I am the Real Truckmaster:
1. I am a born-again Christian (a sinner saved by the grace of God).
2 I am a retired US Army Transportation Sergeant First Class (E-7), my last position of assignment was as the "Truckmaster" of the US Army Transportation Motor Pool in Yokohama Japan (1989-90).
3. I am an amateur military historian.
4. I am a Thailand Veteran of the Vietnam War.
5. I detest "Politics as Usual".
6. I'm pro-life (Abortion is murder) and there is no justification or excuse for it.
7. I believe that we must place the security and welfare of America First!
Clarification of Real Truckmaster Blogs
For those who follow my blog posts on RTM blogs let me clarify and clear up some confusion.
I write highlighting the inconsistencies and hypocrisy of the far-left's war on anything Trump.
There are too many willing to argue without merit and I would be remiss attempting to argue against their ignorance, they have way too much experience.
My writings are my personal opinion intended to be educational in nature, a bit humorous, satirical, while being informative providing food for thought, which is sorely lacking today. For those who find my posts offensive, I am truly sorry, you have the right NOT to read them as have many before you. I will not attempt to change your mind politically, but provide the opportunity to show something you may wish to consider, thereby illuminating prejudice and misinformation! - I am the Real Truckmaster!
Throughout recorded history there is one place where mobs rule and the most famous case was when Jesus was arrested and charged but found to be innocent. It was the Court of Public Opinion where the masses yelled “Crucify Him” until he was flogged and hung on the cross not for what he had done wrong, but for what mankind had done and continues to do – Sin against God.
The same mob rule killed a great many people across Europe, Africa and around the world throughout time. In the New World there were accused witches burned at the stake; entire Indian tribes wiped out because of the “Red Scare”; Minorities of every sort were preyed upon because of their African, Asian, European or Indian heritage because people were riled up in the Court of Public Opinion.
Fast forward to the division in America today where the broad brush of public opinion grouped Americans not so much as by racial heritage but by political ideology – Dregs, Deplorables, Dog Faced Pony Soldiers or simply MAGA (Make America Great Again). The real division is the Haves and the Have Nots. The China Virus has been used to divide America into masks versus no masks and vaccinated or anti-vaccines, conformists and non-conformists, submissive or non-submissive. It’s the age old struggle for power and control by any means.
The Court of Public Opinion rose up in Minneapolis over misinformation in the perceived cause of death of George Floyd giving credence to massive violence, rioting and the arresting of police officers, the defund the police mentality that spread throughout the nation. Even though the autopsies (there were more than one) clearly stated that Floyd died from a drug overdose, not from any action by a certain police officer, who was tried, convicted and sentenced before his trial had even begun, clearly bowing to pressure from the Court of Public Opinion.
In the immediate aftermath of the Minneapolis riots in a nearby Wisconsin community rioters went after a young armed man safeguarding a local business against rioters. As they chased, attacked and were intent on taking his life, he managed to kill two violent convicted criminals and wound a third attacker. Ultimately this young man was arrested, charged and tried again in the Court of Public Opinion. When the actual trial commenced on of his attackers reportedly said “when I pointed my gun at him – he shot me” and it was clear that charges should never have been filed. In the end a jury of his peers found him not guilty on all charges. The Court of Public Opinion or Mob Rule is not satisfied with justice served but demand Vigilante Justice – hanging at the end of a rope.
In civilized societies around the world mob rule leads to the worst side of man and predictable consequences. We must not let the Court of Public Opinion become or override the highest court in the land.
The CONSTITUTION IS THE RULE OF LAW.
The Supreme Court is the highest court in the land. It is their duty to determine whether laws meet the constitutional threshold or not. – I am the Real Truckmaster!
During the 2016 election season there was an entire boatload of political hopefuls running for the GOP nomination against the lone DNC nominee Hillary Clinton. Everyone on the GOP side confidently said they could easily beat their political opponent. What they failed to realize was they first had to beat each other to nail down the nomination. When the shock and awe subsided and the political smoke cleared Donald Trump who was the last man standing.
All the way up to election night the DNC nominee was arrogant and used every one of her book of political tricks and nasty dealings. Her celebration was only cut short when it was announced that the president-elect was GOP’s Donald Trump to be the 45th President of the United States.
