LA FERIA - A federal official faced a room packed with angry military veterans Sunday at the American Legion hall, hearing a litany of problems faced by Rio Grande Valley veterans seeking health care.

Former soldiers, sailors, Marines and Air Force personnel confronted Timothy P. Shea, medical center director of the South Texas Veterans Health Care System for the Department of Veterans Affairs in San Antonio.

They related incidents of long-delayed appointments with doctors and specialists at Valley clinics or Audie Murphy DVA Hospital, difficulty filling prescriptions and transportation problems.

Help for mentally ill veterans is even harder to get, former service members said.

Some veterans were in uniform. Many wore veterans group or military caps, and some wore T-shirts stating they were former prisoners of war.

The group of mostly Hispanic veterans accused the DVA of playing the "race card," and shorting the Valley because most veterans in the area are Mexican-American.

Shea, a former Marine, said he is aware that the Valley has the highest percentage of decorated combat veterans and casualties of anywhere in America.

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