Should Veterans feel bad about being awarded and receiving VA disability compensation for non-combat related injuries?

No, Unless you are running for political office, and show that your Disability, isnt really disabling. .like Richard Ojeda

Thanks to the media, especially TV, the civilian population is more aware of Special Ops personnel. During Viet Nam my husband was involved in classified missions of POW extraction. Therefore he "was never there". We cannot get proof of in country service to prove his exposure to Agent Orange. He has developed issues related to AO, and is being denied service connected disability due to this. We'll continue to work to solve his for as long as we can. Iknow he is not alone in this effort.

No. A veteran who was injured while in service should not feel bad about being awarded disability. I served a total of 26 years and am very thankful for the VA. I know that some veterans are making false claims but that speaks to their character and hopefully someday they will be held accountable.

I'm a Retired SFC E-7,Vietnam Vet,I'm 100% disabled,due to Agent Orange. from my service in Vietnam. I earned EVERY nickle of my disability money.by virtue,of the stupid bastards,that decided,that spraying that poison,was a great idea. Of 42 people in my section,I know of 19,that have died from agent orange related cancers. I would LOVE to see the persons responsible,tried and convicted,for war crimes,against the Vietnamese people,and OUR MILITARY.AM I bitter?? Damn right,I was self employed,and was earning an average of $165,000 a year,my disability pay,is not even half of that. SFC Bob Rice,Retired,55X4HJ5.

I highly agree with LTC Christensen. There is no shame to receiving VA or Military compensation unless a service member lied about injuries. Being Injured while on active duty happens at no fault to the service member, trust me, I speak from experience. If a military medical board confirms and recommends retirement then it is perfectly fine.

Why would anyone that has ever served feel bad about an injury, and compensation for it. Combat is a big deal...but let's be honest about it. Not everyone will ever see that opportunity, and we have all kinds of things that are still likely to cause serious injury or death during something as 'simple' as training. During helicopter ops for example members of 2/8 on 10 May 1996 were doing night ops. A Cobra helicopter blade struck the bas of a CH-46. 16 men were killed instantly and two helicopters fell form the sky. It wasn't combat, and the two CH-46 pilots managed to survive the crash because of how far forward they were when the Cobra hit them from behind. I've done duty with 2nd AAV's as well and there were many ways to get injured in and around one. I've seen the aftermath of a ground guide that guided a truck backwards into his chest pinning him against a shipping container. A PFC new join to the unit that wanted to be seen as helpful was there helping to change a truck tire without the proper safety boots, because he hadn't done that part of the check in process yet. the tire fell over smashing his foot into a mess that had him leave the Marine Corps in 18 months after his med boards were over. None of these were combat related, and all of them were service related. the men and women involved came into service in a particular state of health, and did not leave in the same state of health. Why on earth then would anyone suggest they should not be compensated for service related injuries that cause a permanent effect on their physical health?

No we are all veterans, if you served and had a non combat related injury but we're still injured you should receive disability if you qualify.

I would say Service is Service

One thing to remember is that all Veterans came into the service prepared to go to war and suffer. Some of us suffered outside of war; the degree of injury has a lot to do with the grant. The other thing that people should be conscious of is that of all the classes drawing disability from the government, only retired Veterans granted less than 50% lose money on the deal because their "benefit" consists of a reduction in the amount of pension; those funds are then paid as the VA disability. The sole "benefit" is that that money isn't taxed. This practice was one of those great things that in the 20 years since I've retired I've heard lots of people -- AUSA, American Legion, DAV, VFW, and various supposed "veterans advocates" from both parties have advocated changing that law and allowing concurrent receipt. Never happened, of course; there was some action for those who received more than 50% that they would receive the full pension plus the disability. One big mistake Vets and some Vets organizations make is to pit various parts of our community against each other. Solidarity goes further to achieve justice than some of the nonsense these organizations and "advocates" get into primarily to increase the size of their own rice bowl.
Personally, I am 40% disabled; I have been asssured by various Army and civilian docs that I should apply for consideration for an increase. I could use the money, but so long as we have people waiting for months if not years for their award, I have refused to get in line. I'm not a saint or a hero; but, I would be unable to sleep at night if I thought there was a chance that somebody in desperate need of a decision suffered any delay because someone was spending time on my case.

Absolutely not. I was stationed at Camp Lejeune North Carolina in the '70s, diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma in the '90s, and am 100% total and permanent disabled today. The VA finally agreed my cancer was related to my being stationed at CLNC. Too bad my wife and daughter can't get the same VA treatment I do. Families of servicemen and servicewomen serve, too!