POST 1 on ROLL CALL Phase II

Reporting to ROLL CALL  7/25/13  9:57AM

This is the first post here on ROLL CALL Phase II.  If you are reading this, it is because you contacted me after you read all the posts on Phase I of ROLL CALL and emailed me asking for this url here on Phase II.  This site is not open to the general public.  There's a reason for this.  

But before I enter into the 'meat on this bone', I'm going to tell you about a personal incident that happened to me on Tuesday.  I had an appointment with my CalVet councilor at 2PM so I had to drive down to his office in Sacramento.  My councilor is also my 'inside contact' for my Veteran Advocacy.  When I meet a fellow Veteran in my day to day life, either on the street or on the Internet, who is in need of some advice or help, after I qualify him/her I set them up with a meeting with my CalVet connection.  He works for the VA, so he is able to take my Vet and put him into the VA Machine.  

After my meeting at CalVet, on the way home I stopped at Panera Bread and got a cup of their good Hazelnut coffee and hooked up my laptop to their free WiFi.  I got caught up on my networking, and had to pack up and leave to get back to my 'critters' on my farm, but first I had to hit the head.  When I entered the bathroom, there was a young man inside washing his hands, and when he turned to me he saw the Screaming Eagle on my baseball cap, and he said, "Thanks for serving!"  I replied, "You've made my day."

This young fellow looked like he was in trouble.  He was pale and 'antsy'.  I asked him if he was a Veteran, and he went on to explain that he was a Marine and had served in combat both in Iraq and Afghanistan.  I asked him if he had a VA card.  He told me no.  I asked 'why'?  Then he 'dumped' on me.  He said he was having some bad troubles.  He then exposed his left inner arm and I could see 'tracks'.  For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about here, this guy was a dope fiend.  In other words, a drug addict.  He looked at me with shame in his eyes.   I gave him my business card and also gave him the card of my connect at CalVet and told him to call him and to call me if he needed help.

This Veteran did need help.  I have not heard from him again.  He's out there self-medicating, and he's in trouble.  I do wish I could have done more, but I can only do what I do.  And that is to do my best as a Veteran Advocate to get my fellow Veterans the help they need for serving in our military forces and getting an honorable discharge for doing so.  In another story I did finally get a Desert Storm Troop who is suffering from a massive PTSD problem into the VA Machine and The CalVet program as well that day when I was there for my appointment.  So it goes.  One Veteran at a time.  

So, with the above story having been told, that brings me back to the reason I am blocking this Phase II of ROLL CALL from the general public.  You, the reader, are here because you are having trouble adjusting to the "Real World' now that you are out of the military and on the street.  So, here, I am going to begin explaining to you how to 'Play The Game' of getting your VA claim into the VA Machine.  And, believe me, you have to know how to play the game if you are going to be successful in getting a valid claim made.  So, I"m going to call it a day on this post and let the Captain check in and make his comments here, and then we'll start picking the meat off this bone.

LT