Today would be a good day to file your claim for tinnitus. I would also apply for hearing loss as well, if you have hearing loss. The sooner the better. The VA assumes all hearing problems after age 45 are age releated.
Please see your veterans organization service officer.

Thank you for the advise, I will have to wait until next week but I will go in and see them on wednesday, again thank you for all of the hard work that you and people like you in all of the veterans service organizations do for us.

I was reclassified from infantry, 11C20, because of my hearing in 1980 and put into tank turrent repair. Good job but still tanks make noise so they reclassed me again into office machine repair then gave the MOS to the German civilians. I asked about disability but the rep said it is now 2005 and you are not service connected so your chance of getting disability is near zero. Also my legs are begining to hurt from all the running in Combat boots, before tennis shoes. Again he brought up no service connection. I was put out in 1985 after 8 1/2 years service in combat MOS's. I ended up a Battalion Staff NBC NCO for the 2/21 Field Artillery until they put me out in 1985 when my children were kidnapped by my ex-wife. They sid it would interfere with my military duty so hit the road jack was the song that is stuck in my head. The ringing never goes away but you get used to it over time. Just for the record my children were found under a different name just South of the Canadian Border 1 year 1 month and 1 day after they were put on milk cartons and listed with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. They are fine, I got custody, and both are parents now. I never got any disability, but, I may have to re-apply if the pain in my legs does not get better. If you want to see what it is like gettting your lifeline cut move to Missouri and see what Matt Blunt has done for the disabled, vets, elderly, and low income. You get to wash your feeding tubes and re-use them for people that can not do it themselves. Makes me proud to be an American for sure when pain pills are cut to the needy because they are a drain on the system. Bush is trying to do the same cuts at the federal level because it is working so well here in Missouri. Sounds like another Mad Man that tried purging a race of the sick, elderly,lame, and of a certain type of religion! Hitler did not succeed so neither will these dictators.
There has to be a better way. I tried getting back in after 911, but am too old, fat, and hurt from the last tour that they said no way. At least I tried. I could have been repairing tracks and jeeps or something. Even teaching NBC Protection to recruits. I was one of 30 out of 60 that completed the 54E3T course at Fort McClellan, Alabama in 1983. I still could help somewhere. I feel better now that I let it vent. Have a good day!

quote:

Snowcrop: "I asked about disability but the rep said it is now 2005 and you are not service connected so your chance of getting disability is near zero."

If you do not apply you certainly will not get it. You need to apply. I still have WWII veterans applying for and receiving benefits, this is 60 years later. There are many fine VSO's around, please find one who will help you.

Hi DaveBarker;
I will give it a try. Other than the rep in Lebanon, MO. There is some in Popular Bluff where the VA Hospital is. Maybe they can track down my reclassifications in Germany.

Good

Hello fellow veterans:
I was discharged in 1970; 6 months later I filed a claim for a hearing loss. It was decided that I have a hearing loss; however not compensable. I appealed; and received a response from the VA that states that the decision of your hearing loss with "tinnitus" is continued at 0%.
Question: If tinnitus was not rated until 1976, would I have a chance for retroactive compensastion at this time?
Thank you very much for any information you have.
Vet2175

You filed a claim for a hearing loss and it was rated 0% for tinnitus. Then filed for increase and was continued at 0%. You had one year from the date of the VA letter of decision to appeal. The effective date of the award is the first day of the month following receipt of the application. In some cases after the application is filed the earliest date of medical evidence submitted after the application was received by the VA.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: DaveBarker,

Thank you Dave.

i find it appalling, that the va considers hearing loss something so natural, after age 45. and just about everyone gets diabetes nowadays.....yet they compensate that for ao??? i can still picture my brother, on the aircraft carriers...guiding all those jets--and when he came home, he couldn't hear very good. he was 24. i hope those people with hearing loss fight more, and win. maybe that's why the hearing aids from the va are so bad.

quote:

Originally posted by amosk1863:
i find it appalling, that the va considers hearing loss something so natural, after age 45. and just about everyone gets diabetes nowadays.....yet they compensate that for ao??? i can still picture my brother, on the aircraft carriers...guiding all those jets--and when he came home, he couldn't hear very good. he was 24. i hope those people with hearing loss fight more, and win. maybe that's why the hearing aids from the va are so bad.

