toyotafan

Well, I got my second disability deposit today. The guilty feeling seems to be a lot less! I'm probably just going to divert the funds to the kids college education fund. Hopefully, they'll be in a better position to get through school and not have to put on a uniform like I did unless they want to. Happy Labor day to everyone!

Again, thank you all so much! The members of this forum are incredibly supportive for all veterans. I guess my feelings come out of sense that there are a lot of veterans who are in much worse shape than me. Most of my injuries were the result of doing some PT. But, I often feel like if I wasn't in the military I would still be doing the exact same job, and so why do these conditions warrant compensation? In the end, this doesn't seem like a typical disability insurance policy to me in that for the most part, if you can continue to work, your disability pay is reduced by the income you make. Clearly, this is different, because I'm doing just fine from a financial standpoint, and still get the pay. I don't want to sound conceited on an internet forum, and hope I'm not coming across as much. I guess we're all in the same boat in a way. I hope others fair as well in their disability claim process as I did.

I just got the "brown envelope" today. In the end, I guess it's pretty accurate. I don't feel that I embelished my responses to make them be more severe than they were. I was given service connection on multiple items, 20% here, and then four 10% items. Based on the VA calculations 20 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 10 = 50! :) I spoke with my VSO rep. They say to be happy and it was well deserved. I guess it's time to get over any guilty feelings. It's tough as I even feel guilty when I take bids on jobs for my house that 2 of the contractors won't get the job. I feel bad that I don't have more work to go around. Again, thanks everyone for your kind words.

Again, Thanks everyone for your kind words. I don't really think I'll refuse the compensation. I guess in the end, if the government feels that the conditions I have warrant a 50% disability, then so be it.

Thanks to NavyWife and Fat for their kind words. It's nice to hear of it. I guess I should feel fortunate and not guilty. And I will most certainly make some donations with the money to charity. I wish everyone the best luck with their claims and I hope I did not come across as an ingrate.

Hi all, First post. I finished up my C&P exam not too long ago. I submitted a quick start claim just before I left active duty. Just a few days ago, I saw a large deposit into my checking account. I thought it was for two months, but when I got onto e-benefits today I found my rating in one of the downloadable letters. I got rated at 50%. Now, most of you on this forum are war veterans who rightfully deserve whatever compensation the gov't will give. However, I was never deployed. My job prospects on the outside are much better than in the .mil. It's hard to reconcile. I haven't gotten any documentation from the VA, but what I claimed is fairly innocuous. I imagine most civilian bricklayers feel worse every day of their lives than what resulted from my military service. Maybe it's my catholic upbringing, but man do I feel guilty about this.