It took ten years of hounding by a dedicated few along with a barrage of requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act, but the VA has finally admitted that they are currently paying disability benefits to 966 Vietnam-era former POWS and 286 persons captured during the Persian Gulf War. Â
But wait a minute; there is a problem with those numbers. The Nam-POW organization, which keeps pretty close tabs on these things, estimates that only 561 former POWs, plus or minus a few, are still alive and are receiving these benefits; and there were only 21 servicemen and women captured in the Persian Gulf War.
So, what’s going on here?  At this point it is hard to say, but there is a very good possibility that there are a bunch of fraudulent claims being paid to “POW wannabes.” You would think that, based on the glaring discrepancies described above, the VA would be all over this situation trying to find out who is submitting those fraudulant  claims; and if they are having trouble sorting out who was a POW and who was not, there are veterans organizations out there eager to help by cross checking the claims against their membership lists.
In fact, this is what representatives of Nam-POWs proposed to the VA on several occasions; namely, give us a list of the claimants being paid and we’ll tell you which ones are not on our lists. Â The VA’s response? Â Not so fast! Â “No information can be given.
Reason: The Privacy Act.” Â One representative from Inspector General’s office took it one step further. Â “Give us the name ,rank, serial number, VA file number VA file number, date of birth, time and date of offense, and we will investigate you claim.” Â Talk about a Catch 22 situation! Â
If we had all that information why would we….well. you get the picture. The bottom line is that the VA is using tax payer dollars to pay fraudulent claims made by people who claim to be former POWS but in fact, are not.  This makes it an issue that all Americans should be concerned about. Â
What can we do about this? Begin by getting more educated on the subject. Â A good place to start would be to read the following article written by Associated Press National Writer Allen Breed: Â http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/T/TOO_MANY_POWS?SITE=MTBIL&Â . After that, its time to contact your congressional delegations and tell them you are mad as hell!
6 users commented in " Phoney POWs, Why is the VA Trying to Hide Them? "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackTo ease your concern over whether or not the VA is “hiding phony POW’s,” there is no validity to your allegation whatsoever. Military service records, as well as prior medical records are reviewed with the highest degree of scrutiny precluding any possibility of any such unauthorized benefits being provided to falsified claims. Rest assured that VA benefits are provided only to those whose eligibility has been legally documented and validated by rigid guidelines governing treatment provided for service-connected conditions.
Since you are apparently “mad as hell,’ then perhaps you may be able to appreciate, in light of obama’s recent proposal to force service-connected veterans to pay for combat-related injuries. Even prior to this recent suggestion by the commander in chief, VA policy has consistently been extremely strict in authorizing medical coverage to even those veterans having sustained injuries/related conditions resultant of direct combat involvement.
In other words, a large amount of veterans health care coverage is provided by their own private pay medical insurance coverage. Perhaps you should seek “anger management” if this is a problem you cannot handle on your own.
My concerns are not “eased.” The facts are evident. There were 661 POWs who got out of Vietnam alive. Not all of us have even applied to the VA for benefits. There are 561 of us still alive. The VA grants benefits to 966 POWs from Vietnam. For the names of the 661, go to the DoD official website at: http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo/pmsea/files.htm
That leaves, at a minimum, 305 cases of fraud.
Similary, there were only 21 military POWs during Gulf War I. Only five of these men/women are known to have applied for VA benefits. The VA grants POW benefits to 286 Gulf War POWs. That leaves, at a minimum, 265 cases of fraud.
My mind is not eased. That is why I am now working with the VA Office of the Inspector General on exposing and proscecuting 570 provable fraud cases. My mind will be “eased” when our government does not condone fraud.
All concerned citizens should contact their Congressional representatives to demand that the VA cease condoning fraud. The VA will not budge without Congressional pressure to act.
Mike McGrath
POW 5 years 8 months in North Vietnam
Okay, “mad as hell” might be a bit of a hyperbole. I use that term a lot because “Network” is one of my all time favorite movies.” If you remember, the deranged anchor man stuck his head out of the window and began screaming “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it any more!” Anyway, getting back to the point, it’s not just the discrepancy in the VA numbers that bother me, but the fact that some conscientious, and well meaning folks in the Nam-POW organization whom I admire and trust have been beating their heads against the wall for ten years trying to get information that would help clear up these discrepancies. Maybe all is squeaky clean in the VA as you say, but wouldn’t it be a lot easier just to have a one time audit using all data available just to settle this issue once and and all?
Gee, could the military be a bit deliquent at updating their records?
how many of the records were destroyed in that famous fire?
And one doesn’t know if they are sociopaths milking the system or men with delusions due to psychosis, which of course would make them fully eligible for disability pension…
It is a problem.We have reason to be concerned.
There is fraud going on.However like all health agencies they resist auditing.They dont want to get caught with their pants down so to speak.By the way the fraud is larger than you might imagine.Many vas are connected to university hospitals.Its much easier to commit all types of fraud at the academic level and blame it on the students.Yes these same students who do their internships at va hospitals.
FAMOUS FIRE.If I hear that same sorry excuse one more time from someone I think Ill scream.
Ive had people use it.Amazing, how quick that they shut up, when they learn ,that the person Im researching ,wasnt in a branch of the military, where the records burned.
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