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Hi Joe,
First the good news: I got 'the word' from the Denver Regional VA about my claim
today. They're allowing me a 40% total service connection: 20% for the diabetes,
10% for the tinnitus although they didn't think it was a very severe disabling
factor, & 10% each for the neuropathy in each foot. That adds up to 50% but I
don't know how/why they only figured 40%. They also said that my hearing loss,
called 'substantial' by the audiologist & requiring a hearing aids, was service
connected but not enough to be compensated. Although I didn't file the claim until
January, 2009, they are also making the compensation retro-active back to February, 2008!
The bad news is that they denied my 3rd degree heart block, even though it can be
caused by exposure to toxic substances. I was also expecting a bigger monthly figure.
The way I read their response, I only got 20% on the diabetes because I wasn't as
sick as I possibly could have been.
Anyway, I'm going to get together with the DAV rep next week and see if we can
come up with anything to get some more out of them.
Well, enough bitching.
I want to thank you for calling my attention to the ship's log page where we anchored
in Qui Nhon on January 20, 1966. They accepted that as sufficient evidence that the
Vance was actually within the boundaries of Vietnam, although I betcha they checked
it out for themselves.
This is important for guys on the Vance with Type II Diabetes or any of the Cancers
that the VA recognizes because now, for the VA's purposes, we're brown-water sailors!
Guess I'll close for now.
See you in Tucson!
Church
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