Is Russia making it too easy for Ukraine to recapture their stolen territory? I think so.

Ukrainian defenders have bravely charged back into their home territories stolen by the Russians. The world marvels at the "mouse that roared." How has a much smaller nation with a far smaller military been so successful against Mother Russia?

Reading of their advances against Russia, I'm reminded  of how the Nazi juggernaut easily rolled over Russia's initial ineffective defense. The Soviet Union's defeat seemed inevitable.

But Hitler, like Napoleon before him, overlooked one of Russia's two most powerful defenses: One –Stalin knew he could trade territory for time, and Two – huge population from which to form hundreds of divisions that took that territory back, even the Ukraine which Germany had seized and controlled for two years. 

I fear Russia has allowed Ukraine to roll back into their stolen eastern regions. Pulling back his heavy forces, Russia may have tricked Ukraine into extended its own lines of communication and support far from the country's more populated western region. And much further from NATO's resupply from Poland. This might invite easy interdiction by Russian air power, destroying everything from the Polish-Ukrainian boarder east to the Ukrainian-Russian boarder; Russia has earlier bombed within twelve miles of Poland.  

The Ukrainian interior presents 1,100km of soft rail and highway targets inviting sudden Russian destruction.

By pulling back, Russia seems to have invited Ukrainian forces to mass within easy striking distance from behind the boarder. I believe Russian forces are reorganizing and resupplying on their "home turf, " letting the defenders exhaust much of their strength in the advance to retake eastern provinces. If Ukrainian lines of communication are interdicted by Russian rocket and air power, with NATO equipment destroyed by the Russians before it could resupply the defenders, lessons from World War II might be seen again with a Russian steamroller . 

It would be a fatal blow if Belarus then sent its forces into Ukraine. Ukrainian forces would be smashed from both front and rear, and possibly from the south as well if Russian military in Crimea assumes the offensive. 

VA makes all toxic-exposure conditions presumptive immediately following signing of PACT Act! Great News - no further waiting!

By 

SARA SAMORA

STARS AND STRIPES • August 31,

WASHINGTON — The Veterans Affairs Department has declared all 23 health conditions outlined in the recently enacted PACT Act “presumptive” from the date the bill was signed, reducing the burden on veterans or their survivors to prove that certain diseases were caused by service-related exposure to toxins and burn pits.

The VA had planned to phase in the system, under which specific health conditions likely resulting from exposure to toxins are recognized as service-related, over the next few years. Those conditions include brain cancer, gastrointestinal cancer, kidney cancer, lymphoma and melanoma, among others. President Joe Biden signed the legislation Aug. 10.

"Veterans have waited too long for this care and these benefits already and we're not going to make them wait any longer," VA Secretary Denis McDonough told the American Legion National Convention in Milwaukee on Wednesday. “So instead of phasing in the conditions over the coming years, we're making all conditions outlined in the PACT Act presumptive August 10."

The law will provide an easier path to health care and benefits for veterans who served near open-air burn pits, which were widely used by the military throughout the 1990s and the post-9/11 wars to dispose of garbage, jet fuel and other materials. Veterans diagnosed with cancer, respiratory issues and lung disease at early ages have blamed exposure on the toxic fumes from these pits, but the VA contended for years that there wasn't sufficient evidence to support their claims.

The new law will also expand the list of presumptive diseases related to Agent Orange to include exposure in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Guam, American Samoa and Johnston Atoll. It also strengthens federal research on toxic exposure, and boosts the VA's resources and training to help cope with new claims.

McDonough also said the VA will begin processing PACT Act claims on Jan. 1, describing it as the earliest possible date. He also said that implementing and executing "one of the biggest expansions of VA benefits in history" won't be easy.

"We will really need your help communicating because we want every veteran, every single veteran to get the care they need and the benefits they deserve, the benefits they have earned, and we will not rest until they do," McDonough said.

The bill was named after Sgt. 1st Class Heath Robinson, who was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disorder and lung cancer after serving with the Army National Guard in Kosovo and Iraq, where he experienced prolonged exposure to burn pits. He died in 2020.

53 Years Ago - We landed on the Moon!

 

Most Ridiculous c-123 Agent Orange Exposure VA Disability Claims

OUTRAGEOUS! Where do they make these things up? Ever since June 2015 once VA acknowledged the C-123 Agent Orange contamination with their new regulation granting service connection, we've seen the most ridiculous statements from vets trying to climb onto the FREELOADER disability bandwagon.

Granted, their claimed ailments may be legitimate, but judge for yourself these phony claims of C-123 exposure. These are taken from VA Board of Veterans Appeals records.

1. C-123 aircraft flew from my aircraft carrier and exposed me to Agent Orange herbicide.

2. I was a Navy medic on many C-123 aeromedical evacuation missions in Guam (or from Guam to
Thailand, Japan, etc., pick one.)

