Leadership in South Carolina has left many South Carolina veterans in the cold. Poor leadership has failed all of South Carolina. Who specifically, you might ask? It’s none other than Henry Dargan McMaster, the 117th governor of South Carolina.
Remember, the fish always rots from the head first. All of South Carolina’s problems can be traced back to Governor Henry McMaster. Hundreds of other people can do a better job at being governor. We beg the people of South Carolina, get yourself a new governor.
For example, any of the people currently in the race for governor would be a better pick than McMaster. Hell, we would vote for Columbia’s dogcatcher rather than screwy Henry McMaster.
Hey candidates, contact Veterans America organization for the details of what is really going on. Now hear this, now hear this… will the following people running to replace McMaster please do a better job installing people on their cabinet who will properly serve South Carolina veterans.
Some of the folks currently running to replace Head Clown Henry McMaster are…
- Pamela Evette: South Carolina’s current lieutenant governor officially launched her bid in July 2025.
- Josh Kimbrell: The State Senator from Spartanburg County announced his campaign in June 2025.
- Nancy Mace: The U.S. Representative announced her candidacy in August 2025.
- Ralph Norman: The U.S. Representative announced he was entering the race in July 2025.
- Alan Wilson: South Carolina’s Attorney General announced his campaign in June 2025.
Potential candidates for office are…
- Jermaine Johnson: The State Representative is the only Democrat to have stated he is considering a run.
- Sean Bennett: A Republican State Senator from Summerville, he is evaluating the field before deciding whether to launch a campaign.
Any of the above people would most likely do a much better job as governor.
McMaster’s leadership is clownish, because, like a circus clown, McMaster will do things to distract people from the real problems facing all residents of South Carolina, but especially the veterans of South Carolina.
Governor McMaster, along with his other failings, tends to select the wrong people for important leadership roles, which makes things much worse, not only for veterans but all residents of the Great State of South Carolina.
Example: McMaster nominated West Point ring knocker and former Major General Todd B. McCaffrey to be on his cabinet as the Secretary of South Carolina’s Department of Veterans’ Affairs. Appointing the major general was a major mistake.
Secretary McCaffrey’s brand of leadership made just about everything worse for veterans in South Carolina. Instead of working with veteran nonprofit organizations, he chose to use the IG’s office to dig up some dirt that could be used in a lawfare case.
Instead of embracing and supporting the nonprofits, McCaffrey went slithering in the shadows and wrongfully used the state attorney general’s investigators to dredge up some dirt he could use as distraction from his own failures. Consequently, the backlogged increased.
Why not call all the nonprofits into a meeting and say, “Ladies and gentlemen, I’m Secretary McCaffrey and we would like to team up with you to help solve this awful backlog of veteran claims.”
Instead, McCaffrey preferred a turf war attempting to dig up dirt on perceived competing nonprofits. Or dig up dirt on nonprofit organizations that are making him look very bad because of the state’s skyrocketing backlog of disability claims?
Perhaps a full investigation on how the South Carolina Department of Veterans’ Affairs is being managed and why Sec. McCaffrey took it upon himself to ask the IG to investigate Earl Graham and his Veterans America organization.
Was this secret informal investigation launched to verify malfeasance, or is the IG’s office and Sec. McCaffrey embarking on a fishing expedition based on rumor and innuendo to hopefully find some kind of malfeasance?
Looks like an investigation needs to be done on the investigators.
COMPLAINTS KEEP POURING IN
There are a river of complaints at both the county and state levels relating to veteran affairs in South Carolina. It appears only to be getting worse. The most common complaints involve backlogs, delays, and slow processing of claims/benefits for South Carolina veterans.
South Carolina has an inordinate amount of delays in processing VA disability claims. As of late 2025, South Carolina had a whopping 3,278 backlogged claims (i.e. claims pending more than 125 days) with average processing times around 122 days.
Veterans frequently complain about long wait times to get appointments, get decisions, or get responses from the state veterans’ benefit offices.
The state makes sure there is no audit that summarizes these problems, but the anecdotal complaints are fairly common in veteran-community discussions throughout the State of South Carolina.
In a congressional oversight hearing, mismanagement concerns were raised about veterans affairs in Charleston, South Carolina. There is some tension between what the state veterans’ department (SCDVA) promises and what local offices can deliver.
Sometimes this is often due to resource constraints, staffing, or coordination issues, but it’s also caused by piss poor management such as the McMaster/McCaffrey team.
There’s also a problem with inequity or access restrictions throughout South Carolina counties. The fact that some local offices are restricting services reflects uneven access across the state, which obviously raises fairness concerns.
