BVA–NEW SECOND QUARTER DECISIONS RELEASED TODAY

Posted on July 19, 2013 by asknod

Sure enough there are 352 HCV decisions now posted for 2013. BVA put them up this afternoon.

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FOOTLOCKER–MY OLD FRIEND THE U-17

Posted on July 19, 2013 by asknod

U-17

Air America buffs will remember the venerable  U-17, none of which were ever in Laos, of course. And even had some FNG inadvertently become disoriented and landed up country, they were all suitably designated as official USAF Inventory. Well, most of them, anyway. Rumor had it that old Bob Tyrell, the Air Attache  at the US Embassy in Vientiane, had a few salted away here and there  with the Laotian Erawan on them. Nobody’s perfect. You could never be too rich, too thin, or have enough unmarked air assets.

I bid on an auction item at the Flavors of Fall celebration last September wherein we raise funds for our Community Civic Center every several years. I managed to “storage wars” my way through to a winning bid. I paid far too much but it all goes back to the community so it’s well-spent. Former Navy Carrier Pilot Tom H.  had graciously offered his Cessna 180 for a several hour tour of Mt. Rainier and St. Helen’s  south of us. I didn’t know he was a snow bird, so when I called to collect on my bid, I found him holed up in Arizona. We reconnected several days ago and tomorrow is the official sightseeing day. My grandson Conner has no clue we’re going up, so this should be a good show and tell. News and film tomorrow evening at 6.

Something bit me when I thought back on the Cessna model number so I looked it up. Sure enough, Tom’s Cessna 180 is virtually the same aircraft as a U-17 in which I spent many hours during the war. It was one of those mismarked aircraft like the one below that Col. Tyrell spent so much time denying he owned. I thought they belonged to USAID or USIA. In the back of my mind, the fact that an Air America PIC (pilot in charge) was at the helm didn’t make me blink an eye. Nothing was as it seemed anyway. You generally don’t ask a lot of questions when your ID is bogus and you aren’t really there. Besides, the Agency for International Development delivering M-79s and lots of 40mm with a side of rice seemed perfectly normal in 1970.

imagesThe Cessna 185 (below) was technically the U-17 but the difference in nomenclature is  virtually unnoticeable. The 180 has one less far rear window and is slightly shorter with less cargo space :

images (1)

Here’s the 180:

1954 C-180A N3143C 001

Fond memories of a loyal workhorse that always got us home. It  will seem strange to be back in a taildragger. The last time I was in one was 1971. Vets can see how they got their name. The third wheel was in the back rather than tricycle style. If you caught a brisk crosswind when landing, you might do what was called a ground loop which usually damaged the aircraft. It’s hard to control any aircraft when you’re spinning in a circle at 70 knots on the ground. Some of the Lima sites we landed at were pretty rough. It was not unheard of to rip the back wheel off. You saw a temporary stick tied to some until they could be flown down to Udorn for a repair job. Pilatus PC-6 Porters were the worst.

We also flew in the U-17’s baby brother, a (just barely) two seater with the pilot and passenger inline rather than tandem. This was the Cessna O-1, another taildragger:

images (2)

The 0 in the tail number declared that it was “obsolete” although this was a newer “E” model. We gave a lot of these to the guys with the three-headed Elephant on their planes. They were really short-handed so we flew them for them too.  That’s what friends do for friends, right?

images (3)

Royal Laotian Air Force
Erawan aircraft insignia

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BVA–SHE SHOULD GET 10% FOR § 3.324

Posted on July 19, 2013 by asknod

 FROM THE JAMESTOWN RO

sc

(THE ORIGINAL FORT FUMBLE)

Yes, indeed. Here we have the quintessential “spaghetti” filing. Veronica Vet blames VA for everything and then sees if anything sticks. HBV and hemorrhoids did. At 0% for both, she is unwittingly entitled to 10% if they are permanent (check) and somewhat disabling from the perspective of seeking work (?). A little more elbow grease on her part would have shown that she needed more ammo for a true, compensable rating but what the hey? Maybe she depended too much on the Virginia Dept. of Vet Affairs to represent her.

§ 3.324

Multiple noncompensable service-connected disabilities.

Whenever a veteran is suffering from two or more separate permanent service-connected disabilities of such character as clearly to interfere with normal employability, even though none of the disabilities may be of compensable degree under the 1945 Schedule for Rating Disabilities the rating agency is authorized to apply a 10-percent rating, but not in combination with any other rating.

Of course , getting them to “apply” the 10% rating is the trick, now isn’t it?

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FRIDAY FACEPAPER

Posted on July 19, 2013 by asknod

From fellow correspondent Darryl:
A new supermarket opened near my house. It has an automatic water mister to keep the produce fresh. Just before it goes on, you hear the sound of distant thunder and the smell of fresh rain.

When you pass the milk cases, you hear cows mooing and you experience the scent of fresh mown hay.

In the meat department there is the aroma of charcoal grilled steaks with onions.

