WASHINGTON
(March 15, 2013) — The national
commander of the nation's largest war veterans organization is outraged that a
TIME magazine columnist has called for the resignation of Veterans Affairs
Secretary Eric Shinseki.
“Freedom of the
press isn’t a license for Joe Klein to twist reality about someone who has
volunteered virtually his entire life to serve his country,” said John E.
Hamilton, who leads the 2 million-member Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S.
and its Auxiliaries. Klein's column, entitled "Ten Years After: A National
Disgrace,” is posted on the magazine's website and is being published in its
March 25 edition.
“Secretary
Shinseki has one of the toughest jobs in America,” said Hamilton, a combat
wounded Marine Corps rifleman in Vietnam. “It is his responsibility to heal,
help and care for our wounded, ill and injured veterans from all generations.
What he doesn’t need is criticism from those who have little or no understanding
of the real issues or challenges facing his department.”
In his column,
Klein criticizes Shinseki for being quiet and reserved, as if the secretary of
the nation’s largest integrated healthcare network and second largest federal
department has time for a publicized social life. Klein hides behind a so-called
“legion” of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who say the secretary lacks the
creativity and leadership skills to run the VA, plus sympathizes with their
complaint of not being moved to the front of the line ahead of other — but older
— disabled veterans. Still worse, Klein accuses Shinseki of not capitalizing on
the mass murder allegedly committed by an Army staff sergeant in
Afghanistan.
“What occurred
in Afghanistan was a tragedy, not an opportunity,” said Hamilton. “The
Department of Defense and the VA expend an enormous amount of resources on
programs and outreach to provide mental health counseling to those in need, but
you can’t mandate any program that first requires someone to voluntarily step
forward and ask for help. That same limitation also confronts all of us who are
in this battle to end military and veteran suicides.
“And regarding
the columnist’s personal attack, just because the secretary prefers a lower
profile to someone who might ‘Tweet’ their every movement doesn’t mean he
doesn’t care. It just means he’s too busy doing his job, and that’s to fulfill
our nation’s promise to her veterans.”
For years the
VFW has testified before Congress about the lack of funding for the VA’s
Veterans Benefits Administration, especially in the areas of automation and
proper staffing. Hamilton said the secretary did the absolute right thing to
grant additional presumptive service connections for Vietnam and first Gulf War
veterans, but he acknowledged that organizations like the VFW and others who
employ service officers to help veterans file their claims knew that the
increased workload would overwhelm the existing system.
Thanks to the
president and Congress, the VA now has the necessary resources to automate the
claims processing system. This means the VA is moving in the right direction,
said the VFW national commander, but after years of neglect, the fix will not
come overnight.
“We want the VA
to succeed, and that’s why we work closely with Secretary Shinseki and his staff
to help identify and correct problems in a professional manner from within, not
by enlisting the media to sensationalize issues the great majority of Americans
and, quite frankly, many veterans don’t understand,” said Hamilton.
“The VFW helped
to create the VA in 1930. We will not let it fail. We will also continue to take
strong issue with people who blindly criticize the organization or its
secretary, who is a combat wounded veteran who understands what it means to
serve and sacrifice. Secretary Shinseki gets it, and America should be very
appreciative that he volunteered to stay for another tour — the VFW is.”
-vfw-
ABOUT
THE VFW:
The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. is a nonprofit veterans’ service
organization composed of combat veterans and eligible military service members
from the active, Guard and Reserve forces. Founded in 1899 and chartered by
Congress in 1936, the VFW is the nation's largest organization of war veterans
and its oldest major veterans’ organization. With almost 2 million members
located in more than 7,200 VFW Posts worldwide, “NO ONE DOES MORE FOR
VETERANS.” The VFW and its Auxiliaries are dedicated to veterans’ service,
legislative advocacy, and military and community service programs worldwide. For
more information or to join, visit our website at www.vfw.org.
Contact: Joe
Davis, Director of Public Affairs, VFW Washington Office, (o) 202-608-8357, jdavis@vfw.org.
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