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Movie Theater Sgt.will Gardner.
- Thread starter Snipe260
- Start date
( SPOILERS,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,WARNING ) And it is long,,,sorry.
I have about 30 mins to go, but I watched most of it and then it was bedtime. Here is my problem. ( finished the show so we can revise it a bit)
1. Wil Gardner is medically retired and was probably an E-8( actually an E-7) with more than 20 years of service. ( or he was a 50 year old E-5?). If he really was a snake eating hero with a 1st Sgt buddy and decades of experience. He should be pulling in about $3800 (probably between $2500-$3000) a month in retired pay. His PTSD and TBI along with other injuries should get him concurrent VA Disability of at least 80% for another $1900 a month (approx.) Maybe they called him "Ghost" because he skipped every morning formation?
So Wil is limping along on $69,000 ( probably closer to $60K unless he is 100% disabled then its closer to $75K a year) then a year and is homeless and drunk and a motorcycle thief.
2. I'm at the drunk Marine in the hotel part. The drunk, one-legged Marine is 100% disabled from the VA and was medically retired by the USMC as a Lance corporal or Sgt. He gets paid $3057 a month by the VA and yes they are a shitshow 90% of the time. So he is homeless on $36,684 a year and he might get a small amount from the DOD on his medical retirement, because he is medically retired he gets Tricare for Life or a version of Tricare and can get a new leg anywhere the hell he wants. This guy is double covered for medical insurance and never took care of himself.
Apparently, he does not pay child support or alimony and he deserted his family and they still love him. He is unaware or his status as a retired service member and no one told him he gets paid for his service. Strangely, he medically retired from the military and was completely unaware he did so,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,one day he was in Iraq and then he woke up pushing a shopping cart with his dead buddies ghost riding in it down an LA street.
Apparently he does not remember how either a checkbook laptop or debit card works and all vets fail to understand the welfare system in America. He is unaware he got divorced and even though he loved his son more than anything in the world, he chose to wander the earth drunk instead of sorting his shit out. Thus if the movie is correct every illegal immigrant on earth comes here for benefits no one ever mentioned to veterans.
Yes, I'm a vet. I retired with 27 years total service and it pains me to see actual veterans homeless and failing at life, but these two guys are not them. I had to fight with the VA for six damned years to get my crap taken care of and under Obama the VA was killing more GWOT vets than Al Qaeda ever dreamed of.
I understand the frustration with the VA and the misery of not being able to do what you love because you got old, injured or wounded. I wish every GI could get the help they need to get on with life. I also think portraying every injured vet as one slip on a banana peel from becoming a homeless drunkard is wrong.
Under Obama's guidance the VA killed at least 307,000 vets by making them wait years for care or treatment ( movie claimed fact). I promise you they killed more. To say the VA does not care is an understatement of the highest order.
My sad VA story;
The vet they try hardest to kill is the one or two term soldier/service member or the guy who left without claiming anything and then wandered into a VA hospital twenty years later and got told, "we have no record of your military service". They make you provide them with copies of military records they can find by simply querying a DOD database, it would literally take them 10 minutes to verify your service. The VA makes you spend months emailing and writing various offices to find these records and as you submit them they simply ignore them or ask for more records. ( A 22-28 year old will typically say fuck it and give up too soon,that is what they hope for and this is how you end up despondent, homeless, drinking or drugging and discouraged. This is how the VA kills young people with problems from their service)
Here is their trick. You have only 30 or 45 days MAX to respond to any query from them. They have up to 100 years to respond to you.
I sent them my first batch of crap,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,they replied in 16 months. I had 30 days to reply back or my case was closed and unless I hired a lawyer they will never reopen it. So I gathered more records and resubmitted it,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,they send a letter saying the expected time for "processing" was 520 days. I got a reply, made an appointment to see my representative and send more crap records,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,their response was they expect to be complete in THREE YEARS!!!!!!! From the last letter, not from the beginning.
After more than six years,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,I won. They had to pay me from the "date of the claim" so they simply adjusted the date of the claim a couple of years ahead to save money and paid me less than they owed me.
Two years to the fucking DAY later,,,,,,,,,,,the VA contacted me demanding more physicals because they felt degenerative medical conditions had improved and wanted to cut my benefits in half. I was threatened and verbally abused and when their doctor reviewed my records and examined me in depth he actually awarded me an additional 10% disability. So my overall rating actually increased after review.
Two weeks later, I got a letter from the VA saying they wanted to drop my ratings 50%. I lost my temper yet again and launched a full on appeal and promised a fucking fight, they suddenly dropped their bullshit,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,so far. They still can shit on you without warning and claim "you refused to co-operate" as the excuse and you have to start the fight all over.
They are supposed to review non-permanent injuries every five years NOT TWO. They are supposed to stop fucking with you when you are over 55 years old,,,,,because you are no longer considered re-trainable or fully employable.
