Purple Heart in VA Disability Claims (General) Forum

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kenp

Purple Heart

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Posts: 771

Dec 10 07 12:28 PM

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Hope someone can tell me I may have posted this in wrong place.
I filed to add Hypertension and Heart disease secondary to my service connected diabetes type 2. Vietnam 1968 and 1969 I was at Dau Tieng Base camp and we were constenly rocketed and mortared at one time the VC tried to over run us but was beaten back . I was hit in the head requiring stenches in my forehead during one attack on our base camp we were in the motor pool and was trying to clean up from were they had destroyed several of our vehicles and my PLL office the night before and this is in my medical records . I would like to apply for a purple heart at this time if it is possible for wounds received during a rocket and mortar attack . When I filed my statement for Tinnitus due too noise level (Hypertension and Heart disease secondary to my service connected diabetes type 2) I am also requesting service connection for Tinnitus for both of my ears when I first was in country I was assigned too 2/77Arty HQB 25^th INF. But was Attached too A Batty. 2/77 Arty. 25^th Inf. Div. My MOS 13A10 I was with A Battery From June /1968 to about 11/1968 We were at Trang Bang and our Battery was setup in a cemetery We were rocketed and mortared almost daily we were a 105 howitzer towed unit an was there to support the 25^th inf. Wolfhounds we moved from there to Tan Sou Nhut Air Base and was station on the side of the air strip right next too the runway the wings of the planes came almost over our bonkers and the noise level was very high. I went back to HHB Battery we went back too Dau Tieng Base camp and was constenly rocketed and mortaed at one time the VC tried to over run us but was beaten back . I was hit in the head requiring stenches in my forehead during one attack on our base camp we were in the motor pool and was trying to clean up from were they had destroyed several of our vehicles and my PLL office the night before and this is in my medical records . I was turned down three years ago said my MOS was 76S20 but when I got there it was 13A10 Artillery and it did not change for the frist 6 months I was in the field with Artillry Battery. The VA has all my med. records anyone have any thoughts on this. I was told I could get a purple heart when it happend but told them I did not wont one was young and only wonted to stay alive and come home. After reading posts on here I belive it would help my case
kenp
2/77 Arty
25th Inf. Div.
68/69

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jdave

#1

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Posts: 6596

Dec 10 07 3:46 PM

Gather your documentation and send copies of all:

g. Any member of the U.S. Army who believes that he or she is eligible for the Purple Heart, but through unusual circumstances no award was made, may submit an application through military channels, to Commander, PERSCOM, ATTN: TAPC PDA, Alexandria, VA 22332-0471. Application will include complete documentation, to include evidence of medical treatment, pertaining to the wound.

jDave
Member since January 2003
SRU # 3 1965-66
2/8th Cav 1967
MAT IV-22 1968
I operate on the philosophy: "No BS straight answers based on genuine experience and knowledge"

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BBob502

#2

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Posts: 35

Dec 10 07 7:49 PM

kenp,

Check your messages as I was also with A 2/77 on those dates you were there.

Bill

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mr G777

#3

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Posts: 5779

Dec 10 07 8:13 PM

i was up at dau tieng quite a bit and i know , they were constantly under motar and rocket fire , was a nightly thing !!!

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heloteshippie

#4

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Posts: 424

Dec 10 07 8:35 PM

I know someone who just received a purple heart from a rocket attact in danang !

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11thACR2nd

#5

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Posts: 470

Dec 10 07 8:55 PM

Yo, Dau tieng, Michelin, great swath(boundary road), wonderful Tay Ninh province.

Please do not get your hopes up on the PH after all these years. It may be doable in theory

but very difficult.

Good luck

Jim

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Wpdirect

#6

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Posts: 512

Dec 10 07 9:28 PM

Contact your Congress critter, Represenative Gene Taylor of Mississippi has presented about 30 in the last 15 years, He has also seen awards going as far back as WWII finally delivered.

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PfcJack101

#7

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VBNer

Posts: 85

Dec 10 07 9:30 PM

You need to explain a little better, what were you denied on. And how do you think the PH metal help. Just asking

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kenp

#8

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Posts: 771

Dec 11 07 12:02 AM

Thanks all for your replies PFCJack101 It seems that I did not explain my self the frist time I asked the VA for service connection for Tinnitus due too noise level said my mos was not the kind of job that would cause that or something to that efect thought maybe they would see that by asking for a purple heart they might understsnd that i was in a war zone were a lot of bad stuff happened and they only have to look at my medcal records to see. I should have filed a disagreement the frist time I filed on it . at that time I had just had heart failure found out that I had DB2 and had made my mined up that I was about to die. I was not able to fight the system and my SO did not make any suggestion when I got my rateing. I got 70% But was turned down for IU. I have finely connected my HP and Heart failure to DB2 but need to add Tinnitus to get up to 100 % may not need it but with VA math that might not be enoff. BBob502 good too know that you are on here I will send you a message tomarrow. I met a lot of good people over there but like a lot of othere people when I got home tried to bury it in the back of my mined as long as I could keep busey over a piriod of time it went away but even today when a jet caches me off guard I still will jump.
WPdrict I will think about that for it should not hurt my claim only help it maybe I will see if I can get his phone number of Represenative Gene Taylor
Thanks all
kenp
2/77 arty

25th inf. Div.

