Susan

Leah, I know what you mean with the VSO's not knowing some of the Nehmer information. There is a Nehmer Training Guide by Nvlsp. http://www.nvlsp.org/images/2011.02.10%20Nehmer%20Training%20Guide.pdf It can also be found in hadit forums under the VA training letter and resources as a pinned topic. The information in it helped me alot. It showed the VSO's that I had a valid reason to keep filing as a surviving spouse. The guide has diagnosis lists and alot of information. Including how spouses, children, parents and even the estate can receive the award.

Good news that NVLSP filed a complaint on your behalf. Your claim should move quickly now, if it goes as fast as my complaint. The complaint filed on my deceased husband and myself was made in September of 2011. In November the award arrived and the checks/deposits arrived within a week or so after the award. The rating for my husband at 30% in 1993 was paid for a Single at E4 grade at $247.00. They would not include me as a dependent because we were not married. Even though I was his spouse for 20 years and even on all the medical records I was noted as his wife. He received 13 months of temporary 100% the year of By-pass surgery recuperation. I thought he would also get that for Angioplasty that followed in 1999, but was told that he would not get 100% for that. Just giving you an idea of how my claim went. I know that your pay grade with dependents and percentage will be different. You will probably get the usual "claim received letter" from the VA soon. Then I got a call from the rater who verified information such as my address about one week before the award letter arrived.

All good advice here. I went to the Waco RO last summer. In July, I posted my experience on the RO forum here. Each state with City is found there. Texas / Waco reply is found on page two. Before going, I had asked what to expect at the RO. It was good for me to know there would be a Security check and metal detector. Since you have an attorney, it would be important to get their approval first. I suggested to the attorney helping me that I could mail or hand deliver some documents. They approved of my going. I didn't tell the RO counselor everything that I knew already. The counselor would only look at the computer screen and discourage me. Either I knew more than the counselor or they failed to help me. I believe they failed to help me on purpose. They also would not allow me to see the C file. I am the surviving spouse and had remarried. I am still waiting to see the C file. This was how I felt after making the trip. Quoted from my reply here at the RO forum: " I will say that the counselor was discouraging to me. Some of their remarks and the automatic discouragement were the only bad part of the experience." Happy to say that five months later Service Connection and retro were awarded. Even though that Counselor told me that there was no hope and my claim looked "scarey".

Thank you Pete, for getting the word out on this. As the show pointed out, there are other locations that are contaminated also. Kelly AFB in Texas was in the one hour show. A good way to follow the Camp Lejeune story and to get information is at The Few The Proud The Forgotten website.

Very happy for your success finally. Sorry that they just don't get the rest of your claims correct. Get well soon and enjoy some rest.

YEA Berta !! I am very happy to see you got this award. I agree that these ratings of 30% are wrong. So glad to see your success!! Susan

John6012, I read where you wrote: "He prescribed Lipitor and would refill Nitrostat as needed with annual followups" Nitrostat, is that for Angina? If so, there are three anginas listed in the NVLSP AO training guide on page 14 of the February 2011 copy. The three listed are : Stable, unstable, and Prinzmetal's angina. Any of the three anginas are defined as IHD. Several other diagnoses can be found in that definition. Since you mentioned refill then it sounds like you might have had that for awhile. Please do not rely on the VA. My deceased husband and I were denied many times for no reason. Good luck!!

Yes Berta, I received a phone call from Nehmer Philadelphia on Thursday November 17th. This was about a month after they received the NVLSP complaint. They left a message and number to call back with a name of the rater. I returned the call within a couple of hours and they wanted to know if I had remarried. If so, what date? And was I at least 57 years old at the time of remarriage? Being careful with details, I did not figure the age question quick enough and she said that I would receive DIC up to the month of remarriage. I asked if my deceased husband's claim had been rated and she said yes. She told me that she could not give dollar amounts. She said that she would finish rating and it would go to two other people to be authorized. She verified my address and I asked about the direct deposit info that they had. She told me that if a claim is over a year old that it would be mailed. She told me that I would receive something within fifteen days. The award letter and packet came a week later on Friday, Nov.25th the day after Thanksgiving. On the following Monday Nov. 28th, three checks arrived for DIC for my part. Within a week a check arrived that amounted to what my deceased husband would have been entitled to. As yet, nothing for funeral expenses or burial. I am following up on that since receipts and proof for funeral and burial were submitted this past summer. You may recall that I was puzzled and hopeful that "estimated retroactive amounts" on the award letter might mean that the amounts would actually be more. So far, the estimated amounts are the same as what was on the award letter. The NVLSP Nehmer Training Guide has samples of the award letter with that statement on the award letter.

