SLEDGE

Carlie, In line six it says, "should not". Those 2 words, well actually just the word "should", effectively nullifies the whole thing. Very few people can be subjected to daily abuse without it effecting them. The fact that '§ 4.23 Attitude of rating officers' even exits tells me something bad about the whole system. Pi--ed off people are usually pi--ed off for a reason. Satisfied clients will never come back to haunt you. sledge

The free ride service provided by the DAV brings in around 200,000 per year, per vehicle. The vehicles are donated and the travel pay of the riders goes to the DAV. Paid by the VA to carry vets around?? That's Federal Funding at it's greatest, a true golden goose. sledge

My third fusion surgery was to repair a fusion, one out of four, that did not take the first time. Let's see, 60,000 bucks a pop, times 3, equals a very expensive neck. But I protected the government's interests by having it all done in the private sector. Infection is usually the biggest concern because of where it can take hold. The stabilizing stuff that the surgeon leaves inside the body is usually there for life and does not need anymore procedures done to it. The construction with the wires, rods, screws, bolts and implants are natural or manmade materials that the immune system doesn't care about. The healing time is kinda lengthy but the overall fix is for life. Where will it be done? Which facility? sledge

Do you collect the travel pay if the C&P listed in your records never actually took place? sledge

I'll try to go with the flow. I would appreciate knowing what elected official wants to know this information so I may contact that person by way of email or whatever they prefer. On the surface this seems to be a worthwhile survey. On the other hand, "no brainer" also seems to be appropiate. I have several long war stories that cover 'How to Become Unemployed' by virtue of having served. I just don't want to wear out my typing finger on another 'Do Nothing' hidden agenda. sledge

60 percent improved their benefits ??? I would look for that percentage to reverse itself. sledge

Waiting for something to happen? Less than a month. Waiting for a decision that addresses all of the evidence, without screwing it up, thirty-one years. sledge

Hadit does not like politics. This thread was started by a person who has 'ONLY' political motives. I'm done. sledge

Somebody might have argued that a troop with PTSD would not have been out of place in a hostile zone. That being said, wouldn't he have been diagnosed after the fact. How do you tell if PTSD exists until somebody has been among the regular folks for awhile? They might say Hypervigilance will keep you alive in an unpleasant situation but it won't look like PTSD until after the guy gets back and tries to fit back into civilian life. Going awol while under orders to deploy is not the standard way that PTSD is diagnosed or really even suspected. This is confusing to me. sledge

I don't think the new ways of treating our PTSD Bear witness to the fact that we are actually and really hard-wired by the length of time that we got nothing. The last PTSD therapist that I had stated that the VA itself is a bigger problem for the PTSD vets than the experiences which caused the PTSD. Treating us like we are just drug seekers or lazy bums does more to cement the brain patterns than the long past experiences. CBT ain't worth spit after 30 or 50 years of the lack of treatment at the VA. First the VA has to apologize and admit to themselves and us that they have wronged us for a long friggin time. The first reaction of a VA puddin-head is to call security instead of listening to the problem and then taking action on the problem. Instead of writing down the problems I see things like "the veteran is not happy with the VA system". Or they write down something about what we looked like. When I'm in pain they write down that I was slouching and something about effect. Then they add that I was seeking drugs without mentioning the thing about pain. They can't talk me out of PTSD anymore than talk me out of pain. sledge

Stretch, Whatever you're on, can I get some? sledge

My 170% combined disabilities are 90 percent by VA math. sledge

I agree, his lawyer just wants to be rid of him. PTSD should get him into a treatment program within the miltary, not a discharge of any kind. Fire the lawyer and then fight for what's right. PTSD almost got me thrown into jail during and after my service. sledge

Well, let's see if I have uploading figured out. The truck is the wreck that I started with in order to build my dream toy. sledge

I received a sorta SSOC from the BVA. In it they declared that TDIU was not considered because TDIU has already been assigned. The problem is: The Board was discussing an assignment of TDIU that was dated in 2002 compared to the instant claim dated 1993. TDIU is not being considered for the 1993 award because it was assigned in 2002. This mailing was for information only and not an assignment of benefits. Does that make sense to anyone? sledge

The Primary Care Doctor, that I gladly left for another, once told me that the VA satellite clinic keeps records for a certain number of years and then DESTROYS THEM. When I requested my records I received nothing per my written request. I used their forms and my own written request that I typed out and signed. That was over 10 years ago and I actually gave up after 3 years and getting attitude from the records clerk. Apply for copies as soon as possible for they may never come. sledge

Yes, That's number 8. Back when I was better able to do such things my buddies and I had put together some pretty radical machines. 2 Chevy pick-ups, 2 Chevy Novas, 3 Ford Pintos and now one Caprice. I used to build these things in weeks. The Caprice assembly is going on 8 months now and may take over a year before I reach a point where I can stop and look back and admire my creation. Finding and acquireing and paying for new parts has taken over 3 years, mostly because of my limited budget and poor health. I was going to use a Toronado but the availability of parts for that body really sucks. I lost a lot of equipment back in the 80's and 90's due to unemployment and a bankruptcy so I'm into time consuming scrounging and borrowing. Until this beast is street legal I have to be content just peeling out in the parking lot, which it's purty good at. I have been acquainted with people that believe anything other than a factory stock restoration is a sin against God and man. Fortunately, I'm a little more open-minded than they are. I like to play. In the early 80's my toys had to double as transportation and I found that driving this kind of thing around is much better than trailering to the next show or race. Now I'm trying to strike a balance between horsepower and fuel economy so I can afford to drive it. In the meantime my old pick-up needs more parts thrown at it which will really slow down everything else that I might want to do. The shifting weather really affects my arthritis so I'm down to a couple of hours per week building time. But, as long as I can do anything, I will. I'll get a picture of me in the cockpit sometime soon so ya'll can see how ugly I am. sledge

Well troops, I figured out what's wrong with this puppy. I have always used a browser other than Microsoft. I guess vista ain't capatible unless ya use MSN. I'm going to back out and reload to test the hypothesis. sledge

Let's see if this works.

