Gaijin J

bluevet, You, broncovet, USMC_VET, JR Reihs ,and Berta were my inspirations to write to them. Thank you all for the support and suggestions.... I looked in e-benefits and stated that the claim is pending notification. Can't wait to see if it adds up to the amount that I have calculated.... lol (probably not). But my hopes are high.

well..... as an update... I wanted to let you know that I threw a Hail Mary. I rewrote the 2 emails and sent the new combined one to every RO in the country, every congressman I could find on the internet and finally got an answer. The RO for Houston Texas wrote me and said that he worked my case and I should Receive the Retro Payment in the next 3-4 days... I guess when we are about to give up all hope, a glimmer of hope shines through... I will post again if it does in fact hit my account. Thank you all for the support.

BlueVet, My Complaint to the OIG is below.... I just sent it off..... Wondering if they will even look into it... LMAO Names were changed to protect the innocent... ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Your form has been submitted to the OIG Hotline. You may wish to print a copy of this page for your records. First Name: GAIJIN Last Name: J Title: Mr Address: PSC 80 Box XXXXX City: APO State: AP Zip: 96367-0100 Telephone: 818-XXX-XXXX Email: xxxxxxxxx@gmail.com VA facility or office involved: Pittsburgh or Waco - I live over seas so I am not sure.... but I file through Pittsburgh Names of wrongdoers: Unknown Names of victims: Gaijin J Alleged legal or policy violation(s) or other misconduct: Lost Retroactive Payment for Compensation Effect of the wrongdoing, such as dollars lost, delay produced, etc.: Several Thousand Dollars Date(s) when the event(s) occurred: Jun 3 (letter Dated) Jun 12 (letter received) June ~ (Called service center) June 23 (IRIS) Incident: 150623-000021 June 24 (IRIS Reply) Incident: 150623-000021 July ~ (Called Service center) July 22 (IRIS) Incident: 150722-000018 Aug 17 (Called Service center) Aug 25 (IRIS) Incident: 150825-000019 Sept 9 (e-mail to Allison Hickey) Sept 17 ( Email to OIG) Names of witnesses: Have e-mail conformation on everything except the phone calls. Has this allegation been previously reviewed?: No Have you contacted the VA OIG about this issue before?: No Additional Comments: Sir/ Ma'am, I do not know if contacting you is the right thing to do, but I want to resolve an issue that has been lingering for a long time. I have requested information to assist me in fixing this issue, but was told in one of my phone calls that they did not even know whom to contact. I continue to ask but no one has an answer and this to me means that there are several thousand dollars that is owed to me and no one knows where it is... My years of service were 1998-2004 then 2004-2009 ( got out for half a year) when, I was medically retired from the Marine Corps. At that time I could not walk or balance very well, and my memory was very mixed up. It was a time that I needed the most assistance and no one was there to help. But, I did not give up and kept doing all I could. My ex-wife took my son back to Japan and said that if I wanted to see him, I would have to go there as well and pay child support at $600... I did not want to leave him and believe that being part of his life goes far beyond the help I could have gotten in the states. In doing this though it put me in a place that does not have any V.A. assistance. Which means that I had to live with chronic pain and no medicine to match the level of pain I was going through. Also I could not get a job very easily, In Japan the spouses of active duty service members have precedence over that of disabled Vets. Not that any of this is any thing you really need to know, I just want you to have some background. So, without a real job to pay the rent and Child support, I had to do my best to balance the $900 I was receiving from the Marine Corps. This meant that I could only pay child support 1 time every 3 months and still have enough to buy some food and pay rent. Finally, I found a Veteran that bent over backwards to assist me. At that time we started the Claim because he had internet and I could not afford it... He printed all the needed documents and let me use his internet to research and use his phone to call. Several months after we initiated the claim, the V.A. began to give me my original rating from 2004 and took the retirement pay ( I understand why and do not worry about this). This made the money I was receiving increase to $1,100 a month ( That was the first time in a few years that I could buy meat). Then a few years later the V.A. assisted me again by Rating me to 100% service connected after my second time being in the Marine Corps. I was then able to pay the bills easier and start getting caught up on bills that accumulated over the time that I did not have a way to pay them. However, the V.A. proposed to find me incompetent, but until they made a decision to rate me competent; I would continue to receive the normal payments... However my retroactive pay would not be paid unless I was found competent....I then gathered all evidence from hospitals and took classes losing days at work to prove my competence. About a year later, I received a letter from the V.A. stating that I have been found "Competent" and would continue to receive my regular payments. So, I called the V.A call center and was informed that they did not see anything in the system for the retro pay but, usually it takes between 10-45days to process... I waited about 30days and called again... and got the same answer. I also wrote to IRIS where I was informed of the same. After the 45days had passed and still nothing came from the V.A. in the way of Letter/phone/check/direct deposit, I wrote IRIS again.... and received no reply... a week later I called the service center and they again said that it takes 10-45 days and this time the Customer service representative stated that indeed the V.A. owes me a rather large retroactive payment. I then waited a few days and decided I want to have that in writing so, I Wrote IRIS again.... and again, no reply.... I am not sure if the V.A. was hoping for me to be more incompetent and forget about the retroactive pay but, I have not. I served our country 2 separate times Honorably and became disabled permanently after the second time. This being said, I am at a loss as to who can actually help me in retrieving it, as I am starting to question the competency of the Veterans Affairs administration. I was judged on an answer given in a screening that was misinterpreted (Q: Do you pay your own bills? A: I live in Japan, So I work long hours, thus I give the money to my wife and she pays the bills while I am at work) And because I answered that way the made me prove my worth and competency. However the same organization that questioned my competency, is failing to pay money owed or even know how to file for it; within their own organization. I still have bills that I am repaying with rather large balances from the years of living on virtually no money and having a lot of disabilities. I have been counting on this payment so that I can finally pay it all off and balance my life again. Can you please tell me what I should do, who to contact, and what is the next step I should take. Very Respectfully, Gaijin J USMC 98-04 and 04-09 *********** 100% Service Connected

