We are supposed to be the nation which put men on the moon numerous times. We are the nation who fought two major wars on two different fronts and won. We can go on regarding our accomplishments. Why is it that the Department of Veteran Affairs cannot simplify all their forms down to ONE. I know that might sound impossible but right now a person can go on line and look up what form to use for a particular type of claim, pull up that form, fill it out and submit it, and have it rejected because it is ‘not the correct form’. I, and many involved with the VA processes, firmly believe that the Department of Veteran Affairs purposely makes it difficult to get a claim submitted, read, and approved and to have it done in a timely manner. What I have observed is that unless the veteran has a service officer doing the work, that claim will go no where. I do not care if it is General Schwarzkoph’s bodyguard, if he tries to do his claim himself it would be rejected. I have found the more ‘colorful’ the duties were that the veteran had while in the service, the more difficult it was to get his military record, and especially to get enough in his record unredacted to have something to read, and more difficult to ever get his claim approved. One of my clients was a ‘spook’ during Vietnam. A ‘spook’ was a government person, usually CIA, who was assigned to a unit. The VA never did recognize he was in Vietnam even though he had letters of commendation from Generals and Chief’s of Staff. It took over TEN YEARS for the VA to at least recognize his diabetes but the man died before his PTSD was recognized. I had a veteran who had worked over 30 years (no exaggeration) for the VA to acknowledge that he was raped in bootcamp. (Nothing ever happened to the Sgt who did the crime). I believe the only reason he finally got his 100% was because I went with him to his administrative hearing. It was going bad so I asked if I could speak. I was allowed to see his file ONE time. I am glad I took notes on the letters written, content and signature as well as buddy letters. These were able to substantiate his verbal claims. I do not believe he would have ever got his claim recognized by the VA if I had not been present. Too many times, and I know it might not be true but it seems this way, that the VA does not want to approve claims. It should not be impossible to simply the paperwork, to not have to many different forms and to have a system that is able to recognize a previous form. Our veteran deserve better. I have come across too many veterans who were used as guinea pigs by the government while in the field and then when those veterans apply for disability benefits they have to fight their own government for those benefits.
Thank you
Dr. Robert D. Baize