Happy ending to VA mix up
Chief Tango sends us a link to the story of Jim Mitsch, a veteran, who was notified of his own death by the Veterans Administration this past weekend.
“They have you listed as dying on July 5, 2013 which coincidentally was July 5, 1967 that I thought that I really did die when we were ambushed. My squad was ambushed,” veteran Jim Mitsch said.
Mitsch served in Vietnam. He said he was one of the few who made it out alive that day after being attacked.
“It raised the hair on my arms a little bit that that’s when I should had died. That’s when I thought I was going to die on that particular day and just through the luck of God that I’m still alive.”
But a succeeding story reports that the VA has allowed Jim Mitsch to live for the time being;
An Administrative Assistant with the VA Northern Indiana Healthcare System, Jennifer Baran-Prall, told NewsChannel 15 Tuesday evening that the error has been corrected. Mr. Mitsch is listed ‘alive’ again with the VA. She said the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs is not sure how the oversight happened. It is investigating the error though.
But you can bet they’ll be crowing when Jim is finally dead and sending letters that say “See, we told ya so”. They’re probably just trying to get ahead of the curve, you know, in case Jim takes his final breath when they’re backlogged or something.
But, welcome back, Jim, glad you’re still here.
Category: Veterans' Affairs Department
OR…They must’ve just now gotten to his disability claim, and accidentally changed his status to “deceased”, thinking it was easier to do that than actually follow through on it.
Oh well this was not the “happy ending” I was hoping for from the VA.
I mean I usually like to get kissed before I get f*ucked and I was hoping that I’d at least get a reach around from the VA going forward.
/filed to add a new dependent in March 2013. They said it may take until Fall 2014 to get processed.
Welcome Home Vietnam Brother. Glad you made it!
Somewhere in the VA offices, you know they discussed that it would be easier to just kill him than to change their paperwork.
I don’t believe in coincidences of this type. There is something to that same date business.
I’m glad to see he’s still alive. I’d like to buy him a beer, just for that. 🙂
One of my teachers in high school (1990s) was a retired Air Force Colonel. Somehow the VA killed him too. It took him driving from Sacramento to a VA hospital in San Fran to do a physical before they would resurrect him.
When GEN Peter Schoomaker was reactivated in 2003 to become the Army Chief of Staff he came off retirement naturally. The computer at VA noticed he was off the retirement rolls and automatically sent a letter of condolence to his wife thinking he was dead.
A couple weeks ago I got my VA rating, almost two years after filing. I got more than I was expecting; they gave me the benefit of the doubt on a couple of items. I’m actually pretty happy with the VA right now. Enjoy it while it lasts, I suppose.
I wonder how many burned out phone lines (or cell towers), beaten on desks, reams of paper, physical exams, physical threats, and other hoops it took for Mr Mitsch to get his “life” back from the VA?
Dammit when the VA says you’re dead, you are. Just lay down shuttup and accept it