It’s Official: VA Can’t Help Wounded Soldiers With Paperwork
Tuesday, February 12, 2008, 2:45pm
What was controversy is now policy.
The Army and the Veterans Administration have struck a deal in which the VA can no longer help injured soldiers with their military paperwork.
The signed “Statement of Mutual Support” was distributed to north country Congressman John McHugh’s office.
The deal makes official what the military and the VA denied was going on at Fort Drum last year - that the Army had directed the VA to stop helping injured soldiers with their disability paperwork.
That paperwork plays a big role in determining the benefits soldiers get after their discharge.
The deal also flatly contradicts what Army Surgeon General Eric B. Schoomaker told Rep. McHugh just two weeks ago.
McHugh quoted Schoomaker this way: “The Surgeon General of the Army told me very flatly that it was not the Army that told the VA to stop this help.”
The one page statement says, essentially, that the VA will handle VA paperwork “but will not prepare documentation for other than VA benefit claims.”
The army will provide a variety of support, according to the statement.
National Public Radio broke the story about Fort Drum’s soldiers and the VA - to read and listen to NPR’s extensive coverage, go here.
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Document Shows Army Blocked Help for Soldiers - NPR Report
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18742202
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