Veteran fights 11 years for disability claim approval

Contact VSSA Volunteers if you, or a Veteran you know, need assistance with completing your Veterans benefits application.
----------
mercurynews.com
May 10, 2012
Vietnam veteran Richard Carpino, 70, of Lodi, Calif., spent 10 years in the U.S. Navy aboard three oil tankers and a destroyer that took him several times to the coast of Vietnam and China. He said he worked amid asbestos and that the Navy knew the hazards. His lungs became scarred, he said, and he developed health problems that left him disabled. After having his claims rejected by the Department of Veterans Affairs office in Oakland, he enlisted the help of former Congressman Richard Pombo and current Congressman Jerry McNerney and finally won his 11-year battle. He advises today’s veterans to keep fighting for what they believe they deserve because the VA won’t give it to them, and to turn to their local congressional representative for help. Read more here…