Fast forward to the 2020 election season again there was an entire boatload of political hopefuls only this time running for the DNC nomination against the incumbent President Donald Trump. So confident were they that they forgot what should have been the first rule in political campaigning – first secure the party nomination. They cut each other down until it was obvious that none of the candidates had any business running in the first place. They let their egos get in the way of good old common sense.
Not to be deterred the Democratic Party continued its non-stop assault on the sitting President, while the DNC by its mystical and magical methods scrolled down the long list of Democratic Party dropouts to select the most un-logical dream team in our nation’s political history – Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
The real November surprise came on the early morning hours of November 5th as the DNC dream team actually received more votes in more counties than there were registered voters, trouncing President Donald Trump. Not I said more votes, but nothing about legal or lawful votes.
Every protest by President Trump or his campaign team was rebuked, ignored or taken as just the rantings of a sore loser. Something had to be done to change the political climate and on January 6th that something was a huge misinformation and defamation campaign blaming President Trump for engineering what amounted to a coup. Now I may be wrong but how can a presidential coup overthrow itself? Is not a coup the overthrowing of a President? (How can Beelzebub overthrow Beelzebub?)
In the end Joe Biden was inaugurated as the 46th President of the United States along with Vice President Kamala Harris. We are nearly 11 months into this Biden-Harris Administration where nearly every branch of government has been reverse-engineered and weaponized to bring the hammer down on the average American citizen, business or corporation bringing them to their knees in the name of and to prevent the spread of the China Virus. Undoubtedly the cream has risen to the top, only this time we find out it has bitterly turned sour! – I am the Real Truckmaster!
Why is it not surprising that iconic superstar actor and director Alex Baldwin wants every motion picture production that uses weapons to have onsite law enforcement to insure gun safety? Why is it that he doesn’t simply take ownership and responsibility for his actions that cost the life of production staff member Halyna Hutchins and the wounding of director Joel Souza during production on the set of “Rust” on October 20th, 2021?
What are the tenants of gun safety?
Check to see if the gun is loaded.
Don’t point it at anything you are not intending to shoot.
Don’t point it at other people.
If movie production companies have someone(s) in the role of armorer it is their responsibility to insure that no live rounds are brought onto the set and placed in “prop” weapons. It may also be the armorers responsibility to insure the “chain of custody” and security of ALL weapons/ammunition used on the movie set.
It would also stand to reason that someone in a position of authority so that unauthorized persons are NOT allowed on the set or to have access to any weapons and/or ammunition used during filming.
So back to Mr. Baldwin’s demands for onsite law enforcement to insure gun safety I say BULLWINKLE! It is your responsibility as director, and major leading role actor (you were never really that great anyway) with tons of experience to simply MAN UP to own the consequences of YOUR ACTIONS! – I am the Real Truckmaster!
After hearing it thrown about online and in the news I asked myself what is systematic racism? It seems that the answers vary because everyone has their own definition, depending on both the one asking and the one being asked.
Systematic Racism is to unfairly elevate one ethnic or racial group over another in education, employment or life in general by a “rigged” corporate system or governmental program.
The embodiment of systematic racism currently active in the halls of Congress is a single group of legislators who single out and solicit membership solely on the basis of race. Membership in the Congressional Black Caucus is limited to African-American or dark skinned legislators regardless of political party affiliation. Their alumni include former president Obama and Vice President Harris.
To be fair, not all black legislators belong to the CBC. Those who choose not to join are listed on the CBC official government website as a means of shaming them for not joining. Also when a white legislator tried to join he was refused because of the color of his skin.
The CBC has self-appointed themselves as the race police in government, seeking out racism where it can be found, so long as it’s not an inward search. Since the snubbing by President Nixon, the CBC has opposed EVERY GOP president and even other legislators who don’t buy into their agenda.
During the Trump administration the many faces and voices of the CBC made public displays of “resistance” anything Trump. They spoke out on camera calling for violence against the president, his family and his administration officials and White House staff and their families as well as other legislators who chose not to stand with them.
Today we hear little from Representatives Maxine Waters, Frederica Wilson, and others who jumped at the chance to belittle, hassle and conduct character assassination of Trump, his administration officials and his MAGA supporters. Other prominent CBC voices are permanently silent. Still others are seeking the limelight more and more.