When you approach the egg case, you hear hens cluck and cackle, and the air is filled with the pleasing aroma of bacon and eggs frying.

The bread department features the tantalizing smell of fresh baked bread & cookies.

I don’t buy toilet paper there.

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BVA–WHEREVER THE EVIDENCE TAKES US, BUBBA.

Posted on July 18, 2013 by asknod

download

Used to be a time when you couldn’t do this (develop negative evidence). Oh, the times they are a changin’. Guess we know where this one is heading.

 

Further, with respect to risk factors, the VA examiner must consider the Veteran’s exposure to such during service, to include a possible association between the Veteran’s in-service diagnosis of hepatitis and drug use noted in the aforementioned service treatment record. In this regard, VA has an affirmative duty to gather the evidence necessary to render an informed decision on a claim, even if that means gathering and developing negative evidence. Douglas v. Shinseki, 23 Vet. App. 19 (2009).

Here’s Douglas.  Click on download to view normally. So much for nonadversarial, friendly Barney the Dinosaur VA.

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WHY I LOVE FACEPAGE

Posted on July 18, 2013 by asknod

STRATE JACKET This is what I always wanted for Christmas for my sisters and they wait until I’m too old. Go figure. There’s no justice in this world. Thank you Keith. 

 

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BETTER WATCH OUT. BETTER NOT POUT. BETTER NOT FILE ‘CAUSE I’M TELLIN’ YOU WHY

Posted on July 18, 2013 by asknod

chapman

This was in my Facebook from  Chapman AmVETS. Ugly percentages. The comments alone make me sick. Perhaps some of these enlightened people will step forward and sign up for a few years of early morning wake ups and cold chow. Cold showers and a few IEDs for lunch. Maybe go 40 hours without any sleep for a few cycles. No problem. Shake it off. If you want to file for bennies, just check your gun rights at the door when you enter -permanently.

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BVA–HCV FROM CAMP LEJEUNE H2O

Posted on July 18, 2013 by asknod

FROM THE PARTY VARO IN

sc  NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA

Holy carcinogenic crap, Batman. Say it ain’t so. From the BVA archives comes this 2013 gemstone. With an attorney no less, this Vet may have a problem. Let’s recite this one more time for all the hard of hearing. HCV is caused by a v-i-r-u-s. Carcinogens cause cancer, not HCV. Carcinogens are responsible for many things in life. This is where two-headed cows and frogs come from. It is not sprayed out of military aircraft in the form of chemtrails. I know there are a lot of you out there convinced that it’s a vast right wing conspiracy being run out of a bait shop down on the Buffalo river near the Whitewater Estates that were being hawked by Bill and Hill back in the eighties.

With regard to the issue of entitlement to service connection for hepatitis C, the Board also finds that a remand is required in order to afford the Veteran a VA examination so as to determine the etiology of his hepatitis C. In this regard, VA treatment records show that the Veteran was first diagnosed with hepatitis C in June 2007. The Veteran contends that he was provided vaccinations during his active military service. At his Board hearing, the Veteran testified that these vaccinations were provided by air guns and several service members received vaccinations from the same air guns. The Veteran also testified that he shared toothbrushes and razors during his military service which may have been contaminated with hepatitis C. Additionally, he further alleges that he had dental procedures performed during service where the dentist did not use protective gloves and the equipment was not properly sanitized. Finally, in August 2012, the Veteran claimed that his hepatitis C was the result of contaminated water at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, from January 1982 to July 1982.

Some will insist it is a government conspiracy to reduce the world population. If that were the case, they look pretty stupid. HCV is declining in America because the CDC and NIH are busy writing new rules on hygiene.  Actually, the only place where the incidence of infection by HCV is going up nationally is at VAMCs. Besides, the government can’t do anything successfully. How would they ever conceal a huge coverup? Think Benghazi. Think IRS.

Nope. The sad truth is you didn’t get it from drinking water out of “buffalo tanks” formerly used in Vietnam. You didn’t get it from C rations. You didn’t get it from Camp Lejeune water. You didn’t get it from drinking beer in Saigon. The Viet Cong did not coat their punji sticks with it. The ladies of the evening in Cholon were not pre-infected with it before we arrived in large numbers in 1965. You did not get it from Agent Orange. You got it from your blood coming in contact with the infected blood of another infected soul. Period.

Some will take the less-traveled path and claim alien abduction from their fire base on Hill 861 near Khe Sanh. No dice. An AmLeg bartender (and former Marine) tried that one. Read about the winners to see how this is done.

220px-M107_Firing_Vietnam_2

 

The important thing to realize in all this is actually very simple. It makes no difference how you got it. If you can prove it occurred in the military by a doctor writing you a letter declaring it so, then you win, or will eventually, assuming you aren’t going the incredible routes mentioned above.cj

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IF WALLS COULD TALK

Posted on July 18, 2013 by asknod

download

Bob from the mosquito Capitol of the the US sends us this touching reminder of just what Our Wall doesn’t say. Perhaps I say that selfishly, but it is my touchstone for those who served with me, those I knew and lost, and a period of American history that provoked so much dissention between its citizens and soldiers. 

