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[Charleese]

Hi everyone,

My husband spoke to the people at RO in Connecticut. They connected him to a supervisor, who he questioned as to whether they received his NOD on his 1948 claim. She said it was with the Appeals Department and that she would get his file and look and see if it was in it and call him back on Monday.

A half hour later she called him back and stated that she had the file and that she was going to send him a letter out today, which will give him options as to what he would want them to do. She even mentioned that one of the options was if he wanted to go to trial. He forgot to ask what the other options were.

My question to all has this been done to anyone here at hadit before, and if so can they tell us what his other options are? Does this mean that his NOD is being denied and that is why they are sending this letter. In his NOD we state that with his objective medial evidence, his subjective testimony, and a notarized statement from a friend of his, that this demonstrates that he submitted his claim in December 1958. The notarized statement states that his friend witness VA Representative handing him an Application for VA compensation. He witnessed him setting down at the table with and in front of him, and fill out that Application. He witness when my husband finished filling out that Application and getting up and handing that Application to VA Representative who was standing close to them talking to a lady that was in the place. He also witnessed Representative taking that Application and looking at it, and after taking that Application from my husband he witnessed Representative saying to my husband that the VA would be contacting him soon. They then left and came home. This friend also had an opportunity to go with my husband again to the VA in Tazewell to check on the status of my claim.

In the end he states in his NOD that With the objective medical evidence, his subjective testimony and friend's notarized statement Reasonable Doubt or Relative Equipose or both Reasonable Doubt and Relative Equipose should prevail in their decision to grant me an earlier effective date of 1958.

Please let me know what other options they are talking about and does that letter mean that they have denied his NOD.

Thanks everyone!

Charleese

[Testvet]

just my opinion if I had filed a claim in 1958 I don't think I would have waited 47 years to follow it up, I know the VA can take time to develop a claim but I am afraid that agrument is a non-winner, why did he never go back to the VA in 1959 or 1961 or 1971 or 1981 why wait until the new millenium?

[Guest anfrnkie]

charleese,

never head of this one ,"She even mentioned that one of the options was if he wanted to go to trial."

while it may seem like it va claims do not actually go to a trial

If I understand your post then:

the only course you have: First you cannot legally NOD a claim from 1948 they may except the NOD as a request to reopen a claim but legally you must submit a nod within 1 year of the date of the decision or award.

If your are in doubt of the results of a claim from 1948 the you can submit a CUE claim requesting a review based on clear and unmistaken error.......and request an eairler effiective date as the remedy.......

I hope this helps, but you post is somewhat confusing so I may be off base.......

charleese, under 3,500 b 2 would apply under 3;159 c ,legally you could nod the va under 3;159 for under 38 usc 5103,if your nod is accept,,you can go on and apply 3;159 c once you get past that you can apply38 usc 501 a my claim is back to 46-48,under 3;159 i have the right to go back to that time 3;159 b woula also apply,this would be one of your main tools 1 would also apply, there a a few more cfr that would help you under 3;159

[Guest anfrnkie]

charleese, under 3,500 b 2 would apply under 3;159 c ,legally you could nod the va under 3;159 for under 38 usc 5103,if your nod is accept,,you can go on and apply 3;159 c once you get past that you can apply38 usc 501 a my claim is back to 46-48,under 3;159 i have the right to go back to that time 3;159 b woula also apply,this would be one of your main tools 1 would also apply, there a a few more cfr that would help you under 3;159

[Charleese]

just my opinion if I had filed a claim in 1958 I don't think I would have waited 47 years to follow it up, I know the VA can take time to develop a claim but I am afraid that agrument is a non-winner, why did he never go back to the VA in 1959 or 1961 or 1971 or 1981 why wait until the new millenium?

He did go back in 1959, several times in 1960 and the middle part of 1961. All he got was the run around. They would tell him that the agent was there or that he would be back in two or three weeks. The VA in Tazewell was not set up like the VA is today. They had a representative that would come to a place and you had to catch them when ever you can. The Representative would tell you that I will be back here on such and such a date on such and such month. You go back there and you were told that he's not going to be here today come back on such and such a date or you were told that he came last week instead. This is what he went through with the VA and just gave up and moved out of the area. He tried to go on with his life. However he always left a forwarding address so if they responded his mail would catch up with him. In 1983 when he applied in Connecticut he left them know then about his 1958 claim and they did nothing. Connecticut gave him a hard time for filing in 1983, and that is why he had to get his service medical reocrds from Lackland Hosptial. Even after he produced them they still rated him 0% for 1985. At every C&P exam he would tell the doctors about his 1958 claim. It wasn't until 2000 that they increased his claim to 10% for knee injury and we Noded then in 2002 they gave him the maximum of 60%. Each time he would go to the VA in Connecticut he brought up his 1958 claim, and they did nothing. As stated before they never did anything until he wrote them in April 2006 and told him that he never abandoned this claim is when they wrote and asked for information. They knew he never abandoned this claim and that is why they wrote and asked for information.

He did not wait 47 years to follow this up.

[Berta]

If they are not considering his April 2006 letter as a "re-open" that means they recognise this claim is still pending.

This has happened- claims that were open and unresolved for years-and the EED is the date of the claim.What I mean by unresolved is a claim that the VA acknowledged and the vet has proof of the claim being filed yet the VA failed to make any decision at all-that consitutes a still open claim-

My neighbor has an open claim-had it for 20 years but he refuses to pursue it-hearing loss, was in African Campaign, WWII, the ship suffered an enormous explosion. He never moved and never received even a "not well grounded" letter-so still an open claim-anything is possible.

[Wings]

A "pending claim" is an application, formal or informal, which has not been finally adjudicated. 38 C.F.R. Sec. 3.160 ( c).