I have a suggestion that any corporation or government agency that tolerates and/or encourages institutional or systematic racism should be defunded, shuttered and closed for good. Officials who intentionally facilitate or violate racist behavior in word, deed or action should be held fully accountable.
There is no room for racism in its many forms in our society, after all we are all of one-race = the Human Race! – I am the Real Truckmaster!
Ask any soldier and he’ll tell you that getting promoted places you on top of the world. It brings prestige, responsibility and a higher base pay. In some cases it causes a swollen head. During my active duty years (1967 – 1990) in the Army I seemed to step up rather quickly compared to others in my career field or in the army in general. Upon graduating from basic training I was automatically promoted to private second class. It didn’t make me a second class citizen, but meant I had risen above being just a private.
Upon graduating from my Motor Transport Operator advanced training I became a full-fledged, school trained army truck driver a 64 Bravo (64 Charlie & 88 Mike) and another automatic promotion to private first class, which came with the “mosquito wing” stripe for my uniform sleeve. I was so proud when I went to the tailor shop at Fort Ord, California to have my stripes sewed on.
I had to wait until the guy in front of me finished picking up his uniform with the very same stripe. WOW! Hey but he was quite a bit older than this 18 year old newbie to the army. He looked like he had already spent at least 18 years in the army. He was proud of his stripe and told me what he did to earn that stripe. While assigned as a first sergeant he took an opportunity to punch the battalion commander in the face and was busted down to the rank of a private first class. I made a mental note to myself not to ever do that.
I left Fort Ord for my first overseas assignment to Southeast Asia and ended up as a truck driver, a tractor-trailer driver hauling bombs, munitions and cargo in a transportation unit. In four months I was recognized for my duty by being promoted to a specialist fourth class, a bird on my sleeve and another pay raise.
While in Thailand I went before a battalion promotion board at a time when I hardly knew what it was. About a month later I was driving the company pass truck, a deuce and a half, taking guys on pass downtown and later picking them up before curfew. It was after 10 pm when I was called over to my platoon sergeant who then handed me a set of promotion orders to specialist five, a bird with an umbrella over him.
I was given specific instructions to be in the proper uniform at formation the next morning. That was going to be difficult because rank was sewed on to uniforms and sloppiness in sewing was not tolerated. I remembered we had a guy that came from Europe where they were using the army’s new pin on rank. He was a specialist five and I asked him for any extra pin ons he might have. After getting my uniform straight I went back to my platoon sergeant and asked if I was in the correct uniform?
When I departed Thailand I had a 2-year break-in-service where I joined an army reserve unit in my home town. As a specialist five I became the drivers licensing sergeant in a combat engineer unit. I didn’t stay long, before I decided to go active duty.
When I enlisted I had to lose a stripe, my umbrella. Once again I became a specialist fourth class with a bird on my sleeve. I was assigned to an infantry unit at Fort Lewis, Washington and immediately went on the first sergeants kitchen police duty roster, even though I was married, lived in base housing. I pulled KP under a specialist five cook who rode my back like a bucking horse. One day the first sergeant called me in and asked if I wanted to become an “acting jack” sergeant? It meant wearing the three stripes of a sergeant, but still getting paid as a specialist four. I said yes, because after all I had been a specialist five for 1 ½ years before my break in service. The army rates a sergeant higher than a specialist so I felt obligated to let the cook know I would no longer be on his KP detail. It felt great.
A short time later I went to the noncommissioned officers academy and then a unit promotion board before being promoted to sergeant. A position opened up in another infantry unit and I transferred over to become the assistant support platoon sergeant. While I was at my new unit I went to the basic noncommissioned officer educational school (B-NCOES) at the Holy Grail and home of army transportation – Fort Eustis in Virginia.
My next assignment was to Fort Davis in the Canal Zone in Panama. I became a squad leader and backup VIP driver. I had not been in country very long when I went before a promotion board on the same day and time that my family had flown to join me in Panama. I wasn’t very well prepared for the last minute board and told the board members why.
The army converted to centralized promotions and those who passed the promotion board now had to wait until their number was listed for promotion. It was over 1 year later before I was promoted to staff sergeant, 3 stripes up & 1 stripe under. By then I was working outside my career field as a military customs inspector, but the raise in pay helped.
