Tony Vasquez

A veteran said the AR-15 is more powerful than the military’s M4… And people actually want laws passed based on that level of ignorance. This is exactly how bad gun laws happen. Not facts. Not logic. Just emotion, fear, and people saying things that sound good to crowds who don’t know better. So let me ask the gun community something: What’s more dangerous at this point— the rifle they keep lying about… or the people making laws who don’t know a damn thing about it? And be honest— Should being a veteran protect someone from criticism when what they’re saying about guns is flat-out false? Comment below: Does military service give someone instant credibility on gun policy — yes or no? youtu.be/NpjcwrHOUCo?si…

When democrats say “separation of church and state” …they only mean Christianity.

@realFishchaser @codym1917 I’m praying for you, brother, and praying that @SecVetAffairs hears about this and actually cares enough to fix it. Stay positive, and never lose focus. We are all praying for you.

Looking at the comments on this, I fell the need to clarify something. My original injury was my left leg getting crushed in the turret of a Abrams Tank. This happened in West Germany in 1985. Part of the foot was amputated and the Dr that did it told me there was a lot of vascular damage and it was going to “give me a lot of problems when I got older”. It did, It was amputated in 2014. I was also diagnosed with diabetics about the same time. The VA deemed it service connected. Since then in 2023 my right leg was amputated due to an infection. While traveling and walking through Airports, I developed a blister on the right foot. The VA was treating this, until they decided to stop, the reason they quit paying for wound care and supplies was they kept trying to call me to see if I needed it, and they claimed they couldn’t get in touch with me. I had to go to them and asked why they stopped the treatment. They told me my phone was disconnected. It never was. Turned out the individual who was trying to contact me didn’t know how to dial out of the VA. By then it was too late. Off it came. The VA then decided that also was service connected. Then they didn’t. I want to make it clear that I am not some kind of war hero. I was just a guy who got injured doing my job. That’s it. And I was lucky enough to have gone 30 years before it affected me. Unlike a lot of the GWOT people who came home with life altering injuries. Maybe that’s why they are tossing me? Priorities. If so, just come out and say it. I get it, money is tight. And I will survive. I still do everything I did before, walk, jog, scuba dive, work, drive, climb ladders, you name it, just a little slower. I refuse to let it define me. That said, I get sick and tired of when they try and bullshit me. They have done that a lot. Especially when they told me they cut my treatment out, because they couldn’t reach me due to my phone being shut off, when it wasn’t.

I'm so military i was retired because of my injuries.... at higher than 50%

@realFishchaser @Tneliton @codym1917 @SecVetAffairs Is this true?! Hope not…

Just thought I would throw this in because I just got the letter a couple of days ago. And it pisses me off. The VA is trying to reduce my benefits and they are saying I requested it. Yeah right. I called and said “you are paying me too much, and my legs might grow back.” I didn’t “request” a benefit cut, or a hearing. You can’t hate these people enough.

When I was a young Soldier in Afghanistan, we used to get rocketed daily. I’m pretty sure we were one of the more heavily targeted areas in the country during the time, with 6-12 rockets landing on our tiny combat outpost daily, minus Fridays. There was an infantry senior NCO on the COP that would always be the last guy into the bunker. He would always make sure that all us young guys got in first and then he would come in. One day, he was directing Soldiers into the bunker and getting accountability and he just froze. 10 feet from the bunker. All the color drained from his face and he just stopped talking and moving. Three of his guys went out and grabbed him and brought him in. That night, they put him on a helicopter and I never saw him again. This guy had been on multiple deployments. Multiple firefights. He was well regarded. He was a good NCO. Everyone has a breaking point. I often wonder how he is doing these days.

