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Vets Willing To Help Themselves

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luv2fly

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Hello everyone! B))

It's been awhile since i last posted so here's a little background about me:effective last Nov 3rd i was awarded 100% P/T and this past Apr was awarded SSD the first time around without having to appeal,etc.

I attend weekly PTSD group therapy which helps me cope with this dark companion called PTSD which brings me to why i'm now posting this.

What often discourages,surprises,and sometimes saddens me in talking to other vets both in or out of group therapy is how many are so self-deafeating and negative when it comes to helping themselves.

I just helped 3 other vets get 100% P/T because they were willing to do the necessary work involved rather than just trust their VSO to do everything for them and just bitch and whine because they wanted bitching rights more than the VA money they deserved via an increase in their monthly compensation that would help themselves and their families financially.

They refused to familiarize themselves with things like 38 CFR or know how vital and powerful a statement in support of claim from themselves plus a separate accompanying statement their spouse,family,or significant could be and many could not or would not even be bothered to sum up for VA purposes how their

illnesses have affected themselves,their families,or their jobs/careers over the decades and this is POWERFUL stuff for VA purposes.

I'm very proud that one of the 3 vets i helped was a WW-II vet who'd all but given up after carrying PTSD around with him for 60 years!! This man participated in the Battle Of The Bulge and helped liberate The Infamous Buchenwald Concentration Camp where he could smell the death from 20 miles away!

My point here is to help yourself,be proactive,learn to navigate the VA system via the regs and what must and should accompany a claim,etc,rather than just handing it off to someone else.

I could go on and on but you get my point:DO THE WORK!

Thanks for listening.....now i feel better in getting a little off my chest...lol.Good luck! Stay safe!

David

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B) David you are so right. We all must be proactive if we want to win our claims. It has been said many times before, "no-one knows more about, or cares more about your claim than you." Thanks for helping those Vets with their claims.

Pearl

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After having my PTSD service connection cut I decided to do my own research into VA regs. I found at least Regs and BVA / COVA rulings that they were either ignoring or breaking in the cutting my service connection. I sent these along with excerpts from my denial letter to the VSO actually handling the claim. In his infinite wisdom(?) the VSO decided that the fact that my sevice connection was severed illegally was of no consequence and decided NOT to forward it to the Regional Office as requested.

I then sent a copy to the VARO Center Director and asked for an Administrative review of my case based on the fact that the service connection was terminated against VA regs.

I have yet to hear back from that office.

I believe that I am entitled to a reply to my assertions even if the reply is not the one I want to hear. If I am wrong tell me that I am; but to have such information simply ignored by the VSO that is supposed to be representing you and filed by the VA is simply WRONG!

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David, I feel badly for the vets who physically, emotionally or intellectually feel incapable of working through the convoluted regulations regarding veterans disability claims, or cannot deal with the thought of fighting along the long hard road that lies ahead. Not everyone is able to meet the challenge, which is why people like you, as well as veterans' family members and friends who are willing to go the distance when veterans cannot are a blessing. I understand your point regarding veterans who could handle the task if they felt it was more important than merely complaining, but if it weren't for friends like you and boards like this, many more veterans would lose out.

Also, Rogus, your story is yet another reason why veterans should send in their own claims via certified mail, if not carry them in person, to the VARO and COPY the VSO, not depend on them to follow through. If that guy has your POA, I'd revoke it immediately.

JMO.

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David

One thing I learned is to keep going to the VA health care system and keep complaining every chance you get. This builds a paper trail of documentation. Sometimes it seems futile but it got me service connected for 5 agent orange conditions. The VA hopes you will just give up and then die. This is what they are counting on when they ignore your evidence and deny legitimate claims. I went for a hearing test and now I have it in my records that I have mild and permanent hearing loss due to nerve damage and tinnitus.

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To Rogus-

"I then sent a copy to the VARO Center Director and asked for an Administrative review of

my case based on the fact that the service connection was terminated against VA regs."

Interesting - an Admin Review -I filed for one in 1996 and it went to lawyers in VACO who knew how to read-I didnt send it to the VARO- they just got a copy of it-I succeeded in the claims but am not sure if the Admin Review really helped. It did gain a lot of attention at VACO where my 1151 and FTCA claim was being handled and some great VA lawyers discussed it with me.However I really dont know what impact it had on those claims. My medical evidence was solid and excellent- the AR was just to get someone in Washington to read it. No one up here at the VARO could.

I have been reading many CUE claims at the BVA- and found some there due to an erroneous severance of SC comp. I believe you are still within the appeal period?

The VARO in your case based their severance on reasons and bases whch are the keys to restoring the comp.

The Administrative Review will certainly focus on the same thing-

No CUE has been committed if you are still in appeal period and maybe no CUE was committed even if the year for NOD appeal has passed.

A CUE is based on an outcome-a financial outcome that was altered by VA legal error.

If VA committed a legal error in your termination-it still depends on a finding of service connected comp. I dont believe an AR will- in any way -change that fact-

Have you filed a NOD and tried to support your position that the termination is wrong based on medical facts?

I am not one to have much faith in VSOs -but- the VA gave reasons and bases for their severance in the denial letter and, without having some evidence to combat these reasons, the VSO probably saw no reason to pursue the claim.

That is where you should focus your energy-in my opinion-

Solely on finding evidence to combat their reason for termination.

Edited by Berta
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