After Panama I went to Fort Carson, Colorado to a transportation unit and became an assistant platoon sergeant in a line platoon. At this time I had been receiving outstanding evaluations, and proficiency pay. I was again working outside my career field as a career counselor, so the army decided that I was among the upper percentage of transporters in my career field, so I would make an excellent army recruiter.
I didn’t stay in recruiting and after 8 months I received orders for attendance of the advanced noncommissioned officers education school (ANCOES) at Fort Eustis, Virginia. As I was preparing to leave recruiting I was notified that I had made the promotion list for sergeant first class, but had to wait for my number to be listed. That negated the ANCOES class, and I departed to become an army service school instructor at the motor transport operator course at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. I was promoted to sergeant first class, 3 stripes up & 2 stripes under while working as the course development noncommissioned officer. I was then moved over to the position of a module chief until I received orders to Europe.
When I arrived in Germany I was a newly promoted sergeant first class with 11 years of active duty. This was where I began as a platoon sergeant, supervising 32 truck drivers in a line haul transportation unit. The 3 years was broken up into various assignments, platoon sergeant, liaison noncommissioned officer and night operations sergeant at the battalion headquarters.
I then went to Fort Carson, Colorado where I became the support platoon sergeant in an armor unit. It was during this time that I was called into the battalion conference room after work to hear for the first time these fatal words – “You have been considered but not selected” for master sergeant. If that doesn’t hit you in the pit of your stomach, nothing will.
It had been my goal, as well as that of my peers to make first sergeant, command sergeant major and command sergeant major of the army. To make that happen one had to have “troop time” as a squad leader or platoon sergeant, so my goal became simply to get promoted.
It became a yearly thing to be called into the conference room to hear the sergeant major say – “You have been considered but not selected” for master sergeant. Each time I asked why?
I had an opportunity to become the first sergeant of a headquarters company, but it was offered to me just a couple of months before my final assignment to Japan. I would have replaced someone who went to Korea.
I was never told what I needed to do to change the outcome and even sent a letter to the promotion board with additional documents for my official file asking for reconsideration. The answer was nothing you have submitted has changed anything. After 10 years of being disappointed I submitted my retirement papers. One last slap in the face was when I was required to attend the senior leadership development course a few months before I was to retire. I became the course first sergeant for my class because I was the senior sergeant first class. As I returned to Colorado formalize my retirement Operation Desert Shield had activated and I fully suspected that I would be recalled to active duty to fill a position that might free up someone else to deploy with their unit.
But alas the war was over almost before it began. – I am the Real Truckmaster!
Misinformation is critical when it comes to Amnesty, Immigration or Invasion. America’s immigration laws provide for extensive background checks, criminal investigative reports that allow those being persecuted to seek out a safe haven in a country where carving out an American Dream is full of unlimited possibilities. The embodiment of being welcomed to America can be seen with the Statue of Liberty in New York.
American politicians have long known the dangers of allowing unchecked entry into our country. Many have placated the American people with words and actions that resemble a loud banging on the skirts of Lady Liberty with border fencing that do not prevent wild animals, cattle, illegal immigrants or nefarious drug dealing thugs from sneaking across under the hours of darkness. Doing something about it is said to cost too much and do too little or we are told is demeaning to well-intentioned migrants seeking a better life for themselves and their families.
I ask why does the law-making body (Congress) not make adjustments in immigration laws or rewrite the law so that undocumented migration into this country is no longer a federal criminal offense or why does the President not sign such a bill into law to have it removed from the criminal statues? Are they not so smart as to realize that is the responsible thing to do if such errors already exist?
How can members of Congress who so quickly criticized former President Trump, look the other way as President Biden opened the southern border wide for undocumented and illegal immigrant crossings, while declaring legal immigrants and tourists coming in through every other port of entry be required to present documentation of up-to-date jabs before being allowed into our country?
Why is it that Americans are not up in arms (figuratively or literally) over unconstitutional abuse of power by the President IN CONJUNCTION and with the approval of Congress without any challenges or ruling being declared by the SCOTUS as to the constitutionality of not enforcing national security of our nation or its citizens?
