talking about the “untouchable”

Does it have to do with the way disability is defined?

 

I can’t possibly comment on this based on some generic anecdote. Mental health issues are difficult. Some physical disabilities become more acute later in life. They are now finding that some people exposed to a lot of “routine” explosions have negative effects on their brains. CTE often gets worse with age. Look at some of these football players 2 decades after they retire. So it is certainly plausible that someone could work for years and later succumb to disability. Whether that happened here or not I couldn’t possibly know.


Profound Damage Found in Maine Gunman’s Brain, Possibly From Blasts

 

Vets are some of the last people I’m worried about taking advantage of Uncle Sam. If anyone has earned it…

 

Sounds like these people had conditions that they lived with that were service related but never put in a claim with the VA until later in life when their service related conditions became much more acute.

If the DoD broke you, they have to pay for it. Simple as that.

 

People's bodies tend to break down as they age.

 

Guy I know gets VA disability, SS and NYC cop pension. $252K a year. Almost $700/day.

He got hit by 3 mortars in Vietnam. Has PTSD and has nightmares every night. Rods in 3 or 4 extremities. Killed many people in Vietnam, was part of an 8 man team ,(with dogs) that secured perimeter of soldier encampments. Was told to take no prisoners.

 

My dad was a back seater in the RF-4…

Cool planes but maintenance nightmares.

 

Yes. It’s not the same as, say, worker’s comp disability. It’s a complex formula (I don’t understand it myself) that computes the damage one’s body took as a direct result of service. It doesn’t mean, for instance, that if you’re “100% disabled” that you’re 100% incapable of working.

 

Minds too.

 

The Mortality Rate of 100% Service-Connected U.S. Veterans


The study found the overall average age at death for all 100% service-connected U.S. veterans is 67 years of age. When separated by gender, the average age at death for all female 100% service-connected U.S. veterans is 63 years of age and the average age at death for all male 100% service-connected U.S. veterans is 68 years of age. The study results demonstrate female 100% service-connected veterans have a 22% diminished life expectancy when compared to the World Bank Data average human (civilian) life expectancy in the United States for females (81 years of age) and male 100% service-connected veterans have a 11% diminished life expectancy when compared to the World Bank Data average human (civilian) life expectancy in the United States for males (76 years of age).

 

The VA Disability Claims process is a Byzantine process where the VA will often say No the first time just to see if you appeal their initial decision. That is likely what happened with your friend who was a sniper.

The bottom line is that you have to have some record of an injury in your medical records to substantiate a claim with the VA for anything that is not presumptive.

For presumptive conditions, you just have to prove you were in theater for that condition. If you were in Vietnam and have a certain heart related conditions, the VA automatically assumes it is related to your service in Vietnam.

Presumptive conditions typically happen for different reasons. Not sure what the reasoning was for heart conditions in Vietnam but would assume a lot Vietnam vets were having issues and there were enough Vietnam vet politicians that were able to lobby the VA to make it presumptive. The current issue is burn pits. Biden believes his son Beau’s cancer was related to burn pits and his Admin is working with the VA to make certain medical conditions considered presumptive if they could be related to burn pits.

 

Hopping on the F4 humble brag… my dad flew F4s. Said it was a great plane as long as you didn’t need to turn. Lol.

As to the OP. I am all for making sure people are not defrauding the government no matter who they are. While nothing is fool proof I think those rules are in place.

 

For a retired person, VA disability doesn't change the gross retirement money, but it does change taxes. So, some of my retirement pay is not taxed which is nice, but not a windfall or anything.

I am 20% "disabled" after 21 years of service. For most people that served in my fields (engineering spaces on submarines and flying) that usually comes in the form of hearing loss. I was always super careful with my hearing and suffered no degradation. My doc doing the discharge physical was shocked.

 

Yeah, I had always heard "The F4 is proof you can make a brick fly if you strap on a big enough engine".

I didn't remember you served, thanks brother.

 

I wore double hearing protection every time I flew since 2000. Still, my hearing has declined significantly compared to the average person of my age.