Stumpy lost his foot to diabetes right?

[JakeStyle]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026487872

I know that he claims that he once had to go to a "zone" where he saw dead bodies, but he has never claimed to be a combat vet?.  Maybe he's trying to speak metaphorically.  Who knows.

Fri Apr 10, 2015, 10:22 PM

TheMastersNemesis (4,623 posts)

I Lost My Body Part In MILITARY Service & All I Got Was This Worthless Voucher.

If the GOP ever has its way veterans of military service will get a voucher for private insurance. Forget the VA. And we now know why the GOP has no reason to fix the VA. Like everything government they break or disable it so they can privatize it and send big profits to their business cronies.

The VA system has a lot of problems mostly because of GOP obstructionism. It still provides service to disabled veterans that is important and the government that sent vets into harms way should be responsible for caring for them. The next thing we hear will be that vets disability payments should be handled by the banking system.

The Koch's astroturf Concerned Veterans Of America of course pushes the voucher plan for its own reasons. And of course benefits for future vets under their plan would be more limited. Like we will fix you lost leg but as far as your lost arm it is up to you to take care of that. It is not covered.

The VA's problems play right into the hands of the GOP privateers. The largest reason for VA's problems is underfunding from the Bush years and GOP obstructionism that curtails funding and resources. Plus adding millions of vets to an already inadequate system.

Vouchering vets care is un American. And unpatriotic.

You lost your foot due to sloth and too much chef boyardee, freak show.

As a retired Marine, I would much rather be treated, screened, probed, whatever by a local Doc that I know, than to deal with the VA. In my experiance, the waiting list is months long, and the Doctors are indifferent and impersonal. 

[FlippyDoo]

In 2014 he claimed to have been "totally active and self sufficient" at the age of 70 when he lost his foot.

Wed Apr 30, 2014, 12:23 PM
TheMastersNemesis (4,623 posts)

Health Care & Medicare May Not Have Saved A Foot But It Saved My Life.

I have been on a journey through a medical hell I never thought I would ever experience. Going from a totally active and self sufficient 70 year old to a helpless heap has been a huge awakening and humbling experience. What began as a bout with gout ended up with a lost foot and huge dose of reality. WE ARE ALL vulnerable to what happened to me in this new age of "drug resistant bacteria". Thank God for the fact that I had health insurance through Medicare and my co insurance.

Now I face different life. And still face some lengthy rehab. My story could be anyones story. And during my journey I also heard many other stories worse than mine. And I saw more suffering than I care to remember.

Since the end of February I have spent 2 weeks in the hospital, 3 weeks in a rehab center (nursing home), 2 weeks at home, another week in the hospital and am now at home again on a 30 day antibiotic pump. By the end of this journey I will have had 53 days of antibiotics to kill off what has invaded my body. I got this second machine after my second stay in the hospital. More about that later.

The day I lost my foot I also woke up to a wound in my other leg 5 inches long, 1 1/2 inches with and 2 inches deep that had a vacuum pump sucking out the infection. (The new technology is to heal such wounds from the inside out). By the time I am finished with this pump it will have been a part of me for over 2 months with a dressing change every other day except weekends. . That is the one thing that has gone right so far.

Having health care coverage probably saved my life since I was diagnosed with Sepsis Syndrome due to a staff infection in my foot that began as gout. Somehow infection got in. That care was actually excellent if not a bit myopic. They were so focused on my foot infection they did not realize I had it in my right leg calf until just before amputation surgery. Practicing medicine is more than science it is an art and diagnosing and treatment are sometimes a guess.

After 3 weeks in rehab on a sore right knee. Two weeks at home and my knee swelled. Back to the hospital and now infection was under the right knee cap. Now a fourth surgery to flush the knee of that bug.

I met so many dedicated and professional nurses and caretakers that I am forever grateful for their service. These professionals work hard and have tremendous responsibility. What they do means your life literally. They work with no extra help virtually all the time.

You do not realize how important health care is until you have to use it. I look at health care as a right and NOT an earned privilege. I have no patience with anyone who says we should deny health care to the sick. Over all I received excellent health care during this ordeal.

I will share some other information that really is important. In the future I will share my conversation with certain doctors. The most important talk I had was an "infectious disease doctor" and what we face in the future. And we must all be concerned.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024890344

in 2012 he claimed to have a fear of being severely wounded and disabled when he was in Vietnam, but he makes no mention of being serious injured.

