College Roommate VA Disability Max'd Up to 100%!

Yesterday my college roommate Paul heard from VA that his supplemental claim for disability has been approved. He's now backdated 100% to December 2020! Great news, following the first claim being approved earlier for hearing loss at 40%. My strategy helping him was to tie certain current problems to his hearing loss as secondary issues. VA has agreed, following an appeal that reversed their initial denial.

Now, he will get a better disability compensation, medical care for himself and family, some state benefits and, if and hen needed, nursing home or other such advanced care.

These are earned entitlements which he has been denied for the past half-century. Denied VA medical care, GI home loan, every state benefit withheld. There's no catch-up for what he's been refused.

Remember: this is a good outcome but it really is an immense VA failure! Paul first applied for VA disability benefits when he was released from active duty in 1969. He lived with his disability and forgot all about the VA claim which, decades later, was finally found in his Army dental records. The VA never found this critical document: It took his attorney Katrina Eagle a couple hours. Perhaps...VA don't give a damn?

A veteran has a reasonable beef with the VA when they take half a century to resolve a claim, meanwhile denying all federal and state benefits. Paul has a beef, but right now he's simply glad things have gotten straightened out.

The VA tried. Dragged it out fifty years, and if only the process had taken a bit longer, until Paul had passed, VA could cancel his claim altogether because when the vet dies, so does the claim. Too bad, VA. At least you made it into your disgusting "Claim Ignored 50 Years Club."

HELPED ANOTHER VET WIN HIS VA CLAIM – MY COLLEGE ROOMMATE FROM 1969

Paul (left) and Wes, San Diego 1967

PAUL HANSEN, my roommate from college days and friend through half a century, is very deaf. He hears sounds but needs powerful hearing aids to grasp the words. He and I were roommates during and then after college because I joined IBM in San Diego and recruited him. We even were occasional bunkmates in the Army, and travels over the years gave us the opportunity to stay in touch. I'm writing this note to remind all veterans that military service has made us  brothers and sisters; we should always help others, including getting them help from the VA when needed.

Paul was supposed to be best man at my wedding on June 14, 1969, but he instead found himself headed off for Army basic training. While at Fort Bragg he had an incident on the rifle range leaving him but totally deaf for days. He was seen at the base medical clinic but the damage was done: he gradually regained most of his hearing after a week of rest, but then year after year, each ear "rang" louder and louder as Paul's tinnitus developed. And so did his bilateral hearing loss worsen. A lot!

This was a half century ago. SP5 Paul Hansen was a traditional Army reservist, serving his initial six months of Active Duty, but no active duty after that to qualify him as a veteran, nothing making him eligible for VA care and benefits. Paul finished his service obligation and began life's journey in earnest.

Because we kept in touch and visited occasionally, I was able to notice Paul's hearing loss and urged him to apply to the VA. In fact, I even filled out his disability claim somewhere around 2014 or so. But Paul is a perfect example of procrastination, and the application lay somewhere, ignored until it got shuffled into some pile of documents never to be seen again. Okay, I'm a nag. Phone call after phone call, "how ya doin" was followed by reminding him to file with the VA.

Paul's hearing loss was significant, but the need was for him to establish veteran status with VA, entitling him to hearing aids but also vital health care for a multitude of other problems. The disability compensation of his claim was an insignificant concern  – Paul needed the wide range of VA benefits due disabled veterans and he'd never be one without getting around to submitting his claim.

It got to the point that we both realized it just wasn't going to get done, and with his permission I went ahead and applied to the VA for tinnitus and hearing loss disabilities. The initial obstacle of getting Paul to file finally accomplished, we next moved to finding proof of his Army rifle range problem. I filed a request with the Army's personnel records center in St. Louis and the vital proof of injury medical records were promptly sent to us. 

I then had to build an argument that even though he was a traditional from Reservist fifty years back, Paul's injury should entitle him VA care and benefits. Paul wasn't even a proper veteran per the law because he'd never performed a period of active duty after basic training. But have a medical background and I also knew a loophole: the law provides that Reservists and National Guard troops, if they have a disabling injury during their initial active duty or on subsequent training, that injury satisfies the law's requirements for full veteran status. Further, because Paul's training was during the Vietnam war he'd have a wider range of important coverages as a wartime veteran but only if he succeeded in his claim. 

