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[41 FR 11292, Mar. 18, 1976]

§ 4.13   Effect of change of diagnosis.

The repercussion upon a current rating of service connection when change is made of a previously assigned diagnosis or etiology must be kept in mind. The aim should be the reconciliation and continuance of the diagnosis or etiology upon which service connection for the disability had been granted. The relevant principle enunciated in §4.125, entitled “Diagnosis of mental disorders,” should have careful attention in this connection. When any change in evaluation is to be made, the rating agency should assure itself that there has been an actual change in the conditions, for better or worse, and not merely a difference in thoroughness of the examination or in use of descriptive terms. This will not, of course, preclude the correction of erroneous ratings, nor will it preclude assignment of a rating in conformity with §4.7.[29 FR 6718, May 22, 1964, as amended at 61 FR 52700, Oct. 8, 1996]

§ 4.14   Avoidance of pyramiding.

The evaluation of the same disability under various diagnoses is to be avoided. Disability from injuries to the muscles, nerves, and joints of an extremity may overlap to a great extent, so that special rules are included in the appropriate bodily system for their evaluation. Dyspnea, tachycardia, nervousness, fatigability, etc., may result from many causes; some may be service connected, others, not. Both the use of manifestations not resulting from service-connected disease or injury in establishing the service-connected evaluation, and the evaluation of the same manifestation under different diagnoses are to be avoided.

§ 4.15   Total disability ratings.

The ability to overcome the handicap of disability varies widely among individuals. The rating, however, is based primarily upon the average impairment in earning capacity, that is, upon the economic or industrial handicap which must be overcome and not from individual success in overcoming it. However, full consideration must be given to unusual physical or mental effects in individual cases, to peculiar effects of occupational activities, to defects in physical or mental endowment preventing the usual amount of success in overcoming the handicap of disability and to the effect of combinations of disability. Total disability will be considered to exist when there is present any impairment of mind or body which is sufficient to render it impossible for the average person to follow a substantially gainful occupation; Provided, That permanent total disability shall be taken to exist when the impairment is reasonably certain to continue throughout the life of the disabled person. The following will be considered to be permanent total disability: the permanent loss of the use of both hands, or of both feet, or of one hand and one foot, or of the sight of both eyes, or becoming permanently helpless or permanently bedridden. Other total disability ratings are scheduled in the various bodily systems of this schedule.

§ 4.16   Total disability ratings for compensation based on unemployability of the individual.

(a) Total disability ratings for compensation may be assigned, where the schedular rating is less than total, when the disabled person is, in the judgment of the rating agency, unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation as a result of service-connected disabilities: Provided That, if there is only one such disability, this disability shall be ratable at 60 percent or more, and that, if there are two or more disabilities, there shall be at least one disability ratable at 40 percent or more, and sufficient additional disability to bring the combined rating to 70 percent or more. For the above purpose of one 60 percent disability, or one 40 percent disability in combination, the following will be considered as one disability: (1) Disabilities of one or both upper extremities, or of one or both lower extremities, including the bilateral factor, if applicable, (2) disabilities resulting from common etiology or a single accident, (3) disabilities affecting a single body system, e.g. orthopedic, digestive, respiratory, cardiovascular-renal, neuropsychiatric, (4) multiple injuries incurred in action, or (5) multiple disabilities incurred as a prisoner of war. It is provided further that the existence or degree of nonservice-connected disabilities or previous unemployability status will be disregarded where the percentages referred to in this paragraph for the service-connected disability or disabilities are met and in the judgment of the rating agency such service-connected disabilities render the veteran unemployable. Marginal employment shall not be considered substantially gainful employment. For purposes of this section, marginal employment generally shall be deemed to exist when a veteran’s earned annual income does not exceed the amount established by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, as the poverty threshold for one person. Marginal employment may also be held to exist, on a facts found basis (includes but is not limited to employment in a protected environment such as a family business or sheltered workshop), when earned annual income exceeds the poverty threshold. Consideration shall be given in all claims to the nature of the employment and the reason for termination.(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 501) (b) It is the established policy of the Department of Veterans Affairs that all veterans who are unable to secure and follow a substantially gainful occupation by reason of service-connected disabilities shall be rated totally disabled. Therefore, rating boards should submit to the Director, Compensation and Pension Service, for extra-schedular consideration all cases of veterans who are unemployable by reason of service-connected disabilities, but who fail to meet the percentage standards set forth in paragraph (a) of this section. The rating board will include a full statement as to the veteran’s service-connected disabilities, employment history, educational and vocational attainment and all other factors having a bearing on the issue.

