Veteran rights

[Proserpina]

Compared to what the State "offers", it is generous - but I can see where context was lacking.

Nobody said it wasn't earned.
Nobody said it wasn't deserved.

3 years after she returned, our family is still trying to help our #2 navigate the outside world. Last year, it became a missing persons case. She did turn up - strung out and desperate. She still doesn't have custody of her child. Every bright light scares the living crap out of her. She's finding her feet again - slowly. The PTSD is disabling in every single definition of the word. She is 25 years old.

So yes, at least one of us in this thread is acutely aware of the sacrifices made and mark my words there isn't enough money on the planet able to fix that.

~ fin

 

[Just Blue]

I think a lot of members on this site have topics that are near and dear to us. Most times the written word does not alway convey what we actually MEAN.

 

[ecmst12]

The money being well earned or deserved has nothing to do with the question. No one disputes that disabled vets still got a raw deal even if they are financially comfortable. The question was about whether the benefits can or should be used to support the family. And the answer is, of course they can and should. The military doesn't allow active duty deadbeats, why should they accept deadbeat vets? I don't consider them any different than any other hard working NCP that thinks they shouldn't have to pay their child or spousal support. No one gets a pass on it. If anything I'd hold service members to a higher standard of personal responsibility.

 

[Isis1]

The money being well earned or deserved has nothing to do with the question. No one disputes that disabled vets still got a raw deal even if they are financially comfortable. The question was about whether the benefits can or should be used to support the family. And the answer is, of course they can and should. The military doesn't allow active duty deadbeats, why should they accept deadbeat vets? I don't consider them any different than any other hard working NCP that thinks they shouldn't have to pay their child or spousal support. No one gets a pass on it. If anything I'd hold service members to a higher standard of personal responsibility.

as they should be. i fully agree.

 

[RRevak]

Before we talk about how generous the VA disability payments are, I think everybody needs to be reminded how they are earned. I know a guy I went to school with that can't drive a car because he has seizures stemming from TBI that resulted from his 6th - 6th -- let me say that again -- his 6th time getting blown up by an IED. He also has PTSD and some other medical issues.

I helped build a house for a Marine vet who left his legs in a mine field.

I spent three hours talking to a Iraq vet who sat on his couch with a bottle of booze in one hand and a 1911 in the other. His wife called me. His guns are still in my gun safe and I'm glad to say we got him to accept the help he needed from the VA. I pray he's going to make it through it. He had been shot three times lost several teammates and subordinates under fire.

Just recently, I have managed to get another vet with whom I served in Desert Storm to go to the Vet Center for counseling and the VA for treatment. He was hitting bottom with PTSD and the assorted symptoms that go with it. He suffered with PTSD and physical trauma for 23 years before seeking help.

No, I have a hard time characterizing VA disability rates as generous.

DC

I know all too well the what the life of a disabled vet entails. My family member has physical issues due to TBI (2 to be exact). His has physical and mental issues from multiple IEDs. He has PTSD from being the only survivor after his 3 tours. He to this day blames himself for every death while they were on his watch. There are stories he still can't tell from his time in the field. Some due to the nature of his work (he was Psy Op so there was a lot of doing things in places we couldn't know about, for people we couldn't know about, for reasons we couldn't know about) others due to them just being to painful to bring up. He has disappeared for weeks at a time only to turn up drunk, drugged, and scared while holing himself up in a dirty hotel room in the middle of nowhere. If he isn't in a hotel room he's in the mountains taking what he calls a "break". We never know if he's alive or dead when he heads out on these little excursions. Neither does his wife. He lost custody of his child for an extended period of time due to PTSD breakdowns while the child was in his care and has attempted suicide so many times i've lost count. The only thing i've lost count of more are the weeks he's spent in the VA trying to deal with his demons. He is completely unable to be in crowded places and completely unable to handle strangers without guarded hostility. In his mind everyone is a potential threat. I can't even imagine the life he leads in his own mind. I can imagine even less what it must be like living with him. He is an amazing man, was an amazing soldier, left the military with 4 purple hearts and an insane amount of other "decor", is currently a member of the Wounded Warrior Project, an activist for others like him, and a very loud voice for VA reform. Even with all of that, I still don't envy him. He deserves every dollar he gets.

 

[cbg]

Has anyone suggested that he, or any other vet, is not deserving? The question is not whether or not they are deserving of their benefits, but whether they should be exempt from providing alimony and/or child support. Two different questions.

 

[Proserpina]

Has anyone suggested that he, or any other vet, is not deserving? The question is not whether or not they are deserving of their benefits, but whether they should be exempt from providing alimony and/or child support. Two different questions.

No, they did not. In a loose discussion of military vs. civilian benefits, the use of the word "generous" was something of a hot button even though it is accurate compared with the alternative.

The actual legal question was answered much earlier.

 

[Gail in Georgia]

Not to continue on this particular subject (except I am) but as a federal employee working in a VA Medical facility, there can be many reasons a veteran can get a disability.

It does not need to be from an injury during service. If one develops an illness and the source of such can be determined to have developed while on active duty, one can apply for disability.

Thus, we have many veterans with service connections for diabetes, heart conditions, migraines, COPD associated with tobacco abuse, etc.. Often a vet will have several disabilities at, say, 10 or 20 percent each in an attempt to add up to as high as 100 percent as possible. Some spend a good amount of time attempting to increase their disability rating as much as they can. I have a female friend 10 percent service connected for PMS symptoms; when I asked why she got this, she simply said she applied and was granted this because, well, she had cramps while in the service.

I've had two young (27, 28 year old) veterans, both of whom have been declared 100 percent service connected for sleep apnea due to obesity. When they were referred to me for weight management (I'm a dietitian in so-called real life) both were fearful of losing their disability if they lost weight.

And yes, PTSD is a popular method of 100 percent disability, escpecially among the veterans who served in the Vietnam era.

Gail

 

[AskerofQuestion]

lol they wont let me reply

I keep trying to reply, and they won't let me reply to what you're saying.

first of all back to like post 1-7 the link you posted I read it. And that isn't legal law, that guy is not a law maker, the guy who posted the stuff about the military counsel. The law states, "and shall not be liable to attachment, levy, or seizure by or under any legal or equitable process whatever, either before or after receipt by the beneficiary" did you read it? By ANYWAY legal or equitable process whatever. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/38/5301

I want to know why you lawyers disregard this and don't follow what the law says and convince judges they can do what they want. All the postings that you non lawyers have posted so far are for STATE LAW not FEDERAL LAW. If you really can attach or use Vets disability and supersede the VA in making decisions IN HOUSE ONLY. Than don't show stupid state laws show FEDERAL LAWS saying you can do this. (Rose V Rose doesn't count any longer because the senate and the house repealed the laws in that case so they don't exist any longer. They made new laws. Mansel v Mansel says they can not use the funds (the states)) And they must be current federal laws not ones that have been repealed.

if the argument is that Rose V Rose is still valid than lets bring all the black people back to the USA and start slavery again because the US Supreme court stated in a supreme court ruling that it was legal and constitutional.

 

[Just Blue]

Has anyone suggested that he, or any other vet, is not deserving? The question is not whether or not they are deserving of their benefits, but whether they should be exempt from providing alimony and/or child support. Two different questions.

Good question!!

I have EXTREEM love and respect for all the women and men that protect us...But they are under the same legal obligations as any other citizen fo the US.

 

[AskerofQuestion]

oh reall?

Has anyone suggested that he, or any other vet, is not deserving? The question is not whether or not they are deserving of their benefits, but whether they should be exempt from providing alimony and/or child support. Two different questions.

question for you, and this doesn't just deal with vets it deals with 100% of divorces that exist. Why should man and a few women have to pay for someone else? I mean why should someone if their spouse cheated, robbed lied or did something mischievous get money from their ex spouse for X amount of time? They had no right to do such things and should be put to death (in the case of adultery) or thrown in jail for their issue of what they did or get no money in the case of "I just want a divorce for no reason other then I want to be alone, or find someone else." So tell me why? (what i don't consider valid is "I was a stay at home mom" or "wife" or "husband" or "father" etc in the same catagory or "he/she wouldn't let me work or go to school to get a job." other then that please give a good answer.

 

[quincy]

question for you, and this doesn't just deal with vets it deals with 100% of divorces that exist. Why should man and a few women have to pay for someone else? I mean why should someone if their spouse cheated, robbed lied or did something mischievous get money from their ex spouse for X amount of time? They had no right to do such things and should be put to death (in the case of adultery) or thrown in jail for their issue of what they did or get no money in the case of "I just want a divorce for no reason other then I want to be alone, or find someone else." So tell me why? (what i don't consider valid is "I was a stay at home mom" or "wife" or "husband" or "father" etc in the same catagory or "he/she wouldn't let me work or go to school to get a job." other then that please give a good answer.

Not all spouses ARE awarded alimony. However all CHILDREN of a marriage are entitled to support - and this support can be awarded out of disability benefits. It is this way because the LAW says it is this way.

If a court determined your spouse was entitled to alimony, then alimony was awarded. You can work with an attorney if you feel this is unjust.

And, if you want to start a petition addressing clarification of Section 5310, or a change in the wording so it would not be included as income when determining support, you are free to do that.

What is the name of your state, AskerofQuestion? This question is asked of all posters to this forum. Your state may have cases that you can work with in making the changes in the law that you seem to want to make.

 

[quincy]

AskerofQuestion, what is the name of your state?

You posted again but your posts disappeared, as did one of mine.

Section 5310 allows disability funds to be used for the support of spouses and children. Until the law is changed, it is what it is.

You can work with an attorney in your area if you are currently saddled with paying alimony for an ex-spouse who you feel is undeserving of such support. You can petition for a change in the law if you feel the law is unjust.

 

[Zigner]

This entire thread really shouldn't even exist - it was created as a rant.

 

[AskerofQuestion]

This entire thread really shouldn't even exist - it was created as a rant.

you dont get to decide that, I asked a question a serious of questions and this forum states we can ask questions. and I want my question asked. I GET TO DECIDE if it's a rant not you.