I've helped dozens of vets over the years with their VA crap, I have gotten pretty good at writing appeals and gathering records. The VA bitches because every guy leaving the military applies for disability. BUT YOU HAVE TOO!!!! If you do not the VA will purge your medical records and spend the next 50 years claiming you never served.
If you read this crap and you want one takeaway for you, your kid or buddies in the military. Get copies of everything!!! Get a full copy of your medical, dental, training, jump, personnel records before you leave the service, if you have to burn a copy yourself do it. Put all that shit in a foot locker and haul it with you for the rest of your life, every certificate, medal, DD214, TDY order, pictures of you discovering a bunker of nerve gas or a town infested with plague,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,save it all.
One day you will need the VA and even though they can find everything about your military career with the touch of a button,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,they will refuse to help you unless you have a copy too.
I have about 30 mins to go, but I watched most of it and then it was bedtime. Here is my problem. ( finished the show so we can revise it a bit)
1. Wil Gardner is medically retired and was probably an E-8( actually an E-7) with more than 20 years of service. ( or he was a 50 year old E-5?). If he really was a snake eating hero with a 1st Sgt buddy and decades of experience. He should be pulling in about $3800 (probably between $2500-$3000) a month in retired pay. His PTSD and TBI along with other injuries should get him concurrent VA Disability of at least 80% for another $1900 a month (approx.) Maybe they called him "Ghost" because he skipped every morning formation?
So Wil is limping along on $69,000 ( probably closer to $60K unless he is 100% disabled then its closer to $75K a year) then a year and is homeless and drunk and a motorcycle thief.
2. I'm at the drunk Marine in the hotel part. The drunk, one-legged Marine is 100% disabled from the VA and was medically retired by the USMC as a Lance corporal or Sgt. He gets paid $3057 a month by the VA and yes they are a shitshow 90% of the time. So he is homeless on $36,684 a year and he might get a small amount from the DOD on his medical retirement, because he is medically retired he gets Tricare for Life or a version of Tricare and can get a new leg anywhere the hell he wants. This guy is double covered for medical insurance and never took care of himself.
Apparently, he does not pay child support or alimony and he deserted his family and they still love him. He is unaware or his status as a retired service member and no one told him he gets paid for his service. Strangely, he medically retired from the military and was completely unaware he did so,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,one day he was in Iraq and then he woke up pushing a shopping cart with his dead buddies ghost riding in it down an LA street.
Apparently he does not remember how either a checkbook laptop or debit card works and all vets fail to understand the welfare system in America. He is unaware he got divorced and even though he loved his son more than anything in the world, he chose to wander the earth drunk instead of sorting his shit out. Thus if the movie is correct every illegal immigrant on earth comes here for benefits no one ever mentioned to veterans.
Yes, I'm a vet. I retired with 27 years total service and it pains me to see actual veterans homeless and failing at life, but these two guys are not them. I had to fight with the VA for six damned years to get my crap taken care of and under Obama the VA was killing more GWOT vets than Al Qaeda ever dreamed of.
I understand the frustration with the VA and the misery of not being able to do what you love because you got old, injured or wounded. I wish every GI could get the help they need to get on with life. I also think portraying every injured vet as one slip on a banana peel from becoming a homeless drunkard is wrong.
Under Obama's guidance the VA killed at least 307,000 vets by making them wait years for care or treatment ( movie claimed fact). I promise you they killed more. To say the VA does not care is an understatement of the highest order.
My sad VA story;
The vet they try hardest to kill is the one or two term soldier/service member or the guy who left without claiming anything and then wandered into a VA hospital twenty years later and got told, "we have no record of your military service". They make you provide them with copies of military records they can find by simply querying a DOD database, it would literally take them 10 minutes to verify your service. The VA makes you spend months emailing and writing various offices to find these records and as you submit them they simply ignore them or ask for more records. ( A 22-28 year old will typically say fuck it and give up too soon,that is what they hope for and this is how you end up despondent, homeless, drinking or drugging and discouraged. This is how the VA kills young people with problems from their service)
Here is their trick. You have only 30 or 45 days MAX to respond to any query from them. They have up to 100 years to respond to you.
I sent them my first batch of crap,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,they replied in 16 months. I had 30 days to reply back or my case was closed and unless I hired a lawyer they will never reopen it. So I gathered more records and resubmitted it,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,they send a letter saying the expected time for "processing" was 520 days. I got a reply, made an appointment to see my representative and send more crap records,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,their response was they expect to be complete in THREE YEARS!!!!!!! From the last letter, not from the beginning.
After more than six years,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,I won. They had to pay me from the "date of the claim" so they simply adjusted the date of the claim a couple of years ahead to save money and paid me less than they owed me.
