Format For Filing a Disability Claim

(NSO Steve Yarema passed away about a week after he submitted this article to the Times. He died the day after the issue was printed, so we could not inform you of this tragedy. Nobody in the organization did more to help POWs receive their entitlements than Steve. We will all miss him terribly.)

A claim for a disability, like any other important document in life, should be a complete document, which can stand on its own merit. It should be complete, in simple terms, and cover ALL DISABILITIES that are being claimed.

This article has been designed to assist claimants, as well as their representatives, to assist in the preparation of a claim. Normally, this claim should be prepared by a National Service Officer who is well versed in the laws, presumptives and procedures as applicable to former Prisoners of War.

Basically, a claim normally has a three step procedure. First the submission of the claim for disability(ies) to the nearest VA Regional Office (VARO).

Who, secondly, if necessary, will request the VA Medical Center (VAMC) to schedule a medical and/or a psychological examination. Who in turn will evaluate each disability for validity and seriousness of the disability. The medical and/or psychological analysis, in turn will be returned to the VARO for a determination of the degree of the disabling event.

Each claimed condition can ultimately vary from a valid disability of 0% to a total disability of 100%.

And, finally, the results are returned to the VARO for evaluation and degree of the disability.

To assist the VARO raters and adjudicators, the documents should be clear and concise, keeping in mind that most of these individuals were not born when World War II and the Korean conflicts were under way.

The purpose of this discussion is not to dwell on which forms shall be used, but how to prepare the narrative of the claim, to enable the raters and adjudicators with reasonable background information to make an intelligent decision on the degree of the disability.

Experience has proven that the following four step format, properly and simply developed, has been successful in assisting the evaluators in making a valid evaluation of the disabilities claimed, because it tells the whole story.

Try it, you just might like it.

The format consists of four primary sections:

• Section I - A Letter of Introduction to the VARO
• Section II - Combat and POW History
• Section III - A Description of the Disabilities
• Section IV - Supportive Letters and Documents

This section should be addressed to the evaluators in your VARO. The opening sentence should identify the claimant as a former Prisoner of War, and as such should alert the reader that the claimant comes under certain provisions of the law, as applicable to former POWs.

The opening statement should read as follows:

I am a (state your age) year old former Prisoner of War. I am requesting a complete POW protocol physical examination for the following presumptive conditions in accordance with Public Law 97-37; 38 CFR section 3.309(c), VA circular 21-91-2, and other pertinent VA laws and rules.

You should then list your disabilities sequentially, presumptive disabilities first. For example, and these are examples only, you should list your own disabilities.

1. Traumatic Osteoarthritis of the Cervical Spine

2. Traumatic Osteoarthritis of the Left (or Right) Knee

3. Ischemic Heart Disease with Edema of the Lower Extremities

4. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

5. Irritable Bowel Syndrome

6. Peptic Ulcer Disease

7. Residuals of Frostbite

I further request an examination and evaluation for the following non-presumptive service-connected disabilities:

8. Pain in the left leg due to gunshot wound residual

9. Loss of hearing due to artillery barrage detonations

I am available for examination at your discretion.

Sincerely,
(Your Signature)

Keep in mind that the above lists are examples only, and you should list your real and actual claimed disabilities.

This section should be a narrative of your combat conditions. You should very briefly describe the length of time in actual combat (i.e., six months after D-Day, or four months after Pearl Harbor in the Philippines, etc.).

Describe the last week or so before capture. The shelling, enemy probes into your lines; the dead and wounded lying in fox holes until they were removed; wounds you sustained; the conditions of your capture; and, whether you were alone or with a squad, platoon. company, burning aircraft, etc.

From this point, do not hesitate to tell the "horror" story of your capture and subsequent incarceration. The long treks, in snow and freezing conditions, the jam-packed sealed box cars with no food or water, the jam-packed holds of hell ships from the Philippines to China or Japan, the freezing conditions of your capture at the Chosin reservoir, etc. You should describe very vividly any brutality by enemy soldiers, police, home guard, civilians, etc. Do not hesitate to portray your bleeding wounds from bayonets or enemy fire, vividly describing the living conditions in the split bamboo shelters, or "cages" in which you had to exist.

In this section, describe in the same numerical sequence, the disabilities cited in Section I. Start with the first claim and entitle it with the same words, for example:

1. Traumatic Osteoarthritis of the Cervical Spine

2. Traumatic Osteoarthritis....etc.

For each claimed disability, describe how that injury was sustained. Either by rifle butt, a club or other implement with which you were beaten, impact upon landing after bailing out of burning aircraft, wounds received as a result of enemy gunfire, evacuating from a sinking ship, etc. Each claimed disability should have a paragraph or two delineating the acquisition of that disability.

Add to this your current pain, discomfort, or limitations, etc., for each disability listed, sequentially, in Section I.

Each claimed disability should have a paragraph or two delineating the acquisition of that disability. Please remember, the sequencing should be identical in Sections I and II.

This section should include "buddy letters," attesting to the first hand knowledge of the buddy's observations relative to the claimant's disabilities and injuries while they were prisoners, a wife's letter (an excellent buddy letter) describing her husband's many sleepless nights due to pain or emotions, letters from grown children attesting to "Dad's unusual behavior" (PTSD) as they were growing up, any unique or abnormal list of medications that are required by the claimant to accommodate his disabilities.

This section should also include supplemental medical records from civilian physicians and hospitals that have treated the claimant for the disabilities claimed as well as other derivative illnesses from the basic presumptive conditions. Other documents which may have a bearing on the ailments should also be included.

The final document should be reviewed for accuracy and truthfulness.

If, during the adjudication period, additional new material evidence should be discovered, and the claimant desire to include it, a brief note should be added and submitted to the VARO with the claimant's name and claim number.

This procedure is not a dictated requirement. By experience, if followed by the claimant, a clearer understanding may be developed by the medical and rating teams.