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Hearing Loss & C-130's


Pat Hatch
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In addition to Sam's comments about proving in-country service, few people remember that you were tax exempt for any month that you spent a day or even landed in-country. You have a resource in the IRS to research that as well. My DD-214 also shows the VSM and AM as awards which are proof of in-country service. Most crew were awarded their air crew badges (wings) permanent for combat duty service as well and if you have that form it will work as evidence. For some reason I kept every document from the service including trip orders, receipts from expense reports, receipts from changing green to script or local currency and even food receipts from the clubs.

Thanks for all the info on the hearing loss as the volume keeps going up for me as well. As an aside to all this, has anyone utilized the USAA supplimental insurance for medi-care? I am facing that choice now.

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In addition to Sam's comments about proving in-country service, few people remember that you were tax exempt for any month that you spent a day or even landed in-country. You have a resource in the IRS to research that as well. My DD-214 also shows the VSM and AM as awards which are proof of in-country service. Most crew were awarded their air crew badges (wings) permanent for combat duty service as well and if you have that form it will work as evidence. For some reason I kept every document from the service including trip orders, receipts from expense reports, receipts from changing green to script or local currency and even food receipts from the clubs.

Thanks for all the info on the hearing loss as the volume keeps going up for me as well. As an aside to all this, has anyone utilized the USAA supplimental insurance for medi-care? I am facing that choice now.

You got the tax exemption for penetrating the Vietnam ADIZ and for operations over Laos and North Vietnam. You didn't have to land in South Vietnam to get it so it so it's not proof of "boots on the ground." The VA now gives Agent Orange to some veterans who served in Thailand, but my reading of their regulation is that the veteran has to have served "on the perimeter" and Thailand service is not presumptive as Vietnam is. Blind Bat crewmembers can probably get it since the hooches were right on the perimeter at Ubon, although there wasn't any foliage between there and the rice paddies. I don't know about maintenance because I don't remember where their hooches were.

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I have several thousand hours in C-130's. The VA provides my hearing aids, and I have a 10% disability which provides a portion of my retirement to be tax free. I got it based on being in Nam at Pleiku in 69-70 and I tried for the program where Nav's could cross train to Helecopter Pilot but failed the hearing test at DaNang. I was given my first set in the 90's and am going to get a new set next month.

Hope this helps.

Ritchey Lyman, Maj USAF-Ret

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hey Guy's I want to pass on as a way to prove "in country" service. If you have your medical records, copy a page that shows a visit to an in country dispensary. I sent one page and was instantly approved for Agent Orange qualification. If you have almost any type of cancer it will be "service connected". What the Agent Orange qualification does is help expedite any claims that require proof of "in country" service. It really does speed things up!

Pat Hatch, if you read this, I Think you will probably get an in service connection disability award for your hearing. If I remember correctly you did not stay in the AF to retire, so you will just get a tax free monetary award on a monthly schedule. Things seem to move slowly at first but once your foot is in the door with all of your qualifying bona fide's, claims and service/visits speed up. Ralph

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Ritchie, You will probably get the new RIC, Receiver In Canal, types. Man, they are nice. I've been getting my aids from the VA since About 93 and these new ones are state of the art and about $7000.00 a pair. They are really nice in that they don't feel like ear plugs. A friend that got his new ones after me even got a wrist watch that he can use to change the volume as needed. Good Luck, Ralph

PS: The VA seems to be getting much better about getting quality prosthetics.

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When I retired, I got a call at the house to schedule a urine test in Dallas. Not wanting to make the drive from Abilene for a test that could be performed at Dyess, I asked what they were needing to test for. The reply - "To determine the amount of hearing lost."

To date, nothing has come of it. I've lost in the high freq range, but according to the VA, am in the "normal" range. Best of luck to all.

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By the time that I went for hearing aids I could hardly understand any voices of young women (waitresses) and my Grand children and great grandchildren sounded like chip monks. Also I only got a few words correct in the spoken word portion of the test. I do know this after 25+ years of dealing with the VA. An awful lot of the exam results will vary with the examiner and the hospital location. Ralph

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Pat, Hearing loss is a common claim with the VA. they will pay for hearing aids or give you a check every month if you opt not to get the hearing aids. I met with a VA rep. Hearing aids are $5000.00 and up. I had 4 years C-130 time. Waiting to hear from the VA now on my claim for hearing loss and AO related cancer.

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  • 1 month later...

An update to my VA experience regarding hearing loss: When I saw my VA doctor for a "new patient" consultation I asked to have my hearing evaluated. I was scheduled for an appointment with an audiologist at my local clinic. She gave me a very thorough test using a computerized system and determined that I have major loss in the high freguency ranges, which are the ranges associated with "industrial noise" exposure. She said that while I should have no problem hearing face-to-face conversations, I would have difficulty understanding conversations in a group or hearing someone speaking from across a room. I elected to get the hearing aids and went down this morning to have them fitted. Now I am hearing things I haven't heard in years! As for a disability, the VA is still looking at increasing my rating for Type II diabetes and the hearing claim, along with another claim for cataracts, which may be secondary to diabetes. My current rating is 40% but I am expecting an increase to at least 60%, if not higher. I highly recommend that anyone who has ever worked on a military flight line or flown as a crewmember to have their hearing checked. As I said at the beginning of the thread, in order to apply for a claim, there has to be a diagnosis made that the veteran has the condition. The diagnosis has to be made by a medical professional, whether they are civilian, military or part of the VA.

I also asked for a PTSD evaluation but after looking at the criteria the night before, I was sure they weren't going to diagnose me with it. There has to be a specific stressor and the individual has to be unable to cope with it, with the inability to cope being the major factor. A lot of veterans are realizing that pushing for a diagnosis of PTSD is a huge mistake, because it is a mental illness and carries with it a number of ramifications, such as not being able to carry a weapon, getting a driver's license or finding or holding a job. For instance, a commercial pilot who is diagnosed with PTSD has just ruined his flying career.

I have yet to talk to anyone from any of the veterans organizations nor do I intend too. I did talk to my county rep but it was a waste of time and gasoline as he didn't tell me anything I didn't already know. If you want to use one, fine, but they're not going to be able to do anything you can't do yourself.

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I tried to get hearing aids from the VA due to hearing loss from flying C130's, and I did not qualify, because I make more than $45,000 per year. Bummer.... I flew T-38, T37, C130 and C21's as a pilot during my AF career.

Ask for a revaluation. There are no income requirements for service-connected disabilities. Get an evaluation from someone that you have hearing loss then submit a claim for a disability for it. The income requirements are for priorities for VA medical treatment. You should be able to get at least 10% and should be treated for hearing loss at no cost to you.

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