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 Vallarta Living | Veteran Affairs | December 2006 
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays
 David Lord - PVNN
| | Pearl Harbor survivor Jack E. Jorgensen, 87, of Olathe, Kan., reminisces Thursday, Dec. 7, 2006, during a gathering of veterans, family and friends at the Sylvester Powell Jr. Community Center in Mission, Kan., marking the 65th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. (Tammy Ljungblad/Kansas City Star) |
We Veterans enjoy the most incredible opportunities to participate with other outstanding individuals making up this community. I have never been (like most other Veterans) one to seek out friends, and speaking for most Viet Nam Era Veterans, I know we felt alienated by the non-veterans citizens and co-workers near us when we returned.
So much so, that after that war, it shaped our lives in a way that amounted to self-imposed exile. Being combat Veterans, we would take chances in everything, even small things, like driving a car through a yellow light with a motorcycle cop watching.
Running a risk, daring the consequences... as if it were a game. But as for making friendships, we would act cautious, engaging in friendships as if breaking a trail in the jungles of Viet Nam, and this caution did not enhance our chances of making friends.
Most Veterans take friendship to mean more than most people understand, the Veteran takes friendship as a bond, that bond requires mutual understanding, and mutual protection, even when it is a friend we spend little time with.
So, I would like to take a moment to wish all of the Puerto Vallarta and Banderas Bay residents a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a heart-felt Thank You from all of the Veterans living in this area. We have found that friendships in Puerto Vallarta and greater Banderas Bay are open and interesting.
Finding non-Veteran friends within the various organizations like the PV Writer's Group, the Navy League, the International Friendship Club, the American Legion, the Make-a-Wish Foundation and many others, is more rewarding and fulfilling than a non-veteran is aware of. We are proud to be with friends like you, SHALOM!
NEW INCREASE FOR PENSION BENEFITS BASED ON DISABILITIES NOT SERVICE-CONNECTED
I have helped many Veterans or their Spouses obtain a Pension for non-service connected benefits. The recent decision by the Veterans Court of Appeals affirms the higher money to be paid to you if you are seriously handicapped.
In the Court decision against the V.A., Veterans may gain income by virtue of having a disability that meets the level of a sixty per cent V.A. disability or by being permanently housebound. (In or around the home 85% of the time.)
In reading the Courts decision below note that the Veteran is disabled for a non-service connected condition not related to military service, but had it been rated
it would have received a disability rating of at least 60% , so then a higher rate of pension is payable.
Example using current rates of pay - a Veteran who is single is normally paid around $10,800 per year, under the new decision he may be paid $13,356 per year. A married veteran may go from $14,313 to $16,740 per year, if they meet the standard. (This would also increase payment for medical cost up to level of new pension amount.)
SPECIAL MONTHLY PENSION FOR VETERANS OVER AGE 65
Decision Assessment Document; Hartness v. Nicholson, July 21, 2006, No. 04-0888 United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court)
Summary of the facts and Court's reasons: The veteran, born in 1920, served honorably from 1940 to 1945. Current medical evidence documented that the veteran was diagnosed as permanently and legally blind due to macular degeneration of the retina.
On VA examination conducted in April 2003, the veteran was able to dress, feed and bathe himself, ambulate for 100 yards, and mow his own lawn. He reported that he was unable to drive, but would leave home once or twice weekly with the assistance of others to attend church or go to the store.
Subsequently, the RO (Regional Office) granted NSC (Non-service connected) pension based on macular degeneration with a 70 percent disability evaluation SMP (special monthly payment.)
The veteran's claim was remanded, with the Court providing the interpretation of section 1513 that the permanent and total disability requirement in section 1521(e) is excluded for a veteran aged 65 years or older who has a disability rated by VA as at least 60 percent disabling or is considered permanently housebound.
The Board was directed to apply this interpretation in its subsequent decision, which is to include determining whether the veteran is entitled to SMP housebound benefits due to the NSC macular degeneration rated at 70 percent disabling or because he is so substantially confined that he is considered permanently housebound.
Impact on VBA: Claims for SMP shall be awarded where the veteran has the requisite wartime service, is at least 65 years of age and either (1) possesses a minimum disability rating of 60 percent or (2) is considered permanently housebound as defined under 38 U.S.C. § 1502(c).
AMERICAN LEGION MEMBERS - Please contact me at david.lord@yahoo.com to pay dues for 2007.
 David Lord served in Vietnam as combat Marine for 1st Battalion 26th Marines, during which time he was severely wounded. He received the Purple Heart and the Presidential Unit Citation for his actions during the war in Vietnam. In Mexico, David now represents all veterans south of the U.S. border all the way to Panama, before the V.A. and the Board of Veterans Appeals. David Lord provides service to veterans at no fee. Veterans are welcome to drop in and discuss claims/benefits to which they are entitled by law at his office located at Bayside Properties, 160 Francisca Rodriguez, tel.: 223-4424, call him at home 299-5367, on his cell: 044 (322) 205-1323, or email him at mophmx@@yahoo.com or david.lord@yahoo.com.
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