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Actions Rock V.A.

By VVAW

It doesn't take much to freak out the VA bosses these days. And there's good reason for them to be running scared. They see the potential for the building of a fighting veterans' movement, and that prospect terrifies them.

In Boston members of VVAW who are just getting a chapter going in that area, passed out leaflets calling for vets to join a picket line and rally at the JFK Building (the home of the Regional VA Office) in Boston on November 11, Veterans Day. Talking about the traditional Vets day, the leaflet pointed out "We don't see that vets, or anyone else, have anything in common with these annual farces. Our fight is 365 days a year."

When a couple of VVAW vets showed up at the site for the picket line, they were met by a mini-army of FBI agents, lining the hallways as if to repulse a major formal attack. A junior VA bureaucrat came scurrying down to say that the VA Regional Director would be glad to meet with a delegation of five vets and, if the chapter wished, he would hold a news conference with VVAW members following their little chat. The Boston action was not large; in fact, only a couple of VVAW members were there, but the VA reaction showed that they understand what a building vet's movement can do.

Boston isn't the only place where the VA bigwigs are turning somersaults when they are confused by the potential of a vet's movement. In Chicago, there was a small but militant picketline at the VA Regional Office on Veterans Day, pointing not only to the demand of vets for decent benefits but also speaking to the fact that we've seen one war and that we won't fight another rich man's war. Among the vets who spoke during the demo was one student/vet on the "work-study program," a VA program which pays students $2.50 per hour but will not hire them (or other workers) to do the work full time. Not only was this vet on the work-study program at starvation wages, he wasn't even getting his checks for the money the VA owed him.

The following day several VVAW members went with this vet to see the Veterans' Service Officer, George Penn, refusing to be stopped by the various VA workers along the way to the boss. In fact the workers enjoyed seeing Penn in a position where he had to deal with vets directly. The vet got his problem with late checks straightened out; another vet on the work-study program was promised a check within a week instead of the normal 21 days. And Veterans Service Officer Penn, under the watchful eyes of VVAW members, went around the waiting room, filled as usual with vets waiting for action on their cases, asking what the problem was and probably meeting more vets face-to-face in an hour then he normally sees in a month. In the following several days, VVAW members and their friends found that the normal VA red tape was cut and their problems, some of them long-time problems, were dealt with.

The case of the VA as Paul Allen in Milwaukee is an even clearer example of the way that rotten institution is scrambling when confronted by angry vets. Paul is a Vietnam vet who spent 8 years in the army and was wounded with shrapnel in Vietnam. After he was discharged in May '69, he got a 50% disability rating because of extensive damage to his right arm, wrist and fingers. Not until March of '75 did he know that he was eligible to file for a "Statutory Award for loss of limb." He immediately filed, but the VA, dealing from a stacked deck, denied him the award. In effect what they are saying to Paul or any other vet is that he should be able to live on $208 per month and support three dependants on his 50% disability, and that he doesn't deserve the added $52 for the extra award. Even with the added money, the grand total of $260 a month is well below poverty level.

On December 1st, 30 vets and workers picketed the VA Regional Office, demanding that Paul receive his Statutory Award and that it be made retroactive. In addition they demanded an end to all disability cutbacks, and an end to VA red tape. Inside the hearing, with standing room only, the VA asked all witnesses to step forward to be sworn in. Half the room stood up and approached the board in a show of strength and solidarity, to be sworn in. With this, the tone of the hearing was set.

Vets immediately began to rake over Dick Williams, a member of the hearing board. He was accused of making a phone call to Paul and to find out how many vets would be attending the hearing. Williams tried to deny it at first, but when he witnessed the just anger of vets unleashed at him, he was forced to admit that he did make the call. The VA knew that vets weren't playing games are demanding that they receive promised benefits.

The VA Review Board then tried to use Paul's medical records as infallible proof that Paul could use his arm. They read that he can pick up a dime of business card with his thumb and index finger, and that he could write with his thumb and middle finger. After hearing this line of bull, one vet called out "You can be rated 50% disabled on the job market by the bosses." To prove what the vet said was not just idle talk, Paul testified that he had lost jobs at the Post Office, Goodyear, and General Motors because of his medical disability. The Board was constantly strafed by facts and questions that backed Paul's case and attacked the VA's disability cuts campaign.

The next step for Paul is to go in front of a board of specialists to be examined. This will take place in the second week of January and VVAW will be there. At this point in the hearing, the Review Board made their dash for the door knowing that the closing statements had concluded. To fill the vacuum, Mr Haney, the acting VA Regional Director, stepped in as the VA's trouble shooter. But all he got was a good round of buckshot. Paul noticed that Haney had a brace on his leg, and asked him to make a bet that he got not only disability but also the Statutory Award. Mr Haney didn't bet; his answer was yes, he draws both. This underlines the way the VA interprets the Award--in a highly unsystematic way.

Once again, faced with united vets, the VA backed down; the VA not only fears the vets movement and its growth, but also the public exposure of the way in which vets are being treated. One more attempt to pacify vets has gotten the VA nowhere. (For VVAW comment on this VA tactic, see the editorial on this page.)