Are we simply skipping up the “yellow brick road” to our own demise? – I am the Real Truckmaster!
Remember when AOC began promoting her green new deal? There was all this talk about climate change and we had to do something to save the planet. She called for banning cow farts (barnyard gasses) and next came plant based burgers, more wind powered turbines and even electric vehicles. We all laughed and scoffed that these crazy notions were even being discussed on the floor of congress and over the airwaves and social media.
After the snookering of America in 2020 we got a new president (by hook or crook) and low and behold in 2021 a presidential mandate that ALL government vehicles become eVehicles within a very short time period. It seemed ridiculous and unachievable even a bit farfetched considering the number of government vehicles used by the US Postal Service as well as the Government Service Administration (GSA) that provides and allocates vehicles for the Department of Defense. And then there are tactical military vehicles and equipment designed for rugged combat conditions, helicopters, aircraft, hovercraft, ships, submarines, tanks, combat support vehicles and soooo much more.
Have you taken a look at the new car ads for eVehicles? All the major car manufacturers have bought into this fantasy world, lock – stock & barrel. First it was Eldon Musk and his Tesla cars so futuristic and priced right out of the budget of Middle Americans. Then we began seeing charging stations popping up around the nation and 240 volt charging stations in family homes and garages, plus the supercharging stations that still takes an hour to charge a vehicle after a 200-300 mile range. There are options on eVehicles – fully electric, electric-hybrid, and plugin-electric-hybrid vehicles for every family’s fantasy and price range.
Manufacturers have been cranking out cars, trucks, buses and semis as well as every other known conveyance or mode of travel. So fast are they rolling off the assembly lines that somebody forgot to tell the computer chip companies, many of whom are now closed and shuttered because of the jab mandates coming out of the Oval Office? No pokey, no jobee and no chipeee!
Consumers are faced with phasing out the old family car for the soon to be mandated eVehicles and have to wait until somebody somewhere (maybe China) assembles a roadworthy computer chip for their desired ride. There are literally thousands of new eVehicles sitting in open storage lots unable to be sold or used without the chip. How is that Build Back Better working out for you Mr. President? Or maybe I should ask how is it working out for John Q. and Suzy Doe?
Did I mention the wind powered turbines – many of them can be seen standing idle or unserviceable and unable to be recycled because of the composition of the towers is non-recyclable?
American ingenuity can overcome most any problem or issue when given the freedom to explore options and possibilities, but tying both hands behind our proverbial back is akin to cheating don’t you think? I do and I’m the Real Truckmaster!
I’m tire of getting all the junk mail in my mail box and the spam emails and ads, so when I got an ad about “Bidencare” I thought it was a joke, right? Joe Biden cares?
Immediately my first thought – Afghanistan!
That’s when we saw Biden really care – he left US citizens there. His press secretary kept saying all Americans who wanted to leave are being taken out. I guess when the Taliban is your security force it gives a whole new meaning to “takeout”.
Back to “Bidencare”, the Affordable Care Act was called “Obamacare” because it was done under the Obama-Biden administration, yet it was supposed to be called “Clintoncare” because Hillary was supposed to have been elected president in 2008, and her booby-prize was Secretary of State. But what really takes the cake the ACA was in reality to be “Pelosicare” because Nancy worked real hard to make it happen, she’s the one who said we must pass it to know what’s in it as she locked the chamber doors to prevent GOP legislators from joining the Dems on the vote for the ACA.
Dems even attempted to call “Trumpcare” a scaled back ACA without the co-pay mandate before they killed it on the floor of congress.
See how everything that goes around – comes back around?
It’s possible that “Bidencare” is actually the jab mandates issued from the Oval Office, Delaware or wherever #46 happens to be. – I am the Real Truckmaster!
Working MY VA Claim of Exposure to Herbicides in Thailand
I retired from 22 years active duty on 31 December 1990 and had a heart attack on 28 August 1998.
The VA announced that herbicides had been used in Thailand during the Vietnam War and recognized Ischemic Heart Disease as resulting from exposure to herbicides.
That’s when I filed my first AO claim online in September 2008 listing 25 ailments/injuries I had been treated for on active duty and IHD due to herbicide exposure during my tour in Thailand. I checked the box “have you been exposed to herbicides” it wanted to know where and when I was stationed in Vietnam. I used the entire block stating I was exposed in Thailand 1968 – 1970. The online form populated each listed item as coming from AO.
