Posted on Jul 3, 2025
Don’t keep that near-miss – or repeated - blast off your medical record
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Have you ever been on a patrol where you took mortar or RPG fire, or maybe an IED-blast – but no shrapnel – and just continued mission like it was another day on the job?
What about time spent at the range or a shoot house with lots of high caliber rounds or other explosives detonating near you?
I did all of the above… and my first thoughts were, “it’s not that big of a deal. I don’t want to see the medics and leave my guys behind.” I never gave a second thought to go get these things noted in my medical record.
Pride and inexperience can be a dangerous thing for “future you.”
It turns out that our brains don’t forget as many things as we seem to [citation: https://rly.pt/ScienceDirect].
I’ve been out of the military for a while now and I deal with sleep and other issues that may have come from these past incidents.
If this sounds similar to your experiences, some other symptoms you may want to look for include unexplained vision, balance, hearing, headaches, memory issues, emotional challenges, or incidents losing your temper with your team, family, or friends.
If you are still actively serving in the military, make sure you raise your concerns to your doctor and mention the concussive events so they are documented in your medical records. If you don’t want to bring it up now because you are not sure if you really have these symptoms and don’t want it to keep you from your next promotion, I get it. Just make sure you have these issues documented the moment you drop your papers to end your military service.
That single piece of documentation – made while you are still serving – will be key for the VA to determine benefits and treatment available to you later in life.
If you, like me, are already out of service, and you didn’t have anything documented and are looking for a path forward, then go talk to your doctor. If your doc is not at the VA, consider getting VA care as their docs see a lot more brain trauma patients than most of their civilian counterparts: https://rly.pt/VAapply.
Also, for many reasons (see my last post here: https://rly.pt/ReactToContact), stay in touch with those who served with you. It can be their eyewitness accounts of things you experienced together that can help you if you don’t have the things I mentioned above documented to get the benefits you have earned.
What about time spent at the range or a shoot house with lots of high caliber rounds or other explosives detonating near you?
I did all of the above… and my first thoughts were, “it’s not that big of a deal. I don’t want to see the medics and leave my guys behind.” I never gave a second thought to go get these things noted in my medical record.
Pride and inexperience can be a dangerous thing for “future you.”
It turns out that our brains don’t forget as many things as we seem to [citation: https://rly.pt/ScienceDirect].
I’ve been out of the military for a while now and I deal with sleep and other issues that may have come from these past incidents.
If this sounds similar to your experiences, some other symptoms you may want to look for include unexplained vision, balance, hearing, headaches, memory issues, emotional challenges, or incidents losing your temper with your team, family, or friends.
If you are still actively serving in the military, make sure you raise your concerns to your doctor and mention the concussive events so they are documented in your medical records. If you don’t want to bring it up now because you are not sure if you really have these symptoms and don’t want it to keep you from your next promotion, I get it. Just make sure you have these issues documented the moment you drop your papers to end your military service.
That single piece of documentation – made while you are still serving – will be key for the VA to determine benefits and treatment available to you later in life.
If you, like me, are already out of service, and you didn’t have anything documented and are looking for a path forward, then go talk to your doctor. If your doc is not at the VA, consider getting VA care as their docs see a lot more brain trauma patients than most of their civilian counterparts: https://rly.pt/VAapply.
Also, for many reasons (see my last post here: https://rly.pt/ReactToContact), stay in touch with those who served with you. It can be their eyewitness accounts of things you experienced together that can help you if you don’t have the things I mentioned above documented to get the benefits you have earned.
Posted in these groups: 
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
TBI
Medal of Honor
DisabilityMedically Unexplained Symptoms (MUS)
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) TBI Medal of Honor DisabilityMedically Unexplained Symptoms (MUS)
Posted 6 mo ago
Responses: 52
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I’m not sure if it was put in my records or not, but I went through the gas chamber once with one of my eyelets having something wrong with it unbeknownst to me. So when I went in the gas got inside my mask and I ended up having three stitches in my forehead because I couldn’t see and there was a doorway that was shorter than I am which I hit pretty hard on my way out.
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In Basic, I was crawling through the simulation battlefield. A pit blew when I was close by and injured my back. I was driven to the dispensary for treatment.
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Step one, minimize exposure as much as the mission allows. Number 2, document any major exposures or long term exposures. Preferably by an LOD used as “for record”. Three, seek medical help if required. It’s also addional documentation. Four, keep copies of the above and never assume the big system in the sky has your back.
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In Vietnam I was in the pier in QuiNhon delivering some equipment to be uploaded onto a ship. There was an explosion just under the surface of the water, explosives planted in a tire bumper blew a hole in the ship, took in water and partly sunk tied to the pier. I was knocked over and some flying debris stuck in my boot sole . My ears were ringing. There’s no way I didn’t hit my head. Anyway the four required stitches. Was told I was put in for a Purple Heart, but it was denied because it wasn’t a bullet. Life went on. Fast forward to 2002 when I was encouraged to file a claim. Apparently my medical records were found as in my numerous conditions listed was a foot puncture wound at 0%. I had forgotten all about it. When the PACT Act was passed my VSO suggested filing for a few other things that got me to 90%, but the foot is still at 0%. Unfortunately at 74 I’ve never brought up the concussion it would be challenging to do so now.
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Getting hit on the head by a box dropped over 30 feet that knocks you to your knees will also cause these issues. Bringing stores onboard shipp and one was dropped on my head.
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I was hit in the head by the step of a C-130! At the time I was jumping out of said C-130 and was hanged by the static line of the jumper in front of me. That was in 1976 and I have been disabled and compensated by the VA since 1977.
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There is also emerging evidence that these impacts may actually change our DNA. I learned that when I listened to the audio book "The Dead Drink First". It was a tough listen for me because the parallels between my father and the authors father were eerily similar even though my dad was army in Germany and his dad was marine corps Japan.
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Agree with all of your comments. I always tell my friends leaving service that later in life things start coming about with your body, especially the things you mention in your above note. Training, combat, etc all have an affect on you. It is especially evident over 50 years old. I retired in 2011 and deal with it now at 62 and have found yoga, fitness and no drinking help me quite a bit.
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