Screwing up the copying process is standard procedure for the VA. You may have noticed that medical records have dates on them, a practice that enables us to chronologically place each piece of paper where it belongs in regard to our medical history. When I received my first copy of my C-file there were no dates on anything. Can you accomplish that without trying? I figure it must have taken several days to white-out that much stuff. When I brought this discrepancy to the attention of a higher authority his remark was simple and rather plain. He said; "So what". I don't call that a conspiracy, I call it a deliberate action designed to illegally withhold my earned benefits, aimed at myself specifically, not veterans in general which would be a conspiracy. The last 6 times that I officially requested records, in person, from a VAMC I got nothing. The last time this happened I returned to the VAMC to straighten this crap out and they called security to escort me out of the building. And I was being extremely civil. In response to that head-on collision I called the records clerk from home and I got attitude (And No Records). My lawyer has taken care of this crap since then. sledge

"They would rather you blow your brains out than "abuse" a pain med. " Well, that would explain why they are always asking me if I am suicidal. They will not prescribe anything for pain in my case. I have some serious spinal pain issues. sledge

"When we request a copy of our C-file, who goes thru and removes all the internal memo's? What happens to them?" In my case, I did not even suspect that the RO jerks were capable of such biased and illegal activities. Obviously, the person who should have cleaned up my file, before the process of copying, was gone that day. I do not have a clue as to where that stuff goes when they pull it out. They told one another to deny my claims because I had not shown up for my hearing. Later they discovered that the hearing was NEVER SCHEDULED and was NEVER RESCHEDULED. They also privately said to deny my claims because I had not shown up for a C&P. They later discovered that the exam had been canceled by the examining facility, in a letter to me, and NEVER RESCHEDULED. They also said to deny my claims because I had missed my requested C&P. Later they discovered that I had shown up but the examiner had been told to examine me on another date. And the exam was NEVER RESCHEDULED. I forgot to throw away the written notices, those one page notices, that the jerks had sent to me and I'm sure my lawyer chuckled about it for 3 days. Their latest trick was to write up 2 more C&P exams that I never knew about and could not have attended. The evidence from these 2 exams is not as negative as it could have been but, once again, my lawyer will get a good laugh outa their BS. In their latest stuff they are acknowledging some evidence from the late 80's and early 90's, medical evidence that they have never implied using before now. Stuff that I sent in to support my contentions in place of their C&P's that NEVER HAPPENED. They've had some of that evidence for 21 years and would have had to admit that it was received in order to rebut it. Well, I've been saying for years that the claims process was just fine as long as the VA jerks would actually follow their own rules. They don't need to reinvent the process because they have yet to experience the adjudication process as it was originally mandated by congress. I believe we should see how it works 'without the bonus system' before trying to fix it. If a bonus system has to exist I believe that the bonuses should be determined by the clients of the system, not the administrators of the system. But everybody knows how crazy sledge is. sledge

"wouldn't the SC date be the date of injury?" No. The service connection date is when the VA says that a service connection exists. The injury could predate the decision to service connect the injury, by the VA, by decades. Service connection is an 'after the fact determination' made by the Department of Veteran's Affairs, a Federal Agency, and has nothing to do with the actual date that a service connected injury occurred while serving your country. Apples and oranges. You can't learn anything if you don't ask. Tbird set this up so we could all work together to educate each other. Welcome home. sledge

I've never seen a VCAA letter. I used a highlighter and sticky-notes to show the RO where the mistakes were made. Then they screwed-up and included their internal memos in with the records that I had requested. From one RO employee to the next they had written, deny this Vets claim, he only knows how to mark up the SSOC with a highlighter and who told this guy to use notes? That was only one of several different internal denial statements that I was obviously not supposed to see. Their internal notes were instrumental in helping me to land a pro-bono lawyer in 2000. Their internal memos also gave me the attitude which paved the way to fighting the jerks until the day that I die or they do. Except for a few notable exceptions, the people who process our claims think of us as something that got stuck on their shoe while walking through a cow pasture. We are fraudulent bums and drug seekers until proven differently. They do not see us as the reason that they have a job. They see us as the reason that the advancement in their occupation gets put on hold. They love it when a disabled vet stops fighting for his rights and earned benefits. That's the same as settling a claim and reducing the backlog without using any of the governments resources, in their sociopathic little minds. IMO, The government's resources are being severely wasted by VA employees who pad the payroll by requiring more and more VA employees to handle/work our mishandled and continuing claims. I would love to see somebody/anybody prove me wrong. Just my opinion based upon facts. sledge

Pete, How do you get free stuff like that? You sometimes don't know if you need it until you run it and the PC speeds up. sledge