Cue Or Fraud

[capted]

My DRO hearing claim was denied for presumptive illness of PC due to no records that I was in Vietnam.

Five notarized buddy letters from fellow aviators attesting that I was in Vietnam were listed as evidence in the SOC.

My VA advocate and I discussed these letters in the presence of the DRO for 13 pages of the transcript of the hearing.

In the SOC REASONS AND BASES:

The DRO purposely ignored by buddy letters in the REASONS AND BASES section.

I had hard evidence that my squadron (VP-42) was deployed to Iwaukuni, Japan and sent

detachments to Vietnam. I had hard proof that I was a Naval Aviator member of VP-42 at

the time VP-42 was sending detachments to Vietnam. Combined with the credible lay evidence

of 5 Naval Officers the decision should have been in my favor.

The DRO stated "There is no basis in the available evidence of record to establish service connection for prostate cancer".

The buddy letters were listed as evidence and discussed.

She did not refute the letters (available evidence) in the REASONS AND BASES, she purposely ignored them.

Is this a mistake in clear and unmistakeable evidence or fraud?

Should I sue?

Why should I have to wait two years or more for a VBA?

[Guest]

My DRO hearing claim was denied for presumptive illness of PC due to no records that I was in Vietnam.

Five notarized buddy letters from fellow aviators attesting that I was in Vietnam were listed as evidence in the SOC.

My VA advocate and I discussed these letters in the presence of the DRO for 13 pages of the transcript of the hearing.

In the SOC REASONS AND BASES:

The DRO purposely ignored by buddy letters in the REASONS AND BASES section.

I had hard evidence that my squadron (VP-42) was deployed to Iwaukuni, Japan and sent

detachments to Vietnam. I had hard proof that I was a Naval Aviator member of VP-42 at

the time VP-42 was sending detachments to Vietnam. Combined with the credible lay evidence

of 5 Naval Officers the decision should have been in my favor.

The DRO stated "There is no basis in the available evidence of record to establish service connection for prostate cancer".

The buddy letters were listed as evidence and discussed.

She did not refute the letters (available evidence) in the REASONS AND BASES, she purposely ignored them.

Is this a mistake in clear and unmistakeable evidence or fraud?

Should I sue?

Why should I have to wait two years or more for a VBA?

Please correct me if I am wrong but this is a recent DRO decision. This does not fall in the CUE category, and you can not claim fraud by VA. It is a deny to you die game that VA plays, Unless you have a good VSO that will fight for your claim and get the DRO to do his/her job, then you will have to wait for a BVA decision.VA does this all the time and unfortunately I think the average wait for a BVA decision is about four to five years. The only thing you can do is try to live long enough to get your decision.

[carlie]

The DRO stated "There is no basis in the available evidence of record to establish service connection for prostate cancer".

The buddy letters were listed as evidence and discussed.

She did not refute the letters (available evidence) in the REASONS AND BASES, she purposely ignored them.

Is this a mistake in clear and unmistakeable evidence or fraud?

Should I sue?

Why should I have to wait two years or more for a VBA?

Up above you posted "The buddy letters were listed as evidence and discussed".

Well - what did the rating decision state in the discussion regarding the buddy letters ?

Ditto on Pete992, this doesn't meet the criteria for a claim of CUE.

A claim for CUE is filed on a final, unappealed decision.

"Should I sue?"

I say - I would - if I could

But I can't - so I won't.

No - you can't sue.

Your option at this point is to file a Form 9 and

begin a substantive appeal to the BVA.

This will be about a five year wait.

I am editing this for clarification.

You can't sue the VBA for it.

[Pete53]

You can sue and you can ask for CUE but for God's sake win your claim first. What does it say on your DD 214. Have you checked with your old unit. Buddy letters are limited and have to be done a specific way for VA to accept them.

[Philip Rogers]

You stated "she purposely ignored them" but you also state they were discussed. What exactly were her comments??? Were they discussed or ignored??? If they were ignored she would need to discuss or make a statement as to why she felt they had no probative value. When they ignored some of my evidence they stated that the statements weren't sworn, or attested to, so they held little probative value. Please let us know.

pr

[john999]

If the VA does not address evidence in its decision that is grounds for an appeal. It depends what the VA said about the buddy letters. For instance, if you had an IMO and the VA just totally ignored it then that is grounds for an appeal. If, however, they addressed it and found some reason why they discounted it that could still be appealed if it is not a valid reason for discounting it. Forget about suing or CUE at this point. You got to win this claim and if I were you I would keep looking for some evidence of the documentary kind to show you were in Vietnam.

[Berta]

"I had hard proof that I was a Naval Aviator member of VP-42 at

the time VP-42 was sending detachments to Vietnam."

What proof do you have that you were in the detachment sent to Vietnam?

I have a deployment list of VP-42 squadrons that were based at Sangley Point Phillipines and deployed to Vietnam, by dates and by by destination.

Where did you detach from?

What type of aircraft were you on when detached?

Where did you land- Tan Sun Nhut or at Cam Rahn Bay?

What was the approximate date and year date you were detached to Vietnam?

There were very limited windows of detachments of Squadron VP-42 to Vietnam during the war.

The last deployment to Vietnam by date and time span in Vietnam might be crucial to your claim.

If you can give me a year and if not a month- even a rough guess as to whether it was before or after the monsoons that year-that might help me find more info.

Philip is right:

"You stated "she purposely ignored them" but you also state they were discussed. What exactly were her comments??? Were they discussed or ignored??? If they were ignored she would need to discuss or make a statement as to why she felt they had no probative value. When they ignored some of my evidence they stated that the statements weren't sworn, or attested to, so they held little probative value. Please let us know."

A buddy statement has to be an eye witness account that describes the details of an event or can place a Veteran somewhere and should come from a member of the same unit who would have first hand knowledge of the event or,in your case, some prove of your being in Vietnam.In my opinion it should always be notarized and the buddy should give contact info and give their full MOS and unit description.

Do you have your 201 file?

Or your SRB?

Did the decision make any reference to JSRRC?

Can you cover the personal stuff and scan and attach the Reasons and bases here?

Edited April 11, 2011 by Berta