Salinas, CA Number Of Disabled Veterans Climbing Dramatically

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I wrote recently on my blog about the high unemployment rate for veterans and I was saddened to read that many of them may not be returning back to work at all because of disabilities.  The multiple wars we have been fighting have taken a significant toll on Americans.  The Department of Veteran Affairs recently announced that disability costs for veterans have more than doubled from $14.8 billion in 2000 to $39.4 billion in 2011.  About 15% (3.4 million) of 22.2 million American veterans are disabled, an increase of 45% from 2000.  The number of older veterans filing for benefits is also on the rise, as the stigma of being on a disability pension has disappeared.  "We get veterans coming in to us all the time, World War II guys or Korean War guys that never filed a claim because they think they didn't deserve it," Garry Augustine, national service director for the Disabled Veterans of America told USA Today.  I can only hope that President Obama's plans to bring more soldiers home early from Middle East deployment will cause these numbers to flatten.

Please note that this blog reflects my personal opinion and may or may not reflect the opinion of Hands To Help Seniors and the individual members comprising the Board of Governors.