Re: Decision from Board of Veterans appeals
I was not able to prove that I ever set foot in Vietnam. I did serve almost 3 years in Thailand. Takhli, Ubon an Korat. I had ischemic heart disease that was related (connected) to my active duty time from 1960-1981. I was awarded 30% in 1999 for IHD. In April 2015 I had heart bypass and lost a large percentage of my heart function. I was upgrade to 60% disability after the surgery. I applied for connection to AO in Nov 2015 through my Georgia VA office. They sent approximately 2 lines asking the VA to connect my IHD to AO. In Feb I was asked for more information by the VA rater. I decided to send a fully developed claim. My VA representative was reluctant to file this much information at one time. He felt we needed to follow the appeal process saying it could take up to 7 years. I insisted he file the fully developed claim. I provide buddy letters that showed my service on the flight line and showed my time off duty (living quarters) that were near the perimeter of the base. I also provided maps and 26 pages of narrative that described the maps of Takhli, Ubon and Korat. The maps showed how close we worked, lived, played and how close our servicing organization were to the base perimeter. The rater approved my AO connection without going through the appeal process. Bottom line, file a fully developed claim, with all supporting documentation. Get the maps, buddy letters, any orders that show when an where you were there. The herbicides have a drift zone of roughly 600 meters from the sprayed area. There is an Army Manual that says the drift area for herbicides is 600 meters (send a copy of the pages). I received my AO connection in March 2016. I sent the rating to the Air Force CRSC group in March 2016. The Air Force CRSC group awarded me CRSC back pay on the 1st of May 2016. On the 5th of July 2016 DAFS paid me back pay dating back to Jan 2004. I don't know what I did right or wrong. But I insisted on a fully developed claim, just like the VA has always asked for. Maybe I got lucky and got an objective rater. If you thing I can help, please contact me. Good luck and do not give up.
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