European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 10, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 4 stars and stripes tuesday april 10 2007 War experience rare among 08 candidates by Ann Banner the associated press Washington the 2008 presiden tial Campaign is Long on War rhetoric and Short on warriors despite the High profile roles of the Bat the against terrorism and conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan in the presidential Campaign few of the candidates can claim Mil itary experience on their resumes of the top tier of 2008 candidates Only Republican John Mccain has been to War and served in uniform yet while the demand for a president with a military background might be existed to run High in the pos sept 11 Era few see that As a determining Factor in the 2008 race it teaches you certain things but i dont think it makes you a better Candi Date for higher office said Navy Veteran Edward Ferrari 76 of Randolph no it teaches you Honor and duty i guess you can get that in other places too polls indicate that while having a Mili tary background can be helpful to presidential candidates a majority of adults dont see it As essential Many people say candidates who have served As a Gover nor member of Congress or business executive Are better prepared for the Oval office than a general or Admiral More broadly an Apps of poll last month indicates leadership traits or experience Are far less important to voters than character attributes such As honesty the 2008 lineup of candidates also makes Clear that a new generation of Polit ical leaders has stepped Forward some too Young to have been eligible for the Vietnam Era draft beyond that fatigue with the Iraq War May have dulled the appetite for a Warrior in the White House were sick and tired of War and i think that feeling is going to last for about a de Cade said Stephen j Wayne a professor of government at Georgetown University to some like Richard land head of Public policy for the Southern Baptist convention a War record still counts when youre a War hero you have less to prove on the character front he said compar ing Mccain with former new York City mayor Rudy Giuliani the front runner in former president Clin ton who was never in the 1 j armed forces Defeated two world War n combat Veter ans former president George he Bush in 1992 and former sen Bob Dole in 1996 president George w Bush National guard duty helped keep him out of Vietnam yet he Defeated three veterans of that conflict Mccain in the 2000 gop primaries Democrat Al Gore in the 2000 election and Democrat John Kerry in 2004 Congress has also seen a Drain in the number of members with military experience Only 131 members have had some form of military service according to a congressional research service report during the 93rd Congress from 1973 to 1975390 veterans served National popularity polls who did not serve in the military and Vietnam Veteran Audrey Birg Stresser said presidents with military experience understand the sacrifices of deployed soldiers and How to deftly resolve conflicts they know How to make decisions under pressure because what their life is All about said Burgstresser 59 of Harrisburg a yet Fred Greenstein a political scientist at Princeton University doubts that even the few veterans in the race will make much of their service Given the situation in Iraq now that were in this period of an increasingly virulent insurgency it would probably be More electorally effective even for the people who have military experience to say they Are More suited to be peacemakers not that they were suited to manage violent conflicts he said since at least the 1992 election being a War hero Hast been a ticket to the White House 2008 presidential candidates and their War experiences democrats Delaware sen Joe Biden none rejected for medical reasons but would have been eligible in a National emergency new York sen Hillary Rodham Clinton none Connecticut sen Chris Dodd served in the army Reserve former North Carolina sen John Edwards none draft number was never called Ohio rep Dennis Kucinich none was rejected because of a heart murmur Illinois sen Barack Obama none too Young to have been drafted for the Vietnam War gov Bill Richardson of new Mexico none received student and medical classifications draft number was never called republicans Kansas sen Sam Brownback none came of age As draft was ending former new York City mayor Rudy Giuliani none received student and occupational defer ments draft number was never called former Arkansas gov Mike Huckabee none came of age As draft was ending California rep Duncan Hunter As an army paratrooper and Ranger in Vietnam Arizona sen John Mccain in the Navy prisoner of War in Vietnam former Massachusetts gov Mitt Romney none received a deferment As a mormon missionary in France was eligible for the draft upon his return to the states but was never selected Colorado rep Tom Tancredo none received student deferments was available for Mili tary service in 1969 reclassified in 1970 because of stress related anxiety j the nit cmdr John s Mccain Iii Waves to a crowd in March 1973 of the top tier of 2008 presidential candidates Only Mccain has been to War and served in uniform a veterans affairs struggles to Deal with disability claims department officials say they Are expecting 800000 new claims to be filed this year by Christopher Lee the Washington Post Washington in his last years world War n Veteran sey Mour Lewis would stand at the door of his Home in Savannah a waiting for a letter that never arrived the family of the former army private who lost the hearing in his right ear to a grenade explosion in Basic training in 1944 spent years wrestling with the department of veterans affairs for his disability benefits at one Point waiting More than a year just to be told to fill out More forms in 2001 the a started Send ing Lewis a monthly Check for an amount he appealed As too Little and too late for the last ing physical sacrifice he made for his country his family said the Appeal was still pending when Lewis died last year at age 80 every time i would Call they would Send me a new form to fill out with exactly the same information that they already had said his son Frank Lewis 61 a Navy Veteran they run you around they keep you dangling my father was elderly he would wait at the front door for the mailman waiting for some thing from the a when he would get a letter he would anxiously open it and when it said nothing the depression he would go into was unreal i have a feel ing that they were just waiting for my father to drop dead so they  have to pay any Money if s been one big night Mare hundreds of thousands of vet Erans Many approaching the Winter of their lives await a disability claim decisions that will provide or deny a key source of income the monthly pay ments which Range from to for individuals Are Avail Able to veterans of any age whose disability is a result of disease or injury incurred or aggravated during Active military service according to the Veter ans benefits administration nearly 400000 disability claims were pending at the Vaas of february including 135741 that exceeded the Vas 160day goal for processing them the department takes six months on average to process a claim and the waiting time for appeals averages nearly two years this already strained system May grow More overburdened in years ahead As Many of the troops deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan return from those wars experts say the a gives veterans from those two conflicts top priority in claims processing the projected number of claims from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will rapidly turn the disability claims problem into a crisis said Linda j Bilmes a Harvard University Public policy professor who has studied the claims process and met with a Secretary Jim Nicholson last month to discuss ways to improve it Bilmes estimated the Lon term Cost of providing them disability benefits at billion to billion presidents members of con Gress and a leaders have Long promised to eliminate the Back log but still the veterans wait some depict a cultural problem at the a an attitude of indifference or hostility among claims workers a Lack of appreciation for veterans service reflected in snubbed phone Calls slow answers and repetitive paper work some even believe the de lays Are deliberate a Way to keep costs Down by deterring new claims or postponing awards until older veterans die Ronald r aument a Deputy undersecretary for benefits acknowledged that the department needs to do better but he rejected the idea that the delays and de Nials Are motivated by Money concerns its not As though were work ing on commission Here aument said there is very much a shared passion in this Organiza Tion in trying to do right by Veter ans As far As whether or not we treat people rudely i would certainly Hope that just an exception As opposed to the Rule the department Fields 7 Mil lion phone Calls about disability claims each year he said forty eight percent of the work ers who handle claims Are Veter ans the Vas Load is getting heavier disability related claims Rose to 806000 in a 39 percent increase from 2000 the work Force handling them grew by 36 percent Over the same period to 7858 employees a officials expect 800000 new claims this year the a handed out Bil lion in disability payments to More than 35 million veterans and their survivors last year