Letter to the Editor

Dear Editor,

Military history. If it were not for the U.S. Military, we would not have a country and our senators would not have their jobs. Less than one-half of one percent of all Americans join the U.S. Military and have made the ultimate sacrifice and were and still are willing to give their life for their country.

I need help from my two Wyoming Senators John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis, about a veterans’ pay issue: disabled veterans travel reimbursement. I am a 73-year-old disabled Vietnam veteran with an 80% disability from Agent Orange.

For the last eight years, all I had to do was go to the travel office at Ft. Meade and the travel person would do the voucher online while I sat there and in three to four days the money would be automatically deposited to my account. Due to COVID-19, it then took two weeks.

I dropped off my last travel voucher on Jan. 7, 2021 and I have not received my travel reimbursement as of Feb. 17, 2021. When I called Ft. Meade travel section after two weeks, I was advised that the VA has gone to a new system and it would now take two months unless I did it online.

I stated, “This is 2021 and that is not acceptable.” I advised them that I have never sent a text, been on Facebook, etc., and don’t know how. How many disabled veterans will die waiting two months for their travel reimbursement?

I have tried, with phone calls and emails to Senator John Barrasso, for over two months to ask for help and a return phone call but it has fallen on deaf ears. John Barrasso has no interest in helping a disabled veteran.

I have no doubt if John Barrasso was interested in helping with this problem, which affects all disabled veterans, he would find 10-15 minutes in his schedule and call me. What exactly does Senator John Barrasso do for the folks in Wyoming? His lack of interest in helping with this problem shows nothing but disrespect for all veterans and their families.

I finally received a phone call from Senator Cynthia Lummis on Feb. 11, 2021. Senator Lummis called me and she stated, “I’m in the hallway going to President Trump’s impeachment trial” and she “only had a minute.” (How convenient.)

We were on the phone for about two minutes. I tried to explain to her about my travel reimbursement problem and she kept interrupting me and trying to pass me off to one of her staffers.

Senator Lummis acted as if she had no interest in personally helping me. I advised her that I have been talking to many of her staffers and the only way this problem was going to be fixed was that Senator Barrasso and herself along with the other 98 senators in Washington, going to the VA and telling them to fix this problem.

At this time, I asked Senator Cynthia Lummis, “How many disabled veterans will die waiting for their travel reimbursement?” Senator Lummis hung up on me.

Senator Cynthia Lummis has not called me back as of Feb. 17, 2021. To me this shows nothing but total disrespect to a disabled veteran asking for her help.

How many Korea and Vietnam veterans grew up not using computers, like me, and are unable to do these travel vouchers online?

Veterans with a 50% disability from military service are reimbursed for travel. Many times, such travel is in the hundreds of dollars.

I will admit that I have a vested interest in this, as I have an 80% disability from Agent Orange while in Vietnam. As far as I can find out, neither one of our Wyoming senators have ever served their country in military service.

I personally find our Wyoming senators’ lack of interest in helping disabled veterans another slap in the face.

We always hear about what committees, etc., they are on and what they are investigating. Examples: Fast & Furious, IRS scandal, Bengazi and the deaths of four Americans, etc. What are the results of their time and our tax dollars? They work for us.

I personally do not pay our elected officials to go to Washington and lie to me.

The next time our senators are in Wyoming, I am challenging both Senator John Barrasso and Senator Cynthia Lummis to a face-to-face, public forum on why they do not have any time to help a disabled veteran of Wyoming. At that time, they could both tell everyone in Wyoming what they are really doing for us with their time in Washington D.C. What laws, etc., have they done to help the everyday working families of Wyoming?

I have personally spent over 20 hours on the telephone trying to get this resolved and I have made zero progress.

They work for us, don’t they?

Eric Akola