Mr. Botti-I am praying every minute that you get what you wish for.........I only wish I had the power to make it happen for you.........Stephanie-skd500

We need to immediately raise the priority visibility of the VA. We can symbolize that the needs that the  Vets come first, by taking all of the billions of tax dollars earmarked for subsidy payments for multimillionaire corn farmers and send this to the VA.   We should pay our veterans first.    If any money is left over then we could subsidize the farmers..  This would make a good start to setting America's priorities.   We can help America and save money at the same time. Go Dr Peake!

If I had all the money and right educational degree to do all of the things in your last paragraph, I, simply as a citizen without an office, would be there for every moment, I tried to look into getting a degree to assist with soldiers and PTSD, but my questions from the college I am waiting to hear from have gone unanswered.  

I don't have any power in our nation to make a difference, I am just a civilian, but your words are heartfelt to at least me, and it breaks my heart to know that I read these articles from the soldiers, and I don't have the power to assist you in any way or assist the healthcare field in some small way to make a difference.

May someone with more power and clout than me see my comment to you here, and maybe there is something that THEY can do that I cannot, to make a difference to the soldiers, then I as a concerned citizen will have done my part.........thank you for my opinion.....my prayers and cares, Stephanie-skd500

You really nailed it David.  My son-in-law is in the VA hospital in Palo Alto recovering from an IED blast in Iraq that left him with severe TBI (he was in a coma for 2 months at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda).  Is he going to get the care he needs?  Does the VA have the medical expertise to handle severe TBI?  Are they using state-of-the-art technology?  Are the doctors the best we can provide to our military?

So far so good (after 1 month at the VA hospital), but how will things look in 1 year?  5 years?  20 years?  My Marine is going to need care from the VA for the rest of his life!

General Peake has an enormous job ahead of him.  His first order of business should be to visit the VA hospitals all over the country and talk to the vets to get a first hand accounting of the care they are receiving.  As you said, "no excuses"!