May 22, 2025 • 56 mins
John Stacy welcomes James Cripps and Ray Cobb, the first two veterans to receive service connection for Agent Orange exposure that occurred within the continental United States, breaking through decades of denial.
• Inadequate training for Veterans Service Officers who receive just five days of instruction focused on passing a basic test rather than comprehensive knowledge
• Many service officers secure positions through connections rather than merit, creating a "buddy system" that fails veterans
• The rising phenomenon of "claim sharks" - for-profit entities filling gaps created by inadequate free services
• Detailed discussion of Special Monthly Compensation (SMC) and R1 benefits for severely disabled veterans
• Case study of service officer negligence where delayed filing cost a veteran $27,000 in benefits
• Challenges in finding legal representation to hold negligent service officers accountable
• VA's backlog reduction tactics that may involve hasty claim denials rather than proper evaluation
• The importance of veterans educating themselves on regulations and "paying it forward" by helping others
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I think it's okay.
Welcome, folks, to anotherepisode of Exposed Vet
Productions.
My name is John Stacy.
On this beautiful May 22nd 2025.
A little chilly outside in thestate of Kentucky, but hey,
we're alive and we're doing well.
Anytime you wake up on the sideof the dirt, you're doing
something.
Today, I want to have a specialguest on.
(00:22):
His name is Mr James Cripps.
Actually, Mr Ray Cobb is onhere too.
He's my co-host, but I do wantto tell you guys I'm sitting
here talking to the first two,not the first 20, the first two
veterans that received theirservice connection based on
agent-owned exposure that wascontracted, or that they
(00:43):
actually were exposed inside thecontinental United States of
America, after being toldnumerous times that they didn't
use Agent Orange.
Mr Pipp, how are you doingtoday, buddy?
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Doing pretty good, john, considering all things.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Considering all things, I know what you mean.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Considering all things.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Yeah.
So you know things areconsiderable.
I mean, you know we have tolive what we have to do, you
know, and unfortunately we'reall three a hot mess of diabetes
anyway, you know, and I thinkit's going to be the end of us
all one of these days to tellyou the truth, and I hope not,
but you never know.
Anyhow, we were discussing somestuff early in the week and
(01:26):
this is a very important topicbecause we did last week's show
on what to do if you get a badservice officer.
You know, and I did say thatyou can fire a service officer
at will if you had to, and ofcourse, a lot of them maybe need
to be fired if they don't dothe job or if they're naked and
doing their job.
And James has got a story thereabout one that of course, we're
not going to.
(01:46):
You know we're going to do thison the light version, we're not
going to go too heavy on it.
But, james, what is going onwith some of these service
officers not doing their jobs?
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Well, john, I know a handful of good service officers
and.
I would be desperate to find ahandful, but I don't know.
It kind of seems like they'rebrother-in-laws of politicians
(02:19):
or buddies somewhere along thefamily line in the counties that
they work for.
And you know, it's not based onqualifications.
I just, you know, there shouldbe a standard for a service
officer.
Now they apply.
(02:44):
Now they apply If they get anyschooling at all.
It's five days and that fivedays is spent going over
Friday's test, what the test isgoing to be on on Friday.
So they pick certain topics,pick certain topics not out of
(03:10):
the Code of Federal Regulationsbut off of a sheet, a piece of
sheet paper, and they go overthat every day for the four days
and they say you might want topay particular interest to this
question here.
You may see it later on.
(03:31):
So at the end of the week, onFriday, they're giving a test,
used to be 20 questions,multiple choice of true or false
.
You pass that test, you make a70% and guess what?
You're now a certified not knowa whole lot service officer and
(03:59):
you're going to go out andyou're going to represent these
veterans.
You know, some of them havebeen waiting 50 years for their
benefits and now you're going torepresent them and you're going
to advise them based on 20 trueor false questions or multiple
(04:20):
choice.
You know I took that testnumerous times, multiple choice.
You know I took that testnumerous times and I'll never
forget one day.
