Finding In Country Medical Records

[akwidow]

In the process of making my claim, I have asked for in country Viet Nam service medical records for my late husband. I started with St Louis. Many times in fact, from every stage of my case which has been 1st denied, denied at BVA, appealed to COA, then remanded for readjudication and it is now at AMC. I have asked at every stage and VA has not produced. They have sent everything around the in-country records but not those for the time he spent in country in 1968, where he was overcome with CS and treated, then for treatment of the shrapnel wounds he received there.

Today I formally charged them with spoilation.

Have any of you out there been able to get these records from any other entity?

I could sure use some ideas...

Thanks, and hope this topic helps more than me -

Akwidow

[Berta]

"can you get more than one PH?"

Yes

I will check out the info as to his unit-

WHat concerns me- correct me if I am wrong-

He did get PTSD comp at 50%-

your claim is built on the PTSD causing him to avert seeking medical care and he died of colon cancer (a non-AO disability)

The tear gas incident-I assume-you want to prove as it led to his asthma.

Did his asthma contribute to his death and was this listed on the death certificate with the cancer?

But my concern is- have you filed a claim specifically for getting the asthma service connected?

ith proof of and medical evidence of linkage-there could be an association to the tear gas episode and his asthma- but the asthma would have to be found-by medical evidence-

as directly associated to his death.

[Berta]

"Don't company clerk records get kept anywhere? Wouldn't company clerk records reflect who is injured, who is killed, etc?"

Those records would have gone to higher command and been documented (as to the KIAs) in Unit morning reports.

http://www.a-1-6.org/1-6th%20Site/1st%20Bn...Page1-6Inf.html

This site is one of many that might help you-

before I search further-

the tear gas oxygen tent data-

that is only relative to the asthma claim.

I forget what you had posted under another topic-

When did you file asthma claim? What is status of it?

And-I forgot as well-sorry-was asthma or any type of bronchial disease a factor found contributing to (and listed on) his death on his death certificate?

[akwidow]

Yes, a claim was filed for asthma SC in 2000 which was denied with no appeal. I don't think at the time he connected the dots. I see the asthma as being intertwined with his ptsd, as the tear gas that he encountered and put him down had to cause ptsd as well. It is a complicated issue that I am exploring. I believe benefit of the doubt exists here. Asthma is not mentioned as a cause of death or as a supplimentary cause of death. But ptsd is, and since the gas episode was not brought to my light until late in my claim, I have only began to develop that issue.

I went to the link below and have written to everybody listed that was there when he was. I reread the letters and found his platoon, and that they were nicknamed the "nanny goats" because of their hill climbing skills while in the jungle. It is amazing to me how the detective path I am walking keeps continuing with little bits of info gathered here and there.

I have called family and friends to see if there are more letters out there kept since 1968. I know the possibility exists since I have every letter ever written to me on file, and there has to be others like me.

Thanks again for your attention,

Akwidow

"Don't company clerk records get kept anywhere? Wouldn't company clerk records reflect who is injured, who is killed, etc?"

Those records would have gone to higher command and been documented (as to the KIAs) in Unit morning reports.

http://www.a-1-6.org/1-6th%20Site/1st%20Bn...Page1-6Inf.html

This site is one of many that might help you-

before I search further-

the tear gas oxygen tent data-

that is only relative to the asthma claim.

I forget what you had posted under another topic-

When did you file asthma claim? What is status of it?

And-I forgot as well-sorry-was asthma or any type of bronchial disease a factor found contributing to (and listed on) his death on his death certificate?

[Berta]

I strongly suggest that you focus on what the death certificate said (the BVA didnt buy the PTSD part)

If you can get an IMO from a psychiatrist who will follow the IMO criteria and strongly associate your husband's PTSD to his colon cancer ,with a complete medical rationale,

and also get an IMO that could associate any inservice proof of chemical, or any type of toxin or asbestos exposure to his death and the colon cancer, you would have a chance for DIC.

[Pete53]

I heard on our local medical TV report that Harvard Medical School has finished a study that says Depression cause heart problems. I wonder if this may be a possibility to have heart problems as secondary to Depression. After all as many know here Depression is much easier to get service connected than PTSD. I am never ceased to be amazed at how the VA insists on making things harder for PTSD Vets?

[akwidow]

I already have the psych opinion, and I am working on one for the other.

I have causal and presumptive proof of the AO, and causal proof of exposure to tear gas - which is directly tied in to asthma/ptsd. It is proven fact that extreme tear gas can cause asthma, and of course worsen asthma. You have to realize that I AM pursuing the initial DIC claim. PTSD occurred when he went down in the jungle with TEAR GAS exposure and is part of a causal event that led to PTSD, that followed him his whole life with various symptoms that included avoidance. For all I know, asthma caused him to die earlier than he was supposed to...but I know the ptsd did.

I strongly suggest that you focus on what the death certificate said (the BVA didnt buy the PTSD part)

If you can get an IMO from a psychiatrist who will follow the IMO criteria and strongly associate your husband's PTSD to his colon cancer ,with a complete medical rationale,

and also get an IMO that could associate any inservice proof of chemical, or any type of toxin or asbestos exposure to his death and the colon cancer, you would have a chance for DIC.