[40 FR 42535, Sept. 15, 1975, as amended at 54 FR 4281, Jan. 30, 1989; 55 FR 31580, Aug. 3, 1990; 58 FR 39664, July 26, 1993; 61 FR 52700, Oct. 8, 1996]

§ 4.17   Total disability ratings for pension based on unemployability and age of the individual.

All veterans who are basically eligible and who are unable to secure and follow a substantially gainful occupation by reason of disabilities which are likely to be permanent shall be rated as permanently and totally disabled. For the purpose of pension, the permanence of the percentage requirements of §4.16 is a requisite. When the percentage requirements are met, and the disabilities involved are of a permanent nature, a rating of permanent and total disability will be assigned if the veteran is found to be unable to secure and follow substantially gainful employment by reason of such disability. Prior employment or unemployment status is immaterial if in the judgment of the rating board the veteran’s disabilities render him or her unemployable. In making such determinations, the following guidelines will be used:(a) Marginal employment, for example, as a self-employed farmer or other person, while employed in his or her own business, or at odd jobs or while employed at less than half the usual remuneration will not be considered incompatible with a determination of unemployability, if the restriction, as to securing or retaining better employment, is due to disability.(b) Claims of all veterans who fail to meet the percentage standards but who meet the basic entitlement criteria and are unemployable, will be referred by the rating board to the Veterans Service Center Manager under §3.321(b)(2) of this chapter.(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 1155; 38 U.S.C. 3102)[43 FR 45348, Oct. 2, 1978, as amended at 56 FR 57985, Nov. 15, 1991; 71 FR 28586, May 17, 2006]

§ 4.17a   Misconduct etiology.

A permanent and total disability rating under the provisions of §§4.15, 4.16 and 4.17 will not be precluded by reason of the coexistence of misconduct disability when:(a) A veteran, regardless of employment status, also has innocently acquired 100 percent disability, or(b) Where unemployable, the veteran has other disabilities innocently acquired which meet the percentage requirements of §§4.16 and 4.17 and would render, in the judgment of the rating agency, the average person unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation.[40 FR 42536, Sept. 15, 1975, as amended at 43 FR 45349, Oct. 2, 1978]

§ 4.18   Unemployability.

A veteran may be considered as unemployable upon termination of employment which was provided on account of disability, or in which special consideration was given on account of the same, when it is satisfactorily shown that he or she is unable to secure further employment. With amputations, sequelae of fractures and other residuals of traumatism shown to be of static character, a showing of continuous unemployability from date of incurrence, or the date the condition reached the stabilized level, is a general requirement in order to establish the fact that present unemployability is the result of the disability. However, consideration is to be given to the circumstances of employment in individual claims, and, if the employment was only occasional, intermittent, tryout or unsuccessful, or eventually terminated on account of the disability, present unemployability may be attributed to the static disability. Where unemployability for pension previously has been established on the basis of combined service-connected and nonservice-connected disabilities and the service-connected disability or disabilities have increased in severity, §4.16 is for consideration.[40 FR 42536, Sept. 15, 1975, as amended at 43 FR 45349, Oct. 2, 1978]

§ 4.19   Age in service-connected claims.

Age may not be considered as a factor in evaluating service-connected disability; and unemployability, in service-connected claims, associated with advancing age or intercurrent disability, may not be used as a basis for a total disability rating. Age, as such, is a factor only in evaluations of disability not resulting from service, i.e., for the purposes of pension.[29 FR 6718, May 22, 1964, as amended at 43 FR 45349, Oct. 2, 1978]

§ 4.20   Analogous ratings.

When an unlisted condition is encountered it will be permissible to rate under a closely related disease or injury in which not only the functions affected, but the anatomical localization and symptomatology are closely analogous. Conjectural analogies will be avoided, as will the use of analogous ratings for conditions of doubtful diagnosis, or for those not fully supported by clinical and laboratory findings. Nor will ratings assigned to organic diseases and injuries be assigned by analogy to conditions of functional origin.

§ 4.21   Application of rating schedule.

