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BY ALAN GIBSON, CHAIR
Current RAND studies indicate that 300,000 veterans suffer
from depression or PTSD after serving in Iraq and Afghanistan
and that 320,000 received traumatic brain injuries. Vietnam
veterans know what PTSD causes in the workforce, but TBI
issues have not been fully appreciated—especially
undiagnosed concussions. Only 43 percent reported ever
being evaluated by a physician for head injuries.
Without
full scientific evidence, who knows what the workforce
will be able to handle or how many OIE/OEF veterans will
be able to handle meaningful jobs at a living wage?
VA studies
already show higher rates of unemployment among our newest
veterans, and those working are doing so for less money than
their counterparts earn.
Some questions we have been asked
are:
- What are the long-range implications for each
state?
- Are these veterans having higher unemployment
due to the elimination of Second Injury Fund programs in
many states?
- How do states differ in compensating
emotional and physical injuries that develop later?
There
are more questions, but these few need to be answered now.
What are your individual states doing? Without answers to
these questions and knowledge of what different states are
doing or not doing, VVA cannot determine what can be done
to protect our sons, daughters, grandsons, and granddaughters.
Please let the committee hear from you so we can be of assistance
to all veterans, including those from our own era.
In our
report on Resolutions, I inadvertently left Ted Daywalt off
the list of committee members. I apologize to Ted for this
oversight.
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©2006-
2008, Vietnam Veterans of America. All Rights Reserved. 8605 Cameron
Street, Silver Spring, MD 20910