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Nobody Expects Military Service To Be Safe, But Nobody Expects To Be Poisoned

I Wanna Be An Airborne Ranger I Wanna Live A Life Of Danger

Every veteran has stories. Lots of stories. Most of them true because you can’t make up stuff like that. Thirty years ago, veterans of World War II were in their 60s. They had saved the world from real fascists. Defeated the bad guys. Unleashed a torrent of peace and prosperity that transformed the planet. Thirty years ago, WWII vets were thinking about their own retirement and passing on their legacy. Some of them did estate planning. And they had stories. That they hardly ever told.

Most vets’ kids hadn’t heard their dads’ war stories. Too bad because it was not so long ago that we were surrounded by actual heroes. Guys who went out and did what was necessary. Most all came back. The American Way of War dazzled our enemies and allies. Americans would rather spend equipment and weaponry than our fathers’, sons’, brothers’, uncles’ lives. Americans prefer that equipment get smashed instead of American bodies. But war is war, and you don’t usually get to choose. The bad guys killed lots of people. The bad guys looked like they’d be killing lots more. The bad guys did not give up easily. So.

A gentle, soft-spoken, smiling gentleman worked at a farm stand in southwest Michigan. His sweet, good-natured wife baked. His name was John. He spent that day stacking huge round bales of hay with a forklift to make Halloween figures. He was a grunt in the Third Infantry Division, serving in France. On a weekend pass, he got to Paris. He ran into his brother, a pilot. Coincidence? Brother flew close air support in a P-47 Thunderbolt. The P-47 was enormous for a fighter. Heavily armored. Eight .50 caliber machine guns. Over a ton of bombs. 5-inch rockets. And whatever other frightfulness they could think of.

Pilot brother was worried about John. He flew

to blow up the stuff that could kill his brother. Thunderbolts almost always came back. Missing wings shot full of holes, but they came back. Unless a German 88 got ‘em in the belly. Infantrymen got shot, blown up, worn out. Pilot brother didn’t want John taking unnecessary chances. John thought his brother was relatively safe.

Both men were concerned about their wives. How would their wives get by if the husbands didn’t make it? They made a pact to look out for their sister-in-law, if necessary. The brothers had a fine weekend. Then back to their units.

Next week, Pilot brother flew over a German 8.8 cm Flak anti-aircraft/anti-tank gun. Got it in the belly. Didn’t come back. A little later, John got a “Dear John” letter. From his soon-to-be ex-wife.

John fought his way to Berlin. Then back to southwest Michigan. Went through with the divorce. Kept his promise to his brother. After a couple of years, they got married. And spent the next 50 years together. Smiling, baking, and occasionally stacking round bales of hay.

A machinist mate on the Yorktown fleet aircraft carrier served at the Battle of the Coral Sea. The Yorktown got so beat up, repairs at Pearl Harbor would take months. He was looking forward to a little R&R along with the work. But 3 days of 24-hour emergency repairs later, the Yorktown was back in the fight at Midway. When the battle seemed to be over, he went up to the flight deck to get some air. Spotted black smoke from a snorkeling Japanese submarine’s diesel engine. Watched as the Japanese torpedoes came at the Yorktown. Went swimming when the Yorktown sank. Picked up by a guard destroyer. And was on the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay for the surrender.

Wake Island is not far from Pearl Harbor. Indefensible, it was assaulted by the Japanese a few days after the attack on Pearl. The Marines managed to sink a couple of Japanese destroyers and a sub. About 1000 Japanese died, but the island fell within weeks. All survivors were tortured. The Marines on Wake were killed randomly, for any reason or no reason at all. 98 American civilians were machinegunned in a single incident. Few survived. Sailors were treated a little better. One POW went from Wake to China, the Philippines, various atolls, and finally the home islands. Starved for 4 years he recovered and eventually retired after a long Navy career. I made the mistake of suggesting he had “missed the war.” He did not see it that way.

