Johnny K.

I got rated by the DRO at 0% for my service connected PTSD. What is the next step? Thanks, Doc Johnny K.

I left a federal job on disability for a back injury/surgery. The agency I worked for had a high number of stress related workers' compensation claims. When I retired in 2005 the rule of thumb was that you would lose 2% of your full pension for each year of uncompleted service. So, five years early = 10% of the fully completed pension vestment. I payed into my retirement account for inclusion of my military service time and that allowed me to get a full pension from Office of Personnel Management without having to file an O.W.C.P. claim. Your friend might consider the O.W.C.P. claim if it would pay more than the regular pension minus 10%. Johnny K.

Berta, I have been accepted by VA for stressors and I guess what you said about my PTSD rising to a certain level is what the DRO will try to determine. Four weeks to go and I seem to get more "wound up" the more I write and think about it. I checked out the websites you shared and they are very helpful. If you think of anything else I need to know , please let me post it. Doc Johnny K.

TSSNAVE, I have never seen my c-file, so it might be quite large. The records clerk said the waiting list for a hard copy was very long and she suggested coming in to look at it by appointment at the VARO. I wonder what else it might contain, other than what I have provided to the VA over the years. Can you, or anyone, give me examples of c-file contents?I have provided a lot of unit records and incident reports and my private medical reports. What else do they put in there? Thanks for the comments and suggestions, Doc Johnny K.

I went to the VRO today and to the VAMC and requested a copy of my medical records (they will mail them to me) and the VRO had me make an appointment to come in and view my claim file. Th VRO representative said they are way behind on mailing out copies of claim files and it would be faster to view it at their office. They said they would send me an appointment date by mail. Is that the usual? Johnny K.

I just had a jumpy mouse finger and hit it twice . I will write to him and get him to send me a statement including his MOS, duty stations, etc. What other information would be helpful, since the incident was non-combat ? Doc Johnny K.

Berta, I have been in contact with a Marine who I carried out of an impact range at Camp Pendleton. He and a friend were blown up by dud ordnance. He was a patient I picked up as an EMT in 1975 but we were not in the same unit. He was in artillery in HQ 11th Marines and I was attached at the time to NavRegMedCtr CamPen. Could a letter from him benefit me at my DRO hearing for non-combat PTSD? He was unconcious when I picked him up and aside from keeping him alive, we share no other history. He got out of the Corps later because he lost an eye in the explosion. The other man died from his wounds. Thanks, Doc Johnny K.

Dear Berta, You are a treasure!! Thank you for the ideas about keeping folders and bringing along someone (my dear wife) to help me juggle it all. I am going to read the job description of the DRO. My Am Legion Rep says she is one who is quick to deny PTSD claims, but I will not know until it is over. Have you ever been to Saluda,Virginia? Doc Johnny K.

Rocky, We may have been 2/4 at the same time. I remember another corpsman we called "Rocky". Brown hair as I recall. Sorry to hear you're getting jerked around. I would like to hear from you and others about the results of getting your Congressman involved. My Am Legion Rep has advised against it. The Marines called me "Doc Holiday" because I was always so well prepared in the field. Johnny K.

Berta, I guess the good news for me the is that my regular Psychiatrist at the VA has concurred with the psychologists that I have PTSD and he put me in the Stress Treatment Program at VAMC. I guess I will need to take a copy of his notes with me to the DRO Conference/hearing? Doc Johnny K.

Thanks John. The fee-for service psychiatrist at my C&P gave me about ten minutes of his time and threw out all the prior evidence, or maybe never read my (3) private doctor's diagnoses, before his exam. It seems that even though I have all my stressors documented, I can lead the VA to my documentation but I can't make them read... I do not have the combat medic badge, but in the Navy the Corpsmen assigned to Marine Combat Units wear a Fleet Marine Force badge, and I have that. I sure do appreciate Hadit, with the encouragement I receive from other VETs and their family members, I'll see this thing through to the end. Doc Johnny K.

