Is being "Military-Grade Tough" actually a penalty, causing a lack of in-service medical evidence for VA Disability Proceedings?

SFC Harris.

I will say this for what it is worth.

When I was done with my service a few years later I met my missing ill dad.

His unknown resume resume was now known to me his first born child.

My dad was an actual 66-68 Army Infantryman Vietam of Course.

He was 100% VA Service Connected nearly 40 years after service PSYCH considered incompetent.

In those mssing years of VA support he lost his family and went dark suffering the fate of many a Vietnam Service Member, homeless etc etc etc...man I am amazed and proud that he survived all this darkness to even stand this strong today. But that is a lot of dark I would suppose. But it shows how strong humans are. But I never said that this darkness will make us well functioning in a society that is the way it is. It just means us Service Members are a strong bunch in our own distinct way that regular society can not comprehend because they never lived it.

That is like an NFL player saying that a civilian can never know really what it like to play in the NFL, but they can watch from the sidelines and cheer and make believe.

My dad, he is still around and still PSYCH 100%.

Meeting him really let me see what NOT taking care of yourself will do after many a year of not even identifying you are struggling with a miltiary caused illness. The picture is not great by any regard. I love the guy. I just wish he could um treat himself well and let some of those demons go when he was not able to take care of his family anylonger and take account he is still here and there is nothing like today to take care of youself..and therefore by sybiosis taking care of your family.

The leader needs to take care and stock of the the health of himself.

But he will not talk about Vietnam much.

He can not identify directly that Vietnam military service untreated medically was the direct link to him falling ill chronically uncared for confused going dark and loosing his family.

He was unaware for some nearly 40 years that military service stress caused his PSYCH illness chronic.

It took a healthier Vietnam Veteran to drag him into a VA hospital some 40 years after the fact.

In those 40 years he certainly started to have brain fog never before linking military stress events harming his psych. But him not being able to readily talk about such events openly and proudly did not erase the reality that he was there.

So it really happened and the VA recognized that and his service records cooberate it.

Now it is a bit late for him.

He is 40 years plus into his set ways and PSYCH issues untreated.

He will not be able to identify that military service directly caused his chronic PSYCH issues that created symptoms of loosing him family.

But you did directly state you know that you lost your family due military service.

I applaud you for that.

I think that takes a brave man to identify you are not the bad guy here.

You are just a guy who went through very stressful things that can harm anyone each each detail of each stressor unique.

I think your kids and former lover just want you to take care of yourself, love yourself, get healthy for yourself and they will respect trust and then depend and count on you so much for your own self care.

That own self care is something I think us service members sometimes forget stetched thin by military service.

And when you are stretched thin and can not self care the you can not readily care for others around you emotionally.

Emotions Love are stronger then money on any given day truth be told.

I could have but 1 dollar and be happy with a healthy fun cool laid back caring avalable dad. But I think even with 1 million dollars and a broken missing dad I would still seek out an emotional connection to replace what money can not buy

It is easy math.

So what am I saying?

I hope this can be of benefit somehow my story.

I am not perfect.

I am just trying to share what I know or at least what I think I know.

Don't take it personal if I am off base.

Thanks

Totally understandable. Unfortunately those at the VA making decisions have never been in the Military and do not truly understand what we have been thru. Plus the price we paid

The downside is exactly what you observe -- the Marine's medical jacket is much thinner at the end of his career. So when the VA goes to look at his medical history, there isn't as much to look at as the Airman's jacket.


This is exactly what will get the tough guy honorably sacrificing screwed in the end of sacrificing honorably.

They will not latch on to your operational setting or conditions first. They will latch on to lack of in-service medical records.

This was coo-berated by Officer on Staff at Medical Retention Board and this is substantiated in my case and others I am meeting.

The best case you can hope for, the text book version, is the Medic or Corpsman Administratively Documents you perfectly and enters you into a LIMDU MEB PEB process.

Otherwise you will get to the VA level and then have to explain time and time again why you were so operationally tough as to feign injury and illness thinking you were sacrificing for your country with the best of intentions.

I do have in-service records. My record does stand on its own. But things should be 1000% smoother ride on this side of it. I should never have to explain lack of Adminstrative Text Book required documents as if it was all laid perfectly out in a case study of how and why a service member goes though tough things operationally and gets sick in the correct way and gets administered in the correct text book way.

Anything less then the text book correct laboratory clean room text book perfection process a administrator of disability expects to see in a text book case of perfectly administered in service injury illness is what the young injured ill SM must not understand or comprehend...

PO3 Aaron Hassay - Oh, believe me, I wish it was simpler. I have learned through my board to be as exacting and precise as humanly possible. Anything less has gotten me hell.

MSgt Mike Briney - I went to the VA Disablity Rating Department Manager and was told that the rater can dispute a MD or PHD because of imperfections how the MD or PHD spelled things, described things, linked things. Instead of presuming things on the Operational Veterans Benefit Connecting Chronic illness to Documented Stressors of Operational Duty these adjudicators sit and fine comb for imperfections that will lead to administrative denial, remand.

I see nothing much that another SM could add with a buddy letter that would trump what my Service Record documents as my Duty Assignment and the already KNOWN Stressors of such duty assignment that are already documented by medical commands as causing ergonomic stress illness and other illnesses.

It is amazing when you learn that the illnesses you suffer are already studies, documented, and verfied by Medical Commands.

The Medical Commands are not dumb.

The Doctors know that if you put a human in stressful situations there will be physical and mental illness.

The only problem is it takes the medical representative to notice the illness symptoms of such stressors on a SM in operational mode and do the proper administrative duty.

Even if the medical represenative does not do the best administrative documentation that does not mean the SM was not in the duty assignment stressors.