The mission of the Department of Veterans Affairs is simple: “To care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan.” Why, then, did the VA make it near impossible for Army veteran Ryan Broderick to get a timely appointment with a counselor, then proceed to arrest him before sending him to jail for four months?
After Broderick returned from multiple deployments to Afghanistan, he struggled with Post-Traumatic Stress that sent him “spiraling out of control.” Earlier this January, he hit an all-time low after being denied an appointment with a VA counselor, and in distress, made a call to the VA threatening to harm doctors and nurses if he didn’t get the care he needed.
[Note: He was threatening due to his Post-Traumatic Stress and a Professional Care- Taker @ the VA should have been aware of this and conducted themselves accordingly (with compassion and understanding) - as well as Law Enforcements - in his arrest]
Broderick didn’t want to hurt anyone, and he later explained that he had no intention of carrying out the threats. Nevertheless, instead of providing Broderick the medical help he needed, the VA pressed charges for assault. Thirty-one hours later, the struggling veteran was arrested in front of his child’s day care center and sent to jail, where he languished--PTS untreated--for four months.
So how can we stop stories like this from happening again? The answer is simple: the VA must be forced to compete with outside providers, and veterans must be allowed a choice in where they receive their care--so that the next time a veteran needs to see a counselor, they aren’t dependent on an institution infamous for its backlogs and wait times.
Join a strike team to get involved, then follow us on Twitter and Facebook for updates on what we’re doing to hold our lawmakers accountable.
Yours in freedom,
Diego Echeverri
Florida State Director
Concerned Veterans for America