Vietnam Veteran Fights For 11 Years To Receive Disability

Veteran Fights For 11 Years To Receive Disability
May 9, 2012

OAKLAND (CBS13) – He still has the envelopes from years of Veteran’s Affairs mail.

“We are working on your claims for unemployability,” one letter reads.

At 70, Vietnam veteran and former navy sailor Richard Carpino says the letter is typical.

His case is extreme, Carpino went 11 years through appeals with the Oakland VA to get his 100 percent disability approved.

New statistics show the backlog for Northern California disability claims is so long, veterans are waiting on average 320 days for a decision. And, there are 35,000 veterans in line.

“These kids that are coming back from Afghanistan and Iraq today are coming back in far worse conditions then what we came from in Vietnam,” said Carpino.
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