ptsd Ptsd Proof

[rydastar]

i am new to this ptsd stuff so bear with me..

i read that the v.a. MAY want proof of my claim about what i saw and did in country, 68-69 , i really am not sure i can get that proof? i have no idea where i was on the mekong river 43 years ago, and which date the firefights occured, when i did a v.c. in ,,,dates /? times? forget about it,

i have no contact with anyone i was in service with ,,many have died already, from what i read. should i worry about this part of my claim ? or will it pan out as the v.a. checks ? thanks..p.s. current staus for application is my psych,, says i have gaf 55, for ptsd, also heart ischemia, and high blood pressure, i feel like i am unraveling with this claim, i know what i feel, and some all my issues,, especially with avoidance, anger, vigilence, anger when someone sneaks up on me from behind, (my son did this and i alienated him from me, as i had an outburst of anger to him for this) man i am so sorry for that, and i apolgized to him but i dont think it helped. These are some things, plus thoughts of body bags,, anyways i wont go into detail here as many have been here also.,thanks for help.

[Susan]

I found some information on a site submitted here. I remember it was housed at Texas Tech University. Daily reports that had been declassified. My thanks to whomever submitted it. (I will find it in my records someday or we can search hadit for the post.) I know it was recent in the last four months. I did find this link that might help you or others.

Good Luck with your searches and claim.

http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/

[Joe Johansen]

Under the new (as of July 2010) regulations issued by the Obama administration you no longer have to prove your stressor. If you were stationed in a war zone then that's enough.

That said, if the Regional Office sends you a questionnaire or invites you to make a "stressor statement" (or words to that effect), definitely do it. And take your time to write a detailed account of your stressors, including what you experienced emotionally and physically at the time and since then. Here's an example:

WRONG: "I was under enemy fire several times while in country. I knew guys that got killed."

RIGHT: "One incident that still haunts me is when we were on patrol and we walked right into a VC trap. Before we knew it we were taking fire from all around us. I was so scared I was shaking. My Sergeant yelled at me to take cover near his position and start firing at anything that moved. We were pinned down for what seemed like forever. One of the guys I had gotten to know pretty well, John, was just about 10 feet away from me. He panicked and started running. The VC fired on him from like three different directions. He didn't have a chance. I watched as he was riddled with bullets and fell down. I could hear him crying for his mother. It was so horrible. I'm crying now writing this and I feel like stabbing this paper with a knife over and over. I dream about John dying--I hear his moaning and crying and I try to help him but my feet are all tangled in underbrush or something and I can't move. I wake up soaked in sweat and forget where I am the first few seconds I'm awake until my wife says, 'It's okay honey, you're safe.'"

Obviously writing such a statement is painful. So have some support in place before you start.

Make a copy of what you write and give it to your examiner at the beginning of the exam. It will be in your C-File too (or should be) but don't take the chance that he or she will see it and read it.

Joe

[john999]

Do you have any combat badges or awards? That would take care of the issue. What was your MOS? What Joe says is true now.

[Pete53]

Under the new (as of July 2010) regulations issued by the Obama administration you no longer have to prove your stressor. If you were stationed in a war zone then that's enough.

That said, if the Regional Office sends you a questionnaire or invites you to make a "stressor statement" (or words to that effect), definitely do it. And take your time to write a detailed account of your stressors, including what you experienced emotionally and physically at the time and since then. Here's an example:

WRONG: "I was under enemy fire several times while in country. I knew guys that got killed."

RIGHT: "One incident that still haunts me is when we were on patrol and we walked right into a VC trap. Before we knew it we were taking fire from all around us. I was so scared I was shaking. My Sergeant yelled at me to take cover near his position and start firing at anything that moved. We were pinned down for what seemed like forever. One of the guys I had gotten to know pretty well, John, was just about 10 feet away from me. He panicked and started running. The VC fired on him from like three different directions. He didn't have a chance. I watched as he was riddled with bullets and fell down. I could hear him crying for his mother. It was so horrible. I'm crying now writing this and I feel like stabbing this paper with a knife over and over. I dream about John dying--I hear his moaning and crying and I try to help him but my feet are all tangled in underbrush or something and I can't move. I wake up soaked in sweat and forget where I am the first few seconds I'm awake until my wife says, 'It's okay honey, you're safe.'"

Obviously writing such a statement is painful. So have some support in place before you start.

Make a copy of what you write and give it to your examiner at the beginning of the exam. It will be in your C-File too (or should be) but don't take the chance that he or she will see it and read it.

Joe

It seems to me that if you don't have to prove a stressor under new rule than all you would need is a diagnosis and a link to service by a Doctor?

[hedgey]

Holy moly, this thread needs a TRIGGER warning!!!!

My VSO said that what my stressor statement needed most was information that could put me in the right place & time for the events to have happened, and the unit & some names of others who were assigned with me. I'm very grateful I didn't have to write such a detailed, emotionally evocative statement...

Joe, that was an amazing piece of writing. Are you an author? That was thunderously intense.

[john999]

I was out with about 6 guys and officer and a Vietnamese interpreter on a trip to a small village. We were driving down a very narrow and winding dirt road. There was a Vietamese on a motor bike riding in front of us. He hit a mine and pieces of Vietnamese and bike rained down on us. Of course, we crapped out pants thinking this was the beginning of an ambush. However nothing else happened. I don't think there is any record of this since we often went to the villages where VC had attacked the night before, but they attacked the people's defense forces. It was nerve wracking. Is this the kind of thing you could use as a stressor? I was scared everything we left the main hwy and started down those winding roads. I expected an ambush around every corner and we did drive into areas where firefights were going on just up the road. We saw the smoke and the gunships making runs. I think the army was trying to get us killed to prove that civic action was not going to work. I am not really interested in doing a PTSD claim since it would not help me now, but I would like to know if this would work under new rules.