Vietnam Veteran needs advice

Hi to my fellow Vietnam Vets... I served for one year in Nam from March of 1967 through March of 1968. I'm desperate for any advice on how to get the VA to get off their a-- and make a decision regarding agent orange compensation.  I am at my wits end over this... applied in May of last year and keep getting the same response over and over that "you will hear from us in a timely manner".  I'm interested if any vets out there had any better luck and if so, what did you do? Are there any (non-government) organizations that can help.  It seems that we Vietnam vets are continuously being treated as second class citizens. 

Hello and welcome to HW CP,

Always good to see another fellow Nam vet. Myself, U.S.N, 1970-1971, VP-17

Don't feel bad, I applied for mine back in 2009, still not resolved. Wasted 2 years fighting the VA here in SC for nearly 2 years, then finally was sent to Washington on appeal. Been there ever since. My county VA office has been decent, but they can only do so much. I even enlisted the help of my U.S. Senator, Lindsey Graham. He found where my file was, and who was over it, but still couldn't get me bumped up.

With the help of the local county office, and letters from my doctor, I was moved up to the "Hardship" pile, but even then, the Senator said there were tens of thousands even in the Hardship group. They do them in date order, as of last year, they were still processing claims that were filed 5 years before mine!

Some vets here got approval in as little as 6 months, others, like myself, not so lucky. There's been a longstanding problem with a lot of navy vets. My squadron flew missions in the South China Sea, on Market Time Missions, and we deployed in the P.I, Thailand, and Viet-Nam (Cam Rah Bay). But the actual service records only show the P.I., even though there is sufficient evidence that we (me) were in Nam and the other places, depending on the actual mission. So this technicality through my claim out of the normal processing for approval. The local VA feels I will be approved, and owed a ton of back money, assuming I live long enough.

You have to be you own advocate on this subject, and be persistent. I formerly worked with a lot of good lawyers, and unfortunately, unlike fighting for Social Security disability claims, with the VA claims, there' not a lot of good an attorney can do for you.

I will be going to my county office, again, next week, to see if I can force another update, all I usually get, is "still pending". Very frustrating, but I will never give up. I was there, I still have PC, and I am entitled to it. They didn't mind me enlisting on my 18th birthday with a low lottery number, and now they are trying to hose me out of this.

Good luck, and keep fighting

david in sc

gun, that's pretty well the same thing I was saying, taking it to the your local county office. They did my original filing for me, every bit of it. And they handled the appeal paperwork. And all the follow-up..

david

St. Perigrine -

Fellow Nam vet myself (Army, 1969-1970), just want to say hi and welcome.

I can't add a whole lot to the good advice you have already gotten here, but while you are pursuing your VA claim, please keep in mind that this list here is a truly great resource for getting excellent information about PC and for support in general.

Anytime you have any questions, feel free to come here and ask. There's a great chance you'll get a quick and good answer

One of our regular members Sonny3 has received VA benefits for his PC as the result of being exposed to Agent Orange in Nam. I think he keeps his email link open and I am sure he would be happy to share his experiences in dealing with the VA. Good luck on your journey.

Terry

Welcome,The usual time is 10 months to a year; but you will receive payments from the time of claim. If going to your regional rep doesn't work you can go to your congressman. A call to his office usually gets the ball rolling with the VA as they have to respond to a congressional inquiry. I've done this twice in my 45 years dealing with the VA and it works. The last time was this month after 25 calls, two doctor visits and the normal bureaucratic BS and 3 months to get $200 worth of consumable supplies for my prosthetic. Problem resolved in a week and a half after they receive the congressional call.
I just had my second review for PC last week; the doctors reviewing seem to know very little about PC so we'll see how it goes. Last time claim was extended for a year.

I do not have any knowledge of the question you asked, but I DO want to thank you for your service to our nation. It is great people like you who make this such a great country.

Good luck!
Chuck

Resident of Highland, Indiana just outside of Chicago, IL.
July 2011 local PSA lab reading 6.41 (from 4.1 in 2009). Mayo Clinic PSA Sept. 2011 was 5.7.
Local urologist DRE revealed significant BPH, but no lumps.
PCa Dx Aug. 2011 at age of 61.
Biopsy revealed adenocarcinoma in 3 of 20 cores (one 5%, two 20%). T2C.
Gleason score 3+3=6.
CT of abdomen, bone scan both negative.
DaVinci prostatectomy 11/1/11 at Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN), nerve sparing, age 62.
My surgeon was Dr. Matthew Tollefson, who I highly recommend.
Final pathology shows tumor confined to prostate.
5 lymph nodes, seminal vesicles, extraprostatic soft tissue all negative.
1.0 x 0.6 x 0.6 cm mass involving right posterior inferior,
right posterior apex & left mid posterior prostate.
Right posterior apex margin involved by tumor over a 0.2 cm length, doctor says this is insignificant.
Prostate 98.3 grams, tumor 2 grams. Prostate size 5.0 x 4.7 x 4.5 cm.
Catheter out in 7 days. No incontinence, occasional minor dripping.
Post-op exams 2/13/12, 9/10/12, PSA <0.1.
Semi-firm erections now happening 14 months post-op & slowly getting a bit stronger.