newsletter articles

MAY 2011

A 36 Year Wait for One Vietnam Veteran

Recently, NVLSP assisted a Vietnam Army veteran named M.K. Since his honorable discharge in 1974, he has had a very difficult time coping with life’s ups and downs. This veteran has endured decades of mental illness and has received a variety of diagnoses including bi-polar disorder, depression and psychosis. His psychiatric problems and difficulties resulted in numerous hospitalizations. His symptoms have prevented him from maintaining employment and from maintaining relationships with family members.

M.K. initially filed a claim for service-connected disability benefits at the VA Regional Office in Newark, New Jersey in 1999. The VA denied his claim in 2000. He appealed this decision to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals, which ultimately denied the claim in 2007.

NVLSP, with the permission of The American Legion (also known as “The Legion”), reviewed the decision and identified errors. Essentially, the VA refused to obtain a medical opinion as to whether or not the veteran’s mental condition was linked to service. NVLSP then secured Brian Rubens and Linton Childs, attorneys at Sidley Austin LLP, to serve as counsel for M.K. in a pro bono capacity in his case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC). The Sidley Austin attorneys, supported by NVLSP, prevailed in winning an outcome that would require the VA to provide a medical opinion as to whether or not the veteran’s disability was related to his military service.

In March 2010, M.K. received the required mental health evaluation. The examiner’s opinion, along with VA and Social Security medical records dating back to 1975, helped the VA determine that this veteran’s mental illness was related to his military service.

Thirty-six years after honorably serving his country, M.K. will finally receive the benefits he has earned. The Department of Veterans Affairs Appeals Management Center issued their decision in February 2011. The mental condition was service-connected and the VA determined that the veteran was 100% disabled. He will receive retroactive compensation in the amount of $208,831. And beginning in April 2011, he will receive monthly payments of approximately $2,673.