We often hear in the news about service members who have died, but many of those who serve in our military leave that service injured or disabled.
Some of these injuries will have a lifetime effect. They run the gamut from amputated limbs to post traumatic stress disorder. They force veterans to drastically change their lives when they return to the civilian world.
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There is no doubt our disabled veterans risk more than their lives to defend our country. They risk their livelihoods.
Veterans afflicted with service-related disabilities may find it difficult or even impossible to continue in their civilian jobs. Our government provides veterans disability benefits, but the process for getting these benefits is cumbersome and lengthy.
The backlog in veterans’ disability claims is now at 756,000. It takes an average of 394 days after a veteran applies for disability benefits for the claim to be processed. And if the claim is denied, the appeal process takes more time.
During those 13 months, veterans who cannot work because of their disabilities live without income. Imagine trying to live without your income for 13 months. Then imagine that, at the same time, you’re also dealing with a mentally and physically painful disability. This is what up to 756,000 of our veterans are dealing with.
In those 13 months of waiting, depression can easily creep in. Without income, many veterans lose their homes. Some lose their families. Some veterans rvrn lose their willingness to live. A recent report revealed that one of our veterans commits suicide every 80 minutes. Others turn to alcohol or drugs.
The wait for relief is far too long. Our veterans deserve more.
Our government wants the best for our veterans. However, saying the words and putting them into action are two different things. Clearly, more resources must be devoted to processing veterans’ claims. The backlog and the wait time need to be reduced so our veterans are not forced to wait 13 months to receive the benefits they have earned. We need to demand those resources for our veterans.
We must remember that our disabled veterans became disabled because they chose to step forward and fight for our country. They chose to sacrifice their way of life so that we could keep ours. Today, it is our turn to step forward to support our veterans. These men and women deserve no less.
Patrick Kelly is an attorney who practices veterans disability law with the McTeague Higbee law firm in Portland. He can be contacted at pkelly@mcteaguehigbee.com.
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