Let's work on a solution

[sfc_darrel]

I don't know how this could be implemented but I think the only solution is to change the way VA employees are given raises, bonuses, brownie points, etc .

Gimpy is justified in his anger.

Tamaroa is justified in accepting a benefit that the VA went out of their way to give to him.

Everyone agrees on a basic priority of service from the VA, even Principi.

In June, on orders from his boss, Anthony Principi, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Mansfield wheeled himself into six separate VA clinics in Florida.

http://www.patriotfiles.com/forum/sh...threadid=15349

More vets are being taking care of (numbers) and more dollars are being appropriated (numbers) but our veterans with the greatest need are not being served .

Request:
Those of you who write great letters (you know who you are now don't be shy) and those who come up with ideas on how the Secretary of Veterans Affairs can make a priority system that takes care of VETS in the way we ALL know they should be taken care of.

NEEDED:
A reward system based on quality of work not numbers served.

All are invited to come up with ideas and our great letter writers can use the best or maybe all.

We have learned our limitations. We know who's on what committee. We know the problem. Now we need to come up with solutions.

I know that everyone here knows how to fight back. Let's get busy.

[Tamaroa]

Recently, on this site, there was a note about the Veteran's Voting Bloc. I went to the site and signed up. Since then I have received from them about 3 or 4 digests of mail that was forwarded to me. After reading it, I must confess that I am amazed at the vitriol (sp) spewed even on that site between veterans.

Guys and gals, we will not get anywere unless we are on the same page. First and foremost forget what service we were in. That is irrelevent with reference to veteran's voting bloc. We are veterans first. Secondly, we all agree that priorities need to be established with war wounded being the first priority going down to the peace time vet who saw no action and all in between.

As far as a rating system for bonus' etc. for VA employees, yes I am in full agreement. As mentioned before, a vet would make an ideal employee, but would that be legal? Is it discriminatory? I am pretty sure that they have a rating system by their supervisors, but what about their patients? I went to the clinc a couple of years ago for my glasses. I remember there was a suggestion box there and i filled it out. I don't know how serious they took the suggestions but at least they asked. What if a serious program was put into place that listened to how patients felt about their service? That might work if people knew their jobs depended on it.

I know that when I was there there were no lines, I walked in about 15 minutes before my appointment after about a three month wait. I presented my card, they gave me the exam, about a month later, the glasses were sent to me in the mail. The people were pleasant, the place was clean.

We also need to concentrate more on all phases of veteran's affairs not just benefits alone. In the past I have been heavily involved in one phase of recognizing veterans from the historical perspective. But I was not actively involved in current veteran's issues until I first signed up for the Veteran's universal access plan.The next step was signing up for the Veteran's voting Bloc.
I also have known veterans who fought like hell for their own rights, health packages and otherwise, but ignored the history of vets around them.

Case in point is my army vet friend Rodger and I held several meetings at a local library to try to get Black citizen's interested in telling the story of black veterans from the county from the Civil War to the present. we had two or three meetings including a couple of prominent black citizens at the meetings. At first they voiced support, but as the meetings progressed and they realized the amount of research that goes into putting together even a simple paper on a person's life together, interest fell by the wayside.

My partner and I have given lectures on flags including the Confederate Battle Flag, too. We have given lectures on how to trace your Civil War ancestor and as mentioned on another thread we have dealt with headstone replacement and repair as well.

These are all important aspects that the current crop of citizens and students must realize. I was fortunate enough to have a column published for a time in a local Newspaper in which I highlighted aspects of Civil War life in the county. It worked! We got people interested to the point where there are now volunteer committees being formed to help preserve old cemeteries.

You have to grab their interest and make John Q. citizen understand what the veteran has done or has given up for his country. Then you can get the support of citizenry behind you as well.

Read this article. I published this in the Rockland County Times and got some decent response from it:
==========================================

Rambling ?Round Rockland #8
William Hartwick, Anatomy of a Rockland
Civil War Soldier?s Service Record
Bill Doherty

?Received of A. A. Surgeon W. G. Elliot, U.S.A. one dress coat, one shirt, one photograph and $1.00 in money. They being all the effects of William H. Hartwick of Company ?F?, 6th New York H.A. when admitted to this hospital and at the time of his decease. Oliver H. Dutcher, Brother-in-law of deceased.?

This somber receipt dated September 11, 1864, is one of several documents in the file of William Hartwick, late a soldier of the Union from Rockland Lake, Town of Clarkstown, Rockland County, New York. If you ?still hear the guns,? as Roger and I do, this kind of thing sends shivers down your spine. Why does it affect us so? One reason is that on the surface it represents the sum total of a young man?s 29 years of life on this planet earth. Four items: a coat, a shirt, a photograph and $1 in money.-- hardly a legacy commensurate with the ultimate sacrifice.

However, William Hartwick is one of the hundreds of thousands of young men who perished in our late Civil War to preserve the Union and free the slaves. Eighty-seven Rocklanders were killed in action or mortally wounded, hundreds more wounded. Many of their military records are in my possession. Reading them is a sobering experience. In addition to the receipt quoted above there is a doctor?s treatment record in Hartwick?s files, ?Removed the gangrenous portions with scissors, applied creosote, Bramine and nitric acid.? The next entry is ?Died Sept. 9th 1864 of gangrene antropy.?