In view of the number of atypical instances it is not expected, especially with the more fully described grades of disabilities, that all cases will show all the findings specified. Findings sufficiently characteristic to identify the disease and the disability therefrom, and above all, coordination of rating with impairment of function will, however, be expected in all instances.[41 FR 11293, Mar. 18, 1976]

§ 4.22   Rating of disabilities aggravated by active service.

In cases involving aggravation by active service, the rating will reflect only the degree of disability over and above the degree existing at the time of entrance into the active service, whether the particular condition was noted at the time of entrance into the active service, or it is determined upon the evidence of record to have existed at that time. It is necessary therefore, in all cases of this character to deduct from the present degree of disability the degree, if ascertainable, of the disability existing at the time of entrance into active service, in terms of the rating schedule, except that if the disability is total (100 percent) no deduction will be made. The resulting difference will be recorded on the rating sheet. If the degree of disability at the time of entrance into the service is not ascertainable in terms of the schedule, no deduction will be made.

§ 4.23   Attitude of rating officers.

It is to be remembered that the majority of applicants are disabled persons who are seeking benefits of law to which they believe themselves entitled. In the exercise of his or her functions, rating officers must not allow their personal feelings to intrude; an antagonistic, critical, or even abusive attitude on the part of a claimant should not in any instance influence the officers in the handling of the case. Fairness and courtesy must at all times be shown to applicants by all employees whose duties bring them in contact, directly or indirectly, with the Department’s claimants.[41 FR 11292, Mar. 18, 1976]

§ 4.24   Correspondence.

All correspondence relative to the interpretation of the schedule for rating disabilities, requests for advisory opinions, questions regarding lack of clarity or application to individual cases involving unusual difficulties, will be addressed to the Director, Compensation and Pension Service. A clear statement will be made of the point or points upon which information is desired, and the complete case file will be simultaneously forwarded to Central Office. Rating agencies will assure themselves that the recent report of physical examination presents an adequate picture of the claimant’s condition. Claims in regard to which the schedule evaluations are considered inadequate or excessive, and errors in the schedule will be similarly brought to attention.[41 FR 11292, Mar. 18, 1976]

§ 4.25   Combined ratings table.

Table I, Combined Ratings Table, results from the consideration of the efficiency of the individual as affected first by the most disabling condition, then by the less disabling condition, then by other less disabling conditions, if any, in the order of severity. Thus, a person having a 60 percent disability is considered 40 percent efficient. Proceeding from this 40 percent efficiency, the effect of a further 30 percent disability is to leave only 70 percent of the efficiency remaining after consideration of the first disability, or 28 percent efficiency altogether. The individual is thus 72 percent disabled, as shown in table I opposite 60 percent and under 30 percent.(a) To use table I, the disabilities will first be arranged in the exact order of their severity, beginning with the greatest disability and then combined with use of table I as hereinafter indicated. For example, if there are two disabilities, the degree of one disability will be read in the left column and the degree of the other in the top row, whichever is appropriate. The figures appearing in the space where the column and row intersect will represent the combined value of the two. This combined value will then be converted to the nearest number divisible by 10, and combined values ending in 5 will be adjusted upward. Thus, with a 50 percent disability and a 30 percent disability, the combined value will be found to be 65 percent, but the 65 percent must be converted to 70 percent to represent the final degree of disability. Similarly, with a disability of 40 percent, and another disability of 20 percent, the combined value is found to be 52 percent, but the 52 percent must be converted to the nearest degree divisible by 10, which is 50 percent. If there are more than two disabilities, the disabilities will also be arranged in the exact order of their severity and the combined value for the first two will be found as previously described for two disabilities. The combined value, exactly as found in table I, will be combined with the degree of the third disability (in order of severity). The combined value for the three disabilities will be found in the space where the column and row intersect, and if there are only three disabilities will be converted to the nearest degree divisible by 10, adjusting final 5’s upward. Thus, if there are three disabilities ratable at 60 percent, 40 percent, and 20 percent, respectively, the combined value for the first two will be found opposite 60 and under 40 and is 76 percent. This 76 will be combined with 20 and the combined value for the three is 81 percent. This combined value will be converted to the nearest degree divisible by 10 which is 80 percent. The same procedure will be employed when there are four or more disabilities. (See table I).(b) Except as otherwise provided in this schedule, the disabilities arising from a single disease entity, e.g., arthritis, multiple sclerosis, cerebrovascular accident, etc., are to be rated separately as are all other disabiling conditions, if any. All disabilities are then to be combined as described in paragraph (a) of this section. The conversion to the nearest degree divisible by 10 will be done only once per rating decision, will follow the combining of all disabilities, and will be the last procedure in determining the combined degree of disability.

