If any of you were like me, you were raised
into a family where there was at least a
cluster of veterans in the circle whether it was
parents, cousins, or aunts/uncles and somehow
in so doing, we bought into the idea of blind
patriotism without question or that obedience
of duty was somehow a stand of achievement.

Then as we got older, our own military service made us feel good about ourselves, and as veterans now, the subliminal message floats that we should carry the same torch.

But what happens when a country, an agency,
a constitution, a political party, or the entire
dynamic of patriotism suddenly changes without
warning, and none of us were prepared ? Does
this mean continue like a Parrot-Head or a broken record or a missile without aim and take our chances on whatever outcome fate hands to us?

Or does it maybe mean to loudly say, "Hey -- Wait A Minute, Get this out of my face and don't bring it back?"

None of us veterans, and I mean NONE of us, are going to defeat the nightmares gone wrong inside this VA agency if we do not all stick together. It is now upon us women veterans, in a way not seen before, to handle our load and begin to question just what exactly is going on inside the horrors of the VA.

Blind and unquestioning doesn't get it anymore. The national morgues are filling up with this VA mistake and that VA malpractice incident, and the whole time, many of you are toddling along as if the band marches on.

What's up with this VA death rate and who says among us that we have to stand for it ? Who better than us can speak to the reasons why it all should change? Tell the VA that the death rate is too high, the claims backlog is too high, and question them as to who exactly is running things anyway?

At what point do we say "NO" to all this, or grab a VA Director by the arm and say "Wait A Minute, This Doesn't Sound Right??"

Why are we not clustering among ourselves and staging our own trips to VACO to confront, question, demand, push, make noise, be seen, and state our concerns?

Why are we still standing around for everything to be separate, while the boys do theirs and we do nothing. Where is the rule written that we cannot mix things up a little for ourselves?
And don't you suppose that the boys would like to see us come plodding over the sunrise on
our spin of the Vet Message?

Why are we not joining, bonding, being a part of, uniting, talking, working, marching, and getting something large done in the name of urgent change inside of this VA system? We have held nearly every job known to the military, and yet as we emerge into our civilian comfort zones, we retreat like a herd of
Chicken-Littles.

What's Up? We have to change the entire look of our groups and perhaps our fighting spirit will revive. Enough already with the "I-Love-My-Country crap", yeah, yeah, yeah --- it's time to move on to "Why-Did-This-Whole-911-Thing-Happen-Anyway?" Or how about "Who-Picked-YOU-To-Be-VA-Secretary anyway?"

Todays women vets have lost their way. I have found mine but the rest of you are still thinking it over.

.........DING !! Time is up...........

Atten---HUT !

Girl, you must get in touch with Ft. Mcclellan in Alabama because you are Absolutely RIGHT - there was something there that made you sick. They are cleaning up the base from something toxic. CONTACT THEM IMMEDIATELY!!!
GOOD LUCK SOLDIER!!!

Girlfriend, what you must do is go to the VA's Web Site and go down to the "SEARCH" Box and put in "APPEALS". It will then give you an option of putting in SEARCH WORDS in cases that have been appealled. If you learn the names of the vaccines/immunizations given to us or just put in those words, you may find other Veterans who are filing for the same things who have Attorneys or Physician's whom have testified to things that are relevant to you and your case. Also, please pursue the "Fibromyalgia" Claim because this is a condition that everything falls under and one in which you are more likely to be rated. Go on-line to WebMD.com or another medical web site and look it up and see if the sysmptoms fit you. Good Luck Sister soldier!

I went to Basic Training at Ft. McClellan, Alabama in 1969. While in, I fell very ill. No one could tell me why. Or should I say, no one told me why? I always knew without a doubt it was a combination of a several things. It was the multiple shots injected simultaneously in both arms with an injector that was not sterilized after each person. We were lined up like cattle and shot in both arms at the same time. Then the gas chamber is where I fell over on my way back to futher training in other areas. Between the shots, the gas chamber and the dirt I crawled in dry or wet and muddy from the rain and the water I drank, I knew it to be all. But no one would acknowledge that. I think I have lived, but suffered since basic because I was so young and healthy with no chemical or smoke dependency. I think I have lived this long because I do have helathy living habits. I was sent to the hospital for a week. Yet, my military records do not reflect I was there at all. But, I was not the only one. If we talked about it, we were given KP duty. I learned of the closing of Ft. McClellan a few years ago and the light bulb went on. I finally had an answer! I just learned of Sue Frasier and her fight to have the VA and others to recognize the pcb/gases we were exposed to while in the military. I intend to do all that I can as well. Anyone in this same situation, speak up, speak out. We have suffered too long. This is the same category as Gulf War Syndrome with no explanation and Agent Orange exposure by presumption because we were there. It is a gender specific discrimination against all WAC vets who served time at Ft. McClellan for the VA and Monsanto as well as others concerned to deny us the acknowledgement of our illness and exposure at Ft. McClellan. Yet, the Gulf War vets were recognized almost immediately. WHY?