Wordsmyth

Thank you for your response. You gave me a lot to look into. Just to be clear, I entered military service in 1985, was medically retired in 1988, was diagnosed with PTSD years later (maybe 2000), but wasn't diagnosed with ASD until approximately 2013. In other words, I served not knowing I was doing so with PTSN, autism, and other "co-morbidities". I don't know if that makes a difference in how it is reported or not.

A bit of a convoluted question: If a veteran's PTSD was not initially caused by combat, but rather, for example, decades of mental and emotional abuse beginning in childhood, and that veteran also lived with Autism Spectrum Disorder, and the stresses of military service made this PTSD much worse, would that veteran be able to claim his PTSD as secondarily Service Connected?

I have no idea what you call this, so please bear with me while I explain. Many receipt printers use paper that reacts to an electrified stylus, leaving the information behind. Little did we know, this process produces an airborne by-product, albeit in miniscule amounts. Now, imagine a printer 2-feet wide, running 24/7, constantly giving off this residue. Then imagine an array with dozens of these printers. Now the levels of this by-product starts to become significant. Again, imagine a watchfloor containing dozens of these arrays, all running continuously, manned by a team of humans, all breathing in this residue. We OTAs called it The Creeping Crud because it settled on everything; the equipment, our hands and faces, and more to the point, our respiratory systems. We'd blow our noses and see blackened mucus. We'd have a taste in our mouths that we couldn't irradicate. I even vomited a tarry substance once that tasted like an old, wet ashtray. After a while, I started getting blood clots in my legs. We were on our feet throughout our nine-hour shifts, so this phlebitis was not a result of inactivity. Making an already long story short, I had DVTs 4 times in 2 1/2 years, leaving me with severe post-phlebitic syndrome and a lifelong need for blood thinners. I was retired at 30% Disabled by the navy, though the VA only rated me at 10% for the post-phlebitic syndrome, even though any walking or standing results in a great deal of pain, problems with night cramps in the legs, and a host of other problems. Now for the question: Is this story familiar to anyone else? And if so, what did you call it? How did you submit the claim? Ok, that was 3 questions. I look forward to your input.