I checked every month back to 2011, and all the monthly payments are there for the entire time. But there is nothing on the Retro... It also showed the add of dependents but no retro from that.... However it did show my Post 9/11 money for school. If they did give it to a fiduciary without contacting me, how can I find out? and how do I get it back...?

I checked the E-benefits but it only shows the monthly payments.... There is nothing in regards to the retro pay..... I am thinking that I will call and bother them again tonight.... maybe they will have some kind of answer for me....

bluevet, Yes, I have a US number that I had to purchase from majicJack to fight being found incompetent and it was included in the letter. I gave them the e-mail address, Japanese phone number, American number for contact. Just to ensure they could verify it was me writing I also included identification information such as exact years of service, Physical address, full name and last four of my SSN. broncovet, I don't think a fiduciary was appointed. When my original claim came back it stated that the VA was proposing to find me incompetent. Also within the same package as a list of fiduciary organizations, saying that I need to pick the one that I would like to handle my compensation funds. -I refused to pick one, but instead called them and told them that I am going to fight this. I then began to take all of the test to prove competency and even took classes related to financial management. Berta, As far as the foreign medical program, I had to request all of that information. However, I get most of my care on base. The FMP is only good for reimbursement and hospitals refuse to work with them because the payments are so late. Furthermore, the phone number they provided for the Japan line does not even work, unless you have a land line to call from (which is very expensive). So, from my cell phone I can not even contact them to ask questions on how to file for reimbursement. Just to let you know why they proposed to find me incompetent was because of one of my answers to the psychologist in conjunction with my TBI@70% and PTSD@70%. They asked if "Do you pay your own bills..." I half seriously/ half Joking stated that "Its my job to make the money and the wife takes care of spending it...". I guess they did not like my Joke. I did not know that they meant do I have the ability to pay my bills... I assumed they wanted the truth which at the time of the exam was that I worked too much to even think about going to pay bills... My schedule was For my main Job: 7am - 10pm Monday-Saturday and 12am-3am part time at a bar Monday-Saturday. Thus it was not physically possible for me to pay in person. And the work schedule was explained to the psychologist..... I think it is kind of funny that they were trying to propose me as incompetent based on the answer to one question and the whole time I was just wishing there was really someone "competent" at the V.A whom could or would be willing to help me... But that may be too much to ask. Again, Thank you all for the advice. I know that all of you have experiences with the VA that; as you provide it to Vets, helps to guide them down the right path. Also, your true concern with helping me is an inspiration for me to keep fighting.

As you Know, I have written a letter to Allison Hickey as advised..... But still have not received any type of acknowledgement that the e-mail was received. I hate being in Japan, when it comes to making anyone listen to me. I wish there was a regional office that I could at least lodge a formal complaint in person...... lol Anyway, I for the Vets assisting me with the advisement on this situation, I appreciate it. As this continues to linger on I will let you know of any changes...

I took the advice you have given and sent a e-mail to Allison Hickey but also, CC'ed the Regional Director, and my congressman. I am tired of the lies that are feed to us regularly. And recently, they do not even reply to me when I write to IRIS. So, I informed her of that as well. I did want to say Thank you all for the advice. I will let you know if she replies or anything comes of this... Thank you

I have used this as well.... The person was not able to help with anything I was going through, but just knowing there is someone to listen; gave me another day... We don't always know what we will do when depression takes over, and for people like me with head injuries it is more of a challenge then most. I tend to bounce from one emotion to another in a brief second. I do not plan for it and do not like when it happens.... but, When I did have a change in emotion... especially with the stress the V.A gave me ..... I was doing all I could to stay alive but wanting it all to end.... the kind and gentle voice of reason on the Crisis line helped more than I can explain on this site.... When you are in need, please make a call to them or visit the site listed above... Respectfully, Gaijin J

I was proposed to be incompetent, so I presented all the evidence possible to convince the V.A. that although my injuries are extensive; I am competent. I waited for about 1 1/2 years for the V.A. to decide that I am in fact able to handle may own affairs and rate me "competent". According to the letter I am rated as competent and I shall continue to receive my full payment. However, I have not received any back payment or retroactive payment. When I called the Hot Line they told me that it will take between 10-45days to process. It is now 97days later and I still have not seen any action taken by the V.A.. As I continue to call them, they state that I do rate a large sum for my retroactive pay but, no one knows who to contact. I am at a loss. I don't know who to contact to get this moving or why it is taking them so long. Does anyone have experience with this.....? I really just want to pay the bills that stacked up while I could not work and had no way of paying..... I am not trying to build a savings account. Please anyone advise.