Patton loudly claimed that on his way to kick Hitler’s ass, he would pee in the Rhine River. When the first pontoon bridge was across, Patton kept his promise. With thousands of soldier eyewitnesses. Some with cameras. Including a gentleman of my acquaintance.

My uncle Francis was executive officer on a PT boat. His commander decided that attaching limpet mines to Japanese destroyers would be a good idea. Captain reasoned that the PT boat was so low in the water, the destroyer’s guns couldn’t hit it. But somebody on the destroyer had a rifle. Shooting at the PT boat. Which was loaded with barrels of high-octane avgas on the deck (before diesels replaced the gas engines). When the boat blew up, most of the crew survived. Including my uncle who refused to ever serve with Captain Johnny Sioux again.

My father spent his Navy career at various naval air stations that trained pilots. Dad’s job was to photograph the remains (sometimes headless, always bloody or burnt) of unsuccessful pilot trainees.

My uncle John flew B-24 Liberators. Survived enough missions to rotate back to the States.

A fellow trustee on my township board was a gentleman with a limp. He acquired the limp escorting bombers to Japan in a P-51 Mustang. A bullet came through the bottom of his plane, was slowed by the parachute stowed under the seat. Clipped an inch out of his thigh bone. When the doctors set the bone, they used a device to allow the pieces to grow back together, so the wounded leg would not be too short. Unfortunately, they did it wrong and the leg was too long. So, he limped.

Another gentleman had not slept through the night since he was at Tarawa. According to his wife of 48 years.

As a ROTC cadet I was volunteered for Airborne School, Basic Parachutist training. But if a fellow cadet had not fallen off the “Slide for Life” and broken 3 vertebrae, I would not have had the chance. At Airborne School, as at any training facility, there were broken legs, ankles, arms, wrists, dislocated shoulders, and more cracked vertebrae. I only got a finger that bends a little funny. Plus, I got to jump out of perfectly good aircraft. For my country.

The point is that the men and women who enter military service accept that bad things happening is part of the deal. When you are training to kill people and break things, sometimes things get broken. Training must be tough. Realistic. Dangerous. Best to find out whether someone can hack it at Fort Benning than a foreign battlefield. That is OK. Nobody has a problem with it, least of all the soldiers, sailors, Marines, Coasties and others taking the risks.

But who wants to be poisoned by dry cleaning fluid that somehow got into the water supply at your training base? Nobody signed up for that. But it happened at Camp Lejeune.

Camp Lejeune: What They Are Doing About It

We Agreed To Get Blown Up By Bad Guys, We Did Not Agree To Be Poisoned By Negligence

It is really pretty simple. From 1953 through 1987, chemicals from the dry-cleaning plant seeped into the ground water. The wells that supplied drinking water throughout the facility were contaminated. There is no argument about these basic facts. There is no question of responsibility. Like the veterans who have suffered from exposure to Agent Orange. Like the veterans who have suffered from exposure to asbestos. The fight is over. The battle has been won. The powers-that-be have admitted responsibility. All we have to do now is find out who was on the receiving end. Who are the men and women whose lives have been damaged or destroyed by this?

We need to find you. We want to find you. Those who did this to you are ready, willing, and able to make amends. Well, at least to move in that direction.

Toxic chemicals that were found in the waters of Camp LeJeune are the following:
• Trichloroethylene (TCE)
• Perchloroethylene (PCE)
• Benzene
• Vinyl chloride

Those chemicals cause a wide range of diseases. Including cancer. Not just for the service personnel, but their families and unborn children.

