Where do you start? How do you compose words that tell a story of great sadness and loss.
Dear Mr President, fellow Marines and their wives and children, fellow American Citizens and all the Patriots that have served and still serve and all those that support our Veterans:
This letter could have been composed by any wife of any Veteran of the USMC whom had their husband stationed at Camp LeJeune during the water toxic poisoning. When you think of a Marine you think of a man that is strong, tough, physically fit and unstoppable. If you were to look in the mirror today of that same Marine you see a shell that holds little resemblance to that warrior from years past.
What is it like to watch the man you love struggle to accomplish everyday tasks? What is it like to wait and pray that somehow God makes his health better? What is it like to fear the next blood test to see if they can you give you a name to what your spouse suffers from? What is it like to look into your children's eyes and know they fear losing their Dad as they too have witnessed his inability to do the things he he did a few years previously with them? What is it like to hold the family together and make every problem of survival become a minimum? What is it like to become the leader of your family that every need becomes your burden to carry?
We have a system of honor when you serve your Nation. You write a check with your life to love defend and protect your country. You serve everyday knowing if you died today you died with honor. You serve your time and you have guarantees when you have completed your duty. Guarantees that if later in life your health deteriorates and you can prove it was caused by your service you will receive compensation. Anyone who knows a Marine knows he would be the very last person to admit defeat or ask for help. They just don’t have that bottom feeder mentality. They will fight and push and achieve with no regard to cost. They are American Warriors.
When a Toxic War Veteran finally makes the decision to confess their defeat their inability to push through the line of fire you know it is beyond a bad situation. Some days it’s easy to believe that the VA has placed wagers on this knowledge of the mindset of the warriors they built. More often than not the Veteran feels they have become a burden in humiliation and defeat. They believe they are playing a wargame with the VA and death. Who will win the fight? The Veteran who is nothing more than a file on a bureaucrats desk?
What happened at Camp Lejeune? Why were these families and Marines given a poison water toxic cocktail to drink, cook with and inhale through bathing? How can the value of life be so little that this continued for at least 4 years knowinging harm was occuring! They knew and kept the water on. I think that is my biggest problem with this crime. Yes I call it a crime because if a Business or organization in this country did this to civilians they would be prosecuted. I think of Flint Michigan being held accountable and our Marines can’t even get their claims addressed.
My husband filed his first claim 7 ½ years ago. In August 2017 he had a C&P exam and the VA Doctor (a supervisor) connected his health disabilities to his service at camp lejeune. Today his appeal and claims are sitting in a file room in Louisville KY where every camp lejeune claim sits. Our local VA can’t even asist. The bureaucrats of the VA have sent all of these harmed veterans cases to one location. There are laws passed to give presumptive status to some conditions approved by the rules committee but it does not cover all of the Veterans condition. What is frightening is there has never been a situation that served a water toxic brew that consisted of 72 known chemicals 240-3400 levels higher than what is considered safe. This is new science and if a Doctor can make the argument that the diseased condition is caused by the ingestion, absorption and inhalation of these chemicals the VA should not make these men continue to suffer. They are unable to work. Unable to provide for their families and this is mental abuse to a Marine.
We the people were promised to have our Veterans put first and it is time for the Camp Lejeune Veterans and families to be put FIRST. Make this a Nationwide priority in the system of appeals.
Put all hands on a file not just a few in Louisville KY. These Veterans live in all 50 states. Please hire EXPERIENCED AMERICAN doctors to look over the appeals. Why hire a foreign doctor that is not a toxic specialist to deny these claims? This is real and it is happening to Veterans across this country.
Mr. President we are asking you to make a difference today not next week. These Veterans believed you were different and that Veterans mattered to you. We believe if you become fully aware you will publicly address the failure of the VA to take care of these few proud and forgotten Marines. We believe it is time for America to take care of these wounded warriors.
Val S- Twitter @valsthewoman
Ohio
