FROM THE JOHN WAYNE

 MEMORIAL VARO IN LA

This is becoming distressingly familiar as Vets grow old and die. The spouse, based on what the Vet has told her, decides to file for the panoply of Agent Orange presumptives and the VA has the unenviable task of telling her he was lying. Mr. Poe had to sit and admit it while alive. This poor lady has to hear he was a cook at Fort Polk during his whole enlistment.

Of course, what he told her was something entirely different…

The appellant submitted her notice of disagreement in November 2007. She said the Veteran told her on many occasions that he was medivaced from Vietnam. She submitted a statement from the Veteran’s sister, B.R., in January 2008. The Veteran’s sister said she remembered when the Veteran left the country and was medivaced home from Vietnam. He was in bad condition and had problems adjusting to a normal life. She did not provide any dates for the Veteran’s service in her statement. She did not say why the Veteran was medivaced back from Vietnam. The appellant submitted her own statement reiterating her belief that the Veteran served in Vietnam and that she should receive benefits.

The appellant perfected her appeal in April 2009. She again maintained that the Veteran’s family said he had served in Vietnam. She also said he died from service-connected causes.

The appellant testified at a Travel Board hearing in January 2011. At that time she asked that the hearing record be kept open for 30 or 60 days to allow her to obtain additional medical evidence and to attempt to obtain the Veteran’s service records if VA was unable to get them. The record was held open for 60 days for the appellant to submit additional medical evidence; however, the appellant did not submit any additional evidence.

In her testimony the appellant said the Veteran told her he was a tunnel rat in Vietnam. He was given the assignment because of his small size. She said he would have nightmares at night and cold sweats. It was acknowledged that the Veteran’s DD 214 did not reflect any foreign service. The Veterans Law Judge agreed that additional military records would be sought in the case to determine if the Veteran did have service in Vietnam. It was also noted that the sister who gave the prior statement was now deceased.  

The Board remanded the case to obtain the Veteran’s military records to show his assignments in service in July 2011. The remand instructed that the Veteran’s military personnel records should be requested. The Appeals Management Center (AMC) conducted the required development.

The Veteran’s DA Form 20, Enlisted Qualification Record, was received in August 2011. The records show the Veteran’s period of service as from June 1972 to June 1974. He received his basic training and training as a cook at Fort Polk and was assigned to that base for the entirety of his military service. This evidence is supportive of the STR record that noted, as of April 1974, the Veteran had been stationed at Fort Polk for 22 months.

I find this sad for all concerned. Everyone would like to think of their loved one as honest and truthful in all things. Occasionally that isn’t enough to satisfy one’s ego and they feel compelled to embellish. That’s okay if the military record can support it. This old boy led his wife to believe he was entitled and thus she was too. She had to find out the hard way that he misrepresented himself.

An ounce of preparation might have prevented this. A perusal of a DD 214 or the military records would have put paid to it before an extended and massive investment of time was squandered. This lady took it upon herself to file in March of 2007 to right a wrong. Six long years later she gets the bitchslap from the grave. Gee. Thanks, guy. I believed you and now this? I hate to think how many of these happen every year.

Son of Tunnel Rat

Trust, but verify. Ask yourself: Where’s the medals? Why no claim while he was alive? What was he waiting for? All these queshuns.