Yeah. That title tells you right off this sucks. I thought long and hard about writing about the Birth of our Great Nation. Each beginning introduction inevitably led into a discussion about where we have been more so than where we could be heading in our potentially Glorious Future. Obviously, that entails discussions about Republics versus Democracies. Since we don’t do politics here, we are free to wander off the reservation and take a gander at what’s afoot in our world- the world of Disabled Veterans. Let’s let others argue the pros and cons of capitalism versus socialism. We have our plates full of future haircuts coming to a Regional Office near you. Actually, it’s been happening since the War of 1812 but most of us haven’t been around long enough to appreciate the depth nor breadth of the monetary shrinkage we have suffered.

If you wanted a brief overview, you could go back to 1945 and begin with the predecessor of the VA Schedule for Rating Disabilities. Today, in the world of government acronyms, that’s VASRD or Part IV (4). The changes were inevitable. A good example was Hepatitis C. In 1989, it got its own name. But it wasn’t until 2001- a full 12 years later- that VA opted to create the DC 7354 code for it. It’s strictures notably ignored the fact that it was a 100% guaranteed terminal illness. It didn’t wax and wane. VA’s next give would be to reduce the percentage for that and begin a new diagnostic code for cirrhosis of the liver- DC 7312.

So, the recent announcement that VA was going to 86 tinnitus’ and OSA’s almost automatic 10% (persistent) and 50% (CPAP use) respectively was almost a given. The military was too cheap to issue ear plugs that actually worked. Besides, how could you, as an 11B20, wear ear protection and walk point in I Corps in Vietnam if it suppressed your ability to discern danger and timely respond to it? In the same vein, because they made you work 20 hours a day in the sand box, snoring and low blood oxygen levels were an expected side effect.

If you were of the cannon cocker persuasion at LZ Cork in ’69, how did you pull the lanyard whilst putting a finger in each ear to muffle the 285 db  explosion 14 feet  in front of you? The short answer was you couldn’t. But that did help prevent VA from paying you for tinnitus until 1976 when they changed the rules right after a war-er- conflict- as the VSOs characterized it.

That’s right. The only way you got that 10% was due to an organic brain injury- that’s 1964speak for TBI under DC 8045. Check it out. Page 6737 of the FR DC 6260 Tinnitus (see diagnostic codes 8045 and 8046.)  That means if you got 10% for tinnitus, you had a TBI. That’s still true but VA doesn’t mention that very much. If they did, most all Veterans might be re-examining how they came to have it. (Page 7650 DC 8045 Purely subjective complaints).

1964 VASRD-Ratings

I think perhaps the one thing that jumps out at intelligent Veterans is that the major VSO organizations all kowtow to this injustice. In fact, the American Legion just  put out a mission statement  facetiously named the Taking Care of American’s Veterans Act that they’re perfectly okay with doing away with tinnitus or OSA on a compensable level. They tell their constituency that they must “compromise”. That takes balls.

But this isn’t the first time. Remember back in 2010 when the Wounded Warrior Project convinced President Obama to carve out a special SMC -T- equal to the highest rate (R2) solely for post-2001 Veterans suffering from TBI.  Oddly, we didn’t hear the word “compromise” on the Veterans’ Benefits Act of 2010 (Public Law 111-275). Fortunately, the next president opted to make it available to all Veterans of all time to qualify for this SMC.

Let’s not hear about all this sacrifice and compromise. DAV and VFW were all in on this increase in Vets’ SMC benefits. Strangely, we didn’t hear that there was going to be a bit of quid pro quo and a reduction in benefits for, say, lung cancer or patellofemoral knee problems. Shit. There are three different ratings just for the knee. Who’d notice if they did away with one?  Now, almost to a man, they are invested in the barbershop business of giving us a haircut all under the banner of “compromise”. For what? Our government’s insane fascination with testing out all their new toys in faraway lands like Iraq and Afghanistan that created all the disabled Vets? Vietnam? Grenada ?

I looked up sacrifice in Meriam Webster’s famous VA dictionary. I also looked up compromise just for shits and grins. Under the former, there was a picture of the latest American Legion U.S. Marine Corps National Adjutant Rodney K. Rolland. Mr. Rolland has sacrificed his whole career to help AmLeg. Mr. Rolland is also doing pretty good on his paycheck.

The National Adjutant of the American Legion serves as the chief executive officer of the organization. According to ProPublica’s Nonprofit Explorer, compensation for this top leadership position is roughly between $300,000 and $366,000 per year, which includes a base salary, bonuses, and non-taxable benefits.