It all started on December 31, 1863 when former shoemaker William H. Hartwick enrolled as a private in Company F of the 6th New York Heavies. He was officially mustered into United States service at Riker?s Island on January 6, 1864 at the age of 28 with nine months left to live.

William had blue eyes, light hair and a fair complexion. He was 5 feet 7 inches tall and married to the former Harriet Dutcher. For the January/February, 1864 Company Muster Roll he was listed present for duty with the remark ?recruit from depot? in his records. On his March/April muster roll he is present and received the first installment, $60 of his enlistment bounty.

May/June?s muster roll found him absent; sick in the U.S. General Hospital wounded on June 18, 1864 at the siege of Petersburg. The second installment of his enlistment bounty is now due. In July/August he again is listed absent with a Third installment of his bounty due. Finally on his September/October, 1864 muster roll, ?Died in U.S. Gen?l hospital, Washington, D.C. September 9, 1864.

Hartwick apparently spent time in a field hospital first because he was wounded on June 18th and admitted to the general hospital on July 4, 1864 having been transported from City Point, Virginia. His hospital diagnosis read ?Gun shot wound of left thigh & knee?.Nature of missile or weapon, Minie ball.?

His comrades in the field were notified via the Company commander of William?s death by this form letter from the hospital. ?I have to inform you that Private William H. Hartwick of your company died in this hospital on September 9, 1864 of Gangrene following a gunshot wound of left thigh. I enclose his descriptive list, with pay and clothing account and inventory of his effects.?

Following that toneless government missive is the record of death and internment, William Hartwick?s hospital number was 7879, grave number 2661 U.S. Military Cemetery, Alexandria, Virginia.

The 6th Heavies finished the war near Bermuda Hundred, Virginia where A.G.O. No. 95 form was filled out on behalf of Private Hartwick. This painful sentence stands out; ?William H. Hartwick ?.having served honestly and faithfully with his company to the present date is now entitled to a discharge by reason of Death?. It also stated he had no indebtedness to the sutler or laundress and that his clothing account was settled to the tune of $35.31.

That was the sum and total of Hartwick?s record in the service. My files contain dozens of other records. Heroes or deserters, Medal of Honor winners (Richard Smith of Haverstraw) and soldiers like Hartwick. His record was chosen for this article for a reason. He was plain, he was ordinary, and he was a shoemaker who enlisted to make a difference. His quest to make a difference ended in his death, leaving behind a young widow Harriet Hartwick of Rockland Lake.

If you have a Civil war ancestor, the records in the National Archives are available for your perusal. You can make an appointment, go there and search for the records yourself or you can write the National Archives at:

General Reference Branch (NNRG ? P)
National Archives and Records Administration
7th and Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20408

Call the National Archives first and ask them to send you several copies of NATF Form 80.
When you receive the forms read them carefully before you fill them out. You can request both pension and service records of your ancestor, but not on the same form! You must fill out two copies of the same form. In the upper left-hand corner check Military records for one form and on the other identically filled out form check Pension records.

Aside from the name include: the war fought in, regiment, branch of service, If army specify artillery, cavalry or infantry, officer or enlisted. For the Civil War you must specify Union or Confederate. With that information and the inclusion of your Mastercard or Visa number ($10.00) per record, your family history will be further enriched in 6 to 8 weeks when the records arrive.

Your ancestors are more likely to be like Hartwick than Haverstraw native Richard Smith who received the Medal of Honor for capturing 2 officers and 20 men from Hagood?s brigade during the Battle of Weldon?s Railroad. However, without the common soldier in the ranks, without the Tunis Seamans, or Dan Smiths or William Hinmans or Towt Waldrons what would our history be now?

The only source for this article was the military record of William H. Hartwick, Private, 6th New York Heavy Artillery, National Archives, Washington, D.C.
===============

Thanks for reading this! I hope you will agree that a two pronged attack is necessary. in addition to forming a coalition and making our case known to the federal government regarding benefits, we also need to educate the public about the Veteran and his deeds. We need to get the people on our side who benefited from the presence of veterans but never thought about them (us).


Bill

[Arrow]

I believe there should be a rating system from Doctors to receptionist to make them accountable. A card made available to the Vet to critique the service he received each time he has contact with the VA. I have seen that done in some VA's. But this should be in every VA hospital and Regional Office. These cards should be used by supervisors to evaluate job perfomance along with other criteria of course. Rewards or punishments of course are going to be a little sticker. I am not sure how difficult it is to give someone more vacation time bonus money within the VA system. And I am not sure how easy it is to get rid of some employees. Someone else that has worked in the system like Packo would probably be able to tell us that.

Griz has stated and it makes sense to me that the VA is workable as proven in his area and other areas where they receive good treatment. The problem therefore lies within the regions and the regional directors. Attitudes filter down, employees know what they can get by with it and those that are not service oriented ie treating the Vet in an undignified manner will push the envelope to see just what they can get by with. I would like to see the guys in each region that are being treated poorly spearhead an effort to call the regional administration into accountability or get them all replaced. It's a fight but it's one worth being in for those that are unable to do it for themselves now and for those coming home.

[sfc_darrel]

Griz's experience proves that the system can change.

Darrel spent more than a year in treatment here and we are very happy that it is now better here.

Now let's work on the solution to fix it all.

Joy