No Military Medical Records, No Civillian Records, No Pcm, What Do I Do?

[_Joshua_]

I apologise for the length of this post, I've never been good at condensing information.

A little information about myself first.

My name is Joshua

I'm 31 years old

I'm an OEF/OIF Veteran

I was honorably discharged from active duty Army in 2005

I have a PTSD and depression diagnosis by civilian doctor after a suicide attempt earlier this year.

I'm now alcohol and drug free after years of abuse and self medication.

I have many physical and mental problems which I attribute to military service.

I Started my VA Claim 2 years ago yet it's somehow still in the gathering of information stage.

I recently received a letter from the VA stating that they can't find my medical records.

Because the VA couldn't find them they told me that I should do it. I at first laughed and thought to myself, if the Military can't find my Military Records, how am I supposed to do it? This was insanity, but I tried anyway.

I've called my last duty station and they don't have them. They don't know where my records went nor do they care.

I've called The National Archives and sent them letters in St. Louis, they don't have them and don't give a damn.

I've applied to receive my records online, they sent me dental records and an apology.

I went in person to the records keeping of my last duty station and was politely asked to leave.

Because my records are lost, they have asked for the following information which doesn't exist or is impossible for me to get:

Buddy letters: It's been 7 damn years, all of my military friends are LONG gone I've had no contact with any of my old friends from the military. I do not have Buddy letters and I honestly have no means to get them, I've tried everything I can to get in contact with anyone that knew me in the service for many years. People move on, they leave the military, they PCS, they die, they disappear, this is a fact of life that the VA doesn't understand apparently.

civilian medical records for the last 7 years: I have none, They do not exist. I was living under a bridge, I had no income, I was eating garbage out of dumpsters, going to a doctor was the least of my worries. Only recently this year (April) did I become registered in the VA medical system. (They haven't yet provided me with a PCM so I can't make non-mental health appointments), I've tried to make appointments and I get the same answer every time, NO. The only records I have are already in the VA medical system.

Statements from military medical staff, I have none. If they exist they would be in my somehow non-existent records.

State or local accident and police reports: None exist.

Employment physical examinations: I don't have these because I've been unemployed since military service. Any jobs I've applied for haven't gone past the interview stage. (What is your address? Employment rejected)

Letters written during service: The few I did write were destroyed by an angry ex-wife

Photographs taken during service: None

Pharmacy prescription records: please refer to the first point in this list.

Insurance examinations: yeah, right...

I went to a VSO to help me with my claim which proptly closed it's doors, shut down and destroyed all records and paperwork within a month of me signing over a power of attorney.

The VA won't talk to me, they don't have my records, they won't let me see a VA provider, they won't send me any information about my claim.

I've been scheduled 3 appointments with the VA in the last 3 months. EVERY SINGLE APPOINTMENT has been an intake class for people new to the VA system. These appointments have also been scheduled in a city 40 miles away from where I am, even though there is a VA clinic 2 blocks from my apartment.

I've taken the same class and filled out the same paperwork 3 times. Yesterday I got a notice advising me of a new appointment. Guess what it's for?

New patient intake...

What the hell is the VA doing here? Am I going insane? Who is running this rag-tag system?

What do I do here? Should I just give up? I'm running out of time here. I can't live in this apartment forever. They are starting to tape notices to my door asking for money I don't have. I'm about to head back under my bridge and say the hell with it.

What a disaster.

[meghp0405]

Joshua, I have had great results of finding medical and personnel records at this location; Department Of Veterans Affairs

Records Management Center

PO BOX 5020

St Louis, MO 63115-5020

This is not the address for the NPRC.

Hope this helps.

[john999]

Do you have your DD214? What about exit physical and entrance exams?

[carlie]

The OP has made no further post since his original opening of the topic

Nov 2012.

[broncovet]

This is a classic example of how Shinseki's homeless elimination program is not working. This Vet "fell through the cracks"...why? Because the VA lost his records. Is this the Vets fault? Probably not. I think this Vet should apply for benefits anyway. Let the RO deny them based on "there was no evidence of .....condition" in the Vets SMR's. You see, "Absence of evidence" is not the same as "evidence of absence".

You see, if the Vet goes to the doc, and the doc does a medical test, say for DMII, and it comes back "negative"...then this is "evidence" of the "absence" of DMII.

However, it is completely different when the medical record shows nothing....no tests for DMII. This is not probative that the Vet does not have DMII, because:

1. The Vet may never have been tested for DMII but could still have it.

2. One or more pages of the Vets records may be missing, but the Vet still has DMII.

The proof of the fallacy of the logic error for a universal negative is well published, yet the VA does it all the time. I can not make a statement "There are no people in the world with six toes"...unless I have examined all 4.5 billion people, and I have not. No one has. That is why you can not prove a universal negative. In the same way, the VA saying,

"The medical records are negative for DMII, so the Vet does not have DMII" is a logic fallacy.