Faced with a revolt in Congress, the Department of Veterans Affairs canceled a year-long review of its $4.3 billion-a-year Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder claims. The probe, when it began, was seeking fraudulent claims. In a statement released last week, though, VA acknowledged finding no fraud, only clerical errors. Post-traumatic stress disorder is an illness featuring symptoms such as flashbacks and anxiety. In May, VA started to review 72,000 claims for full disability approved in the 1999-2004 period. This touched off an angry response from, among others, Sen. Barack Obama, an Illinois Democrat. It had its effect. VA Secretary James Nicholson said, “In the absence of evidence of fraud, we’re not going to put our veterans through the anxiety of a widespread review of their disability claims.” Two cheers for rectifying a mistake.
Happy Birthday US Air Force: 78 Today
Sept. 18, 2025
Seventy-eight years ago today, on Sept. 18, 1947, Supreme Court Chief Justice Fred Vinson swore in Stuart Symington as the first ever Secretary of the Air Force, and the Air Force officially became the first new military service since the Revolutionary War.
