Do We Proceed With An Appeal?

[Spanky]

My husband received his rating decision dated 9-29-07. In this decision they gave him 0% for jungle rot for his feet and ordered an at once C&P. They stated they would evaluate after the at once exam and assign a higher percentage if warranted. He went to the C&P a couple days ago.

He has a gunshot wound on his arm and burns to his right hand for which he received 2 of his 3 purple hearts and he has tried to get these service connected even if it is 0% - the VA stated in this last decision these were not related to his military service and service connection remains denied. We just don't understand why the VA won't recognize his purple hearts as proof of his wounds. He has a 3 or 4 inch scar across his forearm due to the gunshot wound, but he does not have any scarring from the burns but it is noted in his personnel file that he had burns to the right hand and he has his purple heart for it. He originally applied in 1978 and didn't appeal. He just wrote a letter stating he disagreed. He wants to appeal this so the question is do we proceed with the appeal or do we need to wait until he gets a decision on his feet from this last C&P?

Thanks

[Pete53]

Berta:

Many who worked for the VA never served and have no idea what the difference between a Purple Heart and a National Defense Ribbon is.

[rentalguy1]

Rentalguy in the criteria of the purple heart where you have made it bold, it might resolve the question of the bleeding but I read that records of medical treatment for wounds or injuries received in action must have been made a matter of official record. There is nothing in his service medical records indicating a gunshot wound or burns. He remembers the medic treating him and he resumed fighting. As I noted before his wounds are listed as a part of his personnel record with dates which correspond to his purple hearts. They awarded the purple hearts though so wouldn't the VA recognize the purple hearts as proof that these are service connected even at 0%?

The medic that treated him fulfills the treatment by a medical officer requirement, and the incidents being enetered into his 2A fulfills the requirement to be a matter of official record.

[Dean]

Does your husband have or has he had any signs of PTSD? This is something that the Service officer should have already asked you. Being a drunk is not an excuse that the V.A. can use to deny this anymore. Matter of fact if he has been in Re-hab, police called on him for being disorderly, any police action showing a patten of mental or drunkin state. This is a sign of PTSD Denial. Most Veterans, after they came back from war have done this. I was reading about him being shot and I was waiting for you to state something about PTSD. I was watching a congressional hearing on T.V. the other day and the people stated that most V.A. Doctors do not know anything about P.T.S.D.. Has your husband ever been on anything for his nerves that he knows of? Do you have his medical records. Has he been checked for Agent Orange?

You did not bring any of these things up. That tells me that the Service officer did not even try to work a case for your husband. Purple heart recipients are almost noted to have P.T.S.D.. A lot of them deny this though. From what I remember, P.T.S.D. and a purple heart goes hand in hand and there is a case that Purple Heart Recipients should automatically get compensation for P.T.S.D..

I know that you are trying to get something service connected. What is the reason that you are trying to get only 0% service connected? I hate talking to Veterans that have been done wrong by a stupid service officer. If the service officer was any better than a tit on a boar hog he would do everything that he could for you. It is not supposed to be your place to do his job. He should have sat down with you for longer than 10 minutes and went through your husbands service records and medical records and submitted everything that he could find. If you are doing this yourself then you are at the right place for answers.

Good luck with the case. You can submit evidence at any time. This stops the V.A. from tyring to send you an illegal form letter telling you that you did not respond within 30 days. You have 1 year to send anything into them, but a lot of them try to get you to give up by telling you that the time period for submitting this has ran out and they will close your case and rubber stamp a letter to you.

[Chuck75]

After reading this thread--

Multiple Purple Hearts are evidence of combat injury if they are in the records (DD214,etc.)

HOWEVER-- The VA will put it's blinders on and say something to the effect that there is nothing to connect the Purple Heart Award(s) to the conditions for which compensation is requested. Additional something (buddy statements, medical records, etc.) would be needed to get the VA to admit that the specific condition for which compensation is requested is related to combat. Most combat related wounds,etc. required followup after initial treatment by a coreman. That would supposedly produce medical treatment records.

