MY BELIEFS

[Jamezam]

I very much appreciate the Hadit Forums. It is an excellent resource of all Veteran's.

What I want to talk about is my experience with the Veteran's Administration. I served in the military from 1985 until 1988. Immediately after beginning basic training, I began having major back pain. However, I soldiered through it. Once I was in Berlin, it was discovered that I have Scheuermann's Kyphosis in my lumbar spine, spondylosis, and scoliosis.

I was sent to Frankfurt where they took lots of x-rays and built a back brace for me. For three long years I was in and out of aide stations and hospitals. Somewhere around four or five army physicians recommended over and over that my MOS be reclassified or that I be medically discharged. I was kept in my same MOS 11H (Heavy Anti-Armor Weapons Infantryman) for my entire active duty service

When I got close to ETSing, I was instructed to file a claim for my back issues with the VA. So like a naive good soldier I did. In May 1988, I had a medical exam and they took 23 x-tays. The conclusion (what for it). The VA see's no medical issues with your claimed back disability. CLAIM DENIED. Thus began my lovely journey with the VA and my local VARO. Over to past 28 years I've had a tremendous education about the VA, the VARO, and Title 38.

Why is it that we once had a sense of tremendous pride (which I still do) in serving our country and yet we all kind of lay down and take it when it comes to the VA? I know we all fight the good fight. My point is that we all need to fight the good fight on our terms, not the VA's. I believe we all believe that we have a sense of accomplishment when we file a claim that gets denied then we file an appeal, etc. etc... However, the same process the VA uses to fight against us is the same process we use to fight back.

I don't know about you, but that's not what I was taught or learned in basic training or during the rest of my service. In fighting an enemy, if they shoot at us we shoot back at them and both sides end up with many casualties. Sometimes them more than us. In the context of the VA, however, it's not as simple as just shooting back with appeals, quoting Title 38 or submitting citations with examples where the VA has approved others for the same claim that we are denied for.

I learned in basic training, that we must work as a team, we must support each other and Hadit helps us do that. What I believe MUST happen now, is that we must change our strategy. We must stop focusing on how long the claims or appeal process is and somehow get Congress to begin forcing the VA to do the right thing by us Veteran's. The how is the biggest battle as those of us who have communicated with our Congress person(s) are familiar with the "Thank you for your service" standard line and how much they "CARE" about Veteran's issues. We are all wise enough to know that they are just blowing smoke up our *sses. Look at the bigger picture here. Primaries, media, statements from Congressional members about the outrage of how the VA is treating its Veteran's. What has really changed?

Long story short (that's what we say after ALREADY telling a long story ) Anyway, what I want to say is that while the Hadit Forums are incredibly helpful, the MUCH bigger issue is that nothing in the VA is going change, until every Veteran actually declares war on the VA. I'm not talking about a physical war I'm talking about a legal war and a congressional war. Reading a feel good story about how the VA is changing this or that isn't helping us. Reading the Monday reports is just more smoke and mirrors. Remember everything we were taught in basic, remember all of the comradely we felt with our fellow soldiers, and if you fought in a real war, remember how much you relied on your team to have your back. And, let's figure out this thing (VA) as a team and come up with REAL solutions for every single Veteran.

Lets make "Leave No One Behind, Not on a Desert Trail, Not on a Jungle Trail, Not on a Paper Trail.™" a reality...

Thanks for listening and for having my back because I have yours too!

 

[Gastone]

JZ

What exactly was the DX'd active duty Back Injury? Did your SMR's contain an actual DX & supporting xrays?

Any chance you could post a redacted copy of your C & P DBQs and Denial letters? Would give us a much clearer understanding of your claim situation.

It's not unusual for Vets that receive an initial Comp Claim Denial, to sign on to the "Conspiracy Theory," that the VA is out to "Deny, Deny till we Die."

My personal Claims experience, my finger prints and those of a less than stellar VSO-Rep, were all over my 1st Denial back in 09. "Ignorance is Bliss," until you get the Denial. The only problem is the time you wasted thinking you had all your Ducks in a Row.

Then I got VA Claims Rules & Regs Educated on VAWatchDog & here on Hadit. Took a good deal of time but was well worth the effort. Knowing the What, When and Hows of prosecuting your Comp Claim is the difference between Award & Denial.

If you continue to be unsuccessful with your Claims, might be time to seek an opinion from a well seasoned VSO-Rep or actual VA Attorney, just to get a feel on what you or your past Rep, was doing wrong. Fresh experienced eyes and opinions always help.

Are you on Appeal now?

