Msgt Walt Taggart USAFR, Retired
Danny
Why we are here
Please help us to move forward, thank you
This site is new and ever changing. Keep looking, change is coming for Veterans. Everything is being put on the site and will be proofed and put in it's right location when we can. Also note, we will be adding articles, studies, and whatever else, for placement so we can see how it looks and pull it all together.
Gulf War Vets,
The DOD sent over 750,000 troops to the Gulf, the VA states 32% of those that were sent have extremely serious heath issues. The VA is now doing a study costing over 170 million dollars and they are looking for volunteers. Did you get that word? Of course not, and that is why when we get this fully operational we will get the word out to you.
Veterans Rating Service will be the Veterans' voice to our elected officials.
The Veterans Administration needs to be updated with a totally different mindset. And there is no way we are ever going to change the Veterans Administration to truly help Veterans when Veterans need the help.
So, the Veterans Rating System is here to help Veterans rate the people we send to Congress and to the Senate, as they are the overseers of the Veterans Administration and our well being. It often feels like the Representative we send to Washington, whether they were in the Military or not, forgets about us when they get there. And after they finally do do something, it turns out like they just moved the furniture around. You know, something looks different, but it's the same old thing. Our latest big changes in the VA turned out to be more of the same, a lot of changes but it still takes over 8 or more years for a Veteran to file and obtain a good claim outcome. Within 8 or more years, a lot can happen to a Veteran's welfare with no income, not to mention the Veteran's family. We do, however, get to to see our elected officials for Veterans Day and Memorial Day waving the flag. Our local officials remember us for the day off they get in November, and it reminds them to pick up the burger buns for the BBQ in late May. But, with the VA holding your claim in Limbo for years, and even when you do win your claim, the Local County can't wait for the VA's funds to help pay your local taxes or fees. They sure as hell do not care about you and your family then. The only thing you can count on is some happy local official will say to you is, "Thank you for your service." That runs real short, kind of like when a Congressman tells the parents of a dead child, "You're in our thoughts and prayers". Veterans need help. Not all of them, but enough of them.
We will be grading each Congressperson and Senator under different categories or issues that Veterans face every day. The grading system seems to work very well for the NRA, as we see many elected officials bend over backwards for a grade. And, some fight to get good grades. We will see how our elected officials feel about us. With our Veterans Rating system, we are not selling anything (well, maybe a T-shirt here and there to raise a few bucks to keep moving forward), and we don’t care what party they are with. We only care about the Veteran, the Veteran's family, and our future Veterans. Anything else is out of bounds and will not be on the site. Like the little comment I made about "thoughts and prayers," things like that might be used as a reference as to how elected officials say things they do not mean, they are hollow statements that mean nothing to the people it is said to, and we will call them out on it.
Since not that many people understand how the VA works, or understand the issues of Veterans, I think it’s about time we send a clear message to our elected officials of the issues and the needs of Veterans. A simple grading system should work fine, and they will know how to improve.
Anyway…hang on and here goes...
The Reason This Site Is Here
Our bottom line is to let everyone know how out of touch our elected officials are and how misunderstanding the American public really is about Veterans and how Veterans need better than this, what we have now.
The above photo was taken September 14th, 2003 at NAS JRB Willow Grove . That’s me with my son Danny in front of a C-5 based out of Dover AFB, Delaware. Danny was conceived during my activation for the Gulf War from August 1990 to August 1991. I was a Flight Engineer on that aircraft and many other C-5’s in the Fleet. I was a Reservist for 23 years, 18 years as a Flight Engineer in the 326 MAS and the rest of the time in Aircraft Maintenance at Dover AFB. I retired as Master Sergeant.
