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 Vallarta Living | Veteran Affairs | March 2007 
Disability Ratings
 David Lord - PVNN
The Army and Marine Corps, which are bearing the brunt of the burden in Iraq and Afghanistan, tend to give their wounded troops lower disability ratings than the Navy and Air Force, according to Defense Department data.
The result: Soldiers and Marines receive an average of several hundred dollars per month less in disability retired pay than Sailors and Airmen.
Break those numbers down a different way, and the system shows another inequity: All services tend to grant officers disability ratings of 50 percent or higher at a significantly greater rate than enlisted members.
I was a Corporal by the time I left the Great Lakes Naval Hospital in 1968, I had been a Private First Class and Lance Corporal during combat actions in Viet Nam. I had enlisted in the Marine Corps, I was going to serve my Country, as I had been asked to do by my President just four years earlier in his famous speech which said, "Asked not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country."
I literally took his words to heart and enlisted during a time of war. A young, innocent small town kid from Iowa, going to do his part for his country, just like tens of thousands of others. No hidden agenda, no lust for glory, no reason other than to do my part for a country that I loved and wanted to serve.
The very thought that the military rating boards are prejudiced against the enlisted ranks is as corrupt as anything I have ever heard of. Were my limbs worth less because of the rank I held, the pain less, the recovery time less painful or the scars less ugly?
I am disgusted with the lack of care during recovery, this is abuse of our military men and women. The unjust system of compensation is demonstrated in the following paragraph:
"After digging through five years of reports from the Department of Defense Office of the Actuary, Military Times found the average payment for a disabled Air Force officer in 2005 was $2,604 per month, about $600 more than the Army's average. For enlisted airmen, the average payment was $926 per month, compared to an average of about $770 per month for enlisted soldiers. Enlisted Marines averaged $753 a month, the lowest of any service and they are always first to fight, to risk death, to carry the fight..."
Can anyone tell me why an officer that never combats another human face to face, never sees the death, never smells the blood or hears the screams can be awarded three times the rate of compensation for bombing a target from a multimillion dollar aircraft, miles away from any actual combat?
Or why the disability retirement budget has remained steady at $100 million a month from 2002 to 2005 - despite thousands more people going through the system? Those that serve in the American Military have to contend with physical handicaps for the rest of their lives. So tell me, how can it be that this system of compensation for wounds has not increased when the wounded and dead increase daily?
PEOPLE AND THE FREE SERVICE I PROVIDE
I went to a Puerto Vallarta Writers Group meeting last Saturday, and a lady that I have helped with her husband's veterans benefits came up to me demanding to know why her husband was not getting his American Legion Magazine.
Before allowing me to respond, I was told how terrible I was for not being at the last Legion meeting, not being at my office, not having his card re-issued, then telling me I was arguing when I tried to explain or answer the shotgun blast she had just fired at me pointblank.
First, as I had a special friend (the famous Linda Ellerbee) to be presented to the group, I had not even been thinking of veterans work. So please let me apologize to this women for not being prepared to serve her needs better.
I do what I can, the best I can, and hope that you will take my free service for what it is, an imperfect effort to make a positive difference for those that have served in the military. I will forgive the insult, but I wont forget who gave it, so next time you want to blast me - make an appointment!
 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 david.lord@yahoo.com.
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