mrs rockman (widow of vet) Posted September 25, 2012 Author Share Posted September 25, 2012 Berta, I have been meaning to answer your post, but just have been a little down in the dumps, but right now I can manage. You just get "spells" that just come out of nowhere for whatever reason, then you begin to get back to the place where you were before. "If you send them a DD 149,they will correct his DD 214 with a DD215." Do you by chance remember how long it may have taken to get this corrected or may I say the awards added? I will check with my VSO when I go in for an appointment. I Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrs rockman (widow of vet) Posted September 25, 2012 Author Share Posted September 25, 2012 Berta, OOPS!, I must have pressed the wrong button and you got the 'short form" of my reply. I understand that there is no charge for getting replacements that are on your DD214, but if they are not on there, then you have to pay for the replacements. Thank you for this info, I did not know you could file a DD 149 and then get his DD215. See what great information I get on this site! "You mentioned proper displays.." "They had engraved his name on it Upside down !!!" We were either going to get a beautiful frame and place the medals and ribbons on a red velvet background or possible a shadowbox. We also have gold Arizona cases that we use at our gem and mineral trade shows, that we could use at the memorial for display if we need to ( or have not found the perfect place for the medals to reside in). Let me say, I cannot believe they engraved your husband's name upside down and had the gall to even send it out to you! When dealing with all of the VA shenanigans, there is nothing that anyone else could do that would really surprise me. But this was not the VA, and that makes it so much worse. I probably would have chopped it up in pieces and mailed it right back to them with a not so nice note attached! A friend had a beautiful piece of furniture, kinda like a small coffee table with a glass top. They had all of the Arkansas quartz crystals in it for display. That would be wonderful to be able to come accross something like that for his display!). We plan on displaying David's military pictures, our wedding picture, and what other pictures that our daughter picks out. David collected all sorts of ball caps, so we will have his cap tree there with all of his caps ( it is actually our coat tree re-invented). He loved olives (when he was able to eat them), so you know there will be a can of olives. He was obsessed with keeping any change you had at the end of a day or just from a trip to town. With his PTSD, he had to have it immediately put in his jar in the bedroom. Note: we bought a riding lawnmower one time with the jar of coins and we took our cruise last September with the 2nd jar- so collecting change was a good thing! Everything had a certain place and order, and please make sure that you remember it. Her would tease his sis and others to leave a quarter before going into the bathroom. Now, we will have a small jar so people can drop one shiny quarter in the jar for David. As you can see our family is a little warped, may I say. We want to remember the humorous things at his memorial. I am ordering two memorial certificates for myself and our daughter to have. "One could not separate Vietnam from my husband (maybe that is the true essence of combat PTSD from the Nam ) but the VA employees and the vets here got it all. Vietnam and Rod are still here in countless ways" David would say that he was 62 years old, but he actually died 40 years ago in Vietnam and all that was here was a shell. I know the PTSD had a very strong hold on David, a hold that I will never fully understand, because I was not there. I thank God everyday that I was able to be his wife, through the good times and not so good times. When he left Vietnam, he never really actually left, because I do not believe that you can ever put that part of your past behind. It is what makes you the man today. It has a huge impact on everything you from that day forward. "There could be a medical nexus between the interstital lung disease and the pulmonary disease." Even though we never got the third page back in 2005, all we have for proof is the third page when we printed his records. We did not have any other medical opinion then. Our outside pulmonary doctor would not put it in writing. I really do not see anything we can do to prove it. It is basically our word over the "mighty" VA and whose side do you think they would take? The one good thing that I can say about not knowing it earlier in 2005 is this: Had David known about it in 2005, he would have had longer time to think about his short life expectancy. With no cure for this deadly disease, the treatment might not have been much different. I do not know much about 1151 claims, but it appears to me that I would not have enough proof to file, don't you think? If I could, I would and would fight for it. If you think different, let me know. "Based on what you posted ,it might be too late to claim the Pulmonary claim as aggravated by the SC IHD.I cant tell here." His last claim for pulmonary closed on 07/29/10. "If there was a claim pending when he died on that, or on another other issue, the VSO will inform you as to how you can potentially substitute yourself for him, and continue those claims." The only pending claim was the denial for the Aid and Attendance on 08/13/12. Like I said, he was not bad enough to warrant that. I do plan on appealing this one. It is not the money, it is for my husband. Berta, I do have a question-like I have not already put you asleep with all of the above. I did not know whether to include it with this post or do under the DIC Forum. Not long ago you posted about there is another part of the 534 claim that VA does not mention, but I cannot remember. I spent much time trying to find that post. I wanted to ask you a something about that to see if I needed to do it or not. All I remember