We all remember back in 1986 when Cameron, Sloane, and Ferris played hooky from school to spend the day exploring Chicago. Vehicle enthusiasts fondly remember Cameron’s Dad’s car – the 1961 Ferrari 250 GT. In that candy red, California Spyder, the trio delighted in a joyride for the ages while they dodged Principal Rooney’s suspecting ways. For a while Ferris was able to get his buddy, Cameron, to cut loose and enjoy the day but near the end of the story the two concocted a plan to reverse the miles on the odometer of the hard ridden symbol of automotive excellence.
To turn back time and put the luxury sports car back in
pristine condition, they jacked up the back end and put the car engine in
reverse. Classically they learned that once the toothpaste it out of the tube,
it can never be put back in. The result was catastrophic.
Now, I’m no exquisite, convertible, sports car but stick with me here… I have an analogy – I have spent 8 long years pushing back against “the establishment” all the while knowing what Cameron and Ferris learned the hard way – you can’t undo those unforgiving miles back once it’s been ridden hard.
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Homes, cars, boats, hotel rooms – you name it…Every rental
agreement in the history of recorded transactions has granted the borrower
temporary use while holding them financially responsible for incurred loses to
include, fines, tolls and/or any loss or damage to the rented. Hertz, Budget,
Enterprise...they all do it. When you sign on as a borrower, you are expected
to conduct an inspection on the vehicle and return said vehicle in comparable
condition at the conclusion of the rental agreement. The agreement grants you
bailment with the understanding that said renter does not own but is ultimately
responsible for the vehicle if damaged during rental and for all losses
suffered up to the full replacement value.
In 1993 at the Military Entrance Processing Station in Fargo, North Dakota Uncle Sam and his team of doctors did a thorough examination of a high-end luxury sports car and determined him fit for service in the United States Marine Corps. On July 6, 1993, I stood on the yellow footprints at the Marine Recruit Depot if not in peak physical condition, I was at least serviceable, functional, and fit for use. 3 short months later, I graduated bootcamp and earned the title US MARINE. Our 4-year rental agreement had begun.
Tales of heroic service can wait for another time. Suffice
it to say, from 1993-1997 I did my time honorably and to the best of my
ability. At the conclusion of my enlistment, I met with another team of Uncle
Sam’s doctors. With an EAS (End of Active Service) looming and college on the
horizon we went through an exit examination and inspection. The Hearing Loss
was hard to dispute. They nearly kept me on board because of it but referred me
to civilian audiologists they knew I would sooner forget. My Service Record
book was skimmed, a few boxes checked, and I was on my merry way.
Fast Forward 20+ years… In 2018 my father-in-law passed away
at the Veteran’s Hospital in St. Cloud. He had received outstanding care and
treatment through the VA off and on for the 10 years prior. I was proud of
their professionalism and care for Grandpa Ray in his twilight. It was then
that I came to terms with my own service and sought veteran’s benefits that I
once believed I had not earned.
It’s a fragile thing for some to accept. Those of that have
served but have also studied our history know the atrocities and pain that men
and women that came before us endured. Quietly we hoped for our own wars to
prove our valor and bravery, and somehow justify our self-worth. But not
everyone is sent to Vietnam and luckily, not everyone faces the severity of
damages some of our predecessors absorbed. My neighbor, Roger Senske, was
wounded in action in Vietnam and spent nearly a year and a half in the early
1970’s at a hospital in South Korea. Bullet holes are hard to dispute. As a
kid, my best friend had a dad with a discernable limp. His limp was because he
left his entire leg in Vietnam. One time Jeff and I snuck into his parent’s bedroom.
There I held Don Olson’s Purple Heart in my own hands. Turns out, Purple Hearts
are hard to dispute.
But once I realized that my service was no less honorable
than my own heroes’, I put my pride in check and introduced myself to the
Veteran’s Service Office of Pine County. In 2018 we began a discussion with the
VA to claim disability and compensation for hearing loss and a back injury both
sustained during my time in service.