First it is important to remember intermingled with our opinion. we have some facts that are apparent. I have severe hearing loss. It is something that bothers me considerable. Hard of hearing people are the butt of jokes and suffer greatly in everyday life. Being hard of hearing is not funny and it is not a joke. When I served in the Navy I was around 5" 50's blasting away. Little wads of cotton happened to be our only ear protection. However when my hearing went bad, I was in my 50's, which is to remote from the exposure to be service connected. Age is a factor. However I agree with you, the veterans should fight more and win. When I file original claims for veterans, I ask all of them about hearing loss and tinnitus.
Your comment about diabetes and AO is somewhat unfair. What does that have to do with hearing loss? Not everyone gets diabetes and not everyone exposed to Agent Orange gets service connected for the conditions that kill them. Getting service connected for Agent Orange conditions was a long difficult journey. Please visit Health and Fitness, Agent Orange and read the information posted there. I feel it will help you understand, how bad it really is.
Thank you.

So I am new to this forum but definitely need help. My husband is currently having his discharge papers put through for hearing loss. He has lost almost complete hearing in the left ear... I know it is measured in dbs, but I only know the percentage of loss to be over 90%. The navy said they would compensate some for this loss because it was incurred during active duty (although his ear was not too great to start off with). I am not so much worried about the money yet, as the discharge itself. He has been to two medical boards about it, both stating that yes, that ear is shot. He took separation leave in August, only to be told when he came back that he needed MORE tests. He has had scans to test the fluid build up behind his ear as well as a test to monitor the brain wave response in that ear. All tests show that this ear isn't working hardly at all, and to boot his equilibrium is all messed up because of a series of infections and rupturing in the ear. So now that he is on this final road to a discharge (about half of the required signatures are there) how much longer should it take before he is out? His ship leaves on a six month cruise soon, and I am not even sure how he would be able to go on this cruise due to his ear and being medically unqualified for his job, but I am still nervous. Any insight or links to places with helpful information would be wonderful. Thanks!

You husbands issues are up to the medical board. When he is determined not fit for sewa duty the appropriate action will be taken. He would be separated from service. He needs to contact a veterans organization locally, who does the Transition Assistance Program (TAP).

Thanks for your help. They already told him he wasn't fit for deployment, that's why I don't understand why it is taking so long to get everything signed. I guess they had to take him on the last cruise because they couldn't find a place for him on temporary shore duty while they went out and finished his discharge papers... I don't know.

Dave,
When going through my retirement physical in April 2005 for disability ratings the hearing dept. set a base line date in mid 1994 for a comparison for hearing loss which covered only the periods of mid 94 till April 2005. It was noted I had hearing loss, but not enough loss to be covered under VA rules for hearing loss. I was granted SC 10% for tinitus. I submitted an letter of disagreement about the hearing loss stating they should have set a baseline date in 1980 (one year after I entered the service) and they would see my hearing loss meets the VA criteria.
Basically, my question is...why was a baseline date set in 1994 and not based upon when I first came in Aug 79?
I haven't heard anything back on my letter of disagreement yet.

I have no idea why your hearing loss would be based other than what it was when you went in the service, then what it was when you were separated from active duty. That point should be brought to the attention of your veterans service officer, well before you go before the DRO.
You must show a compensable rating of 10% for hearing loss. You need to make sure your audiogram is correct before you see the DRO. A second opinion will not hurt you. It may cost you a few dollars, but if you are sure your hearing impairment is excessive, it is worth the effort.
The rating of 10% for tinnitus is the norm.

In 1983, at age 38, I was found to have some hearing loss in my right ear during a physical for a civilian job. In 2003 when I finally discovered I was eligible for VA benefits from 1968 Vietnam, my VA hearing test indicated hearing loss in the right ear "below VA standards" and tinnitus. I receive 10% compensation for the tinnitus and 0% for the hearing loss. In June, 2006 (last summer) I was sent to a civilian doctor and 1 week later to the VA for hearing tests. Both tests indicated both ears were "below VA standards", but I was still denied any compensation.

I heard some discussion about making tinnitus at 10% for EACH ear last spring, rather than for BOTH ears, but have not heard any results. Anybody hear anything more on that?

Tinnitus at 10% in each ear will still be 10% combined rating using the VA math. In your hearing issue situation. You must have shown hearing loss for the affected ear(s) on active duty, confirmed on the audiogram at separation; or hearing loss within one year from date of separation. The proof can be doctor records, audiologist records, or employment records.

My VA medical records list the hearing loss as service connected, but with 0% compensation.