MichaelConnelly.Jigsy.com
With
Memorial Day approaching Americans should be
preparing to honor our veterans and military heroes
currently fighting for us as well as remembering
those we have lost. This honor should be especially
due from our own government that has sent these
brave men and women off to war. Unfortunately, the
opposite is true. It is clear that the Federal
government has declared war on our veterans and is
intent on denying them the very Constitutional
rights they fought to protect.
First there is the ever
widening scandal involving the systematic denial of
veterans Second Amendment right to keep and bear
arms and their rights to due process under the
provisions of the Fifth Amendment. This is being
orchestrated by the VA which sends out letters to
veterans telling them that because of physical or
mental disabilities the VA is going to declare them
incompetent to handle their own financial affairs
and appoint a fiduciary to represent them.
Then in the same letter
the veterans are told that “A determination of
incompetency will prohibit you from purchasing,
possessing, receiving, or transporting a firearm or
ammunition. If you knowingly violate any of these
prohibitions, you may be fined, imprisoned, or both
pursuant to the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention
Act, Pub.L.No. 103-159, as implemented at 18, United
States Code 924(a)(2).”
An estimated 150,000
veterans are now on the NICS background check list
and cannot legally purchase firearms. I believe that
the vast majority of them do not belong on the list
and many of the veterans don’t know why they are
there or even that they have been placed on the
list. The only legitimate reasons for veterans to
lose Second Amendment Rights is if
they have
been convicted of a felony, are known drug addicts,
or been found to be mentally ill to a point where
they are a danger to themselves or others.
The veterans that are
being represented by the United States Justice
Foundation (USJF) are reporting to us that they are
being declared incompetent for having minor
depression, PTSD, or simply because they let their
spouses pay the family bills.
Some veterans
are reporting that if they try to fight the VA
determination of incompetence the VA either
threatens to withhold their payments or actually has
done so. This is extortion since many veterans rely
on their VA payments to feed themselves and their
families.
The VA has refused to
respond to several requests made under the Freedom
of Information Act (FOIA) for information about the
criteria being used to declare veterans incompetent
and deny them their Second Amendment rights. The
USJF has filed a suit to force the VA to turn over
this information and will soon be filing a class
action suit on behalf of veterans to stop the whole
process.
This suit is the last
chance these veterans may have since the bill
introduced by Senator Richard Burr (R.NC) to protect
the gun rights of veterans was recently defeated by
the Democrats in the Senate.
There are at least three
other attacks taking place on our veterans. The
first has been the subject of a series of reports by
the Fox News and ABC affiliates in Dallas, Texas
which last fall reported that veterans going to the
VA hospital were either having to wait for months to
get treatment for serious illnesses or in some cases
being denied effective treatment entirely. Two
veterans were found to have committed suicide, one
on the hospital grounds, because they were not being
properly treated for their severe problems.
The second problem for
our wounded warriors has been exposed in a series of
reports by the Colorado Springs Gazette. According
to the paper an extraordinary number of veterans who
have received traumatic wounds, been treated and
latter returned to their units, have ultimately
received less than honorable discharges from the
military for alleged misconduct. Once that happens,
the soldiers can no longer receive treatment from
the VA for their wounds or illnesses and they can’t
receive any other benefits.
Reporter Dave Philipps
stated in his article that: “It
doesn't take serious misconduct to be discharged and
lose a lifetime of benefits. The Gazette found
troops cut loose for small offenses that the Army
acknowledges can be symptoms of TBI and PTSD. Some
soldiers missed formation a handful of times or
smoked marijuana once. Some were discharged for
showing up late or missing appointments. Some tested
positive once for drugs, then were deployed to
combat zones because the Army needed the troops,
only to be discharged for the drug offense when they
returned.”
In other
words, wounded soldiers who have problems because of
their injuries are rewarded for their combat service
by getting kicked out of the military so the
government will not have to fulfill its obligation
to treat them.
Last, but
certainly not least is the horrendous treatment the
32 members of the army who were wounded in the
terrorist attack at Fort Hood, Texas on November 5,
2009. Since the Pentagon was ordered to be
politically correct and label the attack by jihadist
Nidal Milak Hasan as workplace violence instead of
the obvious terrorist attack it was the soldiers who
survived have been denied the Purple Heart medal for
the wounds they received and denied the financial
benefits that come with it.
According
to a report on the NBC affiliate in Dallas some
soldiers can barely afford to feed their families,
yet Hasan has received his regular military pay
since he was arrested and awaiting trial. The total
pay so far is $268,000. His family has access to
this money so our government is taking good care of
the family of an Islamic terrorist and ignoring the
families of our wounded soldiers. By the way, I join
with the families of the 13 soldiers who died in the
attack in asking why this man has not yet been tried
for his crimes.
I am
outraged by these actions of our government that
dishonor our veterans and the debt we owe to them.
This is developing into an additional scandal for
the Obama administration yet many people are unaware
that this is even happening. Please help me spread
the word.
To my
fellow veterans on this Memorial Day I can only say
thank you for your service and I believe the
American people will not let you be forgotten.
mrobertc@hotmail.com
Michael Connelly blog
www.usjf.net