Being a Flight Engineer takes a lot more effort than just one weekend a month and 14 days training every year. Flight Engineer training takes up to 2 years, full-time, then study and test to upgrade your level of training. And then study and keep in pace for updates and keep training until you retire. For my last 10 years as a Flight Engineer, I was putting in more than 15 days a month. That works out to be working more flights then our Active Duty counterparts. What I am saying is that, we did the same job at a lower cost to the DOD, and these days were not considered Active Duty days for the Veterans Administration, meaning those days counted for retirement but not for being counted as a Veteran.
There were a lot of times where I had to fly with our Active Duty pilots on active duty missions, since our Active Duty counterparts were short handed on Flight Engineers. These days were considered Active Duty time for Retirement, however they were not considered Active Duty time for the Veterans Administration. And so what’s the difference? Well, it’s all about the money. If I was hurt on the job as a reservist or guard member, I could not file for Veterans Benefits or workers' compensation. Fix me and put me out the door and that's it. If the active duty pilot seated four feet away from me was hurt, he or she would file for Medical separation with Retirement pay and receive Veterans Benefits with a monetary monthly payment. See the difference yet? I’ll give you a hint, the DOD and VA saved a lot of money. It’s always all about the money. And what really pissed me off was an article I read in the Stars and Stripes. I would suggest every Veteran subscribe to this for Veteran updates.
VA says veteran suicide rate is 17 per day after change in calculation
By NIKKI WENTLING | STARS AND STRIPES
Published: September 20, 2019
As you can see, this article came out September 30th, 2019 and I have not heard 1 elected official say anything about this. They think it’s alright to calculate suicides by dropping Guardsmen and Reservist off the count. I mean, 17 sounds a lot better than 20. I mean, really? What is that about? For years the VA has been fighting with the count, was it 20, or 21? Who cares? There is a problem - let's fix it. But do not shave off the figures; Guard and Reserves are 15% of the suicide rate. If anything, figure out why the Guard and Reserves are 50% out of the 100% of the total force. The math will tell you that 50% of the people should have 50% of the problem, not 15%. And to add to this, who are you going to take away next? The Active Duty force who never served in the Theater of Operation, or War Zone? That would make sense of you are using VA logic. Instead, the VA and DOD should be looking for what the Guard and Reserve units are doing right to cut the losses down to 15%.
Anyway, did you read the part on how the VA didn't use 5 million $$$$? That is our VA; let's save that money. That shows how much they care about the problem. Or did they need the funds for employee bonuses, new offices, new patios to have lunch on, and do special projects and hire more people to review things? $5 million would have gone a long way to start payments for Veterans' claims to prevent them from killing themselves. How's that for a viewpoint? All I know is that I'm sure they could have used the funds to come up with better ideas for suicide prevention than, "Yoga for all and sing Kumbaya with your buddies."
As I stated above, I would send 15 days a month on orders to work as a Flight Engineer. Hundreds of other Guardsmen and Reservist did, and still do, put more time in than 2 weeks and 2 days a month. Guardsmen and Reservist are 50% of the Total Force. They are trained to be ready, current, and move within 24 hours. In my opinion there is no larger compliment you can give to your country than to be a Guard or Reserve member. You are there when needed. You take the same classes, fire the same guns, fly the same planes, go to the same wars, take the same vaccinations, and still expect to go home like nothing ever happened. And then start back up the next month. Guard and Reservists need the same thing as active duty personnel............... TO BE COUNTED.
When I was first activated for the Gulf War, those of us in my unit were only given 29 days orders. Why? Well, to save money of course. With 29 day orders, we were not entitled to healthcare, housing, and the most important savings, not be able to file anything with the Veterans Administration in case anything happened. And then the second 29 days order came out, and then another. Finally, someone said that wasn’t right and then we were put on full Active status retroactive from August 1990. But if the money saving guys had their way, we would have been on 29 day orders for 12 months.
And that brings us to the photo above. My son Danny. He’s dead. He was conceived after given the experimental Anthrax vaccine.
That is what this site and movement is all about. Everyone who’s in, or was in, uniform should get help when needed. If you were part-time or full-time, you were there and you need to...............BE COUNTED.