Some veterans in more rural or less-resourced counties struggle more to find help, especially with transportation, documentation, or local staff capacity. Again, these failings are generally attributed to poor management and simple negligence to do a proper job for South Carolina veterans.
BUDGET, STAFFING AND RESOURCE LIMITATION
MUST BE CONSIDERED ALSO
Many complaints point toward insufficient staffing, funding, or support for county veterans’ offices to meet demand – leading to long wait times – fewer services, or offices closing or limiting services.
Dorchester County, for example, is no longer accepting out-of−county veterans. As of April 2024, Dorchester County’s VA office announced they would no longer accept appointment requests from veterans who do not live in Dorchester County.
The reason given was to reduce appointment wait times (which averaged about two months) and focus on serving local veterans more efficiently. (thank you “Live 5 News”)
This change means veterans who live just outside the county have to apply in the county in which they live, which can impose extra burdens (travel, transfer of records, etc.). No one seems to apply simple common sense anymore.
Variation in services and capabilities across counties is also a big problem. Some county veteran affairs offices are small, understaffed, or have limited service scope. That can result in poor responsiveness, inability to help with complex claims, or delays in outreach.
In less populous counties, the local VA office does not have specialization or staff with deep knowledge, so veterans are forced to seek help farther away or from a non profit who does have the trained staff to address issues.
Another management problem is the inconsistent policies across South Carolina counties. This a pure manifestation of poor management that falls at the feet of Sec. McCaffrey.
Someone who actually cares about the veterans he is responsible for, would have corrected this right out of the gate two years ago. Either McCaffrey doesn’t care or doesn’t have the managerial ability to deal with the problems.
Because each county’s veterans affairs office is somewhat independently managed (within the constraints of state oversight), policies can differ. For example, some counties might help with out-of-county claims; others, like Dorchester, may not.
Differences in how aggressively county offices assist in document gathering, appeals, or follow-ups can lead to uneven experiences. Again, this is a management and training issue the clown show of McMaster and McCaffrey could care less about.
Veterans frequently complain about poor communication, lost documents, or difficulty in getting local offices to coordinate with the state or federal offices.
When a county Veteran Services Office (VSO) refuses out-of-county appointments, ensuring a smooth transfer of the veteran’s claims and records becomes a burden that causes all sorts of additional problems.
For the sake of intellectual honesty, some problems are attributed to resource constraints. Many of the issues (delays, limited staff, restricted service acceptance) stem from insufficient funding or staffing capacity at both state and local levels.
But when resources are thin, poor management and poor coordination/cooperation makes it ten times worse. Between county offices, the state veterans’ agency, and the federal VA, there is sometimes friction, poor record sharing, or gaps in responsibility.
Sadly, due to inequity of access, veterans face far more obstacles just depending on where they live in South Carolina.
There is a severe problem in both lack of oversight & accountability. Some local decisions—like refusing out-of-county claims—are made without strong public justification or oversight, creating frustrations.
Again, this is at the doorstep of the popular clown act of McMaster and McCaffrey.
NON PROFITS END UP FIGHTING
THE GOVERMENT TO PROVIDE SERVICES
There are a number of people who have looked at how the government in South Carolina is running things and felt they could do a better job.
One such organization is a nonprofit 501(c)3 called “Veterans America” headed up by a former Army captain, Mr. Earl Graham.
Graham has plans to expand statewide, but for some odd reason and without foundation, Secretary Todd McCaffrey is trying to derail those efforts.
Sec. McCaffrey perceives Mr. Graham and his organization as an enemy of the people of the State of South of Carolina. Nothing could be further from the truth.
It all began when a friend attempted to shame Earl Graham in a grocery store for not filing a disability claim for the issues he was dealing with.
With that, Earl Graham discovered just how difficult it was to file claims to the VA through county VSO offices.
Because he is a veteran who served on the DMZ in Korea, he wanted to help other veterans who needed help and began to learn the proper way for claims to be handled.
One veteran after another began to refer other veterans to Earl Graham for advice and counsel to the point he literally could not return all the phone calls he was getting.
It should be noted that he never once asked any veteran for any money for eight years as he was helping virtually hundreds of South Carolina veterans to travail proper submission methods.
His reputation has gone nationwide with people from other states asking for his help.
Realizing he could not go on like he was, he decided to take action so he could help even more veterans.
Many veterans he encountered were frustrated or had given up dealing with county VSO offices to help them with disability claims.
Mr. Earl Graham created a nonprofit organization that would have highly skilled associates to help veterans with all sorts of issues regarding filing claims to the Veterans Administration.
