Newer Veterans Still Battle Decades Later for PTSD Comp

Richmond-area veteran with PTSD struggles against VA system to receive benefits
Richmond Times-Dispatch
BY KATIE O'CONNOR
3 hrs ago

According to the VBA, in 2016, more than 4.3 million veterans were receiving compensation benefits, and more than 887,000 received compensation for PTSD, making it the third most prevalent disability for which veterans receive compensation.

Dylan Crosby warned his girlfriend long ago.

If she wakes up in the middle of the night to find him sleepwalking, he told her, just leave him alone and go sleep in the guest bedroom.

One night, she opened her eyes and he was sitting up in bed, fast asleep, loading his AR-15 rifle.

He still has nightmares about his time in the U.S. Navy. Sometimes he's being chased in the woods, or fighting an unknown, shadowy enemy.

“There was another time when he shook me awake because he thought he had stabbed me in the night,” recalled Megan Prillaman, a Chesterfield County teacher and Crosby’s girlfriend of three years.

Prillaman has seen what haunts Crosby from his days serving his country - what prevents him from sleeping more than an average of five hours a night and what keeps them in their home most weekends because crowds trigger him.

But the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is not convinced.

Crosby has been applying for benefits with the VA for his post-traumatic stress disorder since 2015, and has been denied twice - not because the VA does not think he has PTSD, but because, as the Veterans Benefits Administration - or VBA - claims, it was not clearly caused by his service.

"Then where did it come from?" Crosby asked, flabbergasted, during a recent interview in his Chesterfield County Home.

And according to experts, Crosby is just one of thousands of veterans dealing with very similar issues nationwide.
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Hmm, do you think that this examiner was a Contractor instead of a VA Psychologist? Do you think any of this is new? While this all may be news to you, it isn't to Vietnam Veterans and families. This is just a repeat of the 70's and 80's and 90's! The difference was back then, most of the newer veterans were not even born yet. It took six years for my husband and that was in the 90's. Pretty disgraceful when you think about it!