I also wrote a lengthy report about the Army's history of troops' hearing injuries in the years before earplugs were even permitted on a rifle range. I quoted similar VA disability claims from other veterans where applicants had claims approved, even years later like Paul. Because of Paul's age and health, his claim needed to be approved on the first pass, not rejected for correction or appeal. Too often, claims have flaws that delay the process a year: we expected Paul would get a small 10% disability award for his hearing but worried about any delays.

This week, VA having approved his claim on the first pass, Paul Hansen became an honored disabled veteran. 40% disabled, not just 10% as I hoped. Another health issue still is under consideration and we're hoping it will put Paul over 50% disability, at which point all his medical care is provided free. Other benefits:

• #List of Benefits for Veterans 40-50% Disabled, plus compensation
  • Preventive care.
  • "Level 2" VA medical priority group
  • Inpatient (hospitalization) services.
  • Military PX and commissary use.
  • Ancillary services.
  • Mental health care.
  • Geriatrics and extended care.
  • Medical equipment/prosthetic items and aids.
  • Old age, low income pension
  • Medical travel.
  • Veteran-Directed Care program, a budget to help with activities of daily life.
  • Medication/supplies
    
    

The VA decision on his application came in the mail to announce his disability retroactive to December 2020, the date VA received his claim. Paul, faced with many health issues, is finally entitled to VA hearing aids and so many other benefits.

Here, I'll take a firm grasp on my initial urge to tell Paul what his retroactive check would have totaled if HE'D ONLY DONE AS I SUGGESTED SEVEN YEARS AGO.

A note: Paul's dad's Coast Guard bridge coat saved my life once, literally. But that's another story.

Cliff Turcotte's Widow Approved for VA Agent 0range Survivors Benefits! Thank you, VA!

A few minutes ago, Cliff Turcotte's widow Norma phoned to tell me her good news: The VA approved her survivor benefits based on his service aboard our former Agent Orange spray C-123 aircraft.

Earlier this year, on hearing of her loss I suggested she apply for the benefits. His death is now considered by both the Air Force and the VA to be related to his toxic exposures while on duty with the 74th AES.

The VA calls it Dependents Indemnity Compensation (DIC,) awarded survivors of active duty or retired personnel in the amount of $1240. DIC is in lieu of survivors benefit compensation unless DIC is the lesser amount. For all, DIC is tax-free.

Cliff died before applying for any Agent Orange exposure benefits but on my urging his wife contacted the Agawam Town veteran service office and completed the necessary paperwork. VA awarded her the benefit retroactive to the date of her application, and this was just the greatest news I could hope for this morning!

Norma gave me her permission to tell everyone about this, and together we urge all C-123 veterans or their survivors to apply to the Department of Veterans Affairs if they have any of the presumptive illnesses associated with Agent Orange.

This can be done online, or through state or county veterans service officers or through any of the veterans organizations such as Disabled American Veterans and Veterans of Foreign Wars. The veterans organizations provide this as a free service as part of their congressional charters. Their VA-accredited representatives can usually be contacted through VA medical centers.

I don't know the list of our comrades' survivors but I know that Paul Bailey, Cliff Turcotte, Ed Kosakoski, Dick Matte and our other friends now lost to us would all want this benefit to protect their loved ones. Yet, every widow I've spoken with has been reluctant to apply, concerned that it could be unseemly to seek this important financial protection, or the benefits provided by state or local governments such as property tax relief.

Let's put that fear to rest! Serving in the military it's done out of patriotic motivation and also for the opportunity to earn the benefits important to our lives. Our military retirement pensions, TriCare medical coverage and base shopping privileges are some examples we appreciate and have earned.

DIC and other survivor benefits are just as important and every servicemember wants these earned protections for our families. I assured Norma that Cliff probably headed over to get another beer from the refrigerator up in Heaven when he heard the good news!

We must give credit where credit is due and acknowledge the Agawam veterans service officer and also the VA itself for the prompt attention given the claim.

A personal note: Cliff and I joined the 74th AES the same day, and were welcomes aboard by Marv Proctor and Vinny Macrave. Cliff was a prior service Navy corpsman, and I was a prior service medic with the Army and as California Air National Guard, and both of us were staff sergeants. Cliff completed his education and was commissioned as a flight nurse, retiring as a major.

Once again today, Cliff's family told me how much he loved flying and loved the squadron.