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From: John G. Kalil, Jr., USAF, OSI (Dec 69-Dec70)
Date: 05 Mar 2003
Time: 09:34:45
Remote Name: 128.147.86.206
A copy of your DD214 (discharge paper) should be good enough. Not only does it reflect your Vietnam medals/ribbons (reflecting service in Vietnam), but it also reflects the amount of time you spent overseas (although I am not sure if it indicates in-country Vietnam). I have Type II Diabetes that is obviously service connected to Vietnam and Agent Orange. I never ran into a problem with being disability rated. I was granted a disability due to diabetes. My disability rating was increased due to the onset of coronary artery disease that was deemed associated with the diabetes. It was considered secondary to the diabetes. You have to understand that, unfortunately, a lot of society's losers work for the VA (although there are alot of good people who work there.) Sometimes you get lucky with who you talk to down there; sometimes you get a loser who doesn't know his job. My original application for a disability rating and payment rate per month took a few months to be processed, but it went through. I later applied for, and was granted, an increase in my rating due to the heart problems. YOU HAVE TO STAY ON TOP OF THESE GUYS ALL THE TIME. YOU WANT THE VA TO KNOW THAT YOU ARE NOT GOING TO GO AWAY. I became a "pain in the ass" to them when I thought they were dragging their feet. Remember....I only had to produce a copy of my DD214 to prove Vietnam service. That's all you should need. Don't let them tell you otherwise. Now go get 'em!!!!!!!!!