1968/ 1969 Vietnam

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nmfxstc

#9

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Posts: 25195

Dec 11 07 12:17 AM

Correct me if I am wrog here, but are you indicating that a Purple Heart will increase your chances for a rating for tinnitis???? I can't fathom a Purple for the DM2 or hypertension (nor will VA)...understand what the Purple Heart is and what the criteria are for it...and proceed accordingly. I must say I wouldn't make any wager on the outcome though.

Fillean meal ar an meallaire.

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nmfxstc

#10

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Posts: 25195

Dec 11 07 12:19 AM

I re-read your post (the first here) and you say you were "cleaning up"...meaning the engagement was over and you were "hit on the head" AFTER the attack? Sorry, Bro...that ain't PH criteria.

Sorry if I seem a bit touchy here, but I am PH.

Fillean meal ar an meallaire.

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MiltStar

#11

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Posts: 6823

Dec 11 07 5:28 AM

I got 70% But was turned down for IU. I have finely connected my HP and Heart failure to DB2 but need to add Tinnitus to get up to 100 % may not need it but with VA math that might not be enoff.

I hope you are not under the impression that being rated for tinnitus is going to make you 100% schedular. With a 70% combined rating you would need a totaly new single rating of 80 or 90%, depending if your 70% is 65 rounded up or 74 rounded down. What you will get is 10%, which might not even rase you combined at all. To get IU, you need to be working on 'Why you were turned down for IU?'. You would have been provided with a statement with your denial.

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cruiser

#12

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Posts: 17439

Dec 11 07 8:35 AM

Even if you get a Purple Heart it isn't likely to have an effect on a claim for service connection for tinnitus, or any of the other conditions that were mentioned. If your are trying to show VA that you suffered from some type of head injury, that is already established if your military medical records show that you received sutures for a head laceration. Whether or not that injury warranted a Purple Heart wouldn't really change anything with regard to any claim based on that injury.

Cruiser

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herdgrunt

#13

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Posts: 5802

Dec 11 07 11:08 AM

kenp, good luck on your pursuit. I hate to sound like a cynic but I'm with nm on the PH thing. It's just been a lot of years and now the PH is more valuable only because it might help your claim.

I do wish you luck tho, as every brother that served deserves all that he/she is entitled to.

",.....with the cross of Jesus, going on before."

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kenp

#14

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Posts: 771

Dec 11 07 2:08 PM

NMFXSTC

Sir I do not take a purple heart or any other award for that mater lightly I did not say I got hit on the head I said I got hit in the head SORRY I LEFT OUT with a piece of shrapnel from a mortar that landed in the motor pool while trying to clean up from the night before. After 39 years if I can't get one I will understand I made a choice back then an can live with it. What is hard to live with is I am a Vietnam Vet and when I came back from Vietnam and got out of service I and many others was treated like 2^nd hand citizens we were not in a war only a Conflict . I am not a Doctor or a Lawyer and it is very hard for a lot of us to learn the way the VA works when you are 18 you don't think about one day you have to prove that you were in country (Vietnam) or that the area that you were in was the most heavily sprayed area in Vietnam with Agent Orange. I do know that when I came back to the states that I started having problems breathing an the Army said I had Asthma an was awarded 10% back then a whole $24.00 per month.. I am at 60% for it now but went for years not knowing that I could apply for an increase. I thank God ever day for this board and some others like it. I only wont what I have earned and no more. Sorry for feinting on here for I normally do not say much. I went for years not going to VA but chose to pay for everything my self.

