Veterans get assistance with claims

• By MARSHA SILLS
• Advocate Acadiana bureau
• Published: Oct 25, 2009 - Page: 3B

For the past two years, Percy Luke has waited for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to answer his disability claims.
Efforts to find out where his claim is among the thousands in the pipeline had been futile, he said.

On Saturday, he sought help from the Disabled American Veterans, a nonprofit that provides veterans and their families assistance with their claims submitted to the VA.

As part of its outreach, the DAV hits the road with its Mobile Service Office, making stops in rural areas, and through a partnership with the Harley-Davidson Foundation, at motorcycle dealerships in a number of cities.

Saturday the DAV’s mobile office made a scheduled stop at Harley-Davidson/Buell, 5853 Siegen Lane, in Baton Rouge.
In the first hour, 21 people had signed up to see a representative.

“It’s a valuable resource,” said Dennis Martell, vice commander of the DAV’s Capitol City No. 5 chapter.

Many veterans are unable to make the drive or find transportation to file or check on claims in person at district VA offices, Martell said.

As of June 30, the VA reported that more than 3 million veterans receive some type of VA disability compensation and at least 354,326 received some level of compensation for post-traumatic stress disorder.

DAV national service officers, such as Archie Smith, serve as liaisons in the claims process.

National service officers have experience. They undergo 18 months of training and, as disabled veterans themselves, they bring to their jobs their own familiarity with the VA claims process.

Their jobs are to help claimants wade through the pages of legalese confronting them.

“In the past 14 days, we’ve made 12 stops and seen at least 40 people at each stop,” said Smith, a national service officer with the organization’s Louisiana office.

Smith has been a national service officer for the past nine years. He said a common refrain from veterans is: “I don’t know what I’m doing.”

“We try to teach them not to just reply to a claim denial, but to develop your claim and get proof from a doctor,” Smith said.

He sat in an office borrowed from the motorcycle dealership for his purpose. At the corner of the desk was a stack of papers. Each stack was a different color signifying a different condition. The papers spelled out instructions and tips on how to respond to various claims.

The organization provides answers and more often revelations.

“I hadn’t heard most of that before,” said Vietnam War veteran Gilbert Lerman, 60, after his session with Smith. “Now I know what to do.”

Lerman arrived Saturday to find out what steps he should take in his appeal of the government’s denial of his stress disorder claim.
Smith urged him to visit a doctor and get a more detailed opinion to support his claim.

“That’s the aggravating thing — the process,” Lerman said. “The VA doesn’t tell you what you need to do.”

Smith outlined his next steps, which include opening up on that doctor’s visit and sharing how his disorder is affecting his work, family and social life.

That can be the most difficult. These are men of few words.

“We’re trained not to be complainers,” Smith said.

For more information about the Disabled American Veterans, visit http://www.dav.org.