29/2004

Dear Sgt. Shaft:

Words cannot express how grateful I am for you taking your time to present my case to the VA. I sincerely appreciate your interest and personal efforts on my behalf.

I also want to convey my admiration and gratitude for the outstanding service you provide to so many veterans.

My personal attempts with the VA during the earlier stages of my illness were unsuccessful. Perhaps my circumstances are unique. However, thanks to your committed endeavors, veterans’ voices are being heard and veterans’ causes are being championed.

Again many thanks for your assistance to me personally and your personal dedication to our fellow veterans.

May God bless you in all you do.
 

Sincerely,
Wayne C.
Tallahassee FL.

Dear Wayne,
Kudos should go to top officials at the Veterans Benefits Administration who reviewed your case. Your claim could not have been adjudicated favorably if you were not eligible for the benefits you receive. Thanks for your service.

Shat Notes
The Sarge joins the Nation’s leading veteran’s organizations, representing over 5 million members urging that Congressman Chris Smith remain Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. In a letter to Speaker Denny Hastert the leaders of these organizations wrote “As the Republican Conference begins the process of organizing for the upcoming 109th Congress, we respectfully ask that you take actions as necessary to guarantee that Chairman Smith is returned for the final two-years of his term.

Since being elected Chairman four years ago, Chris Smith has served admirably as the public face of your party and Congress to America’s 26 million veterans and their families. The principle author of more than a dozen veterans laws, the legislative record built by Chairman Smith was often cited by Republican candidates – including President Bush – during the past election campaign. Some of his most notable legislative achievements include modernizing the GI

Bill, strengthening legal protections for servicemembers, expanding health care services and benefits for disabled veterans, and restoring benefits for widows of veterans killed in action or permanently disabled.

Chairman Smith has been especially skillful in turning bills into laws; getting them past institutional roadblocks in the Senate and onto the President’s desk. He has also used the powers of the Committee to hold the Department of Veterans Affairs and other federal programs serving veterans more accountable through aggressive oversight activities.

In some very contentious budget battles concerning veterans health care funding over the past several years, Chairman Smith consistently put principle above politics. Even when he supported funding levels below what many of our organizations had requested, his honest, informed, and balanced approach earned our trust and respect.

While we do not always agree with Chairman Smith on every issue before the Committee, we know that he will always give us a fair hearing and an honest assessment. We have complete confidence that when Chairman Smith says he will do something, it will get done. At the same time, when he tells us compromise is needed, we trust his judgment.

Over the past four years, Chairman Smith’s national reputation as the foremost Congressional expert and advocate on veteran’s issues has continued to grow. All of our organizations have recognized his extraordinary public service and accomplishments through our most prestigious awards, as well as in numerous articles written in our publications sent regularly to millions of veterans and their families across the country.

In our view, it would be a tragedy if Chris Smith left the Chairmanship two years before the end of his six-year term limit. The unnecessary loss of his leadership, knowledge, skill, honesty, passion, and work ethic would be a deeply disturbing development not just to us, but to millions of veterans across the country whose lives he has touched.

As Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman, Chris Smith has been a credit to your party and the Congress. We are convinced that no other person could the job of leading the Veterans’ Affairs Committee over the next two years as well as he could. He not only deserves this job, America’s veterans deserve him. We trust that you share his and our commitment to the Nation’s 26 million veterans and respectfully urge you and your Republican colleagues to return Chris Smith for his final term as Chairman of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee in the 109th Congress.”

The Department of Veterans Affairs has announced the expansion of benefits to all former POWs with strokes and common heart diseases.

"This is an issue that has been studied and debated too long," VA secretary Anthony J. Principi said. "We have scientific studies supporting the association of these illnesses to the military service of our former POWs."

The secretary announced the new benefits at a recent convention of the American Ex-Prisoners of War. POWs with strokes and most heart diseases will now be automatically eligible for disability compensation POW’s with those common ailments, and their spouses and dependents will be eligible for service-connected survivors' benefits if these diseases contribute to the death of a former POW.

In September 2003, Principi launched a nationwide outreach effort to identify and provide benefits to the estimated 11,000 former POWs who were not receiving VA disability compensation or other services. There are about 35,000 living ex-POWs.

The secretary also has urged Congress to change federal law that required that former POWs must be detained for at least 30 days to qualify for the full range of POW benefits.

The Administration's new decision will add to the list of 16 medical problems that VA presumes to be linked to the military service of former POWs.

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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