Thank you for your kind words. I appreciate your wanting to reward me, but I don't look for that. I made a promise to him on 9/1/79 when I married him and I kept that promise because I loved him. It is just wrong though that some VA's are good and some are bad, and I make no bones about how I feel about it...it is unacceptable and downright criminal. None of our service men and women deserve that. When I talked about the Louis Stokes VA in Cleveland, OH, I wasn't just talking about the level of care at the VA hospitals. I'm talking about the systemic incompetence of the entire VA...disability claim filing, etc. I was honored to take care of my husband, and I wouldn't want to do it again for his sake so he didn't suffer, but I would do it all over again if I had to because I loved him and he deserved the best from me and the VA in general which he unfortunately didn't get. If we could sit down with a cup of coffee you'd be shocked and horrified at what we went through more so from the VA itself. God bless and take care of yourself. Thank you for your service.

Our North Las Vegas VA Center Isn't Worth A Sh*t, But Try To Get Any VA Organization Or Even The VA Itself To Investigate What I've Told Them, Even With The Records Are AT The VA In North Las Vegas? ~~ Good Luck With That. ~~ I've Attempted To Do So MANY Times And The Results Have All Been ZERO....

I totally understand sir. My daughter and I volunteer for a non-profit veteran's organization called Ride with Valor. It is based in Strongsville, OH. The things that I encounter with our veterans is so unacceptable. I donated my husband's ramp, his electric wheel chair, etc. to the organization. There was a young man who was a veteran of either Iraq or Afghanistan who was injured by a roadside bomb. When he was able to walk before his service he loved baseball. Our founder Russell Scot Rhoda who I'm friends with sent me a picture of this young man who is now unable to walk due to his service playing baseball with his family. I am so grateful and honored that I was able to help him. I'm not saying this for any kudos. I'm saying it because he couldn't get what he needed from the VA and this contribution allowed him to have something back he loved. That's the disgusting part, why when veterans are injured giving their country a blank check with their lives in protection of all of us do they have to jump through hoops and wait sometimes for more than a year to get what they need, and don't get me started on the denials the VA loves to do! Again...it's criminal. I also work with a woman who is part of our organization that does her own thing for veterans that are so damaged from PTSD that they are living on the streets. We put together food gift cards and toiletries and basics like warm gloves, socks, etc., and she hands them out to our homeless vets.
Why isn't there more help for them? The government needs to focus on the people of this country's needs and not send money to countries that would bomb us in a heartbeat. We need to have complexes built so these veterans can have an apartment to take care of themselves and have their support animals whether certified or not with them to help them have a good life. It's not happening quick enough or well enough. Again, God Bless you. Thank you for your sacrifices. I know they are many.

I am sorry that you've had to do this. They are a very incompetent organization. It's not just at the care level, but everything that has to do with the VA. Our veterans deserve so much more and then some. I totally agree with you...they just don't care. I used to tell my husband that the VA wanted him dead so they didn't have to pay him. He was 100% disabled, but because I made a promise to him on 9/1/1979 and because I loved him and he didn't deserve what happened to him...none of our Vietnam boys did, I fought the VA tooth and nail for him until his last breath. I could tell you so much more. His life thanks to AO exposure was the things nightmares are made of. I couldn't believe that AO could do so much to a person's body. He's at peace now and the government and the VA can't hurt him anymore. Now I'm the one suffering. This whole thing has far reaching effects. God bless and take care.

Kimberly Shaver -
As Previously Stated "I Don't Think The VA Employee Gives A Sh*t"..
As Long As It Doesn't Effect Their Paycheck. ... It's Easier To Duck & Dive And Leave Decisions To Others, Than To Stand-Up And Do Their Jobs Properly Without Fear Of Retribution For Costing The VA A Buck Or Two For Doing The Job. ~~ Been There, Done That, And It's Happened To Me ~ And It's Still A Battle To This Very Day... But I "Ain't" Tossing In The Towel ~ Yet

Thank you sir, but I don't think he really gives a care. No one at the VA does. My husband is gone now and he suffered horrendously from Agent Orange. I couldn't believe the horror of what that poison could do to a body. I was in the Caregiver Program and I had my own social worker if you will. She would check up on me and she would ask me how I was doing. How was my stress level and how was I handling everything. I told her my husband wasn't causing me the stress the VA was. I would tell her the latest and greatest incompetence. Do you think she would have maybe contacted someone to see what the issues were...no I just got an "I'm so sorry." I'm sorry to be so jaded, but if you knew everything my husband, and I included, had to go through for his care even fighting for enough rolls of gauze to wrap his ulcerating legs in until he lost them to mid-thigh you would probably be shocked. His care was downright criminal. Thank you for your kind words on the loss of my husband. But I've tried to change things. I fought for not only my husband, but for all of our veterans. I told my Congressman's Director of Veteran Affairs that when I had to get him involved on yet another serious matter. The VA should be so ashamed of what they do to most of our veterans. Just the fact that there are inconsistencies in level of care at any given VA hospital is unacceptable. This has been going on for years. Nothing ever changes.

Kimberly Shaver - Thank you for fighting for your husband and all veterans. I know that you are outraged and in pain, but please consider posting a question to the 2024 Veterans Town Hall.