Berta, I just felt ill when I read your post. Unbelievable, but all so true the way the VA delays and denies. I have had to take some time to regroup. Here we are having to fight for what they leave out or deny. I wasn't going to mention this, but the rater who called me a couple of weeks ago had broken English. That has got to be part of their not understanding or comprehending what they might read. Take care and don't overstress. We know you will prevail.

The letter arrived today. I posted in the Success forum because I just had to do that. Finally!! I am very happy with the win, but I feel that the retro is at least one third of what it should be. When I reread the letter I saw that it was "estimated amounts". I guess there could be more than the estimate. Also there is no mention of the funeral and burial benefit and I had submitted that information. There were papers and a pamphlet about DEA education benefits. One paper advised to check with the County VSO for taxes and other benefits. I will be sending the benefit info to NVLSP so that they can verify correct amounts. I have one year to disagree if anything is wrong. Since 1993 they awarded 30% for all years for Don except the year plus one or two months recuperation after bypass surgery. That year was rated at 100%. The one year was held out on DIC because for some reason the date shows that I applied in 2001 which is wrong because I filed in 2000. That date is questionable and looks to be a whited out zero to "create" a number one from a zero. And as expectted DIC ended in June of 2007 since I remarried in July of 2007. Once my divorce is finalized, I will be able to reapply for DIC. Thanks everyone for the support and guidance I have received and especially to Berta and Chuck for their help and insight on Nehmer.

The big white envelope arrived today. I was happy for Don C and for me. Sad he did not see it in his lifetime. Rated at 30% for all his years except for the year and a month or two that he had bypass surgery and was recouperating. That year was 100%. Will be sending to NVLSP to verify amounts. It is about a third of what I expectted. Don's part was about a third of what he had expectted when he reached the end of all he could do and was getting a third party lawyer. He had figured conservatively, as did I. I hope it can be increased. If not, still a win. Very happy for a win!!

Thanks Berta. I hope your award arrives soon also. I remember you telling about the mailbox and snowstorm with that check. I think about that and know that I can expect payment either way. It is good to mention here so that others know how unpredictable receiving the payment can be.

I received a phone call from the VA today. They verified that I had remarried and stated that I would receive DIC up to the month of remarriage. I asked questions and all that they could tell me was that my claim was being rated and it would go to be approved. Fifteen days was mentioned. Not sure if that was approval to notification or notification to payment.

Please try to relax. Nvlsp may be getting ready to verify the earliest possible effective date for you. Or since you have been denied for so long, and not recognized as Nehmer there may be a complaint filed for you. The good thing about a complaint is that there are dates and deadlines that I did not expect. I thought a complaint would only get recognition as a nehmer survivor and the wait on the VA would begin again. The first deadline is 90 -120 days to see if VA agrees. Then 30 days to pay. After almost 19 years, deadlines sound good. I wish you good luck on a speedy decision.

Have you checked records similar to a DD-214? A DAV rep pointed out years ago that my deceased husband from Vietnam era had medals awarded, but not received. Could he have had awards before being a POW? I am guessing that you might mean WWII instead of WWI.

Very happy to see your good news Carlie!! Well done!!

I recently ordered my deceased father's records just for family and genealogy reasons. I received a letter stating that there were a "few" records. In my case, there was a charge of $60.00 because of the special way needed to handle the records to be copied and mailed to me. Fire damage and mold require special handling. But, in yours and your Dad's case there is a claim to be filed and there should be no cost. The copied pages showed to be charred around the edges. Most information was easily found on each page. My Dad was WWII Army Air Corps discharged in 1946. Some of the copies were of cards that tracked where the duty was. (morning report locator cards.) The cards reminded me of IBM punch cards. I just now looked that up online and there is a history and pic of the card similar to what was in his service records. Did your father get a copy of his DD214? Those are usually filed upon discharge by the veteran where they live with county records. Good luck to you both.

The age was one requirement not met. I was 43 at the time. Full time employed. No children. Because of the loss of his social security, they would not even acknowledge the heart condition and expectted repayment of three or four months that they "overpaid" him. We thought that the checks would stop. But, when the checks continued we thought that the heart ailments were the reason. Then four months later they demanded repayment for their "error". I always felt that he was caught between SS and VA with neither wanting to award him a benefit, except for treatment at the VA clinics and hospital. He got a waiver for the SS repayment, so they did not pay the death benefit either. I got two more waivers after he died. The last time that I called Social Security several years ago, I was told to keep requesting waivers.

