Sen. Obama Hears Ill. Veterans' Concerns

[Rose Siding]

EVERGREEN PARK, Ill. -- Vietnam veteran Samuel Miller Jr. filed his first disability claim for post traumatic stress disorder more than 11 years ago, but he has yet to see any money from the government.
Jose Juachon receives $48 a month for his service to the United States during World War II -- about the amount he was making in pesos when he left the Philippines decades ago.

The two Chicago men and dozens of other veterans shared their stories with U.S. Sen. Barack Obama on Friday during a meeting at an American Legion post in suburban Chicago.
...
The veterans who crowded the hall complained not only about the way disability claims are treated, but also about issues ranging from the closure of veterans hospitals to the lack of services for mentally ill veterans.

The freshman senator and rising Democratic star, who sits on the Veterans Affairs Committee, said he plans to raise the veterans' concerns at a confirmation hearing next week for Jim Nicholson, President Bush's nominee for secretary of the Veterans Affairs Department.

"When we send troops to war, it is our solemn obligation to care for them upon their return ... and to treat them with the respect and dignity they deserve for protecting us," Obama told the crowd. "Unfortunately, in Illinois, we have not been living up to that obligation."

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-illinois-veterans-obama,0,7194574.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines

[KT2000]

1. A fellow I know

just received his disability for service in Viet Nam two monthas ago. He has suffered all this time with consequences of Agent Orange, though I am sure they did not mention that in his paperwork.