My first C & P Exam was at Fitzsimmons VA Hospital in Denver. The doctor asked why I waited so long to file a claim for heart disease. I told him that I because was still working and there were so many veterans who needed to be treated I didn’t want to get in their way. I was then prodded and tested and in the end every item on my claim except one was denied because I hadn’t been assigned to Vietnam.
The one item approved as service connected was a procedure done at the Boise VA hospital a few weeks after leaving active duty in during my break in service in 1970 – 1971 that left scars that are unless painful they are rated at 0%. For a long time I didn’t even know or realize I was service connected or had a 0% rating, until I was invited to join the DAV in 2018 or 2019.
My problem after each denial letter was that I was so hopping mad that I could not even read through the entire letter. Later I would appeal the decision and submit new or relative information and it too would be denied as not being new or relative and once again I was too mad to read the denial letter.
At one point I asked a VA Certified Claims Agent to look at my appeal before I sent it back to the VA. He did and said as it was written I would never get it approved. I couldn’t understand why he would say that and once again I was pretty angry.
Someone online said to request my C-File from the VA. I didn’t even know what a C-File was, but I requested my VA Claims File several times but it never came until after I had contacted my congressman and his office received some documents from the VA. I contacted him again and got a few more documents.
When my C-File came it was in DVD format. Nobody had said what to do with the C-File after it arrived.
My C-File contained 176 pdf documents so I figured I would just print those 176 pages and go from there. What I hadn’t counted on was that each pdf document was either a single page or multiple page files. I ended up printing enough reams of paper to fill up an entire file cabinet of just over 1,000 pages. Not to mention the amount of ink cartridges I used.
It was quite a while before I began delving into the mess so I could organize the paper file by its corresponding number on the DVD. The pages and information were random, nothing was chronological or in date order and at first it was quite overwhelming.
Then I began reading each document for date of entry and for content. What I found was surprising as some info didn’t even pertain to me, but it was included in my C-File. I identified those documents and submitted a request for them to be removed from my C-File.
Then I paid attention to any medical sick call or treatment records of my time in service in Thailand because of the VA’s perimeter rule for Thailand Veterans I looked for records of treatment at bases I had not been assigned to, but rather was TDY while on convoys. This was documented proof that I had been seen and treated on a number of RTAFBs as an army truck driver and that I had to have crossed the perimeter to get to the aid station or clinic.
Additionally what I found in my C-File were VA educational and home loan documents and what I thought was everything I’d ever done with the VA (but I was wrong).
Over the course of several years and undergoing two separate C&P exams I had been granted a rating of 10% for tinnitus and 10% for arthritis of the lower back. There were still at least 20 items from my 2008 claim that had not been acted upon.
I submitted my last claim in 2014 including buddy statements by officers and enlisted from my unit in Thailand with photos and my own statement of being exposed while crossing the perimeter or while living at or near the perimeter in the billets of our camp only 10 feet from the perimeter. My heart doctor filled out a DBQ stating that it was more than likely that my heart disease was aggravated by military service. Yet my claim was denied in 2019 and even the buddy statements were not taken as credible by the judge.
My Certified Claims Agent said my claim should go to the Court of Veterans Appeals Claims (CAVC) in Washington DC and that I should get a VA Certified Attorney to represent me.
I obtained a VA list of Certified Attorneys/Law Firms in my area and sent my denial letter to a couple of agencies, spoke to one representative and the rest did not respond. I even contacted a prominent firm online that has successfully represented Thailand Veterans, but was told they would not take my case to the CAVC.
After I regained my composure I decided to self-represent at the CAVC. The form was easy to download and complete. I went through my denial letter, point by point with documented evidence of my herbicide exposure.
The CAVC required the VA to provide me with an RBA (Record before the Agency) of EVERY DOCUMENT used to make their decision on my claim. The RBA was the only documentation that the CAVC would use in my appeal. I could introduce nothing that wasn’t in the RBA. In time I received first a blank DVD from the VA. I notified them the DVD was blank I promptly received another DVD that contained so much more documentation than my original C-File.
