Six years.

For most Americans, six years might mean a child growing from first grade to middle school. A career advancing from entry-level to management. A lifetime of memories built with family and friends.

For Kelvin Blas, a veteran of the U.S. Army, six years meant something entirely different.

No permanent home. No family gatherings. No medical care. No legal protection. No safety.

And now, no safety at all. He is hiding from those who would rather see him dead than see him home.

This is the cost of abandonment when your own government decides you don’t matter.

The Financial Annihilation

Stranded in Togo since 2020, Kelvin has spent six years in a legal and financial void. Unable to work legally. Unable to access his military benefits. Unable to maintain a bank account, secure housing, or build any semblance of financial stability.

Every dollar becomes a negotiation. Every day becomes survival.

While other veterans his age (he’s now 42) have built careers, purchased homes, raised families, Kelvin has spent six years surviving on the support of a civilian advocate. David Burger and Covenant for Forgotten Warriors have provided what the U.S. government refused: financial assistance, legal advocacy, and the basic recognition of his humanity.

But civilian charity cannot replace government responsibility. Kelvin still cannot work legally. Still cannot access his VA benefits. Still cannot build the independent life he earned through his military service.

The Department of Veterans Affairs? Unreachable. His military service records? Trapped in bureaucratic limbo. His ability to support himself? Systematically destroyed by the same government he served.

The State Department pretends this isn’t even a case. They close FOIA requests without explanation, stonewall inquiries, and fabricate records claiming he doesn’t exist. Six years of a veteran begging for help, and the official response is to act like he was never there at all.

The Psychological Toll

Six years of being told you don’t matter. Six years of watching the embassy that should protect you treat you like a criminal. Six years of knowing your own government believes you’re not real.

The State Department’s own records reveal their assessment: Kelvin Blas is “fictitious.” David Burger, the only person fighting for him, is “the victim of a long-term romance scam.”

Imagine being a veteran of the U.S. Army and discovering your government has documented you as nonexistent.

Imagine seeking help for six years and being told, repeatedly, that you’re the problem. That you’re a scam. That you’re lying.

Imagine being physically assaulted by embassy guards on November 11, 2025 (Veterans Day) and then reading in official government documents that you don’t exist.

Every request for help met with silence. Every FOIA stonewalled or closed without records. Every attempt to prove your existence dismissed. The message is clear: the State Department would rather pretend you never served than acknowledge they abandoned you.

The psychological damage of such abandonment cannot be quantified. The erosion of trust, the destruction of dignity, the daily reminder that your service meant nothing. This is what the United States government inflicted on one of its own.

The Health Crisis

Six years without access to VA medical care. Six years without the ability to see doctors regularly. Six years of untreated conditions, unmanaged pain, declining health.

For a veteran who served his country, the lack of medical support isn’t just neglect. It’s a slow-motion death sentence.

The State Department’s Welfare and Whereabouts summary for Kelvin shows blank sections:

• Medical Assistance: Empty
• Hospital Information: Empty
• Known Medications: Empty
• Medical Provider: Empty

They never checked. They never cared. They documented him as nonexistent and moved on.

When pressed for records about his welfare, they fabricated a summary eight days before delivering it, filled it with wrong information (wrong name, wrong age), and closed the FOIA in 24 hours claiming a “thorough search” had been completed. Six years of a stranded veteran’s medical deterioration, and the State Department’s response was to create fake records proving they never helped him at all.