Does your husband have or has he had any signs of PTSD? This is something that the Service officer should have already asked you. Being a drunk is not an excuse that the V.A. can use to deny this anymore. Matter of fact if he has been in Re-hab, police called on him for being disorderly, any police action showing a patten of mental or drunkin state. This is a sign of PTSD Denial. Most Veterans, after they came back from war have done this. I was reading about him being shot and I was waiting for you to state something about PTSD. I was watching a congressional hearing on T.V. the other day and the people stated that most V.A. Doctors do not know anything about P.T.S.D.. Has your husband ever been on anything for his nerves that he knows of? Do you have his medical records. Has he been checked for Agent Orange?

You did not bring any of these things up. That tells me that the Service officer did not even try to work a case for your husband. Purple heart recipients are almost noted to have P.T.S.D.. A lot of them deny this though. From what I remember, P.T.S.D. and a purple heart goes hand in hand and there is a case that Purple Heart Recipients should automatically get compensation for P.T.S.D..

I know that you are trying to get something service connected. What is the reason that you are trying to get only 0% service connected? I hate talking to Veterans that have been done wrong by a stupid service officer. If the service officer was any better than a tit on a boar hog he would do everything that he could for you. It is not supposed to be your place to do his job. He should have sat down with you for longer than 10 minutes and went through your husbands service records and medical records and submitted everything that he could find. If you are doing this yourself then you are at the right place for answers.

Good luck with the case. You can submit evidence at any time. This stops the V.A. from tyring to send you an illegal form letter telling you that you did not respond within 30 days. You have 1 year to send anything into them, but a lot of them try to get you to give up by telling you that the time period for submitting this has ran out and they will close your case and rubber stamp a letter to you.

[shamrock]

I made a few notes to help you understand how the VA thinks. When you file a claim you have to cover all the bases. You have to put in infomation that will answer any questions that they can ask of you. These are not in any order just as they came to mind.

I believe the only way to get a Purple Heart (PH) for burns would be if the enemy used a flame thrower on you. I can't think of any other way for a PH for burns. When the Iraq war first started there were a lot of claims for PH. After an investagation it was determined that soldiers were asking for PH for scratches from jumping off of vehicles or from rocks or gravel associated with ambushes. An order was put out saying this was improper. If he did not leave the field who & when was he awarded the PH. Did someone say to him that you got the PH. All the PH I have ever seen came with a set of orders & a certificatate. Usually orders will cover a period of time like a week or month & have names of others wounded soldiers listed. If any other soldiers of your unit received the PH at the same time they could be listed on the same orders.

Information on the DD214 just comes off of the DA2. I pulled out my old DA2 & it showed my PH Special Orders serial number & date awarded. I also have a copy of the original western union telegraph message sent to my wife & it list my wounds, location of action & dates. When you say gunshot wound do you mean a shrapnel wound or bullet wound. When you say a 3-4 inch scar, it sounds like the object skimmed across the skin. Is the shrapnel or bullet still in the arm? Was he in the infantry & had a infantry MOS. Usually infantry units would spend about 3 weeks in the field & 1 week back in base camp resting. Did he go to a medic or aid station to have bandages changed or injuries looked at. If he did there could be a record of that. I could not determine from your post what you claiming a rating for. If your 1st PH is well founded, really the other 2 PH will not help you that much especially if there is no permanent damage from them,except maybe for the scar & as time goes by they tend to fade away. I'm sorry this is not orginazed but maybe it will help you see how the VA thinks & you have to stay one step ahead of them.

Shamrock

[Ricky]

Please keep in mind that the VA rates disabilities and not just injuries. In order for a vet to receive any type of rating for scars the scar must be disfiguring (covering a large surface of the skin if not on the head, face or neck) or the scar must cause some type of limitation of motion or be painful upon touch. Not trying to take away from any vets service to this country but that is just the rules they go by.

Now with that said I did not see anywhere in your post that you were claiming a disability from the scarring. Maybe I overlooked it and please correct me if I am wrong.

This is also true for the burns. He must claim and prove a current disability has resulted from the burns. They are simply not going to provide any type of disability rating for burns incurred that have healed and have not resulted in a current disability.

This generic "did not occur in service" bull crap they use is misleading in that what they are trying to say is that no disability has resulted from the scarring. Now, if your husband is having pain from the scars then you should file an appeal and focus on the pain he is suffering. God bless him for his scrafice and you for your dedication to such a great man.

Edited December 14, 2007 by Ricky