3. I was a security policeman and flew armed escort on many C-123 missions in the USA.

4. I refueled C-123 aircraft in Alaska (or California, or Thailand, Guam, whatever) that had sprayed Agent Orange in Vietnam.

5. I often flew in a C-123 as a member of the Air Force band in Europe.

6. I was a passenger on a C-123 flight.

7. A C-123 was parked next to my aircraft AT (fill in whatever base name interests you.)

8. I cleaned Agent Orange spills from C-123 airplanes in the Philippines (or Guam, Thailand, Korea, etc.)

9. I built a C-123 Agent Orange storage shed in the Philippines.

10. I loaded drums of Agent Orange aboard C-123s in (pick any country, any state.)

11. I worked C-123 aircraft as an air traffic controller at Clark Air Base, Philippines.

12. I was exposed as a Navy stock clerk while stationed in Naha, Okinawa, Japan, from June 1969 to March 1971.

13. I was exposed to herbicides while serving at Howard Air Force Base in Panama as a security policeman and guarded the C-123 aircraft, which carried herbicides to the Republic of Vietnam, and guarded other areas where herbicide agents were regularly sprayed.

14. I was exposed to herbicides during Operation Ranch Hand while stationed at Dover Air Force Base. I worked on C-133 and C-141 aircraft on nightshifts and he moved barrels with unknown liquids from the aircraft.

15. I was exposed to C-123 at Gunter, Lackland, Maxwell without any foreign service.

16, As an inventory supply management specialist, my herbicide exposure was gained while moving herbicide-laden C-123 aircraft parts at Williams Air Force Base. The aircraft parts were from aircraft that were returning from Vietnam. My duties included tagging parts, putting them in a box and sending them to various places to be reused, fixed or for some other purpose.

17. I was a refueling specialist and serviced numerous airplanes returning from Vietnam, including C-123, C-124, and F-100 airplanes, from 1962 to 1966 while stationed at Biggs, Malmstrom, and Ramey Air Force Bases.

18. I refueled various aircraft, including C-123s, at Shemya Air force base in Alaska and at the Langley Air force base in Virginia.

19. While stationed at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base (DMAFB) in Tucson, Arizona, as a Law Enforcement Specialist (LES), I was exposed to both toxic substances and agent orange. C-123 aircraft stationed at DMAFB were contaminated with agent orange.

US Court of Appeals agrees Agent Orange exposure & PTST can be disabling despite absence of medical diagnosis

 

SAUNDERS v. WILKIE (2018)

"In some situations, such as for post-traumatic stress disorder, herbicide exposure in Vietnam, and unexplained illnesses affecting Middle East veterans, medical science simply has been unable, as of yet, to diagnose the disabling impact of service for veterans affected by these conditions." 

This ruling might help vets claim disabilities not included in the VA's recognized list of Agent Orange illnesses.

COLORADO VETS SEEK TDIU STATE BENEFITS

Colorado's veterans with a VA rating of TDIU seek state disabled veteran property tax exemption benefits. This video explains our campaign.
See more at www. codisabledvet.blogspot.com

New Diagnosis - Parkinson's Disease

New Diagnosis - Parkinson's Disease

They might have figured out some of the problems I've been having...I got diagnosed with Parkinson's last week. The symptoms are there but don't seem to be advancing too fast, so at age 75 I can hope to "age out" of the worst of it.

Another blessing brought to us by Agent Orange! Parkinson's, Parkinsonism and Parkinsons-like symptoms are now considered Agent Orange presumptive illnesses, along with bladder cancer and all the old favorites!

College Roommate VA Disability Max'd Up to 100%!

Yesterday my college roommate Paul heard from VA that his supplemental claim for disability has been approved. He's now backdated 100% to December 2020! Great news, following the first claim being approved earlier for hearing loss at 40%. My strategy helping him was to tie certain current problems to his hearing loss as secondary issues. VA has agreed, following an appeal that reversed their initial denial.

Now, he will get a better disability compensation, medical care for himself and family, some state benefits and, if and hen needed, nursing home or other such advanced care.

These are earned entitlements which he has been denied for the past half-century. Denied VA medical care, GI home loan, every state benefit withheld. There's no catch-up for what he's been refused.

Remember: this is a good outcome but it really is an immense VA failure! Paul first applied for VA disability benefits when he was released from active duty in 1969. He lived with his disability and forgot all about the VA claim which, decades later, was finally found in his Army dental records. The VA never found this critical document: It took his attorney Katrina Eagle a couple hours. Perhaps...VA don't give a damn?

A veteran has a reasonable beef with the VA when they take half a century to resolve a claim, meanwhile denying all federal and state benefits. Paul has a beef, but right now he's simply glad things have gotten straightened out.

The VA tried. Dragged it out fifty years, and if only the process had taken a bit longer, until Paul had passed, VA could cancel his claim altogether because when the vet dies, so does the claim. Too bad, VA. At least you made it into your disgusting "Claim Ignored 50 Years Club."