Two years to the fucking DAY later,,,,,,,,,,,the VA contacted me demanding more physicals because they felt degenerative medical conditions had improved and wanted to cut my benefits in half. I was threatened and verbally abused and when their doctor reviewed my records and examined me in depth he actually awarded me an additional 10% disability. So my overall rating actually increased after review.
Two weeks later, I got a letter from the VA saying they wanted to drop my ratings 50%. I lost my temper yet again and launched a full on appeal and promised a fucking fight, they suddenly dropped their bullshit,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,so far. They still can shit on you without warning and claim "you refused to co-operate" as the excuse and you have to start the fight all over.
They are supposed to review non-permanent injuries every five years NOT TWO. They are supposed to stop fucking with you when you are over 55 years old,,,,,because you are no longer considered re-trainable or fully employable.
I've helped dozens of vets over the years with their VA crap, I have gotten pretty good at writing appeals and gathering records. The VA bitches because every guy leaving the military applies for disability. BUT YOU HAVE TOO!!!! If you do not the VA will purge your medical records and spend the next 50 years claiming you never served.
If you read this crap and you want one takeaway for you, your kid or buddies in the military. Get copies of everything!!! Get a full copy of your medical, dental, training, jump, personnel records before you leave the service, if you have to burn a copy yourself do it. Put all that shit in a foot locker and haul it with you for the rest of your life, every certificate, medal, DD214, TDY order, pictures of you discovering a bunker of nerve gas or a town infested with plague,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,save it all.
One day you will need the VA and even though they can find everything about your military career with the touch of a button,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,they will refuse to help you unless you have a copy too.
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I do apologize for the long winded post. But, just in case one of you guys is a vet and discouraged with your life in general because the VA is making it a Hell,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,do not give up, do not sit around drinking yourself stupid or kill yourself to save them money. Keep pushing on them until they do their jobs right.
Amen brother. Has anyone ever stopped to ask why there is a mosque across from the Houston va? And not enough parking ever? It’s almost like they want you to snap.
lonegun,
I feel your pain, as it mirrors my own experience. In my case it was just costing me too much time and effort beating my head against the bureaucracy.
I feel your pain, as it mirrors my own experience. In my case it was just costing me too much time and effort beating my head against the bureaucracy.
Never give up, never surrender.
Took me seven years for mine (after two previous claims were dismissed over six years), even after lymphoma twice (both kinds), and coronary artery disease adjudged to be AO induced. I had received 100% status twice, only to have each of them terminated after 5 years, each time in accordance with VA policy.
Turned out all physical exams associated with claims went though a single Doctor. He was finally forced to retire at age 82.
A WWII Vet, he had turned on all Vietnam Vets, believing all AO claims were fraudulent. He managed to kill my first two claims over six years. Then I got bounced back continuously for seven more years on the last one (with responses like "Cancer does not cause Heart Disease...", which I only won after they put him out to pasture involuntarily.
That's your tax dollars at work, folks.
He got his medical degree from what was eventually named SUNY Buffalo, largely based o the GI Bill.
We had a name for the ones like him....
Buddyfuckers.
Greg
Took me seven years for mine (after two previous claims were dismissed over six years), even after lymphoma twice (both kinds), and coronary artery disease adjudged to be AO induced. I had received 100% status twice, only to have each of them terminated after 5 years, each time in accordance with VA policy.
Turned out all physical exams associated with claims went though a single Doctor. He was finally forced to retire at age 82.
A WWII Vet, he had turned on all Vietnam Vets, believing all AO claims were fraudulent. He managed to kill my first two claims over six years. Then I got bounced back continuously for seven more years on the last one (with responses like "Cancer does not cause Heart Disease...", which I only won after they put him out to pasture involuntarily.
That's your tax dollars at work, folks.
He got his medical degree from what was eventually named SUNY Buffalo, largely based o the GI Bill.
We had a name for the ones like him....
Buddyfuckers.
Greg
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Brother, I hear 'ya. The goddamn VA... Sitting here recovering from the latest foot surgery. And yeah, I don't get some of it, I know some fall through the cracks and they need the help, I've met 'em and I've helped 'em out of my own pocket, but others I don't know.... You also forgot to mention that if they get 100% comp and pen., that they almost certainly qualify for SS disability income too, so that's around $46,000 per month. That's me by the way. I'm not rich, but I'm not homeless either. If you have dependents, you get even more.
The problem for most homeless vets I think is that at one point they didn't need the help, didn't bother jumping through the hoops, now that they do the burden of proof is so hard to access and plus it's been all these years, now service rated shit is gonna be harder to prove. I've seen guys dealing with that, waiting years and years to get paid. But goddamn, some of these guys are fucked up enough that all they need do is walk in and ask and they'll make it happen. Seen that too.
Wish you continuing luck buddy!
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