Joe,
Two days ago, I may have agreed with you...I read this article a week or two ago...then yesterday at the Cheektowaga gun show I bought a Belgian 20ga and overheard all the complaining at the NIC station, but I don't know why this veteran was declined.
What I do know, is that the VA adjudication process couldn't be more flawed...there used to be "Adjudication Board(s)" set up to determine disability claims when injured veterans return. These boards were made up of 3 doctors, who were charged with reviewing the disability claims of veterans. According to the Veterans Law Reporter, these boards were reduced to one doctor, but that was not the point of the case. The point was that some whistle blower had supplied evidence that the adjudicating doctors had been receiving cash bonuses for maintaining an 80% denial and remand rate.
You can argue for the way the Dept. of Veterans Affairs handles the treatment of our nations veterans. Sometime in the late 90s the number of Viet Nam combat veterans that commited suicide exeeded the number that died "in country" and already the news is beginning to report some startling numbers of Iraq combat veterans who committed suicide in 2006 alone. According to CBS News, 120 per week in 2006. 10 bucks says that your 4 star friend doesn't receive equal medical benifits as you're PFC colleague (somehow you don't strike me as his friend)
I also know that this past summer there was a local news flash that several police agencies were involved in some sort of "stand off" with a "despondent" Iraq war veteran. Dozens of police with 4 wheel motorcycle support had a large area near Eden NY surrounded a vast track of land where an armed veteran was believed to be holed up. The manhunt ended peacefully and it was learned that the guy was unarmed and had simply entered the woods of his boyhood upon returning home to recollect his thoughts. According to the local news broadcasters, he was arrested and put in a padded cell type setting at the Buffalo VA hospital just to be sure.
It's in the TV news, it's already happening at gun shows, it's in the newspapers...our vets are once again committing suicide at an alarming rate (over 6000 per year)...how could I ever I contest your point's now that you've labeled the veterans perspective as "a little nutty" ...perhaps you would have a different perspective if veterans were your sons or daughters...or yourself.