Fri Sep 21, 2012, 11:43 AM
TheMastersNemesis (4,623 posts)

Disabled Vets The Most Courageous People In The Universe

I remember my worst fear in Vietnam was being severely wounded and unable to function or take care of myself. I remember going to our headquarters unit and looking through the casualty reports. We had a casualty log at battalion headquarters that was separated into killed in action and wounded with a brief description of circumstances and wounds suffered.

I would frequently had to go down and look through this log when I had casualties in my unit. It was a gruesome read that I hated to have to read it. There was so much "traumatic amputation" in that log and we had casualties "every single day" How horrible it must be to be whole one second and have some significant part of you gone forever. To be able to recover and go on with life even when your being has been so completely devastated is beyond me.

One thing that the American public has been allowed to escape are the images of many of these vets. It is easy to go to war and support war when you are protected from the real cost of these wars and their eviscerating images of the disabled.

Today some of the disabled vets have been so badly damaged that they are not in public view. We can now save soldiers that were completely impossible to save during Vietnam. What they face and what they do being so disabled is a testament to the resiliency of he human spirit and the desire to not only live but thrive. I get so furious when I hear GOP talking points. They simply do not want to provide the money to care for these people. It will take even trillions of dollars to provide lifetime care for many of these vets. And too too many of them will be in VA hospitals or nursing homes for the rest of their lives.

Most Americans today are too young to see what I saw as a child. I am 68 so that experience goes back quite a ways. During the early 1950's believe it or not it was not uncommon to see a veteran sitting in the street selling pencils. It was common to vets selling little artificial poppies to raise money.

The GOP really wants to return us that America. And it is unacceptable. I do not understand how we are being even civil to these people.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021390177

He had his foot cut off in March of 2014.

Mon Mar 23, 2015, 03:00 PM
TheMastersNemesis (4,623 posts)

On Rather Being Dead Than Disabled. My Response To The Post By Kama Aina.

I need to make a separate response to the post that Kama Aina made by the jerk who said they would rather be dead than disabled. They need to be in a situation where they face a decision about being dead or disabled. I remember so many academic philosophical arguments about what a person would do under such a circumstance. No one can know what you would do if you were faced with a life decision that is truly drastic.

I can really sympathize with Kama Aina on disability because I faced a really terrible decision on March 7, 2014. I had become infected with staph in my left foot. Partly because I did not fully understand my predicament soon enough I was told on March 6, 2014 that my left foot could NOT be saved from a raging staph infection. I was also septic as well. It did not take as much as heartbeat for me to decide my foot would have to be given up. The alternative was that I would not be around much longer unless I agreed to amputation. I could have never imagined ever being faced with such a decision in all those ACADEMIC arguments I remember from my you in philosophy classes.

To add insult to injury my right leg was infected as well. And when I woke up after surgery my left foot was not only gone as well as half my lower leg. What was even worse was that the left side of my right calf had a huge wound 6 inches long, 1 1/2 inches deep and 1 inch wide cut out of it. You could see the almost to the bone. And I was hooked up to a wound vacuums. And when they did the first wound change I thought my right leg was being sawed off without medication.

Go another month down the road and my right knee had to be flushed because I still had infection. And eventually I ended up with two separate pic lines and total of 53 days of antibiotics. I was one big mess and barely mobile for 3 months. And it took 9 months to heal good enough to start on a prosthetic.

I spent most of a year in a wheel chair. I also went on a trip to California for a week in a wheel chair. That adventure was quite a challenge. And I recently returned from Honolulu in using a wheel chair most of the time because my new legs was not yet fitting right.

Now I would not want to go through such a horrific medical event again. However being alive is still worth all the pain and suffering actually even though I was far from my previous fully functional self. I am on my way back and my prosthesis is getting better. You do not just get a new leg and start walking immediately. It is a difficult trial and error process.

Having said all of this I have met others who face a much more difficult challenges than I. And I have met a lot of people who value living enough to work through much more challenging disabilities than I.

A person might believe they would rather be dead a than disabled. How terribly short sighted. And may they NEVER face being disabled.

I CAN GUARANTEE ANYONE ONE THING. WHEN YOU FACE TERRIBLE DECISIONS THAT OTHERS MUST MAKE BEING DISABLED OR DEAD, IN MANY CASES A PERSON WILL CHOOSE MUCH MORE DISABILITY THAN THEY COULD EVER IMAGINE BEFORE THEY GIVE UP ON LIVING.

Then again look at Mr. Hawking.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026404253

Maybe he lost his testicles during military service and that caused him to become a DUmmie? Or maybe he lies sometimes?

[Carl]

DUmbasses lie,all the time they lie.

[Tucker]

DUmbasses lie,all the time they lie.

