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Immediate post Vietnam, yep the VA was pissed that you were still alive to even apply for disability compensation. They figured is they made it hard enough or overly complicated, you just may die before a C&P exam could be scheduled. At worst, you may be strung out enough on drugs that your brain was so screwed up, you wouldn't even make it through the intake. Reality was (despite attempts to whitewash it) Vietnam veterans were treated as the enemy by the VA, service organizations, our government and the ignorant public.
Times have changed and when serving for one hour made you a hero to America, just saying you were flaking out from knowing someone who may have heard someone else say they saw a person possibly getting shot, well that was good enough for a PTSD rating.
The process is much easier and simpler now, so, if it's in your military medical records and the C&P exam verifies the disability and it meet current rating guidelines, you will be granted the deserved service connected disability from the post Vietnam era.
My dad served on the flight deck of a carrier doing combat operations in Vietnam. He did get into VA because he was blinded in one eye from an incident on the flight deck which resulted in his early discharge. However he was never able to claim exposure to Agent Orange. He and his buddies said they had to handle those returning jets covered in the stuff but because they weren’t in the jungle where it was sprayed then they weren’t exposed.
As for the hero stuff, I’m uncomfortable with all the “thank you for your service” stuff I hear when someone finds out I served. They don’t know what I did. I made clean drinking water for the ship, I generated electricity for the ship, I kept the ship’s engines running, and I maintained and repaired firefighting equipment in our division’s spaces. I receive more genuine thanks from things I do on my job which I got thanks to my Navy training. I help keep patients and hospital staff comfortable and safe at the local hospital. I maintain the hospital’s HVAC, emergency generators, medical gas systems, fire alarm systems, and perform general repairs around the hospital.
My dad served on the flight deck of a carrier doing combat operations in Vietnam. He did get into VA because he was blinded in one eye from an incident on the flight deck which resulted in his early discharge. However he was never able to claim exposure to Agent Orange. He and his buddies said they had to handle those returning jets covered in the stuff but because they weren’t in the jungle where it was sprayed then they weren’t exposed.
As for the hero stuff, I’m uncomfortable with all the “thank you for your service” stuff I hear when someone finds out I served. They don’t know what I did. I made clean drinking water for the ship, I generated electricity for the ship, I kept the ship’s engines running, and I maintained and repaired firefighting equipment in our division’s spaces. I receive more genuine thanks from things I do on my job which I got thanks to my Navy training. I help keep patients and hospital staff comfortable and safe at the local hospital. I maintain the hospital’s HVAC, emergency generators, medical gas systems, fire alarm systems, and perform general repairs around the hospital.
Look at it from the outside in - a ship with no clean drinking water is not a good place. Thank you!
I must be the only Veteran who’s not on VA Disability. I have tinnitus from two and a half years as a Huey Crew Chief and in 1978 I busted my knee playing softball in the 8th Army championship game in Korea. The injury should be documented in my medical records if they still exist somewhere. To this day I still have a twinge if I start off wrong when walking.
When I check into it the process of making a claim with the VA it seems daunting. It’s almost like they don’t want me to register. Whatever, I’ve made my way this long and there’s a lot worse off than me out there. As long as they get the help, I’m good.
It took my FIL from 1964 to 2020 to file his claim and do so successfully. When you done please give back by helping those who need it. The paper jungle is not that bad.
I must be the only Veteran who’s not on VA Disability. I have tinnitus from two and a half years as a Huey Crew Chief and in 1978 I busted my knee playing softball in the 8th Army championship game in Korea. The injury should be documented in my medical records if they still exist somewhere. To this day I still have a twinge if I start off wrong when walking.
When I check into it the process of making a claim with the VA it seems daunting. It’s almost like they don’t want me to register. Whatever, I’ve made my way this long and there’s a lot worse off than me out there. As long as they get the help, I’m good.
No, you are not, trust me.
You need to get help, look for it near you.
My Chiropractor who was in and his planes participated in Agent Orange, never retired, just did his job and got out, he just got rated.
Even if you are rated at ZERO, it's still service connected.
Please, do me a favor, look up your local VFW or other military organizations for retired folks around your area.
There are people out there to to help you, really.
It took my FIL from 1964 to 2020 to file his claim and do so successfully. When you done please give back by helping those who need it. The paper jungle is not that bad.
Let me rephrase - it took him that long to bother to file. The claim was through in 2-3 months.
Look at it from the outside in - a ship with no clean drinking water is not a good place. Thank you!
The thing I’m most proud of with my service was being the DCPO (division’s damage control petty officer) for the engine room and associated spaces. I repaired, replaced, and inspected all water tight doors, hatches, & scuttles as well as all emergency lighting and firefighting equipment. During several major operational inspections NONE of my gear was found unsatisfactory and this being the engine room, the inspectors looked at our spaces harder than most others. Even got a letter of commendation from an admiral for this. What it represents to me is every time my firefighting year was needed it worked properly every time. We had many small fires but because they worked, those small fires never got a chance to become big fires. Sadly the DCPO is a job handed off to a worthless person in the division and most don’t bother to do the job properly. I was a lousy machinist mate but I was a great DCPO. When asked why I worked so hard at being DCPO my reply was because I wanted to leave the ship alive.
The thing I’m most proud of with my service was being the DCPO (division’s damage control petty officer) for the engine room and associated spaces. I repaired, replaced, and inspected all water tight doors, hatches, & scuttles as well as all emergency lighting and firefighting equipment. During several major operational inspections NONE of my gear was found unsatisfactory and this being the engine room, the inspectors looked at our spaces harder than most others. Even got a letter of commendation from an admiral for this. What it represents to me is every time my firefighting year was needed it worked properly every time. We had many small fires but because they worked, those small fires never got a chance to become big fires. Sadly the DCPO is a job handed off to a worthless person in the division and most don’t bother to do the job properly. I was a lousy machinist mate but I was a great DCPO. When asked why I worked so hard at being DCPO my reply was because I wanted to leave the ship alive.
My Vietnam vet husband always tells those who are hesitant to file for disability, “Do it for the guys who didn’t make it back.”
I may have told this story before - my father’s feet were badly frostbitten during the Battle of the Bulge. After the war he moved to a northern state and in cold weather his feet hurt a lot. Went to the VA, got a 10% rating. After a few years his feet didn’t bother him any more. He went back to the VA and told them he didn’t feel he was entitled to it anymore. They said he was disabled, period, and he couldn’t “give it back.” So he got that check ge rest of his life.
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