Deadline to appeal PTSD rating one month away for some

File your appeal. It is not a handout. You earned it as soon as you decided to serve and paid for it the day the trauma began to take over. If you were hurt on the job in civilian life, would you hesitate to file a claim for Workman's Comp? Hell no! This was your job and you were hurt doing it. Had you not gone into combat, you wouldn't have been exposed to the traumatic events causing PTSD. That is after all the only way to get PTSD. It literally means "after trauma" with POST Traumatic Stress Disorder. Don't waste time so that later on in life you have regrets for not doing all you can now for your future.

Time Running Out for PTSD Sufferers to Claim Benefits
posted 06/14/10 5:46 pm posted by: Markham Evans

WASHINGTON - The U.S. military has agreed to pay millions of dollars to veterans who were discharged from the service for post-traumatic stress disorder with lower disability ratings than they are entitled to. But time is running out for those who are eligible.

The law says that veterans whose PTSD was serious enough to result in discharge from the military are entitled to 50-percent disability, which would give them and their families lifetime medical care, and, if the PTSD is combat-related, tax-free retirement payments, as well. But for some reason, Iraq (web news) war veteran Ryan Peck and more than 4,000 others did not receive the 50-percent rating.

Enter Lawyers Serving Warriors, volunteers like Morgan Lewis attorney James Kelley, who provide free legal assistance to people like Peck through the National Veterans Legal Services program.

But there's a catch: Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans like Peck have only until July 24 to apply for the 50-percent rating.

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