Jason Sapp served two tours in Iraq as a reconnaissance scout. When he returned home, he was not the same, his wife said. The Sapps tried to get support from the Department of Veterans Affairs, they said, but were turned away.
"They come away [from duty] a completely different person," Stephani Sapp said. "A year ago, he tried to commit suicide and we had nowhere to go."
The Sapps' situation was one of many shared by veterans who attended a discussion about veterans' issues with U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards at Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4692 in Bryan on Friday. Edwards chairs the House Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Subcommittee.
The couple told Edwards that more emphasis should be placed on including family support when it comes to treating veterans with mental issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder. The Sapps travel to Austin to receive the services they need, which include family counseling.
"There is a need for family involvement in mental care, and that lacks funding," Jason Sapp said. "My kids suffered; my wife suffered while I was suffering."
Army veteran Robert Head, who served two tours in Iraq, said he'd been trying for two years to get his military insurance company to reimburse him for a hospital bill. He said that before his wife gave birth, he contacted the company to make sure it would pay for the delivery at the hospital and was told that it would be taken care of. He said he'd been denied the reimbursement a number of times due to "technicalities."
Edwards said he'd personally look into the case.
"You call me in Washington, and if I have to call the CEO of Tricare myself, I will," he said, referring to the military health system. "I don't care how many technicalities there are, it shouldn't take two years to get your bills paid."
Head said that even though Edwards' response sounded good, he was not content.
"I will be if he fixes the problem. If he doesn't, his response is meaningless," he said. "I think his intentions are genuine and he wants to help."
Other concerns included a lack of staffing at Veterans Affairs facilities, the long waits veterans experience at clinics and the out-processing procedures that occur when troops go off-duty.
Edwards told veterans that though he could not guarantee the resolution of all of their issues, he would see to it that his staff followed up on individual cases.
"I learn a lot every time I come to these meetings," he said. "It's simple to me when it comes to veterans. You kept your promise to serve our country and defend it, and our country ought to keep our promises to you when you volunteered to put on that uniform."
As part of keeping that promise, Edwards said, he has been pushing for passage of the 2010 Veterans Affairs Appropriations Bill, which has been approved by the House of Representatives but not the Senate.
If passed, the bill would increase the VA budget by $20 billion and add more than 3,300 doctors, 14,000 nurses and 8,300 claims processors to the VA staff.
Edwards said the bill could pass as early as next week.
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