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Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment 

VA’s Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (VR&E) program assists veterans with service connected disabilities by offering them services and assistance to prepare for, find, and keep suitable employment. Through the VR&E program, a disabled veteran may receive:

  Assistance finding and maintaining suitable employment

  An evaluation of abilities, skills, and interest

  Vocational counseling a planning

  If needed, training such as on the job and non paid work experiences

  If needed, training such as certificate and two or four Year College programs

  Supportive rehabilitation services and additional counseling

VA provides employment-related benefits and services to veterans with disabilities, transitioning service members, and certain veterans’ dependants. VA Offers:

VR& E Services

Veterans with disabilities may receive vocational rehabilitation and employment services to overcome barriers that prevent them from obtaining employment. VA provides employment assistance, counseling/guidance, training or education, and personal and work adjustment training. Severely disabled veterans may receive service under in the Individual Living Services Program (ILSP) which is a part of VR&E. Under this program certain veterans can have a home remodeled for wheelchair use as part of their rehabilitation program. This is especially good for those veterans who already used their adapted housing grant and have since relocated.

Vocational Education Career CounselingService members, veterans, and certain veterans’ dependants are provided with vocational and education guidance and counseling to assist them in selecting an appropriate career goal and training institution.

Vocational Training Program for Certain Vietnam Veterans’ Children with Spina Bifida

VA may provide to certain Vietnam Veterans’ children with Spina bifida limited vocational training, employment assistance, and other related rehabilitation services to achieve a vocational goal including employment.

Transaction Assistance Program (TAP/DTAP)The transition assistance program provides to exiting service members with and without disabilities assistance with employment placement and information on employment programs.

For addition information visit the VA web cite at:

http://www.vba.va.gov/bln/vre/index.htm

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This is a second entry in a series about Veterans Benefits

If you are in the military or recently separated from the military, you may be eligible for life insurance. Two regular and two insurance programs for the disabled are currently available to new policyholders.

Service Member’ Group Life insurance (SGLI)

This program is open to active duty members and reservists of the uniformed services.

On June 15, 2006, the President signed P.L. 109- 233, the Veterans’ Housing Opportunity & Benefits Improvement Act of 2006. This law extends the free coverage period under the SGLI Disability Extension from one year to two years. As a result of this change, service members who have a SGLI policy and are totally disabled from the time they separate from service can now keep their SGLI coverage for up to two years at no cost to them. Follow this link for more information on the SGLI Disability Extension.

Veterans’ Group Life insurance (VGLI)

This program is open to all veterans released from active duty and to separated reservists if applied for within 16 months of release of separation. SGLI can be converted into VGLI or a commercial policy upon separation. Early partial payment of proceeds is available to terminally ill policyholders.

Service Disabled Veterans Insurance (S-DVI)

This program is open to veterans with service-connected disabilities. Application must be made within two years of a service connected disability rating.  SDVI is limited to a $10K policy. For veterans rated 100% or TDIU they can request a waiver of policy premiums and upon proof of the rating premiums will be wavered.  In addition veterans rated 100% or TDIU can request a second DDVI policy in the amount of $20K. The premiums for the second policy will can not be wavered.  It is important to note that an increase in a rating is not considered a new rating; the award of a SMC is not considered a new rating. For veterans rated 100% or TDIU the veteran must have purchased the $10K policy before a waiver of premiums can be awarded. Also the veteran must have purchased the $10K policy before requesting a $20K policy.

Veterans’ Mortgage Life Insurance (VMLI)

This program is open only to those veterans that have been granted the specially adapted housing grant.

For more information about Veterans’ Insurance visit the VA Website at:

http://www.insurance.va.gov/miscellaneous/index.htm

My next benefits blog entry will concern Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Benefits

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As a Veteran you should know what benefits you have earned. This is the  first installment concernig Benefits and will start you on the right track to understanding what you have earned due to your honorable service and how to access the benefits available.

You first question might be, “How do I know if I am eligible for benefits”?