Diseases include:

• Multiple Cancers
• Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML)
• Bladder cancer
• Brain cancer
• Breast cancer
• Central Nervous System cancer (CNS)
• Cervical cancer
• Esophageal cancer
• Hodgkins Lymphoma
• Kidney cancer
• Leukemia
• Liver cancer
• Lung cancer
• Myelodysplastic syndrome
• Multiple myeloma
• Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma
• Ovarian cancer
• Prostate cancer
• Rectal cancer

Other Diseases

• Cardiac defect
• Epilepsy
• Fatty liver disease (hepatic steatosis)
• Female Infertility
• Kidney damage
• Immune disorders
• Nerve damage
• Miscarriage
• Myelodysplastic syndromes
• Neurobehavioral effects
• Parkinson’s disease
• Renal toxicity/disease
• Scleroderma

Everybody dies. Lots of folks get cancer. Bad things happen. People suffer. That is life. Deal with it. The luck of the draw. Sometimes your number comes up. You can’t beat fate.
But sometimes, it’s not just bad luck. Sometimes the folks who should be paying attention look the other way. Blow it off. Won’t upset the applecart. Do the easy thing instead of the right thing. And that’s what Lejeune is all about.

You signed up to get blown up, beat up, tortured, shot, stabbed, drowned, killed. By the bad guys. Not poisoned by your own leaders’ negligence or incompetence.

They acknowledge they ignored it. And admit that they should not have ignored it. And you should be paid for the damage they did to you. The hard part is done.

Now they are willing to make amends. With dollars. They took your health They can’t give it back. They can only give you a few bucks. Maybe more than a few. Money won’t fix it. But it is all that can be done.

If you were poisoned and suffered the diseases they caused, should you hold them accountable? Should you let them get away again? Should you allow them to escape their comeuppance? Get off scot-free? Why would you do that? Why not accept their apology?

Everyone knows most stuff like this gets swept under the carpet, ignored, rejected, forgotten. But not this time.

Unless you let them get away with what they did to you… or to your family member.

Is it a ridiculous idea to make a phone call? Is it too much to find out if you qualify?

Is making a phone call so hard?

You know how good it was to trust your chain-of-command. You also know how bad it is when that trust is betrayed. They can never “fix” what happened there for more than 34 years. But one phone call can start.

Is now a bad time to call?

Call (888) 954-3375
Talk to a Veteran-owned Law Firm

The post What Happened At Camp Lejeune? appeared first on Carrier Law.

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Traditional Trust Planning Is Profoundly Mistaken

Traditional estate planning supposedly avoids probate, saves taxes, and safely, efficiently delivers your remaining property and money to your heirs or beneficiaries after you have passed on. Traditional estate planning is not concerned with you while living, only after death. Nobody cares what happens to you while you are alive. How does that help you?

Traditional estate planning fails because the overwhelming majority of us will need long-term skilled care. 70% of us. For an average of 3 years. And we will go broke paying for it.

Are you surprised that thousands of recreation properties: cottages, cabins, hunting land, are lost to pay for long-term care? Why is your estate planner surprised? Isn’t that their job? Or is your estate planner in denial?

You can defeat Nursing Home Poverty. LifePlanning™ empowers you. Keep your stuff. Get the care you have already paid for. Good for you. Good for your family. Good example for society.

When my mother suffered from the dementia which led to her death, over 10 years ago, their estate plan preserved their lifesavings. Mom’s months in the nursing home did not mean Dad’s impoverishment. Dad spent the last years with security and peace of mind.

Is Now A Bad Time For A Real Solution?

Perhaps you think you already have an answer to this problem. Maybe you do not see this as a problem at all. It is possible that you do not believe in the passage of time or its effects on you.

Peace of mind and financial security are waiting for everyone who practices LifePlanning™. You know that peace only begins with financial security. Are legal documents the most important? Is avoiding probate the best you can do for yourself or your loved ones? Is family about inheritance? Or are these things only significant to support the foundation of your family?

Do you think finding the best care is easy? Do you want to get lost in the overwhelming flood of claims and promises? Or would you like straight answers?

Well, here you are. Now you know. No excuses. Get the information, insight, inspiration. It is your turn. Ignore the message? Invite poverty? Or get the freely offered information. To make wise decisions. For you. For your loved ones.

