• SiriusXM host Pete Dominick hosts “Storm the Hill” roundtable/audience event with
Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America founder/CEO Paul Rieckhoff, Zoe Bedell/Marine Afghanistan
veteran and Jeremy Newtown/Navy veteran on “Stand Up!
with Pete Dominick” at SiriusXM studios in Washington, DC on March 18, 2013
Pete: “Zoe how would you describe this initiative?
Were you part of ‘Storm the Hill’ last year?
This has been done before.
How would you describe this ‘Storm the Hill?’
What is happening this week?
You’re launching it today.
How would you best describe?
Zoe: “Once a year VA brings veterans to Washington to talk about issues that they
have determined are really relevant to the community right now.
This year we are really focusing on the VA backlog.
There are almost a million veterans who have submitted claims to the VA and almost 70%
of those are backlogged.
Which means they’ve been waiting over hundred and twenty five days which is pretty ridiculous
if you think about how these are benefits that people earn by getting hurt in combat
fighting for America?
We don’t think that’s cool so we are here to raise awareness about that and try to push
for some action forward.
”
Pete: “When someone makes a claim and their claim is not addressed, what does that mean?
Forgive me because this is something that everyone should understand in terms of insurance.
Paul when you file a claim and Zoe was very polite when she said it’s ‘not cool’.
I am going to go ahead and say it’s wrong, it’s unjust, it should be illegal and it
needs to be fixed right away.
If I file a claim and I have to wait longer then hundred days for a decision, what I am
I waiting for and what does it mean for my life?
“
Paul: “You’re waiting for the benefits, the care and the compensation that you earned.
It is really shocking to know that not only is it nine hundred thousand claims backlogged,
it’s a long time.
So in cities like in New York and LA it’s over six hundred days.”
Pete: “Jeremy why are you here?
You flew F18s in the navy for ten years.
What kind of a challenge is this to you, to a guy that can land a fighter jet on a piece
of dental floss?
Which doesn’t look that hard by the way, but we give you all this credit and I’m
sure it’s not that difficult.”
[Everyone Laughing]
Jeremy: [Laughing] “That is actually a great analogy… the dental floss.
For me it’s about service and continuing to serve.
As an officer our primary focus was to take care of those guys who were taking care of
us, the troops and the sailors out there.
I made my own transition to the civilian world and community.
And I had some difficulty doing that and that just showed me that all my brothers and sisters
that I served with probably have a similarly difficult time.
So I wanted to help others make that transition and do what I could.
IAVA has done a lot of work in that field so I wanted to be a part of what they were
doing.”
Pete: “So when you say you had a hard time transitioning could you quickly tell us what
you mean by that?”
Zoe: “There are some horror stories out there …. Having the experience I had in
the military with leadership and the things that I did.
I also worked on Capitol Hill and did a lot of travel.
So I had all this cool stuff on my resume like a master’s degree.
So I felt like I was going to leave the military and people were just going to be throwing
money at me, ‘come run my company.’
Stuff like that, it’s quite the opposite.
I had a difficult time transitioning my skills that I developed in the military into things
on the outside that hiring managers were looking for.
I didn’t have the specifics systems knowledge and things like that, that they needed.
Pete: “So what’s it like when it comes to accessing VA for women?
Is there any difference, struggle in terms of gender roles, in terms of the military?”
Zoe: “There are definitely more difficult challenges.
First of all there are more women serving and accessing the VA then there have been
in any of the past wars.
And the VA sometimes isn’t set up to deal with that.
Particularly in rural areas that are smaller facilities they don’t have facilities for
women, they don’t have doctors for women.
So they are not able to provide some of the care they need.
Also sometimes it’s just a hostile environment.
It’s just a whole bunch of men running around.
Even in the middle of New York City, I’ve gone into the VA and it’s just uncomfortable.
And I’ve put up with some crap overseas so I’m like, ‘why is this happening in
the middle of New York City?’
This is just weird.
And I get to go, go back to work and bitch about it to my friends and not everyone has
that support.”
Pete: “What is this petition, where could they go and why should they sign it?
Paul: “Go to IAVA.org and stand with America’s veterans to end the VA backlog.
This crap has gone on long enough.
It’s very simple, it doesn’t matter who you voted for, it doesn’t matter how you
feel about the war.
Go on IAVA.org and call on the president to end the backlog.
It shouldn’t be complicated.
We want everyone in America to sign it and on Wednesday we are going to the White House.
We are taking a crew up there and we are going to deliver that petition personally to the
White House.”
Pete: “Do you have an appointment?”
Paul:] “Yes we have an appointment, you definitely don’t just show up.”