john999

I wrote Webb and told him just what I thought of him. He is a rat and dirty SOB and I told him so. It probably goes into automatic delete bin.

As far as suing the military I think they have sovereign immunity. If they hurt you they have to pay in the form of disability compensation. It is like when I worked for civilian feds. If you get hurt on the job even if it is due to their negligence all you can get is workers compensation. Hell, you have to get a lawyer for that sometimes. Example: Soldier gets hurt on battlefield. The doctors trying to save his life make mistakes that cause him major malfucntions later in life. Can you sue those doctors? I don't think you can but you can get compensation I think. I am thinking off the top of my head. Suing institutions is a lot harder than you might think. They get protection from congress.

Stay in treatment at the VA at least. Never say one good word about how you feel, or one good word about work. Try to mention at least one symptom every time you see the VA shrink or even your PCP. You want to build a paper trail from here to the moon. Phil said this before and it applies. When and if they drag you back in for re-evaluation they look at the medical history. If it is full of notes of PTSD continuing symptoms that is good for your claim. As you know the compensation side is separate from medical side and the only time the comp side looks at medical side is when you either ask for increase or they do re-eval.

They are simply waiting for the army to die. It is just about money. If they delay this a few years thousands of RVN vets will die thus saving the feds millions of bucks. DIC is much less than 100% compensation. Every day I read about Nam vets dying in my local area. Delay long enough and we will all be dead. Webb of all people who was so much against the war in Iraq while turning his back on his brothers and sisters from Vietnam.

Your CUE's are on unappealed final decisions, correct?

Webb is worried because a vet might get a benefit that is due to natural aging! To make an error in favor of vets is a terrible thing. I hope this clown gets voted out of office. I begin to think nobody cares about Vietnam vets even other fortunate Vietnam vets. I will send him an email myself. Most don't answer out of state email. Some don't even accept it. 40 years of abuse for Vietnam vets. It ends in the grave I guess.

Kelly Picking fruit is ass busting work. I picked oranges in Florida one summer when I was about 17. I got heat exhaustion the first day. Americans are not going to do that kind of work. You don't get paid by the hour. Your get paid by the bucket. I made $3 dollars for picking all day. I quit. The illegals pick all the crops. I notice they don't put growers in jail who hire the illegals. If some guy with a green card like my cousin serves in combat zone he should get citizenship as veteran benefit. Foreign nationals do serve in our military. I bet there are illegals in our military serving in Iraq.

When I had my first panic attack the army psychiatrist thought I was psychotic. This was in 1970. I thought I was losing my mind. After the attack I had severe symptoms of what is called dissociative disorder. I was in a bad way.

Big Hang in there no matter what and if you can't work apply for TDIU. You have 70% so you meet the official criteria.

It is working for me now. At first I had a hard time getting to the forum.

Big I don't think their is an average turnaround time on appeals or requests for an increase except 6-18 months or longer.

You don't give up your human rights when you raise your right hand. It may seem like it, but you still have rights. You commanding officer can't have you shot because he does not like the color of your eyes. The laws were written by human beings and can be changed the same way. God did not write the Constitution like the Ten Commandments on a stone tablet. 160 years ago slavery was legal according to the Constitution. People changed that part of the Constitution. A soldier who serves in a combat zone and gets a PH for the USA and then is deported is wrong. He should do his jail time, but don't kick a vet out after prison. He earned his citizenship the hard way. Deport all those draft dodgers in congress first.

When you get your decision send in Form 9 and ask for hearing from BVA. You can have a personal hearing or just written review. I would take the hearing. If you go to BVA you are going to be waiting for two years, and then it may get remanded back to your RO. Maybe you ought to hire a lawyer to help with this maze.

If you get convicted of a felony and have to do time you lose your compensation while you are inside the walls. That means the vet's wife and kids lose as well. Then if the vet is not a citizen he gets deported and his wife and kid stay here living on what? Welfare I guess so we end up paying anyway. My cousin from Ireland was drafted while he was not a citizen. He became a citizen when he got out of the army. At least they did that for him after using him.

Vets will never get justice until they take it. How they do that I have some ideas, but I want to stay out of jail in my golden years. There has to be a way besides waiting for Uncle Sam to feel some guilt and do the right thing. That will never happen.

Imagine putting a vet through the entire appeals process over something like this. I bet it happens.

The DOD is saying soldiers in the field are getting paid too much, so you know vets are not going to get an increase. The debt thing is being used as a club to bash all government. We get bashed as well. We are retainers with a claim on government money.

Send in TDIU form as well. TDIU would start from the time you apply.

When in doubt about your claim produce more evidence. Ask Berta about what the nature of evidence can be.

Remember a CUE is for a final and unappealed decision.

How would someone with acute combat fatigue be rated if they were evacuated from the combat zone and later discharged? I know this happened often in Vietnam. I wonder what sort of DX they ended up with and what kind of discharge they got. This was before PTSD.

Rocky, a hadit member, won a claim that was left open. He filed a CUE but they said the claim was still open for some 20 years or more. He got big retro. The VA lost the part where part of his skull was missing.

If the report were to give support to the idea that disabled vets were overpaid it would be given attention. If it supports the idea that vets are underpaid it will be put on the shelf.

This is the same sort of hysteria that is happening in Arizona. Illegals did not cause the financial meltdown. Red blooded American capitalists caused it. Illegals did not destroy the Gulf of Mexico.

I have personally seen a homeless vet in a wheelchair told by VA staff that they need to go to local welfare office for help. No way in hell is VA going to expedite your claim in 90 days just because you are homeless or broke. You will be lucky if they give directions to homeless shelter. I know there is some procedure for vets who are dying to have their claims speeded up, but I think it is case by case. I was jobless for over a year before I even got raised from 30% to 70%.