i was a member of chapter 2 nj for a number of years, and i was very disappointed from the get go, and as time wore on, my opinion of rolling thunder,inc became more and more tainted.i finally resigned in jan of 2003.
my letter of resignation was never read aloud at a meeting, as i had requested.
bill parker, who at one time professed to be my comrade, turned his back on me, in my time of need.
there was a murder / suicide in my chapter.i warned members that the perpetrator was 'not right', but my warnings were not heeded perhaps because people had a tendancy to be too 'liberal'.
perhaps they were suspicious of my motives, because he was sgt. at arms and i wasn't.(he later became vice president,despite my warnings)
it doesn't matter now, we lost a great sec/treasurer, she is sorely missed, but it could have been prevented.
they read the mission statement, about helping vets, especially disabled vets, but they only choose to help those that get them media coverage, it seems to me, the most bang for the buck.
my kids tried calling our chapter president, my mom tried calling, and i tried calling, but our calls were not answered.i really had seen too much about how rolling thunder operates, to stay with them any longer, as i mean what i say, and apparently the rolling thunder mission statement is a bunch of crap!
artie, gary, you can take what i 've stated here to the bank, there are no false statements here, and if you want, i'll tell you about a few other things which i won't go into just yet, as space here is limited.

I SHARE YOUR SAME SENTIMENTS ABOUT THIS AND ALL VSO.WHILE THIS GOVERMENTS IS IN THE PROCESS OF CUTTING VERY ASPECT OF VETERAN BENEFITS.THIS ORGANIZATION IS MAKING NICE WITH RUMSFIELD.I HAVE BEEN ENVOLVED IN MANY VETERANS ISSUES,CLOSING AND REORGANIZATION OF OUR VA HOAPITAL,VET RIGHT TO VEND ON THE STREET ON NYC,SPEAKING WITH STEVEN BUYER OFFICE ABAOUT HIS MIS GUIDED PLAN TO REDFINE WHAT A VETERAN IS.JUST ONE MONTH AGO I ATTEND A HIGH LEVEL MEETING IN BKLYN ABOUT THE CARES ISSUES.DID NOT SEE ONE REPRESENTIVE OF THIS ORGANIZATION.ONLY THIS WEEKEND END I MEET A WIDOW OF A MARINE KILLED IN ACTION .SHE SHARED WITH WITH ME HER EXTREME DISAPOINTMENT ON HOW OUR OWN GOVERMENT AND THESE VERTANS ORGANIZATION HAVE TREATED HER.SHE HAD HER 9 YEARD OLD SOMN WITH HER AND VOWED NEVER TO LET HIM ENTER THE MILITERY.AT A TIME WHEN WE SHPOULD BE PROTESTING ABOUT THE TREATMENT OF OUR MEN AND WOMEN SERIVING OUR COUNTRY AND THOSE PAST VERTERANS.THESE VET ORGANIZATION ARE MAKING NICE WITH THE VERY PEOPLE THAT ARE SCREWING US.LETS WAKE UP AND KICK SOME ASS.

My dying WWII veteran was denied access into the V.a health care system and denied access into a local V.A nursing home in 2002, 2003 and 2004 due to budget cuts imposed by Congress and Bills passed on Capital Hill that have literally screwed over THOUSANDS of veterans like my father; Bills like the Millenium Act and category systems like the Category 7 & 8 system put in place in 2003 which was suppose to be a TEMPORARY measure until the 300,000 vets already in the system waiting to see a doctor, some waiting as long as one year, was reduced and then the Cat. 8 vets would be allowed into the system. What a way to fix this budget crunch and crippled V.A- They TRY to fix the problem by helping out one veteran on the backs of other veterans. In 2003 over 168,000 veterans like my dad were DENIED care because of Category 8. These wise guys may tell you the 'backlog' has been reduced BUT ask them how they reduced the backlog of 300K vets; by them implementing the Category 7 and 8 tier systems that DENIED other veterans care or access into the system, thats how they reduced this backlog.

When I started raising HOLY HELL about what was being done to my father and thousands of other heroic men and women like him who were being denied care most of the veterans groups (Not Rolling Thunder) but MANY other Veterans groups told me to "pipe down", to 'be politically correct and NOT **** off certain politicians' and phone calls were made to high ranking officials in Georgia to "reel this lady in"..!!! Reel me in from what? From telling the darn truth about what happened to my father and so many others like him. Not ONE veterans group would stand with me on National T.V when Chan. 2 from D.C aired my father's story last May 2004. Not ONE Veterans group official would stand with me when I spoke the truth about what is going on,,,they ALL ran for cover; afraid of ticking off a politician when it is these SAME politicains that have caused all of this.

I thought these veterans groups were suppose to stand up for the veterans and our troops and fight for what is in their best interest but I have found most of these groups want to remain politically correct and want to 'make nice' with the V.A officals and members of Congress. Staying 'neutral'; sticking ones head in the sand or trying to NOT **** anyone off is NOT going to correct this horrible situation. One high ranking veteran group official told me "do NOT mention that you are a member of this organization when you do your newspaper and T.V interviews because this organization has a good relationship with the Veterans Administration and we do not want to get them upset with our group, so do not mention you are a member"....This official was NOT from ROlling Thunder but another veterans group and of course my membership ended after I was told that.

My WWII veteran father died last July a brave and heroic man yet he fully knew that the Country he pledged to defend, fight and die for gave him a swift kick in his ass when he needed them during his dying hours. What a shame- What a National Disgrace.

i agree with you whole heartedly, it seems all these organizations are there for us, but let us down ib our times of need.
but thats nothing new.
i'm 100% disabled, and used to donate weekly to the united way. when i first became disabled, i appealed to every agency listed as recipiant of united way funds, and was told be them,'we can't help you'.
i'm 100% service connected , but the va won't admit it.
i first became disabled in 1991, had to leave my job, and was rated 100% by the va in feb of '93, but non-service connected.
in march i got a letter from the va, stateing that my symptoms were apparently related to exposure to agent orange, and it said i needed to do nothing.
so, i waited 6 months, then called to find the progress. they denied ever sending out that letter.
i waited 3 months after that, and called again, hoping to make a connection, but again was told that the letter had never been sent.
now the va claims i was never rated at 100% by them, even though i had collected a non-service connected from them for a year, while i was waiting for my ssdi to start.
i divorced my wife because he couldn't deal with facts, how do i divorce the rest of the nation?