To Berta

[ertle]

dear berta this is my first post so here goes i just made contact with my company co. today an he states that he will help me with a buddy letter. i was on a field excersize in canada while on police call on a firing range a dud blew up on us i was not hurt at the time but a man beside me was struck by fragments very badly i wont go into the details but he was taken out by a chopper.i have no ideal how to tell my co what to write that will best help my claim i now am awaiting a hearing as we speak.sorry its so long but thanks for your time

ertle.

[ertle]

dear mam i forgot to tell what i have field for an time of service 1981 thru 1989 manic depression bipolar an ptsd.

Edited August 7, 2007 by ertle

[Berta]

A buddy statement is an eye witness account of an inservice event ,accident, mortar attack, whatever-

in which the buddy can put themselves by their unit and MOS directly as a witness to whatever the veteran claims as a stressor.

The VA will check to see if the units of the buddy and the veteran match at same time frames.Also they will check to see if the MOS of each of you is consistent-even if it is a different MOS.

The buddy statement should detail exactly what happened and verify that you were there at the time.

The buddy should give their phone number and email addy to the VA and I also suggest getting the statement notarized.

I helped a vet for one of my vet orgs find a buddy who had received PTSD award for the very same stressor he was claiming.

This buddy was willing to put his c file number into the buddy statement and tell VA he was rated for PTSD from the very same event.He won his PTSD award.

You say you have manic bi polar depression and PTSD-

I assume these are both being claimed as due to service?

Is your diagnosis of these two conditions from the VA?

Bi polar claims involve SMRs that show evidence of this condition as well as often-even service personnel records that could reflect symptoms of bi polar unless you left the Army with a clear bi polar diagnosis.

[Pete53]

Any statements you include in your claim should be notarized. Good Luck on your claim.