But what I found most pertinent was an error in the denial letter by the VA. They stated that I had not proven how or where I had been exposed to herbicides. That if I had been exposed it was minimal exposure, not like an MP walking the perimeter. Hidden deep in the denial letter were instructions for a C&P examiner which said “the VA conceded this veteran was exposed to herbicides during his tour in Thailand”.
I asked the CAVC judge how it could be that as the duties of an army truck driver after crossing the perimeter that took me to areas on RTAFBs where herbicide spraying had occurred and I was only minimally exposed or not at all, yet instructions to the C&P examiner said otherwise? The CAVC judge sent my claim back to the VBA on remand because of that inconsistency.
I then contacted a VA Certified Claims Agent to handle my appeal on remand. After several months of working my claim as of 29 October 2021 the BVA judge made a ruling to grant my claim for heart disease as service connected. I am now waiting on VA scheduling for a C&P exam to determine level of disability and rating.
There is a new problem we must encounter and that is the fact that the VBA now relies on the GPO to print all letters and documents of ratings, appointments and scheduling. This is just another cog in the mechanism of VA document processing. I’m surprised that there is no process of system duplication whereby the VA cannot electronically transmit letters and documentation directly to veterans using email and posting the same documents on the VA.GOV website where veterans can check the status of their claims and see the latest documents?
In my claim it states my claim has been granted and states to see claim document for more information. The only problem is there is no claim document showing!
Updated: I received an email concerning an upcoming C & P Exam to be scheduled. The VA advises to bring NOTHING to the exam as the examiner will only use what’s already in your file. The VA says to upload any new information pertaining to the portion of your claim to be examined.
Update: My C & P Exam went fine and after the doctor submitted his findings and in August 2021 I was awarded 100% back to 2014 and then in November 2021 I underwent a pacemaker replacement surgery and my rating was reduced to 60% (I guess they figured new pacemaker = new heart – Wrong). My representative immediately filed an appeal and when all was said and done my 100% rating was restored and back to 2011 (date of my first pacemaker surgery).
The battle wasn’t quite over yet, I was given a 100% permanent and total disability rating for CAD caused by herbicide exposure and qualified for CRDP (Concurrent Retirement and Disability Payments) and after the required audits of my VA compensation payments and my military retirement to determine the nature and amount of backpay due to me. After an extremely long audit period and a letter to my congressman, on 6-2-2023 I finally received my backpay from the VA.
After several conversations with family and friends I feel compelled to tell everyone that God created man in his image and said to go forth and multiply and have dominion over the earth. I find nowhere in scripture where God said to live in a perpetual state of fear.
When God sent angels to deliver messages to men and women in the bible, the first thing they said was “fear not” and Jesus told his disciples to fear not for I am with you always. I’m not a bible scholar so I don’t know how many times in the bible we are told not to be afraid, but it must be a lot.
We are told that we are fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of our creator and contrary to popular belief God has never made a mistake when he created you or me. Whether it is humans or animals God created them male and female, not the 57 + genders that is being forced down our throats.
We must not be dissuaded or allow ourselves to accept the constant fear of dying from a virus that has swept across the globe primarily because of the internet. The SARS virus has been around for a very long time and it always plays out in the end. What is different about the C19 China virus is that man decided to manipulate this virus for nefarious purposes.
What began as experiments in high level labs here in the US a few short years ago was turned loose on the world stage in a place called Wuhan, China. Whether an accident or an act of biological warfare does not matter, but the media enhanced scare around the globe have many fearful of dying from exposure to the virus.
We should never allow ourselves to be cornered into an “isolation box” or separated from family and friends over what might happen. We should use common sense in everything we do and remain committed to living our life the way God intended – giving all honor, glory and power to him.
I have it from a good source that NOBODY is getting out of life alive. Death has a 100% mortality rate and there are no survivors.
Live as if there is no tomorrow.
If you had only one thing to do in this lifetime it would be to humble yourself before God and ask for forgiveness of your sin and ask Jesus to come into your heart.
Then when death comes knocking, eternity is just one last breath away. Heaven or Hell, the choice is yours to make? Don’t let them ask – did he live, but let them shout – HE LIVED FOR JESUS! – I am the Real Truckmaster!
The Real Truckmaster 