“It makes my blood boil that our guys go and fight honorably for their country and then they get less than what they were promised when they get injured and return to the states,” Annette, a member of Veterans and Military Families for Progress, said. “Everything is a matter of where did you serve, what is your rank, and what is your rating,”
Annette battled with the Army over Dell’s disability rating. The military, which has no use for the veteran, considers him 50 percent disabled. The couple had an agonizing choice to make and eventually, Dell had to forfeit his retirement from the military to draw disability money because, under current regulations, he cannot draw both.
Congress stepped up to remedy that with the Dignified Treatment of Wounded Warriors Act which was passed unanimously by both the House and the Senate before Congress went on its August break. Drafted even before the President’s Commission on Care of America’s Returning Wounded Warriors findings were released, the bill addresses all of the recommendations from that commission.
“We support the bill that was passed in the Senate, S-1606,” said Matt Cary, Vietnam veteran and President of VMFP, explaining the House had its own version which is similar, but the Senate measure is stronger in its support of all wounded veterans. The bill is awaiting action by a joint conference committee of both houses, but since it was unanimously passed in both the House and Senate, it should breeze through Congress and be on the President’s desk without delay,
Cary said.
VMFP and others within the veteran community are concerned however, that political maneuvering might put off the final passage before the 110th Congress comes to an end in December and urges the Senate and House Congressional leadership to find the mandatory funds to implement this needed legislation for veterans and their families. The Senate bill calls for disability pay rates to mirror those of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and cover all disabilities evenly. The administration supports a scaled down measure offering disability retirement benefit increases only to those injured in combat or combat training who can no longer serve. It would exclude a myriad of others injured while in service, also disabled and found unfit to serve. This point is vigorously opposed by advocates for disabled veterans.
“If the American people understood what is going on with the Wounded Warriors Bill, they would be shocked,” said Tom Howe, fellow VMFP member and
Vietnam veteran. “They would be upset to find 1606 is languishing over politics and that the administration is ‘balancing the budget’ on the backs of wounded warriors and their families who suffer without adequate support.”
“This bill can’t wait a year to be implemented,” Annette said. “The families need peace of mind knowing that the soldiers and the families will be cared for as they should be. I get so furious thinking that we just don’t matter!”
Cary and other members of the National Capitol Region Chapter of VMFP have worked tirelessly in advocating for the passage of this bill in conjunction with two other veterans advocacy organizations, Empowering Veterans, and Veterans for Common Sense, in keeping with VMFP’s mission, which is dedicated to ensuring that the rights and needs of veterans, active-duty service members and their families are understood by the American public, endorsed by our elected officials, and protected by legislation, regulation, and public policy initiatives.
