Aid backlog for veterans

Ari Sonnenberg, an Iraq war veteran who served three tours, is haunted by what he saw during the war and frustrated by getting the runaround from the benefits section of the VA. “I was losing my mind at one point,” he said. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

Dec. 20, 2013 2:45 AM PT

Although the VA is making some progress in addressing the benefits backlog, some veterans are finding that the damage done to their financial stability, family relationships and own self-worth is not so easily remedied.

Veterans line the halls of the War Memorial building in San Francisco hoping to get their cases examined during a town hall-style meeting in which they were able to publicly complain to VA officials. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

Veterans line the halls of the War Memorial building hoping to get their cases examined. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

Douglas Bragg, the director of the Veterans Benefits Administration office in Oakland, looks into one of the many boxes that contain the cases of veterans with pending claims. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

Iraq war veteran Glenda Flowers sits with her two children, Demond, 7, and Tatyana, 4, inside the play room of the Salvation Army’s Harbor House, a transitional living facility that Flowers moved into with her children. They had been evicted from their home and were living in a car. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

Glenda Flowers breaks down while talking about living with her two children at the Salvation Army’s Harbor House. She is an Iraq war veteran who suffers from PTSD but has had many problems trying to get benefits from the VA. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

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Aid backlog for veterans

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