PACT Not Quite Easy
Like many old American males, I served in the military. You knew that from all my stories about the U.S. Army and about my time in southeast Asia. We had national conscription at that time, what most of us knew as the draft. Most everyone I knew who had been drafted was serving the required 2-years then leaving the service and getting on with being a civilian. That was certainly true in my case.
I returned to The World, received my separation papers and a travel voucher, and came back to Virginia. Over the ensuing decade, I used G.I. benefits to go to college for a while, trade-school to prepare for the FCC’s license exam, and back to community college. I also tried to secure a VA guaranteed home-loan; unsuccessfully but due to location and not any fault of the Veterans’ Administration.
Thanks to the current administration and the previous congress, I also receive a small stipend as a Vietnam veteran due to our exposure to (even small amounts of) Agent Orange. This benefit is the result of the PACT act, which was enacted by an at-that-time functioning congress and signed by President Biden.
Good, so far? This doesn’t get any more exciting but there is a point so try to stay with me.
OK! I’m an old veteran. There is a PACT act. Maybe our lawmakers (real ones and the self-serving pretend ones) are paying more attention to how former military-service people are being cared-for and treated. For our purposes, let’s assume that is true.
On March 21, I received an email from the US Department of Veterans Affairs urging me to get registered for VA Health Care. The email stated that all affected vets should sign-up even if we don’t need to use it now or anticipate a need in the future. A kind-of get registered so VA knows who you are should the need arise.
Here in our part of Virginia we have proximity to 2 VA Hospitals: Hampton Virginia and Richmond Virginia. Williamsburg is about midway between them.
So, one recent Sunday while Sharon was visiting with our daughter’s family, her parents, and the grandkids’ newest puppy, I attempted to do the VA on-line registration. The Department of Veterans Affairs is a branch of the government so simply setting-up and verifying an account was not simple; however, I persevered and finally reached the screen that showed a button which read ‘Click Here to Connect to VA.’ I clicked it and immediately saw the equivalent of the blue-screen-of-death: ACCESS DENIED! Holy shit, what did I do wrong?
I managed to get back to the previous screen, checked a recap of all the required information, and, once again, clicked the ‘Connect to VA’ button. Without fanfare I was told ACCESS DENIED!
Frustrated, I quit. The next morning walking the dogs with Texas Mike, I was whinging and moaning about how difficult the previous day’s registration attempt had been. Mike is a lot more computer and internet savvy than I am; a relatively low bar as there are primary school students who are better at modern electronics than I. Mike suggested that I do several things and try again. Whatever those things were — and they involved VPNs and browsing history and a few other terms I don’t know — it worked.
Voila! Click Here to Connect to VA did indeed connect me to VA. In a matter of only a few minutes all the information was entered to the on-line forms and I was registered. The process would have been even quicker had I not had to find a couple of documents I had received from the Army at the time I was discharged.
Knowledge is a wonderful thing. Too bad I have so little of it. Thankfully, I have friends who are knowledgeable.
Come back again. Sharon probably won’t be leaving me on the steps of a VA hospital anytime soon. You can bring a little something and I’ll tell you some more things I don’t know how to do. The list is long.
Chuck Smith: Author, Blogger, Rambler 