Why do we train and fight so damn hard? For moments like this. This famous photo of Private First Class Kyle Hockenberry was taken inside a medevac helicopter in Afghanistan, moments after he was seriously wounded by an IED during a patrol in June 2011. Medics rushed to save his life, they cut away his uniform, revealing his tattoo: "For those I love, I will sacrifice". Combat journalist Laura Rauch captured this moment, and the image became a symbol of service and sacrifice for a whole generation of men. After surviving his life-threatening wounds, Hockenberry returned home to Ohio, where he began the long process of rehabilitation and adapting to life as a triple amputee. He eventually married Ashley and the couple welcomed a child, Reagan. The family moved into a "smart home" built specifically for his needs, funded by veteran-focused organizations.

Figures California is Torturing Dogs in a disgusting laboratory!! PUT AN END TO THIS!!! Free the Animals!!

I don’t have much to say on the VA benefits thing. I’m unrated. I won’t be forever, but I can tell you that there is a very poor understanding of what 100% (or any other %) disabled means vs what it doesn’t. Regardless of if they “fix the fraud” or not, there will still be people at 100% disability rating walking around you normally. That’s simply because it doesn’t stand for how disabled you are, nor does it align directly to length of service and/or deployments. It’s a percentage of total benefit. If you’re purposefully or ignorantly misrepresenting that, especially with the resources available for you to educate yourself, we have beef.

My liberal friend is going to Mexico for vacation. I asked if he has a passport? He said, "yes of course, otherwise I can't go." Weird how that works in other countries.

@Megan994131 @EODHappyCaptain @TLCplMax @mynamei5earl It really was! My guys always knew that one was mine! Lol

@TonyV016 @EODHappyCaptain @TLCplMax @mynamei5earl The chicken breast MRE was the goat

No. Sorry, I've been informed that veterans aren't allowed to have nice things.

The heart of the VA “disability” debate isn’t policy, it’s the word itself. Disability is a term loaded with misunderstanding and stigma. Uninformed veterans and civilians negatively react to the idea of compensation for someone who appears physically “able.” That reaction is conditioned by decades of Hollywood cultural imagery that includes disfigurement, prosthetics, and World War I–style shell shock. In that frame disability is limited to something visible and severe. But that’s not what the VA system is built around. What veterans leave service with are limitations. Some immediate, others latent but predictable based on exposure, wear, and mathematical and science-based risk. These are measurable, actuarial realities. The system isn’t designed for public adjudication based on anecdotes or subjective thresholds of “hurt enough.” Yet many people implicitly treat VA disability like workers’ compensation, which invites a kind of vigilantism and an eagerness to identify fraud. It mirrors the logic of true crime culture: find the bad actor and expose the scam! In practice, that instinct often targets legitimately suffering veterans, turning them into suspects and criminals rather than beneficiaries. What’s missing from the conversation is the underlying purpose: the VA Disability program is, functionally, a quality-of-life compensation model. It acknowledges that service imposes lasting costs, not just on the individual, but often on their family and long-term well-being. But of course the current terminology obscures that reality. “Disability” narrows the public’s understanding to visible impairment, when the system is actually compensating for diminished lifetime capacity and risk exposure. If the goal is clarity and legitimacy in the public mind, the VA should reconsider the term itself. The whole damn thing… its language, framing, and branding. Because as long as we rely on a misunderstood word, we’ll keep having the wrong debate. And veterans will lose.

@EODHappyCaptain @TLCplMax @mynamei5earl That one is mine! Lol

@EODHappyCaptain @TLCplMax @mynamei5earl Just don't touch the MRE Chicken Breast! I lived off that MRE in Iraq back in 2003. Put some Hot sauce on it and it's just as good as the Wendy’s Spicy Chicken sandwich! Well, in my mind back then I had to pretend it was just as good lol

Begging people to foster or adopt in that area. 🙏🙏🙏

Walker Buehler has made the Padres Opening Day roster, per @sdutKevinAcee

Remember folks you could be a MoH recipient and they'd piss on your grave because of "beliefs". They only care about your service when it benefits them.

*Veteran dies @sircalebhammer , probably : " So what did he do to earn a burial? "