Lawyers

[Berta]

Has anyone approached any of your personal lawyers to see if they would be willing to handle veterans claims under the Lawyers for Vets regs? (they havent been posted yet)

I have a matter with my new lawyer and in the cover letter I asked him also if he would consider representing vets- my regular lawyer went to Florida- A Vietnam vet with 2 PHs but I had to help him with his VA claim so he probably could not have handled other vets claims-unless I helped him-

I dont know if my new lawyer is willing to do this- he will probably need a lot of help too ---from any claimant he represents-

and if he does this I sure will get him here at hadit for the nitty gritty-maybe even someone else in his firm would handle vet claims -dont know yet-they are still in process of moving to Bath NY from Penn Yan.

Lawyers dont deal with 38 USC much in law school and it all changes from year to year-

Have any of you found any lawyers that are even aware of this new law?

I mentioned in another post I was considering something to benefit a non profit vets org-

my money, along with their willingness to support some issues.

Of course the best of all is NVLSP. I havent donated to them in a long time.

But I also am considering maybe instead -a Class Action suit against VA due to violations of the VCAA-

I will pay all of the legal fees but I am more concerned about if my lawyer can help with that than even help wth my claim after June-

Have any of you found lawyers who would be willing on contingency to help prosecute your claims after June?

Things have changed so much with VA lately- the data theft, the Walter Reed fiasco, numerous other issues-that it seems to be the time is ripe for vets to do enough to make a difference.

And the Fed Register site alone offers anyone the right to comment on proposed VA regs-

a vet or widow is clicks away from having input into the way the VA does business as far as the regs go.

There are two proposed regs there now- and comment time is closing by May 12th I think-

[Josephine]

Berta,

We certainly didn't want it to appear that we were being dis-respectful to your husband.

If it appeared this way, I am deeply sorry.

I wish that I could bring your husband back to you and I would love for him to know of his benfits, but I firmly believe, that he does know and he knows how hard you have fought for him and continue to do so.

I appogize again, if it appeared that our comments were dis-respectful. I was just trying to spread a little sushine to Free and the death of her husband.

Always in my thoughts and Forever Grateful to you,

Josephine

[free_spirit_etc]

Well - maybe if the had to exhume the vets - at the spouse's request, to award them their benefits - they would find a way to process their claims before they die.

My husband's claim was supposed to be assigned to a supervisor - to expedite it -because of his terminal illness.

Can't say much for their expedited claims. He never even got a copy of his C-file he had requested in July /August - before he died in February.

Got a bunch of "we are working on it" letters

Free

[Berta]

OH Josephine- I did not take any of this at all as disrespect-

I regret that maybe you thought that ---

I just wish I could have called him up when his award letters came.

I did take them over to the grave to show him.

Free -that was so funny! yeah- can you trust them to put him back----

When I run into the VA cemetery guys- one is my neighbor up the road-if I havent been there in a while I always ask if Rod is still there-

And I always tell them make sure to put me on top of him when I croak because I have claustrophobia.

I have found that having a sense of humor is the main reason I have been able to even get close to accepting Rods death and he sure would want it that way-

he even said I should remarry if he died-

yeah right- there was no room on my SSA application for any more husbands-

I had quite a few-

[Berta]

(Gee- I asked the funeral director if I could have some of his ashes to scatter on the farm- well when he gave me some in a nice little package ---I have allergies and I opened it up and I sneezed-so some got scattered in the house-

then I went up to the horse pasture to scatter them but I live in a very high wind zone and I figured they would fall onto the local dairy pasture -so better not do that-

Rod did want them on the farm so I put some into my rose bed but then I noticed a critter had started to dig around the roses.

When the VA denied my claim in 1996 I sent them to the VA in support of my claim.

(I had VERY good cause for that)

The RO was horrified and they sent them back on the van to the local VAMC.

That created quite a broohaha.

I decided the best place of all was to put the in my bedroom and once in a while I look at them. Cremains are unusual looking.But I wear a dust mask so I dont sneeze again.

He was an organ donor and they used so much from him that there was not really a lot left to cremate.

I cannot begin to tell you all how much that means to me-

Eyes for 2 blind people, all long bones for cancer patients, and all of his skin for burn victims-

he had a lot of skin.

He is always alive in some form.

[Josephine]

Berta,

Thanks, I am lost for words on this post. I always leave this site with a smile on my face.

Josephine

[free_spirit_etc]

OMG -- That is just TOO funny - sending his ashes to the VA.

That is so nice that he could be an organ donor too. My husband couldn't donate his organs. The chemo and the infection kind of blew that. He sure would have liked to have given the gift of life though. He dontated LOTS of blood until he couldn't donate that any more.

I was looking at these memorial things online - and they have windchimes for ashes now. I thought --Dang! All that money I spent on the funeral - I could have stuck him in a windchime for $175. (I don't think he would have liked it there though -- lol).

I was married twice. I was divorced in 1983 - and got remarried in 2006. Kind of like Haley's Comet I guess. I spent so many years single -- but now it is hard. It is kind of odd. But then again, we were SO close for several years. Which in itself was odd - because we had both been so independent. We just fit together.

Free

(Gee- I asked the funeral director if I could have some of his ashes to scatter on the farm- well when he gave me some in a nice little package ---I have allergies and I opened it up and I sneezed-so some got scattered in the house-

then I went up to the horse pasture to scatter them but I live in a very high wind zone and I figured they would fall onto the local dairy pasture -so better not do that-

Rod did want them on the farm so I put some into my rose bed but then I noticed a critter had started to dig around the roses.

When the VA denied my claim in 1996 I sent them to the VA in support of my claim.

(I had VERY good cause for that)

The RO was horrified and they sent them back on the van to the local VAMC.

That created quite a broohaha.

I decided the best place of all was to put the in my bedroom and once in a while I look at them. Cremains are unusual looking.But I wear a dust mask so I dont sneeze again.

He was an organ donor and they used so much from him that there was not really a lot left to cremate.

I cannot begin to tell you all how much that means to me-

Eyes for 2 blind people, all long bones for cancer patients, and all of his skin for burn victims-

he had a lot of skin.

He is always alive in some form.