The LifePlan™ Workshop has been the first step on the path to security and peace for thousands of families. Why not your family?

NO POVERTY. NO CHARITY. NO WASTE.
It is not chance. It is choice. Your choice.

Get Information Now. (800) 317-2812

Even A Blind Squirrel Finds A Few Nuts…

Justice For Camp Lejeune Marines, Staff, Trainees

Congress Does Something Right For A Change!

It is the late 1950s. World War II has turned into the Cold War. America decided that there are worse things than maintaining military readiness in peacetime. A national commitment to Peace Through Strength. And in North Carolina, the U.S. Marine Corps operates Base Camp Lejeune. USMC Base Camp Lejeune has a long and storied history.

USMC Base Camp Lejeune also had a dry-cleaning and laundry facility. Over the course of decades, dry cleaning chemicals were simply flushed down the drain. Into the groundwater. Into the wells that provided drinking water for the Marines, their

families, the folks who worked at the Camp, the student marines and soldiers who rotated through the Camp for training.

Not surprisingly, folks began to get sick. From a laundry list of potential diseases, relating back to the Volatile Organic Compounds in the dry cleaning chemicals.

You may be surprised, however, to learn that the Congress has chosen to do something to fix it. Ten years ago, the Veterans Administration began offering medical care to surviving Camp Lejeune veterans for certain conditions. But Marines, soldiers, and sailors could not get compensation for their injuries or suffering. Now they can. The recent Camp Lejeune Justice Act provides significant monetary compensation.

Contaminated drinking water flowed from Camp Lejeune from 1953 through 1987. Primary victims are mostly older now. Time has run out for many, but not for you.

You seen the TV ads. Heard them on the radio. Read the newspaper and magazine ads. Maybe you wondered whether it was real. Maybe you wanted the full story.

So many injured veterans called, that we had to investigate and respond. Would you like to know more?

Call me. (800) 317-2812

The post Why Do They Bank On Death? appeared first on Carrier Law.

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Truth Stranger Than Fiction…
(Spelling? Punctuation? Editing? No Can Afford!) (Warning: Not Legal Advice!)

Can a guardian evict/kick someone off of a property the guardian has no rights over?

I have been cleaning up a property that belongs to my great grandma who is now in a nursing home. I was verbally told that if I could clean the property up and work on paying the back taxes, I could work on owning the property. But now she is stating she never said that and told me my mother is not to be on the property when she never told me she couldn’t. I was would like to know where her rights as a guardian plays into this property. She does not own anything.

Shortest Answer: Yes. Absolutely.

Short Answer: You are more screwed than you have imagined.

Unkind Comments: 1. Next time, when lawyers and judges are talking, pay attention! And when you do not understand, ask questions! 2. “Verbally told”?!? Seriously? 3. A stitch in time saves nine. 4. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. 5. Kiss Great Grandma’s house good-bye. Also, you’ll never get paid for your clean up or back taxes. Also, your mom’s getting evicted.

Kinder, But Not Much Kinder, Comments:
1. You are not alone. Regular folks, just like you, lose houses, lifesavings, peace of mind, work, effort, blood, sweat and tears, in similar circumstances every day. Hundreds, if not thousands of times every day.

2. It’s not your fault that you did not know. After all, there’s no 2-hour, live, weekly call-in radio show that provides this information (except on WOOD 1300 AM and 106.9 FM; WKZO 590 AM and 106.9 FM; WHTC 1450 AM and 99.7 FM; various others). There are no free workshops every week the Good Lord brings, in Norton Shores, Grand Rapids, Holland and Portage. No free videos on the website whenever you want ‘em. And certainly, there’s no Michigan Elder Law Reporter to let you in on the secrets. 3. Middle-class families routinely get chewed up and spit out by the long-term care system, you have lots of company. 4. Getting Great Grandma to avoid nursing home poverty is not easy. 5. Cleopatra is not the only Queen of Dee-Nile (Get it? Dee-Nile = denial! Funny, eh.)

