john999

I see this old vet as a guy who suffered for 50 years before the VA even admitted he suffered from the affects of combat stress. I know that soldiers who had breakdowns from acute combat fatigue were compensated if they never recovered. I don't know how many of these guys never recovered from mental breakdowns during combat, but there was no help for the thousands who lived with PTSD for the rest of their lives. The VA dianosed this old guy with severe anxiety in 1947. They denied his claim saying there was no record of such a DX in service. It does not take much imagination to understand that his problems more likely than not resulted from prolonged combat exposure. The old vet worked, but his life was wrecked by the war. I think he deserves every penny he can get. How many of these old guys are even alive? More die every day. The Greatest Generation who actually fought the war were treated like trash after Uncle Sam got what he wanted. I don't think there will be a rush of WWII vets since most are over 80 years old. If they can get compensated for PTSD more power to them.

It's a good thing!

Yes, ask them to CUE themselves and go forward with the reconsideration. Remember the NOD clock is running. If you file a CUE on your own behalf it has to be on a final and unappealed decision as I understand it. Your decision is on appeal and that is the best way to go. You might want your own doctor to review your SMR's and current medical condition and write a report that rebutts what the VA has said and states you are unemployable due soley to your bi-polar/PTSD. An SSD award for a SC condition should be an inferred claim for IU if the VA knew about it. However, if they did not even request the records then that is an error. I sent them my SSD award letter on my own just so it would be in the record. I know it is easier to win claims using the appeal or reconsideration route than to wait and file a CUE, but Berta has had good luck getting the VA to CUE themselves. When did you get the SSD award? Get your IU or 100% first and then worry about an earlier effective date. If I was thinking about big retro I would consider hiring a lawyer after you file a NOD. Let the lawyer worry about fine points of law.

Believe it or not if you are rated IU for 20 years that rating can't be reduced even if you go back to work. I am not sure I would want to test that fact, but I would be too old anyway by that time. I wonder if I can get a good paying job and keep IU when I am 71 years old? When you hit the 20 year mark you get a letter from the VA on your birthday every year asking if you are dead yet.

The first thing Landend's needs to do is ask the VA to make a determination if his LTH discharge is a bar to benefits. If they say it is then he needs to go to the BCMR. After 38 years this will probably require a lawyer's help. In the meantime he needs to collect all his military records. If it was me I would try and get a lawyer to help me. Our own Josephine was kicked out in basic, but she proved that she had bona fide medical mental condition and won benefits. Every journey starts with a single step.

StillHere Your quoting a very discouraging BVA decision does not help anyone. No two case are the same. You seem to think that because Landend only served a few weeks that he/she could not have been attacked and that his/her claims are unfounded. How do you know this? I don't think we should sit as judge and jury on a vet who is asking for help. If you can't help, don't hurt. You quote a BVA decision where the conclusion is that the vet "believed" he/she was sexually attacked. How do you know Landend was not attacked. If Landend has any records of suicide attempts even if he/she was only in two weeks there could be service connected factors. Filing after many years is hard. I remember others here whose claims sounded bizzare at first, but as we dug deeper it turned out they were true. Judge not that ye be not judged! I don't think the BVA case you site is similar at all to Landend's case. Did Landend say he/she was victim of sexual abuse as a child? Your statement about having a PD diagnosis meaning Landend has no chance is just crap. I had the worst kind of PD digosis by the military and I overcame it. Half the vets here had PD DX'es at one time or another especially those with PTSD/MST. All kinds of attacks happen in the military and I know someone who was almost murdered over it.

Do you have all your military records? Have you gotten treatment over the years for the MST, depression etc? You might want to try getting a lawyer to look at this case. So much time has gone by it won't be easy, but if you have evidence of suicide and beatings and MST in your records then you can prevail. In that time they kicked anyone with mental problems out on personaility disorder discharge. It happened to me. I overcame it and so can you. The biggest problem is that the military often did not document things in order to protect themselves.

TeeJay No one can enter your home and seize things except the IRS or police with a warrent as far as I know. The creditors just ruin your credit and harass you. If you had movable property like a car or boat the person who has the title can reposses it if you don't pay. Can you borrow the money to file for bankrupcy (family or friends)? This will wrap up all the debts you owe. You need to talk to a lawyer since I am not a lawyer and you are getting advice here from those who know some law, but not all of the law.

Kelly We expect updates on your travels. Your visit to Slab City put you over the top!