That could be what happened. The County VSO may have filed for a death pension first and then submitted the DIC app later. I am pretty sure that I never submitted SSA forms to VA. He drew Social Security for a very short time, but that was cut off several years prior to his death. His SSA was cut off when alot of veterans Social Security was cut out. His SSA attorney was working on his case and the day that Don was buried, I got a call and she gave her condolences and stated that "This should get it." But,even death made no difference. This attorney had gotten the SSA for him the first time. I hope there is something in the files that will cover that first year. I made a copy of the form names listed and will watch to see if I come across anything I might have in storage.

No, it was not a new letter about DIC and evidence. It was my application for DIC and the rating etc from 2001. I applied in 2000 and the copy of my DIC application has 2001 and it appears the date was changed on it. Probably when I returned in 2001 to keep my app open and was sent away. Just hope it does not knock me out of a year of DIC. There may be enough other information in the C-file that will protect that year. You may remember my posts earlier in the year about how I am not allowed to have the C-file, because I remarried. Believe me, I have tried several ways to obtain what they have now. FOIA with NVLSP got it for NVLSP. Later on, I will be able to get the files. So, I had no idea whether the C-file actually contained an application for DIC. Berta wrote: Even at zero percent, that rating decision makes the claim fall under Nehmer for a potential accrued and staged IHD rating- as long as the "heart condition" was IHD. Yes, his heart condition was IHD and he had a Triple bypass in 1995. First diagnosis probably began with angina several years before the bypass. Several Angina diagnosises are on the list in the NVLSP VA training guide. The death Cert also verifies he had IHD. Chuck, It is good to know that the VA will try to finally get around to actually adjudicate the claims. I was really surprised at the deadlines that they were given. I will advise my friend to check back with NVLSP. A couple of months ago, she was told to try to be patient. At this point, checking every few months should be advisable. It is also good to know that VA addressed other "implied" issues. I hoped that the VA would be required to do that. Thank you Both for keeping us informed and for helping.

Thank you Berta. I hope you hear something soon also. Yes,Don was denied several times. There was a DIC rating in the C-file also and it was denied. It may not make a difference, but I am positive that the date had been changed on the DIC application. I had wondered if the County VSO filed for me at all. It appears he did, but it may have been a year later. I know that I went there to file within days of the death. I was told to check back within a year. I went through a driving rain storm on my lunch break, only to be asked why I was there. I told him that he told me to keep my claim open. He told me that he didn't tell me that. So, I left. It may not be necessary, but I will get a handwriting analysis if it comes to that. The date is very obviously different from other numbers that he wrote. I think he patched it up or someone did and filed it when he saw that I showed up within a year. I even looked up the date to see if it fell on a Sunday in hopes that it would catch them. Now, I see where VA has denied me for DIC, because I didn't answer with evidence proving Don had heart problems in Viet Nam at the age of 18 and 19 yrs old. It states that they called me three times and no answer. I know that they did not call three times ever for that reason. I had an answering machine and paid attention to who called. They did call to tell me that my husband had two volumes of a C-file and they could only find one volume. It was Waco and that explains that. At the BVA hearing, Don wondered why he could only get a few pages when the Washingon DC hearing judge had a huge file on Don. That part about only getting a few pages was on his BVA appeal to start with. He did get service connected at zero per cent for a heart condition that he linked to ptsd or agent orange Nehmer. The rating conceded to AO, but at the time AO did not cause it. Yet VA did not put his name or mine on a Nehmer List. On Ptsd they non service connected him at 30%. They called it Dysthymic Disorder and treated him for ptsd.

I tried Google and came up with several possibilities. One was small unit riverine craft ( SURC) is rigid-hull, armed and armored patrol boat used by the U.S. Marines and U.S. Navy to maintain control of rivers and inland... One was a connection to Iphone. Another had that SURC stood for surcharge. These were all that I looked at. There may be other definitions for SURC.

For the third or fourth time this year I recently got the standard first letter "VA received your application" and "don't contact us, VA will contact you". I was happy to at least hear from VA. This week I got a letter from NVLSP notifying me that the Nehmer complaint was made for IHD Service Connection for my deceased husband and DIC. No mention of Nehmer from VA yet. The letter states that VA has about three months to decide if VA agrees and if they do, then VA has thirty days to pay. I hope it works that way!! I had been told that VA had a time limit to begin readjudicating the claim and I just thought it would fall back to normal processing as usual. I was happy to see dates and time limits. My friend who filed the same day in a similar situation over a year ago is still waiting. Her claim was recognized as Nehmer a year ago and all her evidence was in and VCAA filed in January or February.

I am very happy for you and your family!!! I sense the joy and relief. That is good news!!

My condolences to family and friends. Thank you to Zen Archer for all he did for veterans.