Now, now. Maybe he had a festering, open wound for 40 years.

[67 Rover]

Stolen valor no doubt about it.

My dad lost his Right arm in WWII on board a four stack destroyer, was a life member of the DAV and would not be caught dead in a VA.

 He passed in 1987 and I am almost glad that he did not live to see what America has become.

[Big Dog]

So... gout, or staph infection, or diabeetus, or some 40 year old jungle rot.

I guess it all depends on how it serves the narrative. Right, Bob?

[JohnnyReb]

So... gout, or staph STAFF infection, or diabeetus, or some 40 year old jungle rot.

I guess it all depends on how it serves the narrative. Right, Bob?

Staff infection = whorehouse rot

[Skul]

         

VA=safe govmt job
There are many there that are outstanding. Unfortunately, they are out numbered by the indifferent.
I generally see them as understaffed, overworked and underpaid.
They do have pretty much top of the line equipment, paid for by working tax payers.

[SVPete]

Stolen valor no doubt about it.

My dad lost his Right arm in WWII on board a four stack destroyer, was a life member of the DAV and would not be caught dead in a VA.

 He passed in 1987 and I am almost glad that he did not live to see what America has become.

Was your Dad in the Asiatic Fleet at the beginning of the PTO of WW2. Not a lot of 4-pipers saw combat action, but several in the Asiatic Fleet did.

[67 Rover]

Was your Dad in the Asiatic Fleet at the beginning of the PTO of WW2. Not a lot of 4-pipers saw combat action, but several in the Asiatic Fleet did.

North Atlantic for most of the war then transitioned to Pacific and hit by Kamikazi in 1945. First German sub sunk off the coast of USA was in April 13-14 1942 off of NC was done by the Roper DD-147.

http://www.destroyers.org/DANFS/h-DD-147.htm

Interesting photos of the dead being secretly buried at night.
http://www.uboatarchive.net/U-85.htm

The story my dad told was a little different than this wiki page in that they did try to pickup survivors but they believed another sub was in the area and they continued to depth charge a contact and in the process killed all the survivors in the water.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_submarine_U-85_%281941%29

This sort confirms my dad's version of this story.
Former commander of German U-boat U-802 and author Helmut Schmoeckel suggested in a 2002 book that the failure of Roper to rescue the U-85 crew after they abandoned the submarine and Roper '​s subsequent depth charging of U-85 should be investigated.

Notable events involving Roper include:

23 Mar 1942
USS Roper sank the bow section of the damaged American tanker Naeco with gunfire. The Neaco was torpedoed by German U-boat U-124 about 65 nautical miles south-east of Cape Lookout, North Carolina in position 33°59'N, 76°40'W.

31 Mar 1942
USS Roper picks up 70 survivors of the American passenger ship City of New York that was torpedoed and sunk on 29 March 1943 by German U-boat U-160 40 nautical miles east of Cape Hatteras in position 35°16'N, 74°25'W.

14 Apr 1942
On this day USS Roper (Lt.Cdr. Hamilton Howe) sank U-85 near Cape Hatteras, USA.

U-85 was the first U-boat to be sunk off the North American coast after the start of the Operation Drumbeat (Paukenschlag) on 13 January 1942.

On the day that she was sunk U-85 stayed on the surface through the engagement. After repeated gunfire hits on the boat, fatally damaging her, the order to abandon ship was given and maybe half of the crew got into the water and then U-85 started to sink again fast. USS Roper then dropped 11 depth charges onto the already sinking U-boat and its 2 dozen survivors and in the process killed everyone in the water.

The wreck of U-85 is now a popular dive site.

23 Apr 1942
USS Roper picks up 30 survivors from the Panamanian merchant Desert Light that was torpedoed and sunk on 16 April 1942 east of Cape Hattaras in position 35°35'N, 72°48'W by German U-boat U-572.

29 Apr 1942
USS Roper picks up 14 survivors from the British merchant Empire Drum that was torpedoed and sunk on 24 April 1942 southeast of New York by German U-boat U-136. 13 more survivors from the same ship were picked up on 1 May.

Arriving at Norfolk on 21 December, Roper sailed again on 29 January 1945. On transiting the Panama Canal, she reported to the Pacific Fleet, and, after stops in California and Hawaii, moved into the Mariana Islands. On 11 May, she departed Guam for the Ryukyu Islands. Arriving in Nakagusuku Wan on 22 May, she circled to the Hagushi anchorage the same day. Three days later, while on screening station off that transport area she was hit by a kamikaze.

