Iraq Veterans Social Security Disability Claims

It’s Veterans’ Day. Let’s review some sad and disturbing Iraq War statistics: 15,568 veterans wounded in Iraq. 23,889 returning Iraq veterans have claimed VA benefits for PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) and other mental conditions. 2,062 veterans dead. About 100 spectators at my local Veterans’ Day parade this morning. Something is wrong.
As a veteran myself, I take these numbers personally. It won’t be long before more and more returning Iraq veterans cross my office threshold to file for Social Security Disability. Whether its amputations, severe burns, blindness or PTSD, the Iraq veteran will face the same bureaucratic barriers all my disabled clients face when filing for Social Security Disability. They will have to wait months to get the same silly (yet cruel) denials most of my clients get initially. Then they will have to wait at least another six months to see a Social Security Judge where at least they have a fighting chance. Unlike the New York Workers’ Compensation Board, which set up a special expedited procedure for 9/11 claims, the Social Security Administration has no such program for returning Iraq veterans. Something is wrong.
Turley Redmond & Rosasco thanks all veterans for their service and sacrifice. We wish those who return from Iraq good health and an uneventful transition back to civilian life. Today is your day. Thank you for defending all of us.