I will take the comments above as the rantings of a disinformed extremist. Whenever anyone attacks me over their misconceptions about my almost thirty years service to our nation's veterans, I know who I was and what I did.
I was there when Max Cleland, a triple amputee combat Vietnam Veteran, started the Vet Center program, which I supported materially and philosophically. Max was a Democrat working for Alan Cranston, a Democrat, when he met Shad Meshad, a Social Worker who had started the first "Vet Center," in Santa Monica. In spite of the fact that all of the doctors working at the local VA's were professors at the UCLA School of Medicine and all of the resident physicians were from the UCLA program, PTSD and other issues kept many Vets from seeking help for treatable problems. Many mentally ill people are paranoid and reject high quality medical care and needed medicines. The Vet Centers we supported relied on the "Placebo Effect," of Vet to Vet services, stressing empathy over perceived officiousness.
On the other end, I hired Pam Murphy, widow of Audie Murphy. as a Patient Representative/Advocate. Pam was extremely popular with the more conservative WWII era Vets for the "Service with a Smile," that characterized her approach to her job. Although not a Vet herself, she was as popular with the guys who came to us daily for help. As she made her rounds, Pam always checked the status of patients waiting for care and kept them in the loop. When staff was short, it was not beneath her to wheel a Vet to X-Ray of the Lab. She would step in for busy volunteers and fetch prescriptions so that an exhausted, older Vet's wife could take him home after hours at the Walk-In Clinic or ER. Pam was popular with "Sonny" Montgomery who would call to check on her, as would other members of Congress. This sparked jealousy with some of her co-workers which I dealt with by challenging them to work as hard as she did.
In my decades with the VA I never saved a life. But, I am proud of what I did in support of the many who did. Your false allegations and profane insults will never take that away from me.