ptsd Paper Work And Back Pay?

[Tower_Rat]

I have a question for a PTSD claim. I put in my claim for service connected PTSD apx about 9 months ago and now they are saying it is at the ratings board this is the third time its been at the ratings board. I have nexus, and i have been on social security disability for the last 3 months. I have just found out due to loss of memory because of the PTSD that the same day that I got out they (the people at the place i got out of the ARMY at which was FT DIX New Jersey) asked me to fill out paperwork as to if i would be claiming any compensation. I checked the box yes that i would and it was signed and dated with my signature but, no one ever contacted me about it again. That was back in 1988 Now 17 years later I file a new claim, and I get a call from the VA asking me if indeed i did file a claim and if it was a mistake back then. I told them I didnt remember if i did or not since they were not able to find any of my records during the course of this whole thing. So like i said recently I was able to get a copy of part of my C-file and in it was that record that i had filed for compensation from that date back in 1988. Does anyone know how that can affect my claim? The claim was for the same thing back then but, its like they misplaced any information to it like it was a mistake or something. It was odd the Va Doc even said that i have been disabled for the last 17 years. How much back pay do they pay ya for claims and would this letter in anyones oppinion hold any weight that something was wrong back then otherwise why would I have filed it the last day i was in the Army?

The VA forms they sent me from my C-file are VA FORM 21-526E the Da form was 664

The other paper says Department of Veteran affairs request of information Response:99 Veteran filed a claim at time of seperation st louis, mo RO Federal building, 1520 Market street

Thanx

Tower Rat

[Guest Berta]

Tower Rat -It looks to me as though you filed a bonafide claim in 1988 that the VA never acted on-

If they never acted on it (never denied etc-) it is still an open claim-this might be why it has gone to rating board so many times- they have to acknowledge it somehow and this is why they called you-

it presents an unusual picture for them-

They might (might with 1988 medical evidence)have to rate you back to 1988 when they service connect your disabilty-if you push the point-

I would think it would have to be a staggered rating-

Do you have a good service officer representing you on this?

I found -2 years ago- part of a claim I had in 1995 was never decided.

That issue might become moot when I get decision on my main claim-but I sure pounced on this part of the claim and asked them to decide it-it sure pays to save everything and read it over carefully-

Nevertheless -if a vet files a claim (and you can prove you did because it is in your c file)and never gets any decision at all-it remains an open issue.

Please keep us posted as to how your claim goes-if they need to decide the older claim, and it involves more retro, they have to send the money-

Do you have your service medical records and do they show PTSD diagnosis or treatment while inservice or from the VA or private shrink from within one year after your discharge?

(Fort Dix? I am from Trenton NJ-(am in NY now) but was there many times)

[Tower_Rat]

Hey Berta, thanx for answering my question. No they never acted on it. I never received anything. I have a pretty good rep i think. He's a state rep. When i showed the rep the document, he sent in a statement asking for a disposition on the claim. He said it would be having them scratching their heads for sure!! When you said staggered rating what does that mean? Yeah and also i think they sent it to me by mistake because this is the third time i have received bits and pieces of my C-file each time there is one more piece to the puzzle in it. I wish that i would get retro for all those years it would be nice to pay some bills. They cant find my in service medical records at all, they said that they are just non existent, They told me in one letter that they really were looking forward to seeing them. I bet they were!! All i have is the medical records that are current (a year old) from the VA. This is what i used to get disability from the state. It only took them 1 and a half months to decide that with the va docs statements. You would think that they would be able to decide quickly since i heard the va and social security interchange their records together. That would be great if it was an open issue. Unfortunately i dont have any records from the military for PTSD, Thats one of my problems is collecting info on my stressors. The doctors all say that it occured but, i think that the RO wants more than just their word. Connect the dots- Veteran has nightmares flashbacks, panic attacks with doctors saying its text book PTSD and for the last 17 years about the military. I dont think its rocket science that it came from the stressors that occured while serving my country but, trying to tell them that is a different thing all together. Im hoping that i hear soon from them about the case back in 88 at least it makes them accept or know that i did have something wrong back then and tried to get help. They just didnt follow up or follow through like they were supposed to. Fort Dix NJ gets cold during Winter

Thanx for all the help Berta, Its good to know that people are in your corner, When its the va against the veteran. I hope all goes well with your claim. With all the information and knowledge that you have i cant see how you could fail. Eventually they will give you what you deserve. oh yeah did they tell you how long for the claim from 95? since its been so long it seems they would be able to make a decision quickly and hopefully with alot of retro back pay!!!!

Thanx again

Tower Rat

[Guest Berta]

"They cant find my in service medical records at all, they said that they are just non existent, They told me in one letter that they really were looking forward to seeing "etc-

Tower Rat- I NEVER believe the VA when they state something like this-

Many USAF vets and a few from other branvhes had their records lost in the St. Lous Fire-VA told one of my vets his AF records were burned-and gone-

I got copies of them right here-

If you go to :

http://www.archives.gov/

and click on evet recs on the right hand side you can request a copy of your records on line-

I would ask them for All medical and Service Records available.

You will need to print out, sign, and mail them the bar coded thing to associate your signature with your request-

Somewhere at that site is the St. Louis Fire rundown of potentially burnt records-

I never believe them even if the list reflects they might have been lost in the fire-

Also- If you are close to your SSA office and receive SSA benefits for disability- I forget if you said you do-your service records should be in their files too-

Or You can send them a SF 180 form- I will attach to next post-

by mail to see if those records can be found.

[Guest Berta]

Here's the SF 180- same as the one on line at NARA-

They could possibly be lost-or destroyed - but then again-

the VA finally produced two SMR records for one of my USAF vets that I mentioned in last post and they said the rest were destroyed in the fire-his vet rep showed them to me-

I told the vet rep- how dumb do they think we are-?

He said what do you mean-

I said -these 2 records are not charred nor do they have water marks- the rest MUST be somewhere-

An SF 180 sent by the vet to NARA got him the whole record shibang-

I never buy much of what they are selling in situations like this-

[Guest Berta]

Here's the SF 180- same as the one on line at NARA-

They could possibly be lost-or destroyed - but then again-

the VA finally produced two SMR records for one of my USAF vets that I mentioned in last post and they said the rest were destroyed in the fire-his vet rep showed them to me-

I told the vet rep- how dumb do they think we are-?

He said what do you mean-

I said -these 2 records are not charred nor do they have water marks- the rest MUST be somewhere-

An SF 180 sent by the vet to NARA got him the whole record shibang-

I never buy much of what they are selling in situations like this-

I attached a DD 149 too- for anyone out there whose DD 214 might be wrong- they have made errors on DD 214s too-

standard_form_180.pdf

dd0149.pdf

[carlie]

Berta,

Can you post a URL to print SF 180.

I can't pull it up.

Thanks,

carlie