When they passed the test backout, the director of claims said
Crips, you cheated on that test.
I said how did I cheat on thetest?
He said you made a hundred.
And I didn't even do that.
(04:41):
Well, it's an open book test.
You know what's the excuse.
But if you're going to be aservice officer, you're going to
have to learn this stuff onyour own.
The statewide training is notgoing to.
You know they pick one subjectand they harp on that one
subject.
(05:01):
You don't.
It's like picking one passageout of the Bible and then
swearing up and down.
You know the Bible.
There's got to be a better way.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
Well, I need a set of knowledge, skills and abilities
, need a merit system in placefor all this stuff, because you
know this is a very importantjob and in order to do that
people you know, I mean in orderto actually become a service
officer I think you'd need totake a certain test to see if
you qualify to be one, because Imean it takes a level of skill
to do this.
I mean you have to know.
You know you've got to study VAlaw and you've got to know how
(05:47):
things work and I think theyneed a merit-based system to get
them in there and get themhired.
It is buddy system stuff.
You know it's for the birds.
I mean sure, it gets peoplejobs, but you've got to realize
that merit-based system is alittle bit different because I
mean you know if you're notqualified to do a certain job
and you're not qualified torepresent people, you don't need
(06:09):
to be doing a job.
I'm already saying you know.
You know maybe you need to godo something else.
You have to be able to beconscientious enough to
understand the regulations andrules for a veteran.
You know, first of all, if aveteran wants to file a claim,
you know you talk to theveterans.
Okay, what do you follow me,claim for here and so and so,
and you sit down, you sign themup and you go to the records
moving, you help them out.
(06:29):
That's how you do it.
But you got to know what you'redoing, how to do it, and if you
take a test on a certain subject, that's fine, but you got to
have an overall knowledge in thegeneral knowledge of how to do
the whole frame.
You can't just go up onesubject.
So, even though that themtrainings and things like that
are great, but you know I'mgonna tell you something, guys
that accredited agents test islike 300 questions now and they
(06:52):
had one just the 20th here theother day and that is a very
difficult test and I've studiedit and looked at it and looked
at it and took practice testsall day long and that covers the
entire gambit, from filing yourinitial claim all the way going
through the tough and feelsprocess, even some of the higher
echelon stuff you know.
So I mean you got to bequalified at your job.
(07:13):
I mean, if I wasn't qualifiedat my job when I was working in
the automobile industry I wouldshut down an assembly line that
cost my company $8,000 a minuteor $20,000 a minute.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
You got to be able to do your job Well.
You know, the claim sharks sowe call them have spent a lot of
money trying to ensure theirvery existence.
Spent a lot of money trying toensure their very existence.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
They're fighting the.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
Guard Act and I think 40 some odd states support the
Guard Act, which would put themout of business.
So they're spending millions ofdollars lobbying Congress and
it's working.
You know they're spending 15million.
(08:15):
They'll drop $15 million and tocombat that, they've come out
with the Choice Act.
They're saying you know, comeout with the Choice Act.
They're saying you know theseveterans need a choice.
You know we must be providing aservice if all these veterans
(08:41):
are freely coming to us.
When they can get free helpthrough the service
organizations, right, well, I'llhave to say that I think the
service officers themselves,along with the VA, has created a
niche for these people tooperate.
(09:03):
If there wasn't a need createdby the service offices and the
VA, you know they would beself-extinguishing, but that's
not happening.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
We wouldn't be having this discussion if they had
done their jobs right to beginwith.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
Exactly, there would be no claim shorts jobs right to
begin with.
Exactly, there would be noclaim sharks.
Well, I happen to know thatthere's fixing to be another act
introduced and that's going tobe the Service Officers
Accountability Act and that'sbeing brought by the claim
sharks to hold service officersresponsible when they take that
(09:46):
job and they accept thatpaycheck and they sit down in
that chair.
They better know what they'redoing Otherwise.