Bob Worley, Chuck Engle, Park Bunker-the list goes on. Some are not listed yet. History is dynamic with respect to the Vietnam Boundary Dispute. At 58, 272 souls, I doubt the last name has yet been chiseled in. I would add that the names of the fallen Air America pilots and employees who often rescued us deserve to be there too.

With that said consider this:

The names are arranged in the order in which they were taken from us by date and within each date the names are alphabetized. It is hard to believe it is 36 years since the last casualties.

The first known casualty was Richard B. Fitzgibbon, of North Weymouth , Mass. Listed by the U.S. Department of Defense as having been killed on June 8, 1956. His name is listed on the Wall with that of his son, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Richard B. Fitzgibbon III, who was killed on Sept. 7, 1965. 

There are three sets of fathers and sons on the Wall.

39,996 on the Wall were just 22 or younger.

8,283 were just 19 years old.

The largest age group, 33,103 were 18 years old.

12 soldiers on the Wall were 17 years old.

5 soldiers on the Wall were 16 years old.

One soldier, PFC Dan Bullock was 15 years old.

997 soldiers were killed on their first day in Vietnam ..

1,448 soldiers were killed on their last scheduled day in Vietnam.

31 sets of brothers are on the Wall.

 Thirty one sets of parents lost two of their sons.

54 soldiers attended Thomas Edison High School in Philadelphia . I wonder why so many from one school.

8 Women are on the Wall. Nursing the wounded.

244 soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War; 153 of them are on the Wall.

Beallsville , Ohio with a population of 475 lost 6 of her sons.

West Virginia had the highest casualty rate per capita in the nation. There are 711 West Virginians on the Wall.

  Thirty one sets of parents lost two of their sons.

8 Women are on the Wall. Nursing the wounded.

244 soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War; 153 of them are on the Wall.

Beallsville , Ohio with a population of 475 lost 6 of her sons.

West Virginia had the highest casualty rate per capita in the nation. There are 711 West Virginians on the Wall.

The most casualty deaths for a single day was on January 31, 1968 ~ 245 deaths.

The most casualty deaths for a single month was May 1968 – 2,415 casualties were incurred.

For most Americans who read this they will only see the numbers that the Vietnam War created. To those of us who survived the war, and to the families of those who did not, we see the faces, we feel the pain that these numbers created. We are, until we too pass away, haunted with these numbers, because they were our friends, fathers, husbands, wives, sons and daughters. There are no noble wars, just noble warriors.

It is said that wars are noble endeavours. Most I have studied were provoked by religion or pure political avarice. Vietnam was considered a “civil war” inasmuch as it was an effort by the north to reign in the south and return it to the fold. Vietnam was the first time that America did not win the Gold medal and take first place. That would have been an acceptable outcome for many of us had we not received such shabby treatment and social opprobrium when we returned.

images

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BVA–§1151 CLAIM GOES UP IN SMOKE

Posted on July 17, 2013 by asknod
Mikey in 2013

Mikey in 2013

Fellow member Mikey of cereal fame, has filed a §1151 claim asserting the VA gave him the bug in 1997. Makes sense. He didn’t have it then and after a few procedures that went south, he had it in 1999. Occam’s razor, right? Not so fast, hoss. Check this one out. 

VA has always insisted that if you were diagnosed, say in 2002 with HCV, then that was when you got it. Our Johnny Vet here from Jackson, Mississippi avers that he got it in a 1956 transfusion. This would hold water if-and a big if- his liver box was toasted and charcoaled on the outside and in. It isn’t. It’s medium rare.

I have constantly harped on the need for a comprehensive biopsy to show the progression of the liver towards cirrhosis. Using the Metavir Scale that shows a progression of each stage equaling 10 or so years, Johnney should be in a box somewhere six feet under or adorning someone’s mantle in the living room. Ultra sounds and all the other medical measuring devices do nothing to ascertain this beyond a doubt. Only a liver biopsy does.

Johnny undoubtedly has HCV but he needs to search for another risk factor. He’s barking up the wrong tree. What is extremely interesting about this decision is that it is the first one I’ve seen where VA has resorted to using this same metric (Stage/Grade) to deny. Usually we present Metavir scale evidence and they ignore it.Their policy is “Yo. You were discharged in 1969. The separation physical doesn’t mention HCV or any kind of gastroenterology problems. Denied.” The Vet, if he got it in that time frame, would be sporting an advanced Stage 4 unless he/she was a health nut and avoided alcohol. It’s interesting that the saw cuts both ways but at the VA, the forestroke is deny and the backstroke is, well, deny too.

Mikey’s biopsy and medical evidence is right on track for a diagnosis of infection around, hmmm, 1997. Occam’s Razor. The simplest explanation is the right one- except at the VA.

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