And to avoid being like the government with thin resources that would inhibit his ability to help his veteran clients, his organization was forced to charge for their services.
While he is eligible to receive a salary as the president of a nonprofit, Mr. Graham receives little or nothing for his countless hours of work to ensure all veterans get the help they need.
McCAFFREY SECRETLY WORKING WITH THE
STATE INSPECTOR GENERAL
The future was bright for Veterans America (and for the vets they were serving) when all of a sudden the successful and burgeoning nonprofit organization became the target of an unofficial IG investigation.
This sneaky attempt to dig up dirt on Veterans America and its president was apparently initiated by State VA Secretary Todd McCaffrey as he began to weave his little web of destruction.
Our sources tell us that McCaffrey contacted the South Carolina Office of Inspector General to “encourage” them to dig up some dirt on Earl Graham.
The objective is probably to destroy Veterans America. Their success rate stood in stark contrast to the poor success rate of county and state run VSO offices, not to mention their horrible backlog of disability claims.
We discovered that former clients who had used the services of Veterans America had been approached by people wanting to know everything about how they were treated by Earl Graham and/or his organization, Veterans America.
Every single one of those people who were contacted from special agents with the South Carolina Inspector General’s office gave Earl Graham and his organization a glowing report.
McCaffrey apparently was hoping for one or two people to say they had been ripped off by Veterans America so McCaffery could rid himself of a nonprofit showing an incredible 98% success rate for claims resolution.
People who received these calls from IG investigators immediately contacted Veterans America to report that some one was targeting Earl Graham’s organization. “Someone is out to get you Earl,” said one caller.
McCaffrey’s slithering around in the shadows and using the state IG office as his personal little CID division like many flag officers do in the Pentagon, just was not working out very well.
At last check, the South Carolina IG 0ffice is still on the hunt for anyone who will say anything bad about Mr. Earl Graham or his newly formed organization (Veterans America).
CARDS ON THE TABLE
Unfortunately, there are unscrupulous organizations referred to as “claim sharks.” Claim sharks are for-profit consultants exploiting veterans.
There are people who do their best to get veterans to pay large upfront fees and then don’t do anything beyond that.
It has been our experience that most “claim sharks” are licensed attorneys.
Sadly, these claim sharks flourish because the state is not properly doing their job in supporting America’s veterans residing in the Great State of South Carolina.
This causes a tremendous backlog of claims which force frustrated veterans to seek help from other agencies and some of those agencies are shakedown artists.
If county VSOs were properly staffed and trained, there wouldn’t be such a horrible backlog of claims.
Consequently, fewer vets would fall victim to these claim sharks who rip them off by charging unusually high upfront fees followed by little or no action.
With a VSO in virtually every county in the state, one would think the vets would be well cared for. Unfortunately, they are plagued by two chronic problems:
1. Untrained personnel lacking the knowledge, skills, ability and experience to help veterans to properly submit their claims.
2. VSOs are sometimes staffed with a contingent who are nothing more than bureaucrats who stare at the clock all day waiting for 5 pm. so they can race home to sit in front of a TV set with a can of beer.
Obviously, it is incumbent upon state authorities to pursue and hold accountable any organization or person who is committing acts of fraud and ripping off the veterans within their jurisdiction.
The South Carolina Daily Gazette reported a frequent criticism is that unaccredited, for-profit “consultants” or “claims assistance” services charge vets high fees (and/or take large percentages of benefits) to allegedly help navigate the VA or file claims procedures.
Some of these practices may skirt or violate federal regulations. Efforts to regulate or criminalize such practices in South Carolina have been proposed, but Bills have stalled or failed in committees.
On the flip side, it’s dangerous to put real teeth in the law, then let unscrupulous people like Secretary Todd McCaffrey use the power of these new laws to exact retribution against his perceived enemies.
It’s the definition of “lawfare.” When enemies fight on the field of battle, we call it warfare. When adversaries use the law to vanquish their enemy, that’s called “lawfare.”
DEFINITION:
“Acting under the color of law” refers to actions taken by a person, typically a government official, (like Todd McCaffrey) using their official authority or the appearance of authority to commit an unlawful act that violates someone’s rights.
It describes the abuse of power by an agent of the government, such as a police officer or other public official, who violates constitutional rights while purporting to be acting within the scope of their duties.
This can include excessive force, false arrests, unlawful searches, or other misconduct, and such violations are prosecuted under federal civil rights laws like 18 U.S.C. § 242.
Will the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) please pick up the RED courtesy phone!
Why selectively pick out a nonprofit organization like Veterans America and target them for destruction when they are successfully helping veterans across South Carolina to navigate the torturous rocks and shoals of the VA labyrinth?
