Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, ladies and gentlemen, my name is Larry Gollner.
The following occurred at a VRAB hearing and was reported by an experienced Legion and CPVA service officer. While we have no doubt that the conduct of this hearing was an anomaly, it was unacceptable and needs public airing. The veteran and his companions asked that we not disclose their personal information, and we have complied.
The opening line of the Veterans Bill of Rights is that veterans “be treated with respect, dignity, fairness and courtesy”. It also used to say “in a timely manner”, but that line seems to have been shortened of late.
In this case, the Veterans Affairs client, as was his right, was accompanied to the hearing on his PTSD condition by his doctor, a psychiatrist, and a service officer. You can judge whether he was treated with respect, dignity, fairness, and courtesy.
Here is what the veteran said about his hearing for a PTSD condition. I quote directly, and when I do so, I will say so. In other cases, I've paraphrased to keep the veteran's message but without his, shall I say, earthy language:
Throughout the hearing I was grilled—not spoken to, but grilled—by the board. I went to get up three times to leave, but my doctor and service officer pulled me back into the chair and told me to be quiet. The board chair stated, “Well, you could have a medical condition, not PTSD”, and began questioning me and making comments about my medical reports, at which point my doctor spoke up, stating that the chair was completely wrong in her conclusions on what type of medical condition I have and her understanding of my condition was not correct. Then he asked her about her medical background, and she answered, “None”, just what she had read up on, so she was trying to act like a medical doctor based on her own medical knowledge, and my application was going to be based on her not having any real medical training. She questioned me again and again about the death of my infant son, who died from a childhood ailment, but there was some discussion between the doctors on the cause. She said, “Well, what was it?” Did it ever happen, and just how many kids did I have die? Then she decided and said that it was the death of my son that caused my condition, if it even happened, or my imagination. Again my doctor spoke to her about the connections and events, correcting her on her conclusions reached on the medical conditions and detailed reports. I was treated like a criminal, shown no respect at all, nor did I have a fair chance to explain myself to the hearing. She had made up her mind.
He said that If his doctor and service officer hadn't been there, he would have either attacked them or told them where to go and left.
As I said, in fairness to the VRAB, this hearing was likely an anomaly, but this case is but one example that lives forever on the Internet. These cases have a serious impact on the VRAB's credibility in the veterans community writ large, because they take prominence over much of the good work that is done.
Thank you.