Hi Berta, Sorry I am so late responding to you! I was visiting with my step son and his wife. In answer to your questions about my service during the Vietnam war, I was assigned to the Third MARDIV in Okinawa from 1973 through 1975. I served as a platoon corpsman with Hotel Co 2/9, and Hotel Co 2/4 and spent some time also at the Battalion Aid Station of 2/4. Operation Eagle Pull was the evacuation of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and occurred two weeks before the fall of Saigon and the evacuation of our embassy in April, 1975. I rotated back to Camp Pendleton and was assigned to First MARDIV, BAS 2/5, and then sent TAD to the Naval Regional Medical Center as an E.M.T. at a branch dispensary at San Onofre area on the NW of the base. I am going to answer your questions one-by-one: I am astonished that the VA has not awarded you yet with the evidence you mentioned. So am I! Do they have all of that evidence? My Rep from the Florida State Dept of Vet Affairs/ American Legion says that VA has all of my recorded evidence, but I have not seen their file yet. Am I allowed to request a copy? How? Did they ever refer to it yet in any Statement of the Case? They referred only to my stressors during the period of Vietnam service but none of the major stressors from my stateside service as an E.M.T. after or an I.C.U. corpsman before overseas deployment. Have they attempted to rebutt those IMos with any VAola quackola medical opinions? Not really. The contract shrink (fee for service) who did my C&P eval only stated that he could not see the evidence of any hyper-vigilance or exagerated startle response. He did "concede" chronic depression related to my service, but could not diagnose me with PTSD. I do not believe he referred to my IMO's reports, and letters. I would certainly bring all of the above opinions to the DRO hearing and make sure they are fully considered- and are made part of the record---- My Rep at a DRO hearing- claimed he highlighted my IMOs -but the DRO record shows this never happened and that VA did not even have any IMos from me. I have a stack of records three inches deep and if my representative would return my phone messages I could start getting organized for the DRO hearing in September. I get worse symptoms as I dig through all the records and I hate to do the research that I have to do to prove my claim. Why does the VA make us keep paying the price for these horrors over and over? I hope the AL will sure show up for the hearing. She promised she would. When the VA has enough medical evidence to make an award -they should award- they should NOT do any doctor shopping to try to find a VA opinion against your claim. That is what my doctors counselors and PTSD group members keep telling me , but the counselor at the Florida "VET Center" also said that the psychiatrist at my C&P exam is recommending denials of all of her clients who have seen him for their evaluations. When MY rep called me before the DRO conference (it wasnt really a hearing) he said he was sure he would walk in with my IMos and walk out with an award. I dont know what he walked in with- my IMOs disappeared from that point for over 2 years-in spite of being re-sent by me many times-and he never gave them to the DRO. That is terrible. I have copies that I will take to the conference with me. I will look for the regs and post them here- that show that VA -with enough medical information to award (regardless of where it comes from-claimant or VA )is supposed to award. You have a preponderance of evidence - actually it is really too late for VA to doc shop- I agree. I sure hope the AL knows the regs in and out on this one. So do I and now I have five weeks to prepare. Thank you for supporting us all with good advise and your experience. I just finished reading a book by Lewis B. Piller, Jr. titled "Fortunate Son". I wish he were here to see how our young veterans are being treated. Doc Johnny K.

Thanks Pete, I hope that I have gotten a little better in the last few days at not posting any controversial content in the wrong forum! Don't pull the plug on me yet. This is the best place I have seen where Vets help Vets and we can keep others, hopefully, from having to get even more traumatized by cutting through the red tape maze. Johnny K.

Sorry to trigger you. My point in quoting that article was only to aggree with Berta about the "world" being different when we came home. You, of course are totally correct to disagree. Could you offer any suggestions about the topic of of this thread, PTSD, and dealing with the VA's DRO hearing that I am facing on 9/12. Certainly a person with your depth of insight could help me out. My apologies for your stepping personal views, Johnny K.

Dear Berta, I was assigned to 2/4 3MARDIV from 1973-1975. Re: Operation Eaglepull April 1975. Next stop, 2/5 1MARDIV CamPen USA 1975-1976. I was T.A.D. to NRMC Camp Pendleton as a member of perhaps the first Certified Emergency Medical Services in the military. We were given extra training at Tri-City Medical Center in Orange County , California, and Certified as California State E.M.T.'s Thanks, Corpsman JohnnyK

Dear Vike17, The claim has been denied so far based on the IMO's statement that I have not been "hypervigilant subsequent to my experiences as a Field Medical Service Technician". Of course he never asked me about hypervigilance during his 10 minute exam. Thanks, Johnny K.