At AmLeg, I guess the watchwords of compromise and sacrifice are synonymous with one another. Y’all gotta sacrifice so Mr. Rolland can afford caviar and a Corvette. Five bucks says Mr. Rolland is rated for tinnitus at 10%. But that’s okay. He’s safe. This new haircut rule is only effective on all future military members who might qualify for it. That way you know you, the current disabled Vets, aren’t going to get screwed – well, unless you file for OSA next year after it passes.

This whole phenomenon is merrily being copied out of the Congressional model of spending money. It’s called pay-go. In the VA world, apparently if you want to allocate money to pay for Veteran care in the community rather than make everybody drive 100 miles at 41.5¢ per mile (toll bridges excluded) for sketchy medical care, then you have to discontinue paying for tinnitus and OSA.  In the instant case, we are asked to compromise on this minor point in order to make the future more secure for incoming Veterans. So what does that forbode for America’s future Veterans? I’d guess the Draft will be coming back.

The only thing that doesn’t pencil into this formula is the ever-increasing budget they pass for the VA each year and the increasing decrease in services. Who ever heard of having to wait 4 months for a CT scan to see if you have a brain glioblastoma? And then another 3 months to schedule an operation? This is third world Canada-style medicine. Yet we’ve been asked to compromise and sacrifice on this even though your Congressman can vote with his feet and go to any doctor no matter what it costs.

But let’s examine that sacrifice shit some more. Google AI whispers me all kinds of things. How ’bout them hard workers over at DAV? Seems they do good work for Veterans. But they’re all in on this haircut shit, too. According to DAV’s most recent IRS Form 990 tax filings, National Adjutant Barry A. Jesinoski received a base compensation of about $313,000, with additional bonuses, incentives, and retirement benefits bringing his total annual compensation to $572,075.  With that kind of folding money, I reckon ol’ Barry wouldn’t miss that 10% paycheck for tinnitus ($180.42/month). Now Rolland, the crayon eater guy over at AmLeg might feel it at $350 K-ish but you gotta figure that’s why they call it sacrifice.

How about the VFW warriors’ sword bearer? If I were Dan West, I’d be pitching a royal bitch. The salary of  VFW’s Adjutant General is approximately $225,558 per year.  That ol’ boy is flat out getting screwed out of hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of sacrifice but it’s apparently enough of a living wage to get him on board with some of that compassion shit for today’s disabled Vets to continue with working there.

So let’s  look at a disabled Vet Vet in our world of VA compensation. Statistically, the majority of America’s carry a 50% rating for PTSD or the equivalent, a bum knee or ankle at 10% and-yep- tinnitus at 10%. VA math says 60%. That’s $1,566.02 per month. 50 + 10 in VA math equals 55. An additional 10% for tinnitus won’t jump him to 70 so we could say it looks like it would be an inconsequential loss financially. But would it in all cases?

Let’s look at the guy who has 10% his ankle, 10% for the knee and 10% for the tinnitus. Take away the tinnitus and he drops from 30% down to 20%. It also makes him ineligible for spouse and dependents allowance. That’s the difference between $617.47 (plus any wall crawlers) and $356.66 and no dependency dollars whatsoever. So does that seem like an equitable trade for that high-priced representation from their Service organization.

In today’s world, everyone begs us to conserve, turn the thermostat down and shut up about the cost of gas and food. Well, certainly everyone who has a cush megabucks job at a VSO. Delving deeper, those same guys who are knocking off six-figure salaries are only paying their service representatives- the very same ones you are provided free of charge to do your claim- one tenth of that. Average Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Service Consultant yearly pay in Washington State is approximately $35,360, which is 56% below the national average. Average Disabled American Veterans Veteran Service Officer yearly pay in the United States is approximately $40,771, which is 29% below the national average.

About now, you’re thinking to yourself why in Sam Hill should I have to cough up that annual dues payment to cover the cost of that Corvette for my National Commander to arrive in style at the National Convention in Hotlanta? They’re such tightwads, they won’t even pay the guys that are supposed to help me (fulltime) a living wage all the while pulling down 90% more. What’s wrong with this picture? VSOs across our Fabled Fruited Plains are hoping you won’t notice their level of sacrifice…or lack thereof.

But now I’m skating mighty close to stepping on someone’s inflated ego of how important he/she/they/ them is.  Disabled Veterans obviously are the inevitable financial casualty of any future reductions in benefits. That’s a given. It just seems somewhat cruel for them fellers making so much they can’t figure out where to invest it to tell the Veterans who they pretend to represent before Congress to suck it up.