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Over the last 12 years more than two
million Americans have been deployed to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan.
But for thousands who return home with injuries, another battle is just
beginning - this time, with the Department of Veteran's Affairs (VA).

Upon
enlistment service members are promised that, should a service-related
injury occur, the US government will provide them with care and
financial compensation. The VA is responsible for providing this care
but have been unable to render these services in a timely manner. The
average time a veteran waits to receive his or her benefits from the VA
is one year. The growing backlog of veterans waiting for their
compensation has severely tarnished the department's public image.

In
August 2010 President Obama stated it was the country's "moral
obligation" to provide veterans with timely compensation. Under VA
Secretary Eric Shinseki, the Obama administration promised that all
claims would be processed within 125 days and with a 98 percent accuracy
rating by the year 2015.

Since the President made that
promise, the backlog grew and reached its peak in March of 2013 when the
number of pending claims reached nearly 900,000 with 70 percent
backlogged. This past August, the numbers dipped slightly: nearly
800,000 pending claims with 63 percent backlogged.

The VA points
to the August numbers as a sign of improvement, but reports of
processing errors reveal a poor quality of work. The VA makes a mistake
in 30 percent or more of the claims that they process. When a mistake is
made, the veteran must appeal. Once an appeal is filed, the average
waiting time for the veteran is another four years.

About 4 minutes.

Produced by Amanda Winkler. Camera by Joshua Swain and Winkler. Narrated by Todd Krainin.

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