That's what I said they're justclogging up the system.
You know we don't need them, wedon't want them.
Push comes to shove, we couldhandle our claims ourselves.
(10:07):
You can go to getonvagov andyou know read the simple
instructions, do the uploads.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
We're not really dependent on them.
That's true, the only thing youreally need, and they're not
really dependent on them.
That's true, the only thing youreally need.
And they're not accreditedanyway.
So they got the same tools yougot.
They can't get into VBMS andthings like that and track your
claim like these agents can orthese VSOs can.
They got access.
That's the only differencebetween somebody filing their
claim by themselves and having arepresentative, and that's
(10:40):
basically the only differencebetween somebody filing their
claim by themselves and having arepresentative, and that's
basically the only difference isthe tracking part of your claim
when is it at?
And that's the most honestquestion.
Everybody wants to know whereis my claim at?
What's going on with my claim?
That's probably asked 10million times a day.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Our last meeting we had a veteran.
He came up to me and he saidI'm going for R1.
I said okay.
The prior meeting to that hetold me that he was an R1.
Well, I know all the R1s in thestate of Tennessee.
(11:21):
I didn't know him because Iwent to high school with him,
but I didn't know him as beingan R1.
A little while later he tookout his phone and he showed me
where he was knocking down$5,000 a month.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
I said well, you know you're coming up about $6,000 a
month.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
I said well, you know you're coming up about $6,000
short.
So now he's decided that he'sgoing to pursue R1.
Now he's an amputee.
He's an amputee.
He's already drawing aid andattendance and he's amputated
(12:02):
from his hip.
Got into some kind of landminein Vietnam.
It affected his kidneys.
It really blew the guy up.
He looks good but everythingdon't meet the eye.
If you know him well, you knowhe's in trouble and he's got his
(12:27):
own troubles.
He said yeah, I'm going for one.
He said I've got somebodyhelping me.
I said yeah I said uh who yougot helping me.
He didn't know her last name,but he said Phyllis.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
I went to a door and heard you.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Ray, that ain't funny .
Phyllis has been with the VA 40years.
What are you laughing about?
Speaker 3 (12:58):
We know Phyllis, we know her very well now.
Phyllis means well phyllismeans well, and I told him when
I was going for r1, what shetold me we were down exactly
down here at the conference.
I went and I said I'm trying forr1.
(13:18):
You and James Cripps, y'all arealways making up something.
Then I'm sitting there and Itold her what it was like and
the girl sitting behind her whowas looking on the computer said
Phyllis, you need to come andlook at this.
She goes over and looks at itand reads it and goes next to it
.
Ray, you write that letter backto them exactly the way you
(13:39):
told me.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
Yeah, the last time I talked to her she said you know
, you and Ray used to intimidateme because you knew more about
it than I did.
When I asked this veteran, Isaid so how is Phyllis going to
(14:00):
get you R1?
He said she's already workingon it.
She told me all she had to dowas get me a higher level of aid
and attendance.
Well, that's what R1 is.
I said how are you going to getthrough SMCO?
He said what are you talkingabout?
(14:24):
I said you have got to gothrough SMCO to get to R1.
You can't go around it.
You've got to qualify for SMCO.
He said well, she didn't saynothing about that.
He said well, she didn't saynothing about that but you know
(14:47):
the man is missing a leg.
I know he has some internalproblems from the blast and you
know he's bound to have problemsthat I don't know about.
But I can't analyze his case asis and get him to an R1.
(15:10):
You know you got to have lossof use of two limbs or total
loss of bowel and bladder aphobia and it's just not there.
I know how to get him to R1,and I made my suggestion.
(15:34):
You know, walking all theseyears with a prosthetic up to
the hip has bound to affectedhis right leg and I'm trying to
(15:57):
get him to go see an ankle footspecialist who Ray is very well
acquainted with, who writes ourletters for loss of the perineal
nerve.
Now I can watch the guy walkand I don't think he has a
perineal nerve left, but it'shard to tell because he's got a
shuffle.
