Reporting for Roll Call: 15:35Hrs - 7-1-13
Hi LT:
Re: Coming home. Much like you, a lot of us who came back from Korea, found ourselves in a completely indifferent world. You landed at Travis on a moonless night, with no one else there waiting for you. I landed at McCord AFB, near Seattle,in an icy grey dawn, after a rather weird transpacific flight routed through Chemnya, Anchorage, and finally Seattle. Of course, I wasn't getting out, just being re-assigned to a new posting. Generous as always, aster almost three years overseas, the Army gave me 10 days leave to find my way back to the East Coast and return ,to report for a cycle of DI duty at Ft.Ord. CA. Standing there in that dawn's early light, in threadbare fatigues, with a bulging duffel, an M1 slung on my shoulder, a 45 on my hip, and helmet, the only thing I could think of was...where can I get a goddam hot cup of coffee, followed by...where the hell am I...and where do I go from here.?
The only other human around, was another poor bastard in the same pathetic gear, who could have passed for my twin brother. We'd been seat neighbors on the flight. The only two on board who weren't on stretchers. How we were ever booked on that MedEvac flight from Tokyo, is a mystery to this day. So there we stood like two tall lonesome pines, in total blank state of mind, until a AF MP jeep came roaring up, with the lone driver of it saying...what the F...are you guys doing out here on the tarmack? You're supposed to report to the Ops Center. Get your asses in this buggy...like now! (Welcome home...dumbasses!). That was our homecoming parade. I only mention all this LT because we weren't unique. Same with you kids home from Nam. You could multiply such little scenarios by the hundreds of thousands, every day. That's the way it was...not because of any real indifference by the folks here at home, but because both those wars, really didn't have much of a direct impact on the rest of the country...busy with catching and making out with the "good life". We bands of brothers were simply casual "litter" cluttering up the streets.Neither those two conf licts, nor those of Iraq and Afghanistan, really meant anything to the country as a whole (Not lke WWII). As for the Services, they were busy with various fire fights, those of us no longer involved...didn't compute. While our "experience" had some parallels, as I said, you were getting out...I lingered on for another seven years.
For me, by then, the VA wasn't anything more than some kind of vague outfit which could be a source of "benefits" of some kind or another. Meanwhile, I was busy, trying to figure out what an ex-armored unit commander could do as a civilian. Not much demand in civilian world for one of those...Al Capone was dead, and Brinks wasn't hiring. Briefly toyed with joining the MD State Police, or maybe manhandling bulldozers (they're tracked critters, right?). But now with a growing family to support, neither option seemed to fit. But good old Uncle said...hey...hang on there...work for me...pays better...perks better....and...your military experience is just what we need, and, as a bonus, the time you work for me can be combined with it, towards your 20 for retirement purposes. Meanwhile, we're trying to train a bunch of folks over there in a Kingdom called .... Laos .....attaboy....sign right there......and the rest of that tune lasted for another 8 1/2 years.
But this pattern fits a whole bunch of guys(and gals). As I previously mentioned...the Armed Forces are the Armed Forces....and the VA is the VA. For most of us they're just two different worlds with only a very, very vague connection. As for "benefits" much depends on how these are defined...and by whom. Education, VA Home Loan guarantees, medical, etc. But, each category appears to have specific time limits, and, apparently, maybe some financial means tests as well. What this means is...every individual veteran, besides doing all those things we've mentioned so far, also needs to check and see just exactly what other kinds of "benefits" ae available.
Well, enough of all this generic stuff. Reflecting on what was, has some valure, but, we need to consider what...is...today.
Re: Disability Claims process. So our Cherry Troop, having followed all the steps, all the rules mentioned so far, now comes to a point where he needs to file a disability benefit claim. How does it start? But, before we go further, I think it's important we make a distinction here between, normal medical care and treatment services, which his VA Card allows him to get from it, and, any claim for "disability". They are two separate things. Care and services are what you get, regardles. What priority of service you get, and what you may have to co-pay for some of that, depends on your VA Card Category. As far as "disability". that's the big fork in the road, so to speak.
Okay, how and where does it begin, LT? Have to think, our Cherry Troop's primary care doctor, must be the first link in that chain. What's involved? since we're dealing with bureaucracy here, and going through a bureaucratic exercise ...forms....blessed forms...are your entry tickets to the process. What are they? Who gets them? Break it down for us, please.
CENTURION
Reporting for ROLL CALL 8:04AM 7/2/13
ReplyDeleteI'm going to reply to your Post 19 by quoting an old saying: "War is Hell!"
With that said, and cutting it to the chase, there are two types of wounds one can sustain in war. Physical and Mental. Both are serious, based upon their degrees of severity. In the case of dreadful physical wounds where the fighting man/woman is carried off the battlefield to an aid station, there is an automatic 'claims' process set up almost directly connected to the moment the wound was suffered. Without the 'blood & gore' descriptions of a 'bad' physical wound, they come in degrees.
I got knifed by a Viet Cong in Vietnam. He caught the ring finger on my right hand and left a small slash. Needless to say, I made his wife an instant widow. With that said, this 'wound' is not worthy of a 'claim' process when compared to someone in my platoon who tripped a booby trap and had both his legs blown off.
Now, what about 'mental' wounds? PTSD to be exact. You can not see this wound with your eyes like you could see my knife wound, or the wounds of that poor fellow who tripped that booby trap. But, PTSD can be a far worse wound than those two physical examples I've visually exposed here. And like malaria, it can hide in your body unexposed for years. Normally, a severe combat form of PTSD takes immediate effect on the wounded when he is discharged from his familiar military surroundings. He can become agitated and demonstrate 'unfriendly' characteristics with his family, friends and loved ones. OR, The Black Snake can remain silently coiled within his soul, only to appear suddenly years later.
By following the ROLL CALL Rules and Steps, the Cherry Troop is covering all his/her bases. Once again, this is where an advocate comes in to advise the Cherry Troop on just what the process is. Simply speaking, he needs to have his act together before he sees his primary doctor and the 'shrink' in the VA's Mental Hygiene Department. I would recommend that before either of these meetings, the Cherry Troop writes down his 'history' in his military experience. This is his detailed recollection of his entire Armed Forces escapade.
This list should include any and all physical injuries incurred. The more detailed, the better. AND, it should embrace any and all incidents where 'trama' was brought into the picture. So, this is your 'break down' you wanted me to give you, Captain.
LT