Video: Adithya Sambamurthy | Read full transcript U.S. Navy cook Hosea Roundtree watched the 1983 shelling of Beirut from the deck of a ship, feelings of helplessness washing over him as people perished onshore. That memory haunted him, resurrected in flashbacks eight years later after a tour in the Gulf during Operation Desert Storm. But […]
Returning Home to Battle
For many veterans, the end of active duty means the beginning of a new fight with the U.S Department of Veterans Affairs – for benefits, housing and a chance to rebuild their lives.
Posted inReturning Home to Battle
Her War: The Invisible Crisis of Women Veterans
More than 3,000 female veterans are living on the streets of the United States. They represent the fastest-growing segment of the nation’s homeless population. “Her War” tells the story of some of those women and the battles they face when their tours of duty are over. TRANSCRIPT: Narrator Mimi Chakarova: Los Angeles, California: City of […]
Posted inBenefits, Health Care for Veterans, Returning Home to Battle
Video: Errors at the VA
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs denied Navy veteran Hosea Roundtree’s disability benefits claim for post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, saying it could find no evidence that he was in combat. When a VA claims processor tried to intervene, she says she was forced out. Veterans’ advocates say Roundtree’s case illustrates the VA’s priorities: productivity […]
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Posted inHealth Care for Veterans, Returning Home to Battle
Document: VA grills worker after CIR interview
The Department of Veterans Affairs wouldn’t talk to the Center for Investigative Reporting about why Jamie Fox lost her job. But in a sworn deposition, Assistant U.S. Attorney Victoria Carradero grilled Fox about our investigation, asking her about the time and place of our interview with her and the questions we asked.
Posted inReturning Home to Battle
Are you a veteran on a wait list? Here’s who to contact
Find out who’s responsible for overseeing the Department of Veterans Affairs and its disability claims process and who you can contact for help with claims.
Posted inBenefits, Returning Home to Battle
Disabled veterans stuck in backlog limbo
Veterans waiting for decisions on their disability claims wait longer than the VA has acknowledged, especially if they come from larger urban areas. Solutions tried in four locations have not helped so far, as the backlog continues to grow.
Posted inBenefits, Returning Home to Battle
Map: Where is the veterans’ backlog the worst?
Compare backlogs and wait times at the 58 VA regional offices on this interactive map. Data on the number of veterans waiting, the number of veterans waiting more than 125 days, and the average delays veterans face update weekly, tracking in real time whether the VA is living up to its promises to improve. Other […]
Posted inBenefits, Health Care for Veterans, Returning Home to Battle
Video: Veterans’ disability benefits delayed
Marine Cpl. David Smith has struggled with PTSD since returning from duty in Iraq. The UC Berkeley student waited more than a year for approval of his disability benefits claim. TRANSCRIPT: [On-screen text: Marine Cpl. David Smith, now a political science student at UC Berkeley, has suffered from PTSD and depression since returning from Iraq. […]
Posted inHealth Care for Veterans, Returning Home to Battle
Suicides highlight failures in veterans’ support system
The entrance at the Menlo Park Division of the Palo Alto Veterans Affairs campus.Jason Henry/For The Center for Investigative Reporting Francis Guilfoyle, a 55-year-old homeless veteran, drove his 1985 Toyota Camry to the Department of Veterans Affairs campus in Menlo Park early in the morning of Dec. 3, took a stepladder and a rope out […]
Posted inHealth Care for Veterans, Returning Home to Battle
New data reveals high death rates for Iraq, Afghanistan vets
This month, the Department of Veterans Affairs informed the parents of William Hamilton, an Iraq war veteran, that it was not responsible for his death. Hamilton had been admitted nine times to a V.A. psychiatric ward in Palo Alto. He saw demon women and talked to a man he had killed in Iraq. His parents […]