Instead of trying to destroy Veterans America, Secretary McCaffrey would be well advised to bring the power of his office to support legitimate organizations who are helping veterans better than most county VSO offices.
Instead, McCaffrey chose to go on a witch hunt. This is how things normally go down. First someone files a complaint, then an investigation is opened up. If sufficient evidence is uncovered of fraud or malfeasance, then the person or organization if referred to the district attorney (solicitor) for prosecution.
That’s not what happened to Earl Graham. The IG’s office, at the behest of Todd McCaffrey, apparently went on a fishing expedition in the hope of dredging up some dirt on Earl Graham and his nonprofit organization.
If anyone needs to be investigated, it should be Secretary Todd McCaffrey himself.
THE SOUTH CAROLINA STATE SENATE IS
FULLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SHIT-BIRDS
THEY APPROVE FOR OFFICE
Retired Major General Todd B. McCaffrey, was confirmed by unanimous vote from the South Carolina Senate to be the next Secretary of the South Carolina Department of Veterans’ Affairs. The confirmation vote took place on March 16, 2023.
Both Governor McMaster and the South Carolina Senate should hang their heads in shame for appointing Todd McCaffrey as the Secretary of Veterans’ Affairs for the State of South Carolina.
That was a huge mistake and veterans of South Carolina are suffering because of it.
With thousands of vets having to deal with backlogs and delays, the McCaffrey nomination and installment was as terrible mistake.
The South Carolina Senate just voted for a resume and not a person who knows how to get the job done.
It’s probably cocktail party orthodoxy and policy to hire some retired bozo from the Pentagon, but that is not helping the veterans of the State of South Carolina.
Then, to find out McCaffrey is working in stealth mode to attack a good nonprofit organization is just insult to injury.
Knowing how the flag-ranking officers operate, we bet Sec. McCaffrey’s own staff doesn’t know about his sneaky attempt to take down Veterans America.
Furthermore, we smell a rat somewhere in the system. Members of our staff are wondering out loud if someone at the VA is feeding bogus information to Sec. McCaffrey.
Could it be someone like Woody Middleton from the VA is spreading rumors, then linked up with Sec. McCaffrey’s office in a spiteful move to damage or destroy Earl Graham’s burgeoning organization?
Who knows what is really going on behind the scenes, but you can bet there’s some major skullduggery going on.
We recall, when Earl Graham was attacked by the Dorn VA Medical Center’s Police Department because he complained that veterans didn’t have a place to park and Dorn’s cops had blocked off huge sections of parking lot that was vacant.
It wasn’t long before officer Jackson was calling all of the vets Mr. Graham was working with to dig up some dirt they could use against him. That blew up in their faces and, as happens in America, no one was held accountable.
SPECIAL NOTE TO THE PEOPLE OF SOUTH CAROLINA:
Throw the bums out!
Tell the politicians… “If you don’t help SOLVE the problem, then YOU ARE the problem.”
SPECIAL NOTE TO ALL SOUTH CAROLINA VETS:
To all veterans in the State of South Carolina… if you have experienced a good or bad situation from any county or state VSO office, contact us at once. Depending on volume, we cannot guarantee a response, but we will let proper authorities know of your communique. One of those authorities will be the Veterans Administration in Washington.
SPECIAL NOTE ABOUT THE VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION (VBA)
SOUTHEASTERN DISTRICT OFFICE:
Kudos to the Manager of the Southeastern District and kudos to the Director of Columbia Regional Office for recognizing the talents and benefits of working with nonprofit organizations like Veterans America.
Local VA managers and directors have realized the importance of working with (not against) nonprofit organizations to help veterans which in turn has helped to alleviate some of the backlog claims cases.
The VBA Southeastern District especially, has the wisdom to see the importance of a strategic alliance in order to help as many veterans as possible. Congratulations. If state authorities had the same attitude and wisdom, thousands of vets would be so much better off.
Occasionally, the local (federal) VA office will put on a large event inviting all SC veterans to attend in order to get questions answered and to meet with claims representatives to help resolve issues. Each event has been extremely successful, but there was only one problem.
Secretary McCaffrey would show up to the event allowing people to think that he was the one who put on the event when he really had nothing to do with it.
Truth be told, the success of these wonderful events are attributed to Director Shelia Jackson of the VA’s Columbia Regional Office and all of her hardworking associates.
Make no mistake about it, Major General Todd B. McCaffrey had little or nothing to do with these successful veteran events. He’s just another slimeball politician wrongfully receiving accolades for something he had nothing to do with.
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