Helped My Old College Roommate With His VA Claim

PAUL, my old (we're both 75) roommate from college days, Army buddy, fellow IBM employee and friend for over half a century, is almost totally deaf.  

Paul (L)  and Wes, San Diego 1967

He hears sounds but needs powerful hearing aids to grasp the words. We first met as roommates during college and were occasionally bunkmates in the Army. Travels over the years gave us the opportunity to stay in touch. I'm writing this note about Paul to remind all veterans that military service has made us brothers and sisters; we must always help others, including getting them help from the VA when needed.

No Vet left behind. Ever.

Paul was supposed to be best man at my wedding at the March AFB chapel on June 14, 1969. Instead, he found himself headed off for Army basic training. While at Fort Bragg an incident on the rifle range left him totally deaf for days. He was seen at the base medical clinic but the damage was done: he gradually regained most of his hearing after a week of rest, but then year after year, the ears "rang" louder and louder as Paul's tinnitus developed. And so did his bilateral hearing loss worsen. A lot! 
 
This was a half century ago. Specialist-5 Paul Hansen was a traditional Army reservist, serving his initial six months of Active-Duty, but without full-time active duty after that to qualifying him as a "veteran" per the law; nothing that would leave him eligible for VA care or any other benefits. Paul did his six year military obligation and began the rest of life's complicated journey in earnest.

Paul moved between Tokyo and California while I bounced around the country with my civilian and military careers. Once, after I left the Army to fly for the California Air National Guard, I was able to take Paul on a flight with me to Massachusetts for his aunt's funeral. Because we kept in touch and visited occasionally plus weddings and funerals, I noticed Paul's advancing hearing loss and urged him to file a disability claim at the VA.

In fact, around 2014 I even filled out his VA claim for him! But Paul is the reigning world champion of procrastination; the application lay somewhere, ignored, then trashed or perhaps shuffled into some unrelated pile of documents never to be seen again. Okay, I'm a nag. Phone call after phone call, "how ya doin" was followed by reminding him to file with the VA. It never happened.

Paul's hearing loss was significant, but the real goal was for him to establish veteran status with VA. This would entitle him to hearing aids but also vital health care for a multitude of other problems. The disability compensation of his claim was an insignificant concern  – in poor health, twice-widowed and living alone, Paul needed the wide range of VA benefits due disabled veterans but he'd never be a veteran, much less a disabled veteran, without getting around to submitting his claim.

It got to the point that we both realized a claim just wasn't going to get done in our lifetime or before the sun burned out. With Paul's permission I used his power of attorney and applied to the VA for tinnitus and hearing loss disabilities. The initial obstacle of getting Paul to file finally accomplished, we next moved to finding proof of his Army rifle range problem. I filed a request with the Army's personnel records center in St. Louis and the vital proof of injury medical records were promptly sent to us. 

Then there had to be an effective argument that even though he was a traditional Reservist over fifty years back, Paul's injury should entitle him VA care and benefits. Usually VA will only consider problems a year after discharge, probably not Paul and more than half a century later! Paul wasn't even a statutory veteran per the law because he'd never been on active duty after basic training. 

I have a medical background and I also remembered a key detail: The law provides that Reservists and National Guard troops, if they have a disabling injury during their training, the requirements for full veteran status are met. Further, because Paul's training was during the Vietnam War he'd have a wider range of important coverages as a wartime veteran – but only if he succeeded in his claim. 

I also wrote a lengthy report about the Army's poor history of troops' hearing injuries in the years before earplugs were even permitted on a rifle range. I quoted similar VA disability claims from other veterans who won their claims, even years later like Paul. Because of Paul's age and health, his claim needed to be approved on our first pass, not rejected for correction or appeal. Too often, claims have flaws that delay the process a year or even longer for an appeal. At best, we hoped that Paul would get a small 10% disability award for his tinnitus and hearing loss but also worried about any delays for this increasingly frail man.

This week, VA notified him it approved the claim on the initial application. Paul Hansen thus became our newest honored disabled veteran. 40% disabled, not just 10% as first hoped. Two other major health issues are still under consideration and we're hoping it will put Paul over 50% disability, at which point all his medical care is provided free. Other benefits he can get now:

• Benefits for Veterans 40-50% Disabled, plus compensation
  • Preventive care.
  • "Level 2" VA medical priority group
  • Inpatient (hospitalization) services.
  • Military PX and commissary use.
  • Care in the Community
  • Ancillary services.
  • Mental health care.
  • Geriatrics and extended care.
  • Medical equipment/prosthetic items and aids.
  • Old age, low income pension (income-based.)
  • Medical travel.
  • Veteran-Directed Care program, a budget to help with activities of daily life.
  • Medication/supplies
    

The VA decision on his application also made his disability retroactive to December 2020, the date VA received his claim. Paul, faced with many health issues, is finally entitled to VA hearing aids and so many other benefits. Paul isn't poor but the VA check will be useful.

California has some property tax exemptions and other benefits, mostly kicking in at a 100% disability. We'll have to see if Paul's remaining issues are going to be service-connected.

Here, I'll take a firm grasp on myself and control the urge to tell Paul what his disability checks would have totaled (over $35,000) if HE'D ONLY DONE AS I SUGGESTED SEVEN YEARS AGO. I've helped vets with their VA claims but just one other went back over half a century like Paul's. That was for Bob Edwards, church friend and former Navy officer for whom we got a total disability based on World War II injuries 63 years earlier.

A note: Paul's dad's Coast Guard leather bridge coat (he's wearing it in the top photo) saved my life, quite literally, sometime around 1967 in Riverside, California. But that's another story.