Semper Fi

 

[Jamezam]

It seems the "MY BELIEFS" topic got highjacked. The original topic is all about how as whole, we Veteran's can band together to force change within the VA.

Now, it's become yet another place in the forum to discuss claim issues.

Gastone,

I was DX'd with Scheuermann's Kyphosis Disease / Lumbar. Yes, my service records contain an "actual" DX or Scheuermann's Kyphosis Disease / Lumbar, Schmorl's nodes, Thoracic / Lumbar, Schmorl's nodes, Thoracic / Lumbar, Scoliosis/Kyphoscoliosis Idiopathic, Chronic Low Back Pain, Headaches. I went through proper request for all military hospital records and past x-rays. However, those records and x-rays "seem" to be missing.

I currently have 5 or 6 appeals, from retro to denied claims. I had one appeal heading to the BVA, however, that claim was suddenly approved. Approved because I believe either a DRO with wisdom or the BVA looked at it and said WTF, why wasn't this approved decades ago? While I appreciate your assistance and I know you are just trying to be helpful, I am not going to take the time to redact and upload all of my C&P's, DBQ's or denial letters. It is not going to serve me to get even more advice on what I should or shouldn't be doing.

Gastone, we don't know each other, but I consider myself to be intelligent, well educated and pretty adept in legalese. Over the years, I've taken a new approach to the handling of my claims by thinking and acting more like an attorney and less like a victim. I hope that comes through in my long rants. And, I'm trying to help my fellow Veteran's think about being more proactive, taking more responsibility and control in their claims and appeal processes and seeking assistance that works for their situation.

In my book, I write about "the day that you are completely free, is the day you take 100% responsibility for everything in your life." We all give up way to much of our personal power to the VA claims processes, struggling to make them do what the VA was created to do in the first place. I.e., support Veteran's instead of treating them like "how dare you expect something back from your country after you served your country so honorably," And, that's where responsibility comes into play. If we Veteran's are doing the response thing by following the rules then so should the VA take responsibility for doing the right thing by us. That's why I believe we must quit empowering the VA by playing by their rules. They already know how Veteran's are going to react, behave, and what Veteran's are going to do in the claims process. What if, as a team we all band together and break all of the rules? What if we al band together and so enough no more games?

As far as the "Conspiracy Theory" I'll just say that after dealing with the VA for 28 years, supplying evidence that just can't be refuted, reading through forums, hundreds of BVA citations, and reading Vets stories. The VA and VARO's are definitely instructed to look for more ways to deny than approve. I worked in workers compensation for years and for several different state agencies that provided benefits to the public. As far as budgets go, there has always been a mentality to pay out as little as possible. Whether it's VA claims, workers comp, unemployment, state and federal benefits or insurance claims. That's just the reality and it's not a conspiracy per se, it's just the way government benefits agencies and insurance functions!

As I've stated before, I've worked with Veteran's organizations, spoken to a few VSO's and two attorneys. And, in my experience I've been able to accomplish a lot more on my own than any organizations or VSO has. Obviously, you have to do some of the claims work yourself, but when Veteran's organizations and VSO's basically just instruct you on what to do with your claims, I don't feel the need to have a middle man, when I'm very capable of researching the claims and appeals process myself. After all it is 2016 and you can find virtually any information on the net, like with VAWatchDog and Hadit, for example. I can see if you have no idea how the VA claims process doesn't work, how an organization or VSO can point you in the right direction. The two attorneys I spoke to, said come back and talk to me when your at the BVA level of your claims.

If my claims take awhile to get approved, I don't see it as wasted time. I see it as I am getting a great education about the process. I've learned to be a lot more proactive in the claims process and that's my point when I said: "we can use the same process the VA uses to fight against us is the same process we use to fight back." My goal is to support my fellow veteran's in being proactive and taking more control of their battles with the VA. If working with DAV, VFW, VSO's or an attorney works for your individual needs, that's great. My point is that we were conditioned to fight, work as a team, and be self-supportive in times of war. What I see is a mix of those who are up for a battle with the VA, those who give up the claims fight, like I once did until a fellow Veteran told me to get back in the fight again, and those who need more guidance.

Doesn't it make a lot more sense to take our battle with the VA to the next level as a cohesive team, so that the claims process is as fair as possible in the future? Or does it make more sense to have to keep going through C&P and QTC exams, waiting years for claim and appeal adjudications, and letting the VA continue to operate, take advantage of and frustrate Veteran's like the have for decades?

As much as I write/talk, I feel like a politician, and I don't really like politicians. So rant over...

[Buck52]

Jamezam

I Deleted my post and apologize for that.

I'll make a new post and post it.

...........Buck