Eligibility for most VA Benefits are is based upon an other than dishonorable discharge from the active military services.  Some military personnel may be eligible for some benefits while still on active duty when they have completed;  90 days of service during wartime /or conflict periods, or two years of service since 1980, or 181 days of peacetime service.

How to access your VA Benefits is very simple and can be done in one of two ways. If you know how to use or have access to a computer, you can file for benefits by going to:  http://vabenefits.vba.va.gov/vonapp/main.asp   and following the instructions provided. The other way is to file VA Form 21-526. You should always include a copy of your DD 214 when filing using VA Form 21-526.

Education Benefits

The VA pays monthly benefits for veterans, dependants, reservist and some active duty service members while they are in an approved training program such as college, on the job training, and various kinds of technical training.  The programs available are:

Montgomery GI Bill

 Veterans who first entered service after June 30, 1995 and had money deducted from their military pay are generally eligible. You can use these benefits in service or out of service. Some Vietnam Era veterans and certain veterans separated under special programs are also eligible. The Montgomery GI Bill also includes a program for members of the selected reserve and nation Guard members.

Veterans Education Assistance (VEEP)

This program is for veterans who entered active duty for the first time after December 31, 1976 and before July 1 1985, and contributed to an education fund.

Survivors and Dependants Education Assistance

Some spouses and children are eligible for education benefits.

What are the time limits to use the benefits?

Generally the following time limits apply.  Sometimes the time limits can be extended.

Veterans have 10 years from the date of their last discharge from active duty to use their education benefits. Reservists and National Guard members have 10 years from their eligibility date, which is determined by the Department of Defense or the Department of Transportation.  Spouses have 10 years fro the date VA determines them eligible. Children are generally eligible from age 18 until age 26.

How to find out if you’re eligible

To find out about you eligibility for VA education assistance, you must send VA an application. If you are a service member, veteran, reservist, or National Guard, use VA Form 22-1900, Application for Education Benefits.  If you are a child or spouse of a veteran, you will need to file using VA Form 22-5490, Application for survivors’ and Dependents’ Education Assistance. VA Forms are available in PDF Format at: http://www.va.gov/vaforms/

For more information about education benefits visit:         http://www.gibill.va.gov/

In my next installment I will cover VA Life Insurance benefits, the types available, who is eligible, and who may receive payment waivers. 

Let  me hear from you the readers concerning any questions you might have concerning this subject or other va benefit subject you may be interested in.  

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General Policy in Rating

§ 4.1   Essentials of evaluative rating.

This rating schedule is primarily a guide in the evaluation of disability resulting from all types of diseases and injuries encountered as a result of or incident to military service. The percentage ratings represent as far as can practicably be determined the average impairment in earning capacity resulting from such diseases and injuries and their residual conditions in civil occupations. Generally, the degrees of disability specified are considered adequate to compensate for considerable loss of working time from exacerbations or illnesses proportionate to the severity of the several grades of disability. For the application of this schedule, accurate and fully descriptive medical examinations are required, with emphasis upon the limitation of activity imposed by the disabling condition. Over a period of many years, a veteran’s disability claim may require reratings in accordance with changes in laws, medical knowledge and his or her physical or mental condition. It is thus essential, both in the examination and in the evaluation of disability, that each disability be viewed in relation to its history.[41 FR 11292, Mar. 18, 1976]

§ 4.2   Interpretation of examination reports.

Different examiners, at different times, will not describe the same disability in the same language. Features of the disability which must have persisted unchanged may be overlooked or a change for the better or worse may not be accurately appreciated or described. It is the responsibility of the rating specialist to interpret reports of examination in the light of the whole recorded history, reconciling the various reports into a consistent picture so that the current rating may accurately reflect the elements of disability present. Each disability must be considered from the point of view of the veteran working or seeking work. If a diagnosis is not supported by the findings on the examination report or if the report does not contain sufficient detail, it is incumbent upon the rating board to return the report as inadequate for evaluation purposes.[41 FR 11292, Mar. 18, 1976]

§ 4.3   Resolution of reasonable doubt.

It is the defined and consistently applied policy of the Department of Veterans Affairs to administer the law under a broad interpretation, consistent, however, with the facts shown in every case. When after careful consideration of all procurable and assembled data, a reasonable doubt arises regarding the degree of disability such doubt will be resolved in favor of the claimant. See §3.102 of this chapter.[40 FR 42535, Sept. 15, 1975]

§ 4.6   Evaluation of evidence.

