boots on the ground
Featuring Washington County Veteran Services
U.S. Army infantrymen take cover during the Battle of Heartbreak Ridge in the Korean War.
‘He is Why I Do This Job’
A
bout two years ago, a Korean War veteran came in to see if he would be eligible for hearing aids and some extra money. He was 86 and still working part-time as a mechanic, but said it was getting difficult to maintain employment. I enrolled him in VA health care, and we got him set up for an audiology appointment. We looked at whether he would qualify for non-service connected pension and determined that his working income put him over the threshold for eligibility. He was reluctant to file for hearing loss, even though he had a combat infantry award and had described several significant “acoustic traumas.” In the course of our conversation, he also mentioned he broke his 30
back and had spent several months in an Army hospital in Tokyo. In the end, we filed for all three (health care, disability compensation and pension). His records had been damaged in the 1973 fire at the National Personel Records Center, so it took almost a year and a half to process his claim, but we finally received word that he had been approved for disability compensation at the 80 percent rate. He also has hearing aids now. He was able to quit working, and even installed air conditioning in his house last summer. He used part of the retroactive pay to travel to see his brother and sister, whom he hadn’t seen for years. He is why I do this job. Vicki Horn
Veteran Services Supervisor
