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Disabled Vet, VVAW Win Struggle: 100% Disability Won Back

By VVAW

With the support of the local chapter of VVAW, Jerry Bolin, a disabled Cincinnati Vietnam vet beat back an attempt by the Veterans Administration to slash his disability payments from 100% to 70%.

In Vietnam in 1968, Jerry was hit by an AK47 round and totally disabled. In July of last year, the VA suddenly and indiscrimately cut Jerry's disability back to 70%. And that was just the beginning: there followed and eviction, arrests, no checks, late checks, underpayments--all the kinds of harassments and abused that vets have learned to expect from the VA. Since disability checks don't make a profit for the rich who rule this country, the use their agencies such as the VA to try to put the squeeze on vets who they hope won't fight back.

Cincinnati VVAW, of which Jerry is a member, took up the case seeing that his was not just a isolated attack on a single vets, but the kind of abuses that vets face every day all over the country. When the VA was confronted with VVAW's demands for the reinstatement of the 100% disability, their reaction was typical: "This is not the VA's problem," they said; "It is Jerry's problem."

VVAW had a different solution; "We think this is all vet's problem,"the chapter said, "and we're gonna make it your problem."

With that approach, the chapter begins to build for a demonstration on December 14th at Jerry's re-evaluation hearing at the Cincinnati VA hospital. Faced by the growing struggle of Cincinnati VA hospital. Faced by the growing struggle of Cincinnati vets, the VA gave in and reinstated Jerry's 100% disability payment even before the demonstration took place.

The VA's concession was a real victory for Jerry, for VVAW and for vets. However, the VA's attack didn't stop, and neither did the struggle against them. The capitalist rulers of this country, through their agent, a local probation officer, gave Jerry a choice: either go to jail, leave his wife and kids (so they would get welfare which was more than his disability check) or commit himself to the VA hospital psychiatric ward (apparently under the theory that if you want enough money to feed your family, you must be crazy.) Even worse was the reason they gave: "Under this financial strain (which they had caused!) you are a threat to society."

VVAW went through with a demonstration on December 14 as a continuation of the fight against VA red tape, disability cutbacks, and the VA keeping Jerry in the hospital.

Disability cutbacks have, for a long time, been one way the VA tried to save a few bucks for the rich by coming down on one vet at a time, as in the case of Jerry Bolin in Cincinnati. VVAW has taken up disability cutbacks around the country and found that, when vets get together to fight against them, the VA backs down. Here, VVAW members support the disability fight of Paul Allen in Milwaukee.