After Sixty Years Veteran Granted TDIU for Service-Connected Back Issues

The Veteran served in the United States Army stationed in Germany from November 1955 to November 1957. He was involved an in-service automobile accident in 1957 which injured his back and resulted in an early discharge. In November 1957 he filed a claim for service connection for his back injury from the in-service auto accident and was told his records were destroyed in a fire and therefore he was denied. Twenty-one years later in February 1978 he was totally disabled due to the auto accident, unable to work full time, and was denied again.

Inexplicably, however, the Veteran received his records and STR’s in the mail in 2005 from the VA. He again filed a claim since there was now proof of his in-service accident, and three years later in 2008 he was granted service connection at a 20% rating effective September 2005 for degenerative disc disease. He filed an NOD in January 2009 and testified in April 2010 that he had been unable to work due to his back disability since 1988. The Board remanded the issue in April 2012. Many denials later he finally received an earlier effective date for his lower back disorder of November 1957 but was remanded for TDIU. In March 2016 he was granted TDIU effective July 2015, as the VA deemed it was not warranted for an earlier date.

Disgusted and frustrated, he hired our veterans law firm in October 2017, and in a June 2018 BVA decision implemented by the RO in August 2018 we were able to argue for an earlier effective date for TDIU and DEA of January 2009. This awarded the Veteran over $170,500.00 in past due benefits.

However, armed with the Veteran’s records, this fight is not over. We will be representing him before the CAVC for an earlier effective date for TDIU back to 1957.