Michele had been pestering me for years about my hearing. I
put it off as playful banter, but she was persistent, and an audiology report
confirmed what Michele always knew. My hearing was for shit. My affinity for
Led Zeppelin albums played a high volume coupled with my childhood memories of
sitting in my dad’s Carvin double stacks while he ripped out lead guitar riffs
may have had some long-term lasting effects. But the facts of my service were
undeniable. My job description as an 0311 Marine Corps Infantryman entailed
repetitive use of a variety of munitions. 5.56 NATO- and 9-millimeter small
arms fire was child’s play in relation to C4 Bangalore torpedoes, 40mm HEDP
M203 grenades or even those grenades that come hand delivered. Quantifiable and
assessable results were hard to dispute. Tinnitus and Hearing Loss were granted
the first time we asked. I was rated at 10%. Uncle Sam agreed to compensate me
for an Auditory System that was used for 4 years and returned to the lender in
poor condition. 7 years later, Michele finally talked me into Hearing Aids. I
should have listened to her a long time ago – the VA couldn’t help me with
that.
The injury to my lower back proved to be much more difficult
hill to climb.
Again, I will spare you the specifics but trust me when I say that in December of 1994, under full combat load, I fell while walking through the desert sands of northern Kuwait. From that time forward, I struggled with back pain. The thing is, there was not an Urgent Care Clinic within reasonable distance of my last known fighting position. And stopping the “fight” to ask our Platoon Corpsman for a light duty chit was not an option with an imminent combat mission in Somalia on the horizon. So, like a good Marine, I pressed on, and the injury did not go formally reported. Therein lies the government’s argument against “service connection” to a back condition.
And for the past 8 years we have been going back and forth from Denial to Appeal. Followed by hurry up and wait for another denial on supplemental claims and higher order appeals. Frustrated and angry, I thought about quitting many times but with the support and encouragement of local Vet Rep, Mindy and my crazy chiropractor, Doc Joe, we pressed on. At first, the government contested that there was no diagnosis. I got one. (3 actually). They countered that there was no nexus, connection, or link to my service. By nature of my MOS and time in Combat we proved that conditions and injuries often went under-reported because Marines are asked to do Big Boy Shit sometimes. Back and forth the paperwork flew until I felt there was a breakthrough in 2022 when I was sent to the Federal Clinicians in St. Paul for a C&P exam. Finally, their own doctor concluded that, “the veteran’s current low back condition of chronic lumbar strain with lumbar degenerative disc disease most likely had its origination in military service.” We felt that we had what we were after – a diagnosis and a connection.
DENIED.
I almost lost it. But Mindy suggested we go through all the
way to the top. We asked for a Hearing with the Board of Veteran’s Appeals. We
wanted a Veteran’s Law Judge to make the decision. What they were doing wasn’t
fair. It wasn’t right and I was stubborn enough to get in line for the long
haul. The waiting game was ON!
A hearing was docketed in 2022. It was not actually held until
October of 2025. I was represented by the VFW and testified in front of a
Veteran’s Law Judge. It was all there. Once off the record, the Judge
apologized for the system and thanked me for my patience and persistence. He
assured he that he would do everything in his power to write up the legalities
and surmised that I had met the criteria and done everything that was asked of
me.
On October 5, 2026 (8+ years after starting this process),
Judge Hager granted my appeal and ordered an entitlement to service connection
for a back disability, diagnosed as lumbosacral strain, degenerative arthritis
and degenerative disc disease.
Seems Uncle Sam rented this high-end sports car back in 1993
and tried to turn it back in without acknowledging the damage done. The sound
system and the chassis had been compromised during the rental period. And
according to common law rental agreements, the borrower (USMC) was given temporary
use but will be held financially responsible for incurred loses to include,
fines, tolls and/or any loss or damage to the rented (Me). It’s not a
disability in the sense that I am fully capable of most things for a man my age
but it’s more compensatory. I have proven a diagnosis for an injury incurred
while in service and for that I rate a compensation and accompanying medical
coverage from here on out. It’s been a long, hard 8 years but we made it. It
was hard to prove but we did it.
Last week my crazy chiropractor, Doc Joe, said, “If you back
injury was a bullet hole, you would have bled out by now.”
And Ferris said, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't
stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
And now - a grizzly, old Vet - with a Hot Wife
and a Bismarck Blunderbuss.
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