Dear Berta, You are so right about coming back to "the world" I want to thank you for the service of you and your family. Like the bumper sticker says "All gave some; some gave All". You have certainly given your share, and then some. If you can think of any ways to get through to the DRO at my hearing, just email me... and I accept prayers, too! I thought you might appreciate this article that was in the local paper today. BY TED NUGENT Wednesday, July 4, 2007 12:01 a.m. EDT This summer marks the 40th anniversary of the so-called Summer of Love. Honest and intelligent people will remember it for what it really was: the Summer of Drugs. Forty years ago hordes of stoned, dirty, stinky hippies converged on San Francisco to "turn on, tune in, and drop out," which was the calling card of LSD proponent Timothy Leary. Turned off by the work ethic and productive American Dream values of their parents, hippies instead opted for a cowardly, irresponsible lifestyle of random sex, life-destroying drugs and mostly soulless rock music that flourished in San Francisco. The Summer of Drugs climaxed with the Monterey Pop Festival which included some truly virtuoso musical talents such as Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin, both of whom would be dead a couple of years later due to drug abuse. Other musical geniuses such as Jim Morrison and Mama Cass would also be dead due to drugs within a few short years. The bodies of chemical-infested, brain-dead liberal deniers continue to stack up like cordwood. As a diehard musician, I terribly miss these very talented people who squandered God's gifts in favor of poison and the joke of hipness. I often wonder what musical peaks they could have climbed had they not gagged to death on their own vomit. Their choice of dope over quality of life, musical talent and meaningful relationships with loved ones can only be categorized as despicably selfish. I literally had to step over stoned, drooling fans, band mates, concert promoters and staff to pursue my musical American Dream throughout the 1960s and 1970s. I flushed more dope and cocaine down backstage toilets than I care to remember. In utter frustration I was even forced to punch my way through violent dopers on occasion. So much for peace and love. The DEA should make me an honorary officer. I was forced to fire band members and business associates due to mindless, dangerous, illegal drug use. Clean and sober for 59 years, I am still rocking my brains out and approaching my 6,000th concert. Clean and sober is the real party. Young people make mistakes. I've made my share, but none that involved placing my life or the lives of others at risk because of dope. I saw first-hand too many destroyed lives and wrecked families to ever want to drool and vomit on myself and call that a good time. I put my heart and soul into creating the best music I possibly could and I went hunting instead. My dream continues with ferocity, thank you. The 1960s, a generation that wanted to hold hands, give peace a chance, smoke dope and change the world, changed it all right: for the worse. America is still suffering the horrible consequences of hippies who thought utopia could be found in joints and intentional disconnect. A quick study of social statistics before and after the 1960s is quite telling. The rising rates of divorce, high school drop outs, drug use, abortion, sexual diseases and crime, not to mention the exponential expansion of government and taxes, is dramatic. The "if it feels good, do it" lifestyle born of the 1960s has proved to be destructive and deadly. So now, 40 years later, there are actually people who want to celebrate the anniversary of the Summer of Drugs. Hippies are once again descending on ultra-liberal San Francisco--a city that once wanted to give shopping carts to the homeless--to celebrate and try to remember their dopey days of youth when so many of their musical heroes and friends long ago assumed room temperature by "partying" themselves to death. Nice. While I salute and commend the political and cultural activism of the 1960s that fueled the civil rights movement, other than that, the decade is barren of any positive cultural or social impact. Honest people will remember 1967 for what is truly was. There is a saying that if you can remember the 1960s, you were not there. I was there and remember the decade in vivid, ugly detail. I remember its toxic underbelly excess because I was caught in the vortex of the music revolution that was sweeping the country, and because my radar was fine-tuned thanks to a clean and sober lifestyle. Death due to drugs and the social carnage heaped upon America by hippies is nothing to celebrate. That is a fool's game, but it is quite apparent some burned-out hippies never learn. (Copyright 2007, Wall Street Journal)

Thanks for welcome and the replies, you give me some hope of eventually getting service connected. I worked surgical ICU at Long Beach Naval Hospital and treated many returning vets with burns, amputations, and much more. Then I went to Vietnam and saw the other end of the cycle. Then saw plenty of car, motorcycle wrecks after getting back to the world. Only two marriages, and the second one is neverending . I only work part time, doing very simple tasks and working mostly alone. I had a job for 28 tears that gave me an option of moving from one station to another when things got rough. I managed to fly under the radar with a lot of fights, arguments, substance abuse etc. and all that is now in my past since I get the meds I need to function. Still have some really hard times but I keep on trying. You're all right, JOHNNY HM2 FMST/8404

There is no military medical record to support my claim, only the facts of traumas which I was in contact with as a Corpsman which I can correlate to my service records. I have found those through the help a Navy Historian in D.C. Aside from those I am depending on the opinions of the doctors I've seen since my original discharge in 1976.

I saw a "contract" Psychiatrist at VAMC C&P hearing for a non-combat PTSD Claim. He denied service connection but conceded my PTSD. I was a Navy Hospital Corpsman attached to the 3rd MARDIV during Vietnam and was an Emergency Medical Technician at USMC Base, Camp Pendleton, after rotating home, for a period of about two years. VA has accepted my stressors but has denied my claim. I just received notification for a DRO hearing on September, 12, 2007. I have a representative from American Legion who is helping me and will accompany me to hearings. I have four private Doctor opinions and one VA Staff Psychiatrist opinion which support my claim, and I attend VA group meetings twice a month for PTSD. Please give me your opinions on what I can expect at the hearingand what else I can provide the DRO besides all of the records which I mentioned above. Thanks, and Welcome Home!

I saw a "contract" Psychiatrist at VAMC C&P hearing for a non-combat PTSD Claim. He denied service connection but conceded my PTSD. I was a Navy Hospital Corpsman attached to the 3rd MARDIV during Vietnam and was an Emergency Medical Technician at USMC Base, Camp Pendleton, after rotating home, for a period of about two years. VA has accepted my stressors but has denied my claim. I just received notification for a DRO hearing on September, 12, 2007. I have a representative from American Legion who is helping me and will accompany me to hearings. I have four private Doctor opinions and one VA Staff Psychiatrist opinion which support my claim, and I attend VA group meetings twice a month for PTSD. Please give me your opinions on what I can expect at the hearingand what else I can provide the DRO besides all of the records which I mentioned above. Thanks, and Welcome Home!