The element of the weight to be accorded the character of the veteran’s service is but one factor entering into the considerations of the rating boards in arriving at determinations of the evaluation of disability. Every element in any way affecting the probative value to be assigned to the evidence in each individual claim must be thoroughly and conscientiously studied by each member of the rating board in the light of the established policies of the Department of Veterans Affairs to the end that decisions will be equitable and just as contemplated by the requirements of the law.

§ 4.7   Higher of two evaluations.

Where there is a question as to which of two evaluations shall be applied, the higher evaluation will be assigned if the disability picture more nearly approximates the criteria required for that rating. Otherwise, the lower rating will be assigned.

§ 4.9   Congenital or developmental defects.

Mere congenital or developmental defects, absent, displaced or supernumerary parts, refractive error of the eye, personality disorder and mental deficiency are not diseases or injuries in the meaning of applicable legislation for disability compensation purposes.[41 FR 11292, Mar. 18, 1976]

§ 4.10   Functional impairment.

The basis of disability evaluations is the ability of the body as a whole, or of the psyche, or of a system or organ of the body to function under the ordinary conditions of daily life including employment. Whether the upper or lower extremities, the back or abdominal wall, the eyes or ears, or the cardiovascular, digestive, or other system, or psyche are affected, evaluations are based upon lack of usefulness, of these parts or systems, especially in self-support. This imposes upon the medical examiner the responsibility of furnishing, in addition to the etiological, anatomical, pathological, laboratory and prognostic data required for ordinary medical classification, full description of the effects of disability upon the person’s ordinary activity. In this connection, it will be remembered that a person may be too disabled to engage in employment although he or she is up and about and fairly comfortable at home or upon limited activity.

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“The
American Veteran” is Reality TV – VA Style

WASHINGTON – Using the latest in video and broadcast technologies, stirring music, creative graphics and solid writing, “The American Veteran” a monthly half-hour news magazine from the Department of Veterans Affairs, tells compelling stories of real-life veterans who have taken advantage of the many and varied benefits and services available to them as a result of their military service. 

 “We are committed to informing veterans and active duty military alike about VA’s many benefits and services and we are very pleased with the quality and reach of “The American Veteran,” said Acting VA Secretary Gordon H. Mansfield. “The feedback and recognition the program has received is a testament to the effort put in by all involved.”   

The series is designed to inform active duty members, veterans, their families and their communities about the services and benefits they have earned and to recognize and honor them. VA’s Office of Public Affairs and the VA Learning University/ Employee Education System (VALU/EES) produce the program and broadcast it to VA facilities on the department’s own internal network and around the world on The Pentagon Channel and community cable outlets. 

Aimed at veterans of all eras, their families and the American Public, VA also tells stories of heroism, sacrifice and relives moments in history with those who lived it reminding veterans of the bond of service they all share. 

The VA Office of Public Affairs offers the program to local broadcasters and cable outlets and makes it available for viewing on the VA Web site www.va.gov , just click on “public affairs” and then “featured items.” 

“The American Veteran” schedule on The Pentagon Channel is available at  http://www.pentagonchannel.mil/ where you can also view the program as it is broadcast. The Pentagon Channel has more than 1 million military viewers and is delivered domestically via DISH, EchoStar, T-Warner and Cox cable systems. (Check for service in your area.) 

A preview of the December edition of “The American Veteran” follows: 

MRSA - A deadly pathogen is spreading in our nation’s hospitals: methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, more commonly known by its acronym MRSA. VA has launched a nationwide MRSA Prevention Initiative to contain the spread of the super germ, reducing the infection rate by fifty percent. 

PATIENT SAFETY –
Falls Center Tampa - Many injuries that require hospital visits begin when a patient falls. The Patient Safety and
Falls Prevention Center at the Tampa VA is conducting new research and testing new therapies to keep the elderly on their feet and out of the hospital. 

BLIND TECHNOLOGY - Many of our veterans suffer from debilitating eye diseases, including total blindness. VA has introduced new technologies – including a voice talk synthesizer that helps patients take their medications safely and a GPS devise that helps patients get around– all to improve the lives of blind veterans.  

NEWS YOU CAN USE – The VA operates a live 24-hour-a-day suicide prevention hotline; applying for VA health benefits; Dr. Jonathan Shay wins the McArthur Award  

SURVIVOR OF THE BATAAN DEATH MARCH REMEMBERS - WWII veteran Ralph Levenberg survived the Bataan Death March in the Philippines and three subsequent years as a Japanese POW. His story provides a poignant reminder of why we honor our heroes on Veterans Day. 