But that's been developed allthese years by wearing that
(16:19):
prosthetic.
So can't you know I can'tdiagnose, but in my opinion he
he needs to go and get adiagnosis and I don't.
I don't doubt at all they don'tfind that he's lost the perineal
nerve in that right leg.
Uh, he's a little hesitant togo do that, but it's the only
(16:44):
ticket that I can see to his R1.
Lord knows he deserves it, butdeserving it and meeting the
qualifications two differentthings.
It'll be a shoe-in if he canget that diagnosis.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
Well, that's the key right there, james.
I mean, if a person like myself, when I went through it, you
know, we you and I you helped mefor sure plan out the direction
, the steps to go through andthe order in which to go through
.
And you and I both have onseveral occasions have told guys
(17:22):
, unless you know for sure, youdefinitely don't want to put in
for the loss of both, becausethen they'll say it bilateral
and that can knock you into theP program, the parking lot as we
refer to it.
It's hard to get out and we,all three of us, know somebody
that that happened to, andthat's one thing you don't want
(17:46):
to do.
I mean, he's already got theloss of use of one, so he's
automatically set up.
You and I worked on mine and wemade sure there was 18 months
between my loss of use of myright foot and the loss of use
of my left foot.
Even though it happened alittle earlier, even though we
had the diagnosis a littleearlier, I still waited 18
(18:10):
months before I filed the claimand then made it a point to them
to point out that I wanted togo to O, and for those of you
who are not familiar O says yougo to the next level of aid and
attendance and if you havestandard aid and attendance, the
next level is your R1.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
And he does already have aid and attendance,
standard aid and attendance.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
So all he needs is, like you said, that perennial
loss of use of the second footor second leg.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
He's got to throw that dart through the O and he's
home free.
He's really, really an honestfellow and he don't want to do
anything.
That's not right.
Uh, that's not right, uh.
(19:06):
First he insinuated that I hadsome kind of pull with the
doctor and I assured him thedoctor knows my name, but that's
all.
He wouldn't know me if I passedhim on the street.
He said what, what would be myexcuse for driving all the way
to tell home to see a doctor,when I'm driving by a lot of
podiatrists on the way?
(19:27):
I said why would you need anexcuse?
You know we're not required tosee a doctor.
We can see whatever doctor wewant to see.
To see a doctor, we can seewhatever doctor we want to see.
Speaker 3 (19:41):
And the reason we choose this.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
Reason we choose this doctor is we know if he finds
something, he's going to do thetest to back it up.
You know he's going to supporthis findings and he's going to
write you a letter and he'sgoing to put it in your record
and he's going to order yourbraces, just like he should.
And all those podiatrists thathe's driving by to get to
(20:08):
telehoma I'm not so sure thatthey would.
Speaker 3 (20:13):
I don't know one that would well, you know that
that's the thing that people youknow they don't accept the fact
.
You know I mean my son-in-law'sa doctor and he's very cautious
to see veterans and write aletter for them even when
they're his patients, to comeback and look at his business or
(20:42):
look at what he does and haveto go through all the red tape
that these doctors have to gothrough if they become under
investigation.
So he chooses just not to do itand we have several here in
Winchester who will no longersee veterans because of some of
the red tape that they had to goto, even when it was a VA
(21:03):
sending the veterans to them.
So there's a lot to be said.
It's hard to find doctors thatare willing to write those
letters of support.
You know they may tell you whatthey've got, they may even
recommend a treatment, may tellyou what they've got, they may
even recommend a treatment, butto actually put it in writing or
to say it in your notes,they're very, very reluctant to
(21:25):
do that.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
Right.
Actually, what they're doing isthey're putting a reputation on
the line.
They write a letter and theystand behind it.
They're putting theirreputation on the line letter
and they stand behind it.
They're putting theirreputation on the line.
Now a lot of vets think this isjust a funny deal getting a
doctor's letter.