Long Answer: Can we unpack this suitcase of suffering sadness? This trunk of troubled tribulation? This package of perplexing pain? This valise of vigorous vivisection? This bag of the boggling blues? This container of cloudy consternation? Let us begin.

Guardian, Conservator, Probate:
What Is It All About?

1. Everyone is getting older.
2. Some older people lose their minds.
3. At age 65, you have a 70% chance of needing an average of 3 years of long-term care services. 20% will need more than 5 years of services. https://acl.gov/ltc/basic-needs/how-much-care-will-you-need
4. When people lose their minds, others must make their financial and health care decisions.
5. A few people take action to decide who will make their decisions if they lose their mind. These blessed few do Trusts, Powers of Attorney,
Designations of Patient Advocate. Mind lost? No probate. No problem. Thankfully.
6. Most people take no action. If you are in the majority and lose your mind, a Probate Court Judge will decide:
a. Whether you have lost your mind
b. Who makes health care decisions (Guardian) for you
c. Who makes money decisions (Conservator) for you
7. Judge decides on Clear and Convincing Evidence. Presented in open court. On the record. Which is not humiliating or degrading at all. Ever.
8. If you get better, you must convince the Probate Court Judge by Clear and Convincing Evidence that you are now OK. Which is not humiliating or degrading at all. Ever.
9. With a Guardian, you are a legally incapacitated person. You cannot make decisions for yourself. Your legal rights? Extremely Limited. Will anyone care what you say?
10. Your Guardian and Conservator files annual reports with the Court.
11. Will the Guardian or Conservator be a family member? Will you get a Public Guardian? Ask the Judge. You had your chance and blew it. Don’t worry. Be happy.

Great Grandma failed to plan. Great Grandma went to Probate Court. And now a Public Guardian will decide everything for Great Grandma. Will the Guardian be guided by the specific, unique needs and aspirations of Great Grandma’s family? Or will the Guardian faithfully follow Probate Court protocols, one size fits all, the law’s best guess as to what most families would mostly do?

You have 3 guesses. Guesses 1 and 2 don’t count.

How It Plays Out

Statement: I have been cleaning up a property that belongs to my great grandma who is now in a nursing home.

Response/Observation: Great Grandma is probably in a skilled nursing facility on Medicaid. Average monthly cost of a skilled nursing facility is $10,000 – 15,000 per month. At the former Kent Community Hospital, residential, high-level skilled care is more than $25,000 per month. If Great Grandma is not already on Medicaid, she soon will be. And if Great Grandma has money, why the “back taxes”?

The state does not joyfully pay for long term care through Medicaid. When the state pays, it wants its money back. The state (so far) won’t seize Great Grandma’s homestead while she is alive. But, after death, the state shows up in Probate Court, looking for its money. Everybody knows that “The House is Protected from Medicaid!” False! “Everybody” apparently does not know that the house must be sold to pay back the Medicaid. After Great Grandma has died. With some loopholes.

Oh. And thanks for “cleaning up” the property. Did you know you are doing that for free?

Statement: I was verbally told that if I could clean the property up and work on paying the back taxes, I could work on owning the property.

Response/Observation: Whoops! You did not know you were doing the work for free? The law says you cannot make a probate claim for services without a written agreement. And the agreement must be written before you provide the services. Without a written, binding contract the Probate Court Judge will not listen to your story. And if you get paid while Great Grandma is still alive, Great Grandma will get hit with a penalty period, be denied Medicaid benefits and the skilled nursing facility will not be paid.

Do skilled nursing facilities enjoy not getting paid? No, they do not. So Great Grandma’s nursing home now sues Great Grandma. And wins! Now Great Grandma’s house must be sold to pay the legitimate bill of the deserving nursing home. And Great Grandma is off the Medicaid until the money is all gone. And you will not see a nickel.