VETERAN PROFILE - Wayne Miller is a Vietnam veteran who lost a leg in combat.  Today, Wayne is a Vet Center Team Leader, award winning athlete and singer whose experiences serve as an inspiration to men and women he works with and counsels. 

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Rickb54 and I will be sharing this new Blog as you have read Rickb54 background information about his qualifications I’ll add my qualifications and my military experience.

I was a military brat and can trace my family veteran generation back to the Civil War, they fought on both sides.    My father served in the Army during WWII, Korean, I joined the Army at 18 and served during 
Vietnam area. After active duty I enlisted in the California National Guard, and worked full time for 32 years until I retired in 1999. I have over 38 years of Military services.  During that time I held several different MOS.  From communications, Arty, Plt, Sgt INF, Senior Supply Sgt, 1SG for Cml Co. I was the MGIB manager for the CA ARNG; I work as the Senior NCO for Emergency for the State of
CA., Fires, earthquakes etc.  After I retired I was asked to come back to work and be the State Veterans Coordinator.

I now work as a Volunteer at VA Hospital in
Sacramento in the Benefits Office one day a week. I also help returning Veterans get information on there Benefits and help them fill out the 1010ez form for enrollment in the VA system.

I’m past commander of My American Legion post and asst sect for my District. I do volunteer work with the department of Fish and Game for CA.  Like Rickb54 I also surf the web for Veterans Info.

Like Rickb54 my goal of this blog will be to bring to light some of your veteran’s benefits both old and new. I will offer information about how to apply for your veteran benefits. I will also offer commentary concerning Veteran Issues.  

I believe between Rickb54 and my self we will be able to provide a information that will be helpful to all Veterans.   

My call sign is Wildman

Rickb54 quote “ While this blog is intended to be rich with veteran benefits information., It will take time to produce an archive  with a wealth of information, so in the meantime I suggest the readers visit other veteran benefits related sites. I hope that the information I provide here will enlighten your knowledge of Veterans Benefits and assist you with your dealings with the VA.”

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I am  starting this new Blog  with some background information about the  qualifications I bring to the table, and my military experience.

I am a military brat and a third generation veteran.  My grandfather served in the Navy from 1916 and during WWI.  My father served in the Army during WWII, Korean, and Vietnam.  I joined the Army at 17 and served during  Vietnam, and all the minor conflicts until my medical retirement in 1986 with over 15 years service.  My three brothers (one who is a disabled combat veteran of Vietnam)  and a sister also served in the Army during the early 70’s.  My father and  all of my siblings were discharge for medical reasons.  Combined my family has served in uniform for about 45 years  we are all Disabled Veterans. Initally I served in the Infantry, and when afforded the chance to get into communications I chose telecommunications MOS 72G.  Some of my assignments include,  a tour in Korea on the DMZ, and four tours in Germany.  Since my medical retirement I have worked as a US Government Employee first as an Instructor in the Army’s MSE program, and later as a Lan Specialist at Fort Bragg NC.  In 1999, I was medically retired from Civil Service, and started volunteer service at the DAV, first as a Certified Service Officer and later as a Jr. Vice Commander. I am a life member of the DAV, and Paralized Veterans of America. I am a past member of the VFW and American Legion. While in Service I completd my High School and College education  both at Government Expense. In addition I have a degree in Electronics, and I am a Certified Lan Specialist with an extensive education in Computers, both hardware and software. Today I am rated 90%  with TDIU,  I am deaf,  wheelchair bound, and on oxygen. I  spend most of my time surfing the net for veterans information,  or sharing my time with my two grandsons.  I have done battle with the VA  for over 21 years, and helped many veterans in the processing of their VA & Social Security claims. My goal of this blog will be to bring to light some of your veterans benefits both old and new. I will offer information about  how to apply for your veteran  benefits. I will also offer commentary Concerning Veteran Issues.   While this blog is intended to be  rich with veteran benefits information. It will take time to produce an archive  with a wealth of information, so in the meantime I suggest the readers visit other veteran benefits related sites. I hope that the information I provide here will enlighten your knowledge of Veterans Benefits and assist you with your dealings with the VA.

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