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Rep. Rob Wittman speaks at a town hall forum on the steps of VFW Post 3103.
Rep. Rob Wittman spoke to the audience outside the VFW building because no one came to unlock the front door. |
By RUSTY DENNEN
Chuck Vroman of King George County, a retired Navy veteran who is disabled, wanted to know why the Veterans Administration office in Roanoke was taking so long to process a request.
Gary Wymer, an Air Force veteran who lives in Spotsylvania County, asked how health care legislation making its way through Congress would affect Tricare, the government health care program for active-duty service members and retirees.
Vroman and Wymer were among about 50 veterans and family members who met with Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Westmoreland, last night in a town hall-style forum at the Fredericksburg VFW Post 3103.
Wittman gamely launched into the meeting on the tiny porch of the small building on Princess Anne Street as a gentle rain began to fall. The door was supposed to have been unlocked, but no one showed up to let the crowd in.
"Get him a stump" to stand on, someone in the crowd suggested, eliciting a peal of laughter.
Wittman briefed them on recent developments in Iraq and President Obama's decision about sending more troops into Afghanistan.
He noted that, with Veterans Day looming, the nation was still in a state of shock over the killings at Fort Hood, Texas.
"It was a tragic event, and we need to be looking at what led to that event so that it never happens again." Wittman, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said he wants to ensure that the families of those killed "get the same treatment" as families of soldiers killed in action.
Vroman's son, also named Chuck, said his father was told that a review of his case, stemming from diabetes, could take five years. The younger Vroman, a former Marine who also is disabled, said the situation was aggravated by difficulties in obtaining basic information.
"Why is there not direct and clear access to records? We have none," Vroman asked.
Wittman called the delay "unacceptable" and pledged to follow up.
"We have had concerns about why there is not more coordination, not at just [VA] offices, but hospitals. We need to have a more consistent way of doing business."
Another man in the crowd said that VA records should be available online. The present system, he said, creates "an undue burden on servicemen and their families."
On Wymer's point, Wittman said he opposes increases in Tricare premiums, deductibles and co-payments and will support efforts to look at the cost of sustaining military health care over the long term.
Wittman noted that behind every service member is a family.
November is Military Family Month, and the Defense Department has been getting the word out about child care and education aid programs available to them. Military OneSource and the Military Family Life Consultants program, for example, provide anonymous nonmedical counseling for family members.
Wittman also fielded questions on a host of issues unrelated to veterans and military families, such as the health care bill now in the Senate, the soaring federal budget deficit, and media coverage of those issues.
Rusty Dennen: 540/374-5431
Email: rdennen@freelancestar.com