COMMON SENSE POINT:
What the heck does “work on paying the back taxes” or “work on owning the property” mean? In English? Even if you were “verbally told” these things? You are dealing with real money here… Long-term care is expensive. Government does not (usually) just give money away. You are not being serious here. Get serious!

Statement: But now [GUARDIAN] is stating she never said that

Response/Observation: Of course, the Guardian is denying ever having promised you the property if you cleaned it up! It is unbelievable that any Guardian with any sense of their fiduciary duty as Guardian would say such a thing. Not credible. And that’s why we write things down. Because maybe (however unlikely) the Guardian did agree to something like this. But no one will believe it.

In Merrie Olde England, 450 years ago, Parliament created the Statute of Frauds. To stop folks from cheating each other. Our Founding Fathers adopted the Statute of Frauds for American law. The Statute says any contract for land must be in writing. End of story. See you later. Done.

Statement: [GUARDIAN] told me my mother is not to be on the property when she never told me she couldn’t.

Response/Observation: I did not tell you that your mother could not live in my house either. That does not mean that she can.

The Guardian’s job is to preserve Great Grandma’s property and to use it for Great Grandma’s benefit. If the Guardian chooses to evict you from Great Grandma’s home, Guardian can do it. You have no right to control Great Grandma’s home. If you allow someone else into Great Grandma’s home without authority, the Guardian can evict them. Even if the squatter is Great Grandma’s grandchild.

Statement: I was would like to know where her rights as a guardian plays into this property. She does not own anything.

Response/Observation: The Probate Court gave Guardian all Great Grandma’s rights over Great Grandma’s home. That’s the whole point of having a Guardian. It is a big deal.

What Is That Sizzling Sound? It Is Your Lifesavings Imploding At $12,000 Per Month

Vaporized Like A Snowflake On A Hot Griddle

Traditional estate planning is concerned with avoiding probate, saving taxes, and dumping your leftover stuff on your beneficiaries. After you die. Nobody cares what happens to you while you are alive. How does that help anyone? Stupid.

Traditional estate planning fails because the overwhelming majority of us will need long-term skilled care. 70% of us. For an average of 3 years. And we will go broke paying for it.

Is it surprising that thousands of recreation properties: cottages, cabins, hunting land, are lost to pay for long- term care? Why is your estate planner hurting you and your family? It is evil intent? Or stupidity?

LifePlanning™ defeats Nursing Home Poverty. Keep your stuff. Get the care you have already paid for. Good for you. Good for your family. Good example for society.

When my mother suffered from the dementia which led to her death, over 10 years ago, their estate plan preserved their lifesavings. Mom’s months in the nursing home did not mean Dad’s impoverishment. Dad spent the last years with security and peace of mind.

Is Now A Bad Time For A Real Solution?

Perhaps you think you already have an answer to this problem. Maybe you do not see this as a problem at all. It is possible that you do not believe in the passage of time or its effects on you.

Peace of mind and financial security are waiting for everyone who practices LifePlanning™. You know that peace only begins with financial security. Are legal documents the most important? Is avoiding probate the best you can do for yourself or your loved ones? Is family about inheritance? Or are these things only significant to support the foundation of your family?

Do you think finding the best care is easy? Do you want to get lost in the overwhelming flood of claims and promises? Or would you like straight answers?

Well, here you are. Now you know. No excuses. Get the information, insight, inspiration. It is your turn. Ignore the message? Invite poverty? Or get the freely offered information. To make wise decisions. For you. For your loved ones.

The LifePlan™ Workshop has been the first step on the path to security and peace for thousands of families. Why not your family?

NO POVERTY. NO CHARITY. NO WASTE.
It is not chance. It is choice. Your choice.

Get Information Now. (800) 317-2812

The post Mail Bag Of Madness! appeared first on Carrier Law.