Memorial Day, also known as Decoration Day, is the day that our nation honors all soldiers who gave their lives for our freedom. The National Moment of Remembrance Act was signed into law in 2000, it encourages all Americans to pause for a moment of silence at 3 p.m. on Memorial Day to honor those who have died in service to our country. The images below are from a recent visit to our nation’s capital and are posted here in memory of all soldiers who made the ultimate … [Read more...]
VBA Ajudicaiton-Application for Service Connection
Fully Developed Claims Program and Standard Claims Process VA Form 21-526EZ, Application for Disability Compensation and Related Compensation Benefits The VA implemented this form in an effort to reduce the back log of claims and speed up the adjudication process. It is part of the fully developed claim initiative recently announced by the VA. A fully developed claim (FDC) is a claim submitted to the VA with all private medical records and notification of any treatment received by the … [Read more...]
Benefits Granted After Twelve Years and Three Remands
In 2009 an Army veteran came to our office seeking assistance for an increase rating in his lumbar spine condition. He served in Thailand with an Engineer Battalion building the Bangkok Bypass during the Vietnam War. He fell from a crane and fractured vertebrae in his low back and spent several weeks in a hospital in Thailand. He returned to his unit, completed his duty to the United States Army and was released with an honorable discharge. After service he filed an application for service … [Read more...]
Missing War Records?
In a recent article the ProPublica, an independent, non-profit public interest investigative journalism newsroom, described how electronic records have disappeared and left many of our veterans without proof that they were in a war zone. The article was published in The Seattle Times on November 9, 2012, under the title Lost to History: Missing War Records Complicate Benefit Claims by Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans. ProPublica reported that hard drives were wiped and records were lost or never … [Read more...]
VA Backlog Continues To Grow
The VA has been struggling with adjudicating claims for several years as the influx of claims has continued to rise as a result of troops returning from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and Vietnam Veterans continue to pursue compensation for the residuals of Agent Orange and combat. The VA is currently receiving over a million claims a year. The VA Strategic Plan for fiscal year 2011-2015 details the plan to improve many aspects of the benefits that our veterans are entitled too. On of the … [Read more...]
