Where I Stand — Mike O’Callaghan: Something to think about

Friday, Feb. 7, 2003 | 9:49 a.m.

WHY DOES IT SEEM TO BE SO DIFFICULT TO RIGHT A WRONG when the White House and Congress address the problems of military veterans? Before you get all heated up about this question allow me to give some examples that come to mind. What is most bothering about some of these examples is that it has been our own government that has blocked progress toward fair solutions.

A recent report by the Institute of Medicine has found that veterans exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam are at greater risk for chronic lymphocytic leukemia. I wonder how many vets have died from this affliction during the past three decades. It took almost 15 years for the Veterans Affairs Department and Congress to recognize the crippling physical effects of Agent Orange exposure. Today only about 10,000 veterans receive disability benefits because of their exposure that resulted in sickness.

A dwindling number of World War II veterans who became Japanese prisoners of war are still without benefits owed them by large wealthy corporations. The former POWs were used as slaves by firms like Mitsubishi for three and more years. Now they fight for just payment for their labor. Our own Department of State and Department of Justice help block every effort the POWs make to get compensation. The veterans are told that the $1 a day they received back in 1945 is all they are getting.

A state appeals court in California recently ruled in favor of the former POWs. It didn't take long for the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to overrule the state court. Our federal government's legal brief in support of the corporations was reported, in part, by The New York Times as follows:

" 'A state legislature, is in a poor position to assess what risks to our relations with Germany and Japan are entailed by a statute that aims to readdress the wrongs of World War II or to weight those risks against other foreign policy objectives that depend on the good will of those governments.' "

Last week the following news brief was in the Los Angeles Times: "Mitsubishi Motors said Thursday that it would decide on the location of a new factory in North America within the next few weeks. Mitsubishi has said it was considering expanding production in North America to boost sales in the region. ..."

Let's not forget about the even more recent federal court action that, at the request of the Department of Defense, denied a lawsuit demand for lifetime healthcare benefits promised some veterans. Evidently many were recruited with that promise if they would serve 20 or more years. Instead of fulfilling this promise, after the age of 65, they are thrown into the same pot of all Medicare recipients. This made it necessary for many of them to purchase Medicare Part B to fill their health care needs.

Last year, during the election, all signs pointed Congress toward ending the ban on retired disabled veterans from receiving both their retirement pay and VA disability compensation. The White House sought to kill the bill but it survived until after the election. Eventually a watered-down version passed despite DOD and White House objections. Nevada's senior Sen. Harry Reid will attempt to broaden the law during this session. Both Reid and Sen. John Ensign supported the strong and broad version that came from the Senate last year.

It's not just the veterans who are paying an extra price for their service. Large numbers of them purchased an annuity that would provide their spouse 55 percent of his or her military retirement pay. After paying these premiums for decades they are now told the survivor, after the age of 62, will only receive 35 percent. Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., is submitting another bill to rectify this situation. Nevada's Rep. Shelley Berkley has again signed on in support of correcting this inequity. Both Reid and Ensign supported a similar bill in the Senate last year.

This column has been written to refresh your memory the next time you hear a veteran complaining about his or her government failing to respond to their needs. They aren't paranoid, they are just stating some facts of life and death that are all too common in a nation that sometimes finds it easy to forget.