MST disability claim filed successfully after 38 years

Seize every opportunity along the way, for how sad it would be if the road you chose became the road not taken. -Robert Brault

Let me tell you how it went for me and perhaps you may feel some hope toward filing a claim.

I learned about “MST” in 2005 and that there was a name for all the past suffering that I had endured and a name for all the pain that I had inflicted on others. By then, 25 years had already passed since 18-year old me went through one ordeal after another while serving in the Marine Corps.

In 2006 without realizing there was a process, and not understanding that the claim is not “MST”. I wrote on a paper claim form some of the things that had happened to me, (but not the impact of those things). The form was sent in to the VA with tears splashed on it. A few months later I received a phone call that my claim was denied. No real explanation, no education, no “Duty to Assist” happened.

For years after that I would receive letters from the VA encouraging me to file again. I would throw them away thinking it was just too painful. As I approached retirement age, I began reconsidering the idea of filing. Now 36 years had passed by.

I started by finding a “trauma” therapist” as I had never talked to a professional about my history. Nothing happened quickly, it took time for me to tell her my story.

Then I decided to file a claim again and decided that I would use a VA accredited attorney. I believed if I did not take this route I would give up too easily, I decided paying 15% of any kind of settlement was better than quitting as I had before. The paralegal that worked with me through most of the process helped me to feel comfortable discussing things with her.

Once again, I did not do that well with the claim form though. For some reason I tried to spare the reader from graphic details. Then I had a disastrous C&P Exam. After the exam I had asked for a copy of the results and it was not only bad news, it was insulting.

This set me off, I contested her findings and then I sat down and wrote pages and pages of details that included names. I sent so many documents to the VA that they sort of asked me to stop, I had to sign a form that there were no more. The last and final form that I sent in turned out to be of key importance. I gave them permission to attain my civilian work records which served to highlight my trouble areas.

The process is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. It is important to join a Facebook or Reddit group to help get you through it. After nearly four decades I did receive acknowledgment and 100% compensation for the life altering harm that was done all those years ago.