As most of the regular readers of my diary know, I am just an average disabled veteran, that has been denied my benefits due to DOD refusing to release the data on the chemical weapons and drug tests I took part in during June thru August 1974.
They still haven't released the data, but I was contacted by the VA that they have reconsidered my claim for heart disease, and they see where they made a mistake, and they have now schedlued me for new Compensation and Pension Exams known by most veterans as C&P's, without which they can not make an award.
Just what exactly was their motive to suddenly see the light? Has it been the letters to the elected officials, the diaries on KOS, the articles in Political Cortex, etc?
I have a feeling I will never know, there is no financial victory to this, as I was awarded 100% P&T a few months back which I and my family were extremely grateful for. My wife and son, now have medical insurance, my son gets a free college education here in South Carolina, so it could be a lot worse.
The reason I kept pushing, if I die before they service connect (SC) my heart conditions then my wife and son lose their financial stability, they would get a reduced award, and then when my wife started drawing SS she would have lost the VA money altogether, so we needed the heart condition SC in order to ensure she will keep getting her checks that she deserves.
Now if I get run over by a truck all bets are off, but I have now done everything I can do, to protect my family. What most veterans understand to be the "Promise" that is you are hurt or killed by something that happens to you as a result of something that you did or had done to you while on active duty, they the government will take care of you and your family, the promise of a grateful nation.
It took four years of fighting with them to make them keep that promise, but I got the call on Tuesday, and it has taken this long for it to really sink in that my personal battle with the VA is over.
Does this mean I am done writing about the chemical weapons or drug tests this nation did from 1952 thru 1975? No, there are still 7119 other Edgewood Test veterans and 2300 veterans from the biological weapons tests at Fort Detrick.
Yes, I know there are many more problems the government has done, nuclear tests, Agent Orange etc, I can't possibly involve myself in every program that was wrong, I am but one man, so I will continue on my quest to help the fellow veterans of the same mis-guided programs that I was invloved in that also deserve their benefits, or their widows now deserve.
As long as I can type, elected officials will get letters, eventually I will get one that will help. Thank you all for dealing with my attempts to get this story into the public eye, MSM won't touch it, but it is a story that needs to be told. Almost 10,000 veterans used and abused with a 75% death and disability rate is just flat wrong, and it has been 31 years since it stopped.