Trying To Do My Claim But The Va Does Not Have My Records.

[Cm Burns]

I filed a pension compensation claim for service connected dissability in October. I got a letter from the va saying they do not have my records that are lost. i do not have a copy of them myself but have given them the info from all the civilian doctors I say. I wanted to know if anyone had any reference to people having this situation. Know of anyone with a similar situation that was still rewarded. I am not sure if there is anything else I need to do. Please let me know.

[Cm Burns]

OK and thanx for the info.

Your "C"-file is your "claims file" and will have in it everything (supposedly) that the VA has regarding your claim(s).

Any medical, any service-related stuff, etc. (It cost the VA $19.82 to mail me mine).

It can take a while, so, in the meantime......................................................................

.......................Okay.

We KNOW that the VA has your service records SOMEWHERE, otherwise they would not be treating you at the VA Medical Center.

Right?

So, here is what I want you to do.

Get a copy (from the va.gov website, go to "forms" and type in SF 180, or go to the National Personnel Records Center website and download it from there) of an SF 180.

There will be three pages.

On one of these pages will be a list, at the bottom portion of the page, of the various addresses of the various archives and record locations across the country.

Make multiple copies of this SF 180, fill them out, then FAX or MAIL the data sheet of the SF 180 to:

The VA Archives in St. Louis,

The National Personnel Records Center, Military Personnel Records, St. Louis,

The branch of your military service,

The VA Medical Center that you are being treated at, along with a FOIA release (get this at the medical records department and fill it out and hand it back to the dude/dudette at the counter).

The VA Regional Office that has jurisdiction over your claim.

On each and every one of these requests you simply write, in long-hand, in the comments section, that you want ALL of your records, to include all of your medical records, all of your STR (service treatment records, which, BTW, are NOT the same as your medical records) and all your other military records up until todays date.

Okay?

[Stretch]

I used the SF-180 form, that both Berta and Larry are telling you about. It took about 6 months for me to receive my records after sending this form. My military personel files were gutted, but I did get copy of my C-file. The C-file contained medical records, within it, from where I had filed for my claims years ago, and given up.

ATVer, calls won't do it. Get the form from hadit search engine, fill out the form, send in the form to the NPRC St. Louis. Also you can ask for any upgrades to medals that you did not get during your service. You will be sent most US presented medals.

My Congressman sent for my Squadrons ships logs. The CNO (Chief of Naval Operations) sent the ships logs to me for both of my cruises from the CNO FOIA (freedom of information act) office.

See your congressional liason (Service Rep.) for help if you are trying to do this yourself. A Veterans Service Organization should help you with this stuff, if you are incompetent. (I am not suggesting that you are.)

Like so many here at hadit, I do not trust any other organization to get my records. I went after the records, even personal records, my self....

[Stretch]

http://www.google.com/cse?cx=partner-pub-7...859-1&q=180

http://www.hadit.com/va_claims.html

http://www.hadit.com/military_records_request.html

This is the actual on-line form.....I think it is fillable...

http://www.archives.gov/research/order/standard-form-180.pdf

[broncovet]

Did I miss something here? You are applying for a pension which is NON SERVICE Connected. You arent claiming you got injured in the military, just that you were in there, and now you are either eligible for a pension or you are not. I would go ahead and continue trying to get your records, but NSC pension should have little/nothing to do with you MEDICAL records in the service.

The link below states the requirements for eligibility for NSC pension:

http://www.vba.va.gov/bln/21/pension/vetpen.htm

[Stretch]

There is a difference between Pension and SC Compensation.

Pension is for NSC (a Non-Service connected injuries) that have lead to conditions that put you out of work.

Veterans disability compensation claims, are for Veterans that have SC (Service-connected disabilities).

I did put in for Pension while I was awaiting my SC injuries, even though I was advised against it. My SC compensation came in before the pension did, making the pension claim moot.

Hadit doesn't have a data-base or anything relating to persons with similar situations.

I did post about the two different forms in this post. These forms can be a little confusing.

http://www.hadit.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=20177

[Commander Bob]

What about the issue with no records. is there something additional that I should be doing.

Stretch has spelled it out for you. Best wishes.

http://www.archives.gov/st-louis/military-...d-form-180.html

Edited February 21, 2010 by Commander Bob