Florida vets say red tape keeping disabled troops from finding aid

[Barrett808]

Source: Associated Press

HOMESTEAD -- A former Marine is developing a program to offer temporary housing and grocery money to injured troops when they leave their military service, fearing that disabled veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan will be forgotten once Memorial Day celebrations end.

Staff Sgt. Tommy Pearce, 29, was evacuated from Camp Fallujah in Iraq in September. He watched his bank account dip to $25 as red tape delayed his disability checks.

Pearce hopes his new group, One Vet Ahead, will help other veterans avoid the same difficulty.

``I was used to getting a paycheck on the first and 15th every month,'' said Pearce, who now lives in Homestead. ``When that lifeline gets cut, you don't know what to do and you don't know who to lean on.''

Read more: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/miami/sfl-528vetaid,0,4563515.story?coll=sfla-news-miami

[mrcheerful]

1. Aid? Aid? How dare they expect aid from the tax payers? They should have known that they could get

wounded when they signed up for the military. Gee can't they just pull themselves up by their boot straps instead of waiting for the government to do everything for them? Yeah it's sarcasm, but dealing with a disability plus having my SO become disabled and being told she is just faking it because everyone knows doctors lie about things like that so theres no reason she can't do more. All she needs to do is stop taking the meds she's on and everything will be fine. It's amazing that people who never got past high school all seem to have doctor degrees.

[pop goes the weasel]

2. so true

Disabled vets are experiencing what other people with disabilities in the US experience. People die while waiting to get approved for disability. People end up homeless, both those with mental disabilities and physical disabilities. People end up institutionalized, in prison (the largest "mental health provider" in the country), in nursing homes. This isn't solely a veterans' issue. If this country gave a damn about justice for people with disabilities to begin with, there would be no question of giving wounded vets what they deserve.