that it was on the right side of Hadit on recent posts. At least I do know that as long as I file for the DIC before 1 year is up, they will go back to the date of death. I am still waiting on the death certificate. MY VSO said that sometimes you can get the DIC along with more money attached, it just depends. He asked today if I had gotten a packet from the VA and I asked what packet. The VA knows and his PCP at our local CBOC knows of his death. The doctor our PCP doc uses in the local hospital is the one who notified his VA doc. VA Memphis also called us that first week also. He said something that once the VA knows of the death, they send out a packet notifying what benefits you are entitled to (DIC etc.). He said that when I get the death certificate, he will go on and do the 534. He always lets you mail it and he keeps a copy for his records. That way I will have proof of the receiving it. I do hope that I am able to find out about the counseling. So far, no one can tell me. We also have a dear friend in the Mental Health D " Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrs rockman (widow of vet) Posted September 25, 2012 Author Share Posted September 25, 2012 Berta, OOPS!, I must have pressed the wrong button and you got the 'short form" of my reply. I understand that there is no charge for getting replacements that are on your DD214, but if they are not on there, then you have to pay for the replacements. Thank you for this info, I did not know you could file a DD 149 and then get his DD215. See what great information I get on this site! "You mentioned proper displays.." "They had engraved his name on it Upside down !!!" We were either going to get a beautiful frame and place the medals and ribbons on a red velvet background or possible a shadowbox. We also have gold Arizona cases that we use at our gem and mineral trade shows, that we could use at the memorial for display if we need to (or have not found the perfect place for the medals to reside in). Let me say, I cannot believe they engraved your husband's name upside down and had the gall to even send it out to you! When dealing with all of the VA shenanigans, there is nothing that anyone else could do that would really surprise me. But this was not the VA, and that makes it so much worse. I probably would have chopped it up in pieces and mailed it right back to them with a not so nice note attached! A friend had a beautiful piece of furniture, kinda like a small coffee table with a glass top. They had all of the Arkansas quartz crystals in it for display. That would be wonderful to be able to come accross something like that for his display!). We plan on displaying David's military pictures, our wedding picture, and what other pictures that our daughter picks out. David collected all sorts of ball caps, so we will have his cap tree there with all of his caps ( it is actually our coat tree re-invented). He loved olives (when he was able to eat them), so you know there will be a can of olives. He was obsessed with keeping any change you had at the end of a day or just from a trip to town. With his PTSD, he had to have it immediately put in his jar in the bedroom. Note: we bought a riding lawnmower one time with the jar of coins and we took our cruise last September with the 2nd jar- so collecting change was a good thing! Everything had a certain place and order, and please make sure that you remember it. He would tease his sis and others to leave a quarter before going into the bathroom. Now, we will have a small jar so people can drop one shiny quarter in the jar for David. As you can see our family is a little warped, may I say. We want to remember the humorous things at his memorial. I am ordering two memorial certificates for myself and our daughter to have. "One could not separate Vietnam from my husband (maybe that is the true essence of combat PTSD from the Nam ) but the VA employees and the vets here got it all. Vietnam and Rod are still here in countless ways" David would say that he was 62 years old, but he actually died 40 years ago in Vietnam and all that was here was a shell. I know the PTSD had a very strong hold on David, a hold that I will never fully understand, because I was not there. I thank God everyday that I was able to be his wife, through the good times and not so good times. When he left Vietnam, he never really actually left, because I do not believe that you can ever put that part of your past behind. It is what makes you the man today. It has a huge impact on everything you from that day forward. "There could be a medical nexus between the interstital lung disease and the pulmonary disease." Even though we never got the third page back in 2005, all we have for proof is the third page when we printed his records. We did not have any other medical opinion then. Our outside pulmonary doctor would not put it in writing. I really do not see anything we can do to prove it. It is basically our word over the "mighty" VA and whose side do you think they would take? The one good thing that I can say about not knowing it earlier in 2005 is this: Had David known about it in 2005, he would have had longer time to think about his short life expectancy. With no cure for this deadly disease, the treatment might not have been much different. I do not know much about 1151 claims, but it appears to me that I would not have enough proof to file, don't you think? If I could, I would and would fight for it. If you think different, let me know. "Based on what you posted ,it might be too late to claim the Pulmonary claim as aggravated by the SC IHD.I cant tell here." His last claim for pulmonary closed on 07/29/10. "If there was a claim pending when he died on that, or on another other issue, the VSO will inform you as to how you can potentially substitute yourself for him, and continue those claims." The only pending claim was the denial for the Aid and Attendance on 08/13/12. Like I said, he was not bad enough to warrant that. I do plan on appealing this one. It is not the