my congressman listened...

For the past couple of months I've been entrenched in a sort of war. My dearest friend in the world is an Iraqi Freedom Veteran. He was there for a year working as a combat medic during the time the statue of Sadam fell. He developed post traumatic stress syndrome (along with other injuries from a mortar attack when he was in the smoke pit) and was deemed, 4 years later, 100% disabled by the VA.

This was back in February and since then he's seen not one dime of the benefits awarded him. About a month ago we started a letter writing campaign to anyone and everyone who would listen.

On Thursday of last week, United States Congressman Darrell Issa took notice. One of the men in his office, which I'm so sorry his name eludes me at the moment, brought CC's letter to Mr Issa's attention (he had also called CC several times to let him know he was working on it). And last Thursday, Congressman Issa got together with the House Chairman on Veteran's Affairs and had a conference call with the VA office CC is dealing with.

They were told to do what ever it takes to get CC's paperwork squared away. The Chairman didn't care if it had to be personally walked to every office until it was done and the funds could be released. He also stated that if he ever heard from another Vet that the answers they were getting from the VA were incomplete or simply "I don't know" that he would personally "clean house" and find people who wanted to do their job.

After a lot of years griping about how flawed the system is and thinking that Congress only worked for the fat cats, a little of my faith is restored.

Thanks guys (and you stealthy reppers too). The best part about this isn't the benefits being released soon but that fact that CC feels like he's taking control. It's given him purpose again. When all is said and done, I'm hoping to find a Vet Center where he can help others wade through the VA red tape.

I don't think I could be any prouder of him. He's even taken to writing about every step of the way.

And Susie, I hope he gets better, too. They're putting a great deal of effort into finding the causes and I have no doubt that he will fight the good fight against PTSD until he beats it.

I'm hoping he does write it into a book. He's got a blog about it on wordpress, http://aonbharr.wordpress.com/. I encouraged him to start writing a couple months ago, but never thought the blog would end up so focused on his journey with the VA. I've also been writing down his stories from Iraq as he tells them to me. It's been quite cathartic.

And, it just keeps getting better. Another call from the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs came in this morning. They wanted to know how things were going and if we'd seen any results. Since the funds actually haven't been released, CC told her no but thanked her over and over again for calling and that he was convinced the case would be worked out soon. She was quite nice and glad they could be of service, but wanted his service number so that she could give them a call to see where they were and when it would be resolved.