Osla

Howdy--so sorry to hear about this. I wish I had time to post more but I'm under a VA deadline myself :-) Most importantly, never give up those x-rays. You can bring them with you to let people look at them and take them back with you. I never leave my old school x-rays with anyone once I get my hands on them. New x-rays are not such a big deal now because they're digitized, but yours won't fall into that category. You can always make copies of the paper reports to hand out like candy. That nurse did you a big favor. I was in the USMC from 1985-89. My MEPS paperwork says "mild pes planus." My brother was in from 1987-89. He had/has serious flat feet. He needed a waiver. He got one by challenging someone at MEPS to a race in the parking lot. It's most definitely something they look for in a recruit, so if your feet were stamped A-OK at MEPS, they were A-OK. You have the evidence you need to challenge the VA. I would highly recommend that you go see a Veterans Service Officer (VSO). They can guide you every step of the way and answer all your questions and they do it for free. Google Veterans Service Officer for whatever town you are in. VSOs do this for a living. They know the ins and outs so you don't have to figure out all the details. They can also help you figure out the secondary conditions that might be caused by the flat feet and other issues. It sounds like you got a bad deal and they cut you loose when they should have treated you. Those issues--flat feet, stress fractures, neuropathy--can all cause more problems down the road if they are never treated. FYI, a website I have found very helpful is Military Disability Made Easy. Again, I'm really sorry to hear about your problems. Semper Fi--Osla