money, it is for my husband. Berta, I do have a question-like I have not already put you asleep with all of the above. I did not know whether to include it with this post or do under the DIC Forum. Not long ago you posted about there is another part of the 534 claim that VA does not mention, but I cannot remember. I spent much time trying to find that post. I wanted to ask you a something about that to see if I needed to do it or not. All I remember that it was on the right side of Hadit on recent posts. At least I do know that as long as I file for the DIC before 1 year is up, they will go back to the date of death. I am still waiting on the death certificate. MY VSO said that sometimes you can get the DIC along with more money attached, it just depends. He asked today if I had gotten a packet from the VA and I asked what packet. The VA knows and his PCP at our local CBOC knows of his death. The doctor our PCP doc uses in the local hospital is the one who notified his VA doc. VA Memphis also called us that first week also. He said something that once the VA knows of the death, they send out a packet notifying what benefits you are entitled to (DIC etc.). He said that when I get the death certificate, he will go on and do the 534. He always lets you mail it and he keeps a copy for his records. That way I will have proof of the receiving it. I do hope that I am able to find out about the counseling. So far, I cannot find anyone who knows who to ask. This post is so long and I am so sorry. I stay up late at night until I am very tired and then try and sleep. I seem to get my energy at night. Take Care and God Bless!! Celia Mrs. Rockman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berta Posted September 27, 2012 Share Posted September 27, 2012 (edited) I almost missed these questions, sorry “I do not know much about 1151 claims, but it appears to me that I would not have enough proof to file, don't you think? If I could, I would and would fight for it. If you think different, let me know. “ I had no actual 'proof 'when I reopened my husband's 1151 claim. All I had at that time was his death certificate and a copy of a medication error incident report . (That specific error was not malpractice,another medication error, I proved was).His 1151 claim was at the rating board the day he died. As soon as I got a copy of his med recs and his autopsy I found I had considerable proof. Which of course was much different than what he had sent with his original claim. Same for a vet friend of mine. I prepared his 1151 with no proof, 0nly something he said the VA doctor said. I had no proof the doctor said it. But there was no doubt in my mind he had been malpracticed on,due to other things he mentioned during a visit here , and VA agreed with a very fast 1151 award. A good vet rep will consider (or should )1151 potential in just about every claim they see.Just like the chronic presumptive regs and other stuff that could lead to an award. They should not overlook any potential avenue for SC. But the best person to determine a 1151 issue is an IMO doctor. My friend and I succeeded without IMOs but that was a different VA. These days it is almost impossible to succeed in this type of claim without an IMO. Even if the IMO (they can be costly) reveals no malpractice, it could support a different type of SC claim, and best of all, regardless of the 1151 issue it can give one piece of mind knowing VA did the best they could regarding the veteran's care and that no negligence occurred. “Not long ago you posted about there is another part of the 534 claim that VA does not mention, but I cannot remember. I spent much time trying to find that post. I wanted to ask you a something about that to see if I needed to do it or not. All I remember that it was on the right side of Hadit on recent posts. “ It regarded the REPS program, Restored Entitlement Program: This is one of the posts I made to explain it. My former vet reps didn't have a clue on what it was. If it applies to you or any children, as explained in the link, the app should be still at the back of the DIC app. There is no time limit. I was awarded this benefit a few years ago. Other REPS posts,under a search might be a little more detailed.And the Program can be googled. Something else you mentioned, ….I wrote my husband's eulogy myself. The Chaplain of the VA didn't mind. We had a lot of Vietnam vets at the funeral so I made it funny too,in part, and then it became a profound tribute to him and his service. I knew him better then the Chaplain did ,who is now a lifelong friend of mine ,and I wanted some of our non vet friends and family members to get an idea of what his military experience was really like. The Chaplain read it at the service of course, however, not me, and even said the curse word I had put in the eulogy. It got a big laugh. After the Gun Salute and Taps etc, I read a brief poem I had written to Rod thanking him for everything he had done and what it meant to me and thanking him for teaching us how to use the power tools and the reciprocal saws, and install electric wire and outlets in the barn , and thanking him for....... Vietnam......which has been central in many ways to my life since 1983. Vietnam has a deep intrinsic emotional impact on entire vet families sometimes. My daughter became a Vietnamese Linguist -USAF Intel after Rod died and I became a AMU civilian graduate, who prepared many thesis and exercises (War games etc)on aspects of the Vietnam War and why it is still studied today in all military schools. If any civilians out there have seen "The Quiet American" or read the book, they sort of know what I mean........it is the beginning words of the movie...and the book ..... Most Vietnam vets I know live almost daily what I mean by the intrinsic emotional impact of the Vietnam Experience ... As Rod always said' Some of it was unspeakably horrible and some of it was surprisingly wonderful.' Edited September 27, 2012 by Berta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts