Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Tampa Tribune
June 17, 2008 By Associated Press
SAN ANTONIO, Texas - His lifelong dream of becoming a soldier had, in the end, come to this for Isaac Stevens: 28, penniless, in a wheelchair, fending off the sexual advances of another man in a homeless shelter.
Stevens' descent from Army private first-class, 3rd Infantry Division, 11 Bravo Company, began in 2005 - not in battle, because he was never sent off to Iraq or Afghanistan, but with a headfirst fall over a wall on the obstacle course at Fort Benning, Ga. He suffered a head injury and spinal damage.
The injury alone didn't put him in a homeless shelter. Instead, it was military bureaucracy - specifically, the way injured soldiers are discharged on just a fraction of their salary and then forced to wait six to nine months, and sometimes even more than a year, before their full disability payments begin to flow.
"When I got out, I hate to say it, but man, that was it. Everybody just kind of washed their hands of me, and it was like, 'OK, you're on your own,'" said Stevens, who was discharged in November and was in a shelter by February. He has since moved in to a temporary San Antonio apartment with help from Operation Homefront, a nonprofit organization.
Nearly 20,000 disabled soldiers were discharged in the past two fiscal years, and lawmakers, veterans' advocates and others say thousands could be facing financial ruin while they wait for their claims to be processed and their benefits to come.
"The anecdotal evidence is depressing," said Rep. John Hall, D-N.Y., who heads a subcommittee on veterans disability benefits. "These veterans are getting medical care, but their family is going through this huge readjustment at the same time they're dealing with financial difficulties."
Most permanently disabled veterans qualify for payments from Social Security and the military or Veterans Affairs. Those sums can amount to about two-thirds of their active-duty pay. Until those checks show up, however, most disabled veterans draw a reduced Army paycheck.
The amount depends on the soldier's injuries, service time and other factors, but a typical veteran and his family who once lived on $3,400 a month might have to make do with $970 a month.
Unless a soldier has a personal fortune or was so severely injured as to require long-term inpatient care, that can be an extreme hardship.
In a change in policy that took effect in August, the Army is allowing wounded soldiers to continue to draw their full Army paychecks for up to 90 days after discharge, Baker said. It is also sending more VA workers to Army posts to process claims more quickly, and trying to do a better job of informing soldiers of the available benefits and explaining the application process.
June 17, 2008 By Associated Press
SAN ANTONIO, Texas - His lifelong dream of becoming a soldier had, in the end, come to this for Isaac Stevens: 28, penniless, in a wheelchair, fending off the sexual advances of another man in a homeless shelter.
Stevens' descent from Army private first-class, 3rd Infantry Division, 11 Bravo Company, began in 2005 - not in battle, because he was never sent off to Iraq or Afghanistan, but with a headfirst fall over a wall on the obstacle course at Fort Benning, Ga. He suffered a head injury and spinal damage.
The injury alone didn't put him in a homeless shelter. Instead, it was military bureaucracy - specifically, the way injured soldiers are discharged on just a fraction of their salary and then forced to wait six to nine months, and sometimes even more than a year, before their full disability payments begin to flow.
"When I got out, I hate to say it, but man, that was it. Everybody just kind of washed their hands of me, and it was like, 'OK, you're on your own,'" said Stevens, who was discharged in November and was in a shelter by February. He has since moved in to a temporary San Antonio apartment with help from Operation Homefront, a nonprofit organization.
Nearly 20,000 disabled soldiers were discharged in the past two fiscal years, and lawmakers, veterans' advocates and others say thousands could be facing financial ruin while they wait for their claims to be processed and their benefits to come.
"The anecdotal evidence is depressing," said Rep. John Hall, D-N.Y., who heads a subcommittee on veterans disability benefits. "These veterans are getting medical care, but their family is going through this huge readjustment at the same time they're dealing with financial difficulties."
Most permanently disabled veterans qualify for payments from Social Security and the military or Veterans Affairs. Those sums can amount to about two-thirds of their active-duty pay. Until those checks show up, however, most disabled veterans draw a reduced Army paycheck.
The amount depends on the soldier's injuries, service time and other factors, but a typical veteran and his family who once lived on $3,400 a month might have to make do with $970 a month.
Unless a soldier has a personal fortune or was so severely injured as to require long-term inpatient care, that can be an extreme hardship.
In a change in policy that took effect in August, the Army is allowing wounded soldiers to continue to draw their full Army paychecks for up to 90 days after discharge, Baker said. It is also sending more VA workers to Army posts to process claims more quickly, and trying to do a better job of informing soldiers of the available benefits and explaining the application process.