In a previous video, I talked about the three things you have to prove your VA disability claim. The second of those things is you have to prove that you experienced an injury or an illness in your service or an aggravation of a previous injury or illness. In this video, I want to expand on that a little bit and talk about what the evidence will look like to prove that.
Once again, medical records are the go-to record here. If you can show that you were treated in a military hospital, or really any hospital, while you were in the service for a specific injury or illness, that’s probably all you’re going to need. But you probably didn’t always go to sick call. I remember what it was, like, suck it up and drive on. The result is that. Now when you need those records,, they may well not exist. But not all is lost.
You can also submit a lay statement, which is a written statement from you that describes in as much detail as possible. What happened and when it happened. Write all of the facts and circumstances around it and also talk about your symptoms. You really got to go into detail here. Talk about, you know, the pain, lack of mobility you experienced when the thing happened and how your symptomes tracked over time. It’s very important to talk through the consistency of those symptoms in this statement. This is not the time to be tough. You know, I’m certainly not asking you to lie or embellish, but you need to be accurate. The VA needs to know exactly what this thing feels like. Exactly what your symptoms are.
You should also try and get statements from other veterans who witnessed the event happened. If it’s a mental health issue, you can get statements from friends and family who knew you before the incident happened and can describe a change in your personality, mood, temper, everything. You should also try and get your service records. So here I’m talking about anything that can help corroborate an injury or an illness. Things like orders, proving you were on a deployment. There’s usually lots of paperwork to show you were on a deployment. If it’s a jump injury, get your jump log, you know, all sorts of things like that.
Now, another thing to keep in mind when proving that you had an in-service injury or illness is your entrance physical. So if you recall, when you went to MEPs before you joined the military and you took that physical, the folks that gave you that physical, we’re supposed to document make a note of anything that you had at that time, that was preexisting. So if they didn’t note something and you have that something now, then the VA is obligated to assume that you were in a sound condition when you joined. Now, there’s an exception to that. If the VA can show clear and unmistakable evidence that you, that you had a preexisting injury, they can get around this presumption of soundness. But, for the most part, if it’s not in your entrance examination, and then you’re usually good to go in terms of proving that you were, you didn’t have it when you joined.
But even if you do have a preexisting condition, not all is lost. Remember it’s not just about experiencing an injury or illness and service, it can also be about, aggravating, a preexisting injury or illness. So again, all the same things help establish that, your statement from friends and family and so on.
If you’re struggling with the VA and would like some help, give me an email call, text, whatever works for you. I’ll see if I can help you out.