Every Week, a Veterans Benefits Attorney answers your questions. This week we are going to talk about finding lost medical records and getting service connected years after service.

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A Veterans Disability Attorney Answers Your Questions.
As a Veterans Benefits Attorney and a service connected
disabled Veteran, I would like to help More Veterans get More
Information about the VA Claims Process.
So I added a new feature to the Veterans Law Blog - a Veterans
Disability Attorney Answers Your Questions.
The feature is getting more and more popular - how do I know?
Because the questions I get are getting harder and harder for me
to answer.
That's a good thing - the tougher your questions, the more we
can work together to educate more Veterans about the rules and
the law of the VA Claims Process.
Keep this in mind though - the Q&A with Veterans Benefits Attorney on the Veterans Law Blog is NOT legal advice.
Bottom line: "Veterans Disability Attorney Answers Your Questions" Feature is not meant to be legal advice. Don't rely
on it as advice.
I'm answering your questions very generally to get the most information to the most people - but also because I do not
give legal advice on the Veterans Law Blog. Nothing - and certainly not a blog - is a substitute for good legal advice
from an accredited Veterans Benefits Attorney.
NEW FEATURE: Veterans Disability Attorney Answers Your Questions.
I can't see a reason why Veterans Advocates should not teach Veterans how to improve their own VA Claims.
So, in today's post, I'm going to answer a few questions that have come in through MailCall lately.
Just remember - nothing in this post is intended to be specific legal advice. If you need the rest of the disclaimers and
legalese, you can read it all here.
Want to submit your question to Mail Call so that Veterans Disability Attorney Answers Your Questions? Visit this link
and fill in the form.
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Veteran Scott W. asks: "The VA is trying to deny my claim for my back, because I never went in for treatment until
now. Its been fifteen years since I have been out. Can they do it? I hurt my back in basic."

2. Answer: Bottom line up front: The Law doesn't care if you seek treatment on the day of an injury in service, or wait
until the end of time to seek treatment. If you believe that an injury in military service caused a current disability or
limitation, then you are entitled to service connection of that condition - and the compensation that goes with that
service-connection.
In fact, the MOST common reason for denial by the VA is the also the
most WRONG reason for denial: Lack of Treatment for a condition is
largely irrelevant to the question of service connection.
Why?
We all seek medical treatment - and don't seek medical treatment - for
different reasons. In a combat situation, you aren't going to go
running off to the aid station if you hear your ankle "pop" and feel it go
numb getting into a firing position.
In basic, you're just not going to go for treatment if you hurt your back
falling off an obstacle on the course... if you can hang with the pain.
Most folks just don't want be recycled and start that nonsense all over.
If you suffer - like I do - from the hellacious ringing in your ears known
as Tinnitus, you will know that there is NO treatment that can cure or
fix the condition, so why would you go to a doctor?
Tinnitus is the "Gift that Keeps on Giving" for Artillerymen - the endless pounding of howitzers and rocket launchers
(and a couple concussions from grenade blasts) have brought blood from my ears. For the rest of my life, everything
I hear has a "High G" soundtrack playing in the background.
And after service, many of us can't afford the high cost of medical treatment UNTIL we get service connected for our
military injuries.
But all 4 of those situations could involve injuries that can cause lifelong problems. The Courts have been VERY
clear: the lack of treatment is not evidence of whether or not a condition is related to military service.,
Here's the practical reality, though: the longer the time between military service and the filing of the claim, the harder it
will be to PROVE to the VA that your current disability is related to military service.
That is, after all, one of the 4 Pillars of your VA Claim : Proving to the VA that your current medical condition is related
to your military service. Proving this element is like Building a Bridge.
There are 5 Ways to Build this Bridge - and I've discussed them in GREAT detail in my Guidebook "The 5 Paths to
Service Connection". {Click on the image to the left to learn more about how to get the ebook individually or as part of
a package.}
*****
Veteran Art S. asks: "I read your answer to a question a couple weeks ago about getting medical records. I still can't
understand how to find military service treatment records. I feel like I've looked everywhere."
Answer: So I'm going to let y'all in a little secret. Actually, it's not a secret, I learned it from one of y'all! But not many
Veterans know it.
I'm going to teach you the steps my firm follows to find old service treatment records.

3. And, I'm going to lay it out in the way I know best - a checklist of ways to find your military service treatment records.
I'm going to warn you, though, you need patience or the temperament of a detective...this stuff can be a challenge. I
call it "pulling the string" - if you pull a string long enough, nice and easy, you will eventually find the end. Pull it too
hard, though, and you break it or detach it from what its tied to.
Here are several ways to get your MILITARY Treatment Records:
1) The easiest way? Get copies from every medical facility you
were treated at BEFORE leaving the military. Service members
get records a lot quicker when they ask for them while in service.
2) That's not an option? Get a copy of your 201 File (your Military
Personnel Records Jacket) from the National Archives. MOST
times, it will have MOST of your medical treatment records.
3) Records missing from your military service records? Go to the
medical facility where you were treated - the army, navy or air
force hospital or clinic USUALLY retains records for a very long
time, and they can tell you where they archive them.
4) The facility no longer exists? Go to the military branch chain of
command and start asking where the records at that closed facility
are now stored. I found medical records from Vietnam for one of
my clients in a DHS helicopter hangar at a facility down on the
border in El Paso Texas. We also found some at the Fish and
Wildlife Service. I shit you not.
Veterans Court cases teach us HOW to win our Claims.
Here's 10 cases you should know - including the Jandreau
5) Dead end? It happens. Sometimes, you can go straight to your
Case mentioned in today's Q&A.
old unit - or the unit that carries the flag if yours no longer exists -
and find records of military service and military service treatment. We've found records for current and past veterans,
for example, in the S-1 shop of the unit they were assigned to. Should they be there? HELL NO! Do I care about
that? Not really - I tell my client and let them deal with the privacy aspect...I just want records to prove my client's
claim.
6) Still no luck? RECREATE the records. The Veterans Court taught us, in the Jandreau case, that as a lay person,
you can CREDIBLY document evidence of symptoms, treatment and past diagnoses of medical conditions: this is the
PURE, RAW POWER of Lay Evidence.
Tempted to jump to Step #6 and make it easier?
That's one approach, and it may or may not be what you should do, but you better be darn sure that if your records
are actually found they won't say anything contradictory, or the credibility of your claim will always be at issue (I'm not
talking about lying or truth-telling...legal credibility in VA Claims is more about the consistency of evidence over time ).
Why?
The VA has an uncanny knack for finding lost medical records when Veterans offer a lay statement that they were
diagnosed with a condition in service.
Want to Submit a Question to ask a Veterans Benefits Attorney?
Want to submit your question to Mail Call? Visit this link and fill in the form.

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Chris Attig, an Accredited Veterans Benefits attorney and Founder of the Attig Law Firm, PLLC is responsible for the
content of the site. The principal office of Attig Law Firm, PLLC, is located in Dallas, Texas. Chris Attig is NOT
Certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. - Please view our website disclaimer.
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