HOW DO YOU THINK THE TREATMENT OF VETERANS CAN BE IMPROVED?

First of all, I think there’s been a literal seat change in the kind of support that is given and in most cases it’s been a very, very positive change. Starting with the GI Bill, education bill, out of Vietnam was rather minimal, and didn’t provide a lot of support.

The GI Bill that is now available to military that has been separated from the service is much more substantial and generous and really supports them as they go through school, so that’s one thing. One exception in Vietnam was- if you were hurt, like I was, there was a vocational rehabilitation, educational bill, that was a program out of the VA, that was very good, and still is very good. So that part hasn’t changed, it still is a very strong program, and provides you with some very good benefits if you go to school.

Also the level of prosthetics services and support services if your injured is MUCH greater now and the technology that they give to us to be independent, whether that’s through the devices we use to get around- like lightweight wheelchairs or high performance prosthetic legs, lightweight crutches, orthotic devices that help support a limb that’s been injured by a wound- those are all much, much better now, than they were when I got out. I tell people that the first leg I got, out of Vietnam looked exactly like a leg that was in a picture in a civil war museum in 1865. So a hundred years later, I'm basically wearing the same prosthesis. So that part of it is much better.

The other thing that’s better is the availability of counseling for Post-traumatic stress disorder or post-traumatic stress. Now you have to remember that there are two types: one is called post-traumatic stress and the other is post-traumatic stress disorder. Most guys coming out of combat have post-traumatic stress- you can't help but have it, because you go from living in a civil society to literally shoot or be killed, and so it’s a very traumatic experience. But it’s where it becomes a disorder when it interferes with your daily life and is a problem. There is counseling- they recognize the problems- and that is definitely better than out of Vietnam. I got discharged at the end of 69', and I had my first PTSD counseling, which I sought out from the VA, in 1981. So 11 years later I finally got some counseling and that was way too long.

Now on the negative side, some of the bureaucracy of the VA, still gets in the way of sometimes effective service to offer these programs. And that needs to be dealt with- there’s just too much slow moving processes in the VA that just don’t respond well to crisis, when someone needs counseling right away- they need some help.

The other thing is that the big legacy for this war is traumatic brain injury. That will be something that we need to continually provide substantial assistance, for both the injured veteran and the families of severe traumatic brain injury- because it affects their thinking, their ability to be able to function in society, and the VA and this society needs to be prepared provide assistance. That being said I do want people to understand that there is a difference between those who have some traumatic brain injury, there's a lot of guys we deal with who have traumatic brain injury, but they are still highly functional. And they have some memory loss, and might have some affectations to it, but by and large they can function. I'm talking about the severe traumatic brain injury where someone has a hard time communicating and they have a hard time keeping a train of thought, they have flashes of anger, they have a hard time interacting with their families, they have a hard time remembering things, that’s where you get into a real functional disability where you have to have good support in terms of counseling, financial support, and in terms of re-training so that they can find a job that they can do usefully. So in that area I think we have a long ways to go, both in terms of the VA and in society.

The final area that needs attention is to really focus on securing jobs for returning veterans. I think that progress has been made, and it might not be as bad as some people think it is, but I still know a number of Veterans that are not getting the job opportunities that they would like to get having served, so that area needs attention as well.