Evidence Is Everything With the VA

Thom Stoddert

When making a claim with the VA always keep in mind you must have evidence to support   your request. Over and over I hear from angry veterans “they denied my claim.” When in reality the vet is at fault for not providing reasonable evidence to support the claim.  I spend 90% of my time with veterans working entirely on this essential issue.

Once a veteran submitted a claim to the VA for service connection of PTSD subsequent to having been assaulted by his fellow service members, his claim was denied for several reasons:

There was no medical evidence in the vet’s service medical record (that the VA had obtained on   his behalf) of ever having been injured. The veteran did not provide any evidence of his own as instructed by his state’s Regional Office. A year or two later he submitted new evidence consisting of pages copied from a year book that had individual pictures high-lighted with fluorescent yellow. These pictures were accompanied by a statement from the vet saying these were his fellow service members who had assaulted him and now we had the evidence we needed to give him the favorable decision that he demanded, and I mean demanded. Can you see the weakness in all of this?

At this point you may be thinking each vet is not cookie cut and molded. Thus evidence comes in many forms focused on the needs of each veteran. So what evidence does the VA need?

The basic requirements for evidence that the Veteran’s Benefits Administration needs is fairly simple. Something happened on active duty and it is still causing you problems. Now there must be evidence linking your ailment to what happened on active duty. Evidence links both the present and the past.

For issues such as arthritis of the joints it’s pretty simple. You were inured in service and now there is traumatic arthritis. You identify to the VA that you were injured playing unit sports, etc. The VA then obtains your service medical records and finds that you were injured playing in a game. Your present doctor gives a history of complaints and diagnosis. 

But what about when you get hurt and there are no records because you went to your good buddy the Medic. I have seen many vets get favorable decisions when they submitted good lay statements from people who witnessed the injury, or treated the injury. Former commanders, NCOs, medics, and/or several folks who witnessed the same thing are excellent sources of evidence. People who stand to benefit from any favorable decision are not usually considered good lay witnesses.

How do you locate former members of your unit? There are many easy ways that do not trespass any privacy laws. Go to www.theveteransvoice.com and you will find links to some of my favorite sites for this. Go to your old unit and see if there is any one you remember or who remembers you. Establish contact and see if that person remembers the incident and will write a statement.

Do an internet search for your unit and repeat the above process. Most units do have some sort of reunion functions. Old letters to friends and family carry very valuable credible for proof.  I have also seen old newspapers do the trick for a deserving vet.

Sometimes there is no clear link between what you have and what happened in the service. This is when a written opinion of an expert explaining why your disease is linked to Agent Orange exposure in Viet Nam. This is just one example, but an expert opinion with a credible explanation usually works for all issues.

 

Frequently I have seen claims for PTSD denied for lack of a credible stressor event. This is when a lay statement from a former buddy comes in. Another example; a vet was in the artillery and as such would not receive a Combat Infantry Badge. Yet he was in frequent fire fights protecting  his firebase. The VA denied his claim for lack of proof of a verifiable stressor such as a combat award. But the vet provided details as to the time he was in the unit that was attacked. He provided time, places, details and the name of key personnel he served under. All of his information was verified through the various methods that VA has and granted him a favorable decision.

 

In almost all cases when a claim has been denied, it usually is the lack of good strong credible evidence. So that is where you start if you submit an appeal or a notice of disagreement. Plan your evidence carefully.