By Elwin Gunnink, Mankato
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Rep. Tim Walz has been running a TV ad featuring a Vietnam veteran who was exposed to Agent Orange and now has Parkinson’s disease. After being turned down by the Veterans Administration, he turned to Walz, who intervenes and the problem is resolved.
In place to help veterans are the county Veterans Services offices. To my knowledge, most counties have them. They can make veterans aware of the benefits that are available and provide them with the paperwork they need to complete to obtain those benefits.
The Mankato Veterans Services office is open eight hours each day, Monday to Friday. Veterans, this is where you should go for assistance, not, in my opinion, to Walz’s office.
Now, all veterans should expect to receive a fair and impartial evaluation when they submit a claim to the VA. For the claim to be approved, the veteran would have to show that he/she has met certain conditions which would allow the VA to approve the claim.
In turn, if the claim is disapproved, the VA should give specific reasons why the claim was not approved.
Guidelines will change. Research shows that those exposed to Agent Orange are more susceptible to a variety of ailments. Thus, claims previously denied may now be approved.
However, if a member of Congress can influence or override a decision made by the VA, then the system is compromised. The duty of Congress is to pass laws, not enforce them.
Walz then had the effrontery to use the veteran in a TV ad to promote his candidacy. His actions are not only self-serving, they are highly unethical.