[Big Dog]

Staff infection = whorehouse rot

He waz wookin pa nub in aww de wong paces.

[SVPete]

North Atlantic for most of the war then transitioned to Pacific and hit by Kamikazi in 1945. First German sub sunk off the coast of USA was in April 13-14 1942 off of NC was done by the Roper DD-147.

http://www.destroyers.org/DANFS/h-DD-147.htm

Interesting photos of the dead being secretly buried at night.
http://www.uboatarchive.net/U-85.htm

The story my dad told was a little different than this wiki page in that they did try to pickup survivors but they believed another sub was in the area and they continued to depth charge a contact and in the process killed all the survivors in the water.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_submarine_U-85_%281941%29

This sort confirms my dad's version of this story.
Former commander of German U-boat U-802 and author Helmut Schmoeckel suggested in a 2002 book that the failure of Roper to rescue the U-85 crew after they abandoned the submarine and Roper '​s subsequent depth charging of U-85 should be investigated.

Notable events involving Roper include:

23 Mar 1942
USS Roper sank the bow section of the damaged American tanker Naeco with gunfire. The Neaco was torpedoed by German U-boat U-124 about 65 nautical miles south-east of Cape Lookout, North Carolina in position 33°59'N, 76°40'W.

31 Mar 1942
USS Roper picks up 70 survivors of the American passenger ship City of New York that was torpedoed and sunk on 29 March 1943 by German U-boat U-160 40 nautical miles east of Cape Hatteras in position 35°16'N, 74°25'W.

14 Apr 1942
On this day USS Roper (Lt.Cdr. Hamilton Howe) sank U-85 near Cape Hatteras, USA.

U-85 was the first U-boat to be sunk off the North American coast after the start of the Operation Drumbeat (Paukenschlag) on 13 January 1942.

On the day that she was sunk U-85 stayed on the surface through the engagement. After repeated gunfire hits on the boat, fatally damaging her, the order to abandon ship was given and maybe half of the crew got into the water and then U-85 started to sink again fast. USS Roper then dropped 11 depth charges onto the already sinking U-boat and its 2 dozen survivors and in the process killed everyone in the water.

The wreck of U-85 is now a popular dive site.

23 Apr 1942
USS Roper picks up 30 survivors from the Panamanian merchant Desert Light that was torpedoed and sunk on 16 April 1942 east of Cape Hattaras in position 35°35'N, 72°48'W by German U-boat U-572.

29 Apr 1942
USS Roper picks up 14 survivors from the British merchant Empire Drum that was torpedoed and sunk on 24 April 1942 southeast of New York by German U-boat U-136. 13 more survivors from the same ship were picked up on 1 May.

Arriving at Norfolk on 21 December, Roper sailed again on 29 January 1945. On transiting the Panama Canal, she reported to the Pacific Fleet, and, after stops in California and Hawaii, moved into the Mariana Islands. On 11 May, she departed Guam for the Ryukyu Islands. Arriving in Nakagusuku Wan on 22 May, she circled to the Hagushi anchorage the same day. Three days later, while on screening station off that transport area she was hit by a kamikaze.

Ah! I'm less familiar with the naval war in the Atlantic. Spring, 1942 off the US coast (Paukenschlag) was a really grim time in the U-Boat war. Also didn't realize 4-Pipers were deployed to the PTO late in the war. A 4-Piper, DD-139 IIRC, sank the first IJN submarine, a midget, off Pearl Harbor just before the air attack. By WW2, the WW1-vintage 4-Pipers were obsolescent, but they served valiantly and well.

[67 Rover]

Ah! I'm less familiar with the naval war in the Atlantic. Spring, 1942 off the US coast (Paukenschlag) was a really grim time in the U-Boat war. Also didn't realize 4-Pipers were deployed to the PTO late in the war. A 4-Piper, DD-139 IIRC, sank the first IJN submarine, a midget, off Pearl Harbor just before the air attack. By WW2, the WW1-vintage 4-Pipers were obsolescent, but they served valiantly and well.

The only photo that my late mother or I had ever seen of my dad with two arms (far left in link below). I still cannot believe he was ever that young.

[thundley4]

       

They do have pretty much top of the line equipment, paid for by working tax payers.

Some VA centers have new solar power systems installed under the Obama Regime. All the better to provide cheaper power for running that fancy equipment.

[Ptarmigan]

Now, now. Maybe he had a festering, open wound for 40 years.

More like festering rage. 

[Skul]

The only photo that my late mother or I had ever seen of my dad with two arms (far left in link below). I still cannot believe he was ever that young.

Just for the old sailor.