LiberalNation
03-16-2008, 10:39 AM
Not the states job but good for the ones stepping up and helping their people out. Kentucky looks like it's doing it's part.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20080316/wl_mcclatchy/2878233;_ylt=ApnGRfibipDECrh689lRmW8DW7oF
FORT KNOX, Ky .— In the complicated world of military and veterans' benefits, in which returning warriors face a bewildering array of complicated and sometimes conflicting directions, Wally Kotarski is a middleman.
One morning last week, with a fresh coating of snow covering the U.S. Army base in Fort Knox , Kotarski met with a soldier recently back from Iraq . The soldier had such a debilitating case of post-traumatic stress disorder that his squad leader was ushering him around.
Kotarski explained the range of services and benefits that the soldier could— and should— receive once he's discharged from the Army . He tracked down the address of a Vet Center, operated by the Department of Veterans Affairs , in the soldier's neighborhood in Brooklyn . When the soldier goes home, one of Kotarski's colleagues will make sure that somebody in New York gets the veteran to the center.
Citizen soldiers from various states' National Guard and Army Reserve units make up a substantial portion of Iraq forces, and soldiers are doing repeat deployments. Many come back with deep psychological problems on top of their physical wounds.
"We don't think that the VA is going to come through for our veterans in a timely fashion, and these are problems we see now," said Linda Schwartz , who heads the state veterans department in Connecticut . "If the VA catches up with us, good. If not, we have to take care of our people."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20080316/wl_mcclatchy/2878233;_ylt=ApnGRfibipDECrh689lRmW8DW7oF
FORT KNOX, Ky .— In the complicated world of military and veterans' benefits, in which returning warriors face a bewildering array of complicated and sometimes conflicting directions, Wally Kotarski is a middleman.
One morning last week, with a fresh coating of snow covering the U.S. Army base in Fort Knox , Kotarski met with a soldier recently back from Iraq . The soldier had such a debilitating case of post-traumatic stress disorder that his squad leader was ushering him around.
Kotarski explained the range of services and benefits that the soldier could— and should— receive once he's discharged from the Army . He tracked down the address of a Vet Center, operated by the Department of Veterans Affairs , in the soldier's neighborhood in Brooklyn . When the soldier goes home, one of Kotarski's colleagues will make sure that somebody in New York gets the veteran to the center.
Citizen soldiers from various states' National Guard and Army Reserve units make up a substantial portion of Iraq forces, and soldiers are doing repeat deployments. Many come back with deep psychological problems on top of their physical wounds.
"We don't think that the VA is going to come through for our veterans in a timely fashion, and these are problems we see now," said Linda Schwartz , who heads the state veterans department in Connecticut . "If the VA catches up with us, good. If not, we have to take care of our people."