I think the only kind of creditor that can go after DIC or SSD would be the feds for overpayments or IRS debt. The creditor may threaten this to scare you into paying, but they can't do it. People you owe money to can put liens on your property. If I owed a lot of money and could not pay I would consult a bankrupcy lawyer to get the facts before I did anything. Here is a good one: There are people living in their houses who have not paid mortgage payment in years. Some people get evicted from their houses and move back in the next day. The banks have so many defaults they can't keep track or even find the deeds. In Florida there are very strict rules about what a creditor can do as far as calling or harassing you. I don't know of anyone except the feds who can freeze a bank account except if there is some fraud involved which is a police matter.

With a hearing you can have witnesses speak for you. You can have a VSO or lawyer. With a DRO hearing I would always do it face to face. You have less chance of dumb mistakes by VA raters if they get the facts straight at a hearing where you can correct them before it is cut into stone. If you are going to do a BVA trip you might as well do a hearing because you have to wait years anyway.

Congrats

Bring your DD214 to show you served in the Gulf war. A copy will do I am sure. There is no way to prepare for the exam. It is not a big deal. I did the AO exam. It is a general exam. If they find conditions that match with possible Gulf War presumptives they will list them.

No, bankrupcy won't take away your benefits. Each state is different, but this is something you should talk over with a bankrupcy lawyer in your state. They don't take your home and they don't attatch your income. They can go after some other assests, but you really need to talk to a lawyer. Bankrupcy stays on your record for ten years. You can still get credit.

I click on that link and get a screen for some kind of media service subscription. I can hear hadit members talking but can't see or communicate.

If you are going to have a hearing have it in person. That is the only real reason for having a hearing is to meet face to face with a judge or DRO. I had a hearing with a traveling BVA judge 6 months ago. I think my lawyer got the points across better in person. How long I have to wait for a decision I don't know.

What if you have a consitutional or developmental deformity that is aggravated by military service. In real life a person with flat feet or pes cavus would not likely be forced marched 10 miles to the point the feet become major problem with permanent aggravation. Even if a vet had some back problems before service that he was not really aware of could not very rugged military service (humping 70 lbs load, climbing mountains etc) aggravate or precipiate this existing injury. If the military said you were fit for service and then years later your back breaks down how can they say it is an pre-existing condition? They gave you the stamp of approval.

Fortunately, the VA almost never looks into your C-file. You can find yourself with contradictory records existing side by side deep in your records that never see the light of day.

One thing you have to do is untangle the workers compensation injury from the in-service injury. I had this problem. What my doctor said was that my work aggravated my service connected illness/injury. I got WC until I got TDIU and then I had to choose between WC and TDIU. Are you getting WC now? When you mix WC injury with in-service injury it gets complicated. The WC people will try and say you have pre-existing injury, and VA will say your injury is due to your non military work. Really, I think a doctor should review your records and say that your military injury was aggravated by your work. How long were you on WC?

No, SSD won't be sending anyone out to watch you. If you are working and making more than a very small amount of money and collecting SSD then you have trouble. Worker's compensation is a different animal. If you file for WC someone may check up on you. WC comes out of the pocket of companies and they hate to pay for it.

If your claim was on appeal from the 2006 denial to the 2009 grant they should have given you the 2006 date for your PTSD. Did you give them new evidence between 2006 and 2009? Often they will site the new evidence as the reason for the award and they use the date they got the new evidence, but I think this is wrong. If you did not file for some kind of mental health condition regarding your back injury in 1976 I doubt you can get that effective date. You have to make a claim.

How do you know you are going to be granted a VA disability? You were denied a rating in 1985 and now you come again with new evidence to reopen your claim, but how do you know you are going to get the grant? The only way to get an earlier effective date is to do a CUE most likely. Did the VA have all your SMR's and other medical evidence when they denied your claim in 1985?

If you use your own money and keep quite about it I think you could go to school. However, what is the point of seeking a degree if you are P&T? If you are just doing it for your own self esteem that is ok. What is your disability? If you try and get the VA to give you vocational rehabilitation they are either going to say "NO" or question your P&T status. How old are you if you don't mind saying?

There are living vets from WWII who have filed for PTSD. If it is treated early then you have a much better chance of getting back on track. My wife has PTSD from a car wreck. I can tell each time I get in the car with her. File your claim! I think a lot of vets don't file for PTSD due to shame and guilt. These are some of the symptoms of PTSD. Denial is also a symptom as are alcohol and drug abuse. Anything to get away from those feelings and numb yourself. It does not work.

I would go to a vet center and get treatment. If you don't get treatment your condition is going to get worse. If you don't get treatment at the VA, or Vet Center get it some place with a private doctor. If you stop treatment you may end up losing years of your life to PTSD. If you don't take time off your job to get treatment it is going to catch up with you. If you don't get treatment now you will get getting it 30 years from now after hitting bottom. You don't want to waste those years.