Lawyers could help veterans.

I do not agree with Adjutant Wilson's article in the July/August 2006 issue. The right to use an attorney should be a last resort and only used if the situation calls for legal force. Mr. Wilson mentioned the percentage of success between veterans service organization help and attorney assistance. What wasn't addressed was the type of claim and the resultant complications. With all that's being done to veterans benefits, almost none of it good, the VA needs a wake up call where it will hurt--in the wallet. Time spent delaying a claim costs money. With an attorney breathing down their neck, things would speed up, especially if the veterans had the right to sue for recovery of legal costs. Dave Troescher, Santa Maria, CA

You are right. Veterans should not have to hire lawyers to receive the benefits to which they are entitled, since they have already "paid the price" for those benefits. Neither should injured workers or victims of other people's negligence have to hire a lawyer to be properly compensated. But this is the real world. What should we do? We should not allow lawyers to be paid by the veteran, but we should allow lawyers to represent veterans. If the claim is denied, then the lawyer receives nothing. We should also require the VA to pay all attorney fees and costs if the claim is successful. This would cause the VA to do a better job of reviewing claims, and only denying those where the facts are clear and convincing. If the VA had to pay, out of its budget, for their mistakes, it would be more than an "embarrassment," it might actually scare the VA into fulfilling its mission to assist the veteran. It might even scare Congress. If it did not, then at least the burden would be borne by the taxpayers, and not by the veterans alone. H. Ownby, Piano, TX