My son called earlier today. Not only has the VA taken away his college benefits and sent him a bill for over $3600 for past tuition they paid. They now are canceling all his benefits because they can not prove he was active duty for the 6 months he was at basic and AIT.

Ok I understand paper snafus happen. Why punish the kid for their foul up? Why not tell him they have screwed up and need his assistance? Ask him if he can find a copy of the paperwork. Why not tell him they need the lost paperwork in the next 3 months or they will have to sit down with him and discuss a possible reduction in benefits?

They screw up and then tell him, 'FU. It is not our problem it is yours".

I know the Armed Services and VA has a lot of bureaucracy. I know they have been screwing things up for more than 200 years. But when it hits home you tend to pay a little more attention.

I have supported them for years. I am about to say let's burn it all down and start again.

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I hear ya Wayne. That crap sucks.

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Sorry to hear that... When it comes to money, I have zero faith in our government. My fiance works for an NPO that helps support mentally handicapped adults, and just last night she told me how her client was basically told that if she wanted to keep getting the amount of money she was currently getting (but not using), she would have to use all of the money the government was paying her. So what did she do? She went out and bought about $500 worth of new stuff (chairs, towels, microwave) to replace stuff new enough that you could probably throw on a shelf at Walmart and pass off as new.

Fight the bastards, don't let them get away with this.

And some people want the government to be in charge of our health and well being......

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Oh yeah. I will give my son a few days to check things out then I will call my Congressman on his personal line. (I write his insurance and have known him for 30 years.) He won't deal with it directly but he will get me an answer.

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Situation Normal: All Fucked Up.

That sucks, Wayne. It just sucks.

You would think they could just call the place where he did basic. If there's one thing bureaucratic organizations are good at it, it's keeping files.

As an outsider, it always blows me away that the VA has such a bad rep. I mean, you would think that if any part of the government would truly be in tune with the needs of its main constituents, it would be the one that serves vets. But it has this horrible rep. That cases like that of your son says it absolutely deserves.

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That majorly sucks. That's what I've been saying about the government being irresponsible with money then they take it out on us.

I hope he gets this cleared up. That's not chump change.

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next step. my son emails me a form that I need to fax for him to the Military Personnel Records department.
On the for it says that he has to wait AT LEAST 90 days before he contacts them.

so this means:
1. Someone has the info.
2. The VA doesn't give a crap and can't be bothered to ask for it themselves when it is their records that are incomplete.
3. No one is in any kind of a hurry to resolve the matter because they really don't give a sh!t.

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My sympathies, empathies, and condolences. His experiences are hardly unique or even unusual, it's just that few have the courage to talk about it.

There are many, many reasons why the expletive that springs spastically to my mouth, often when I'm even not thinking about it, is "Fuck the army." The last 8-and-a-half years have so poisoned my brain, I find myself spitting out the phrase at the oddest moments.

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Great point!!!!

Wayne.....fight this tooth and nail!
If you have to, contact your local TV station and tell them your story. Sometimes getting them involved can really get action.
The armed forces, who are trying to get kids to sign up, will not like this story of your son getting screwed over being on TV.
GO GET EM!!!

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