I am

60% = Asthma

20% = DB2

10% = Cataracts

0% = ED

VA math =70%

Kenp

2/77 Arty. 25^th Inf. Div

1968/1969

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kenp

#15

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Posts: 771

Dec 11 07 4:55 PM

Cruiser

What I am trying to show is the noise level from the environment that I was in was very high an over the years I have gotten Tinnitus aggravated by the time I spent in Vietnam. I was denied for Tinnitus. My service medical records show no observation, treatment, or diagnosis for tinnitus while in service. That is what they said. I filed for IU 2004 I was denied because I have not been found unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation as a result of service connect disabilities. You are unemployable due to nonservice-connected factors. The service connected disabilities, when considered apart from the non service connected conditions, are not the case of unemployability. This would be my heart failure. When I got sick all this happened about the same time the doctors were more concerned about my heart then DB2. I never had HP all the years I got physicals at work I did not know when I had heart failure I thought I was having a asthma attack for I had them often my injection % was 25 then . Thy put me on carvedilol to slow my heart down the problem with that is it works against my asthma good for my heart but makes it hard for me to do anything... My injection fraction is 50% now but I still have problems breathing and running out of energy. I talked with my VA Doc and she told me that Hypertension at goal cont w/meds. Pt has h/o diabetes prob had abnormal CHO metabolism for long time, most probably developed HTN sec to his abnormal glucose metabolism. The Cardiomyopathy told me medical data in regard to the relationshipof his hypertension and nonischemic cardiomyopathy. It is our impression that his longstanding HTN is as likely as not the cause of his nonischemic CM in the absence of other clear eiologies. This is what is in my records and this is what I sent in with my statement for increase. Not a Doc but I hope this is what it takes. I also filed for depression secondary to my DB2 I am on Seatrain 100mg per day. I did not file for IU this time wonted to wait an see what happens. Any thoughts on this. Thanks all in advance
kenp

2/77 Arty 25^th Inf. Div.

1968/1969 Vietnm

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nmfxstc

#16

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Posts: 25195

Dec 11 07 5:16 PM

Bro, I'm just going by what you related here (and I quote):

" I was hit in the head requiring stenches in my forehead during one attack on our base camp we were in the motor pool and was trying to clean up from were they had destroyed several of our vehicles and my PLL office the night before and this is in my medical records . I would like to apply for a purple heart at this time if it is possible for wounds received during a rocket and mortar attack ."

If you were hit by enemy schrapnel and it is "in your medical records", ask for the PH. That "night before" part is shaky...your account needs more info and clear documentation, but then...it is in your med records, right? No prob then!

Fillean meal ar an meallaire.

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cruiser

#17

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Posts: 17439

Dec 11 07 5:30 PM

kenp wrote:

What I am trying to show is the noise level from the environment that I was in was very high an over the years I have gotten Tinnitus aggravated by the time I spent in Vietnam. I was denied for Tinnitus. My service medical records show no observation, treatment, or diagnosis for tinnitus while in service. That is what they said.

OK, several things. First, Whether or not you have a Purple Heart will have no real bearing on the claim for service connection for tinnitus.

Second, even if service connection is granted for tinnitus, this will have no discernable effect on your claim for IU. Tinnitus is only evaluated at 10 percent and this is generally not considered to be a significant employment handicap with regard to something like a claim for IU.

And third, an additional 10 percent will not change your combined evaluation of 70 percent. You will still be 70 percent even if service connection is granted for tinnitus.

Your best bet is to concentrate your efforts on proving the IU claim. VA has a medical opinion that your heart disease is not the result of an existing service connected condition. I suggest you discuss this with another doctor. See if you can get a medical opinion showing a relationship between your heart disease and either your diabetes mellitus or your hypertension. If the heart disease is service connected you most likely will get the IU. I think this is the direction you should be heading.

You can pursue the tinnitus also if you wish. Just don't let that be your primary focus. You should also pursue your PH with the military if you were wounded, but don't do so simply because you think it will have any bearing on these current claims you have pending with VA. Good luck.

Cruiser

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VETWC

Are you serious

#18

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Posts: 48

Dec 12 07 11:49 AM

I am sorry, but reading what you are doing and why, just to get to 100 percent really makes me angry, I look at the guys from Vietnam and wars since, who have paid a much higher price. Earning their PH in combat as the award was intended, many not here due to their sacrifice. You may have entitlement for service connected disabilities, but it sounds to like someone wanting 100 percent on the backs of so many who paid the price the hard way. Most living are not 100 percent and don't feel like a PH means they are owed something.

Just shakes my head.

Edited 1 time by VETWC Dec 12 07 11:51 AM.

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ggold7211

DANANG

#19

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Posts: 3455

Dec 12 07 7:29 PM

I know someone who caught the clap in Danang.

"I know someone who just received a purple heart from a rocket attact in danang !"

lol
Golg

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nmfxstc

#20

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Posts: 25195

Dec 13 07 12:27 AM

If you were wounded and required treatment because of an enemy rocket or motor attack, then yes, the PH criteria is there. You state the medical records reference the incident, so...there is no issue at all...simply submit the evidence of the combat action, documentation fo the wounds you received, and...voila! Done deal.

Fillean meal ar an meallaire.

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