You know, I'll give him 200bucks and get a letter.
(21:51):
This ain't no joke and matter.
This is serious and as far asI'm concerned that's bribery.
You know, if a doctor don'thave good credentials and a good
reputation, then he can't do usany good.
We don't need him.
They need to maintain theirreputation, their good
(22:15):
credentials and be straight upif they're going to do us any
good.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
That's exactly right.
Speaker 3 (22:27):
Yeah, and I'm sure that he's got.
All you're asking for is anevaluation, Exactly.
If you don't like thatevaluation, you walk outside,
you wind it up and you throw itin the trash, can?
I've heard you say that severaltimes.
There's nothing says you haveto use it.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
You can tell me that for a second opinion.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
You don't have to use evidence against your claim in
your claim, against your claimin your claim.
And another thing like I toldhim, if he don't have loss of
that perineal nerve, doctor'sjust going to tell him you don't
have a loss of the perinealnerve.
It's that simple.
(23:13):
You know you got Medicareinsurance.
You use your Medicare to payfor the visit.
They gladly accept it and youtake what the doctor says.
You know If he says you've gotit, he's gonna prove it.
He's gonna do all the tests.
He's gonna do the x-rays, he'sgonna do the sonograms.
(23:33):
He's gonna back it up.
Speaker 3 (23:36):
He's gonna take that needle and stick it in the
bottom of your foot.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
Exactly.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
But anyway.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
I hope this guy gets his R1.
He certainly deserves it andhas for many years, believe it
or not.
I mentioned the automobilegrant.
Believe it or not, I mentionedthe automobile grant and you
(24:06):
know, if you've ever had one now, you've got to have had it 30
years before you can get yoursecond one.
All right, I mentioned theautomobile grant and he said I'm
doing my second one, so for 30years he's been an elf for 30
(24:26):
years.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
I don't think I'll ever need a second one if you
get an automobile grant tomorrowand 10 years down the road you
can get another one.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
If you've never had an automobile grant the date of
that law.
If you've had an automobilegrant prior to the date of that
law, then you've got 30 years togo to get the second one.
Speaker 1 (24:59):
Yeah, that's what I was thinking.
Yeah, that's kind of unfair,isn't it?
Well, I had one.
Speaker 2 (25:06):
Yeah, I had one and Ray had one, so we were 30 years
out.
But now you take my friend DonSmith he just got one a few
months ago, ten years, he didn'tget another one.
Uh-huh, he just got one a fewmonths ago, 10 years, he didn't
get another one.
Yeah, it's kind of stuck in thedeck, but I don't, I don't need
(25:29):
another one anyway.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
So I don't know, you probably ain't got room for one.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
I don't have room for one I've got.
You know, I went down to theDMV and I bought tags for my
Chevelle and we got a veteranhater down there.
She's kind of jealous, so shehollers back and she said Miss
(25:57):
Teresa, this veteran has got 13sets of tags and he wants
another one.
How many can he have?
She said all he wants.
So I got another set put on myChevelle.
My dump trucks even gotveterans tags veterans tags.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
That's what you do, I've got more money.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
You know I have to pay, I think, 28 bucks a set for
the excess plates that I have,but if not, I would be running
antique tags.
But I would be running antiquetags, but I like to run veterans
tags.
I can park in the wide spacesand don't get my doors slammed,
(26:50):
yeah it's worth it to me.
Yeah, it's plenty worth it tome In front of Walmart.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
you'd pull in that big long one there in front
where nobody gets around you atall.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
Right, I'll fight over that long one.
I've seen sides over that beforewe see some kind of training
(27:24):
updates for service officers.
But training just ain't goingto buy it.
You know it's got to get inyour blood.
You got to want to know theselaws.
You take somebody like the onewe were just talking to, ben.
Let's take another one.
(27:45):
My mentor that I went to stateservice officers training school
under for 20 years never hadever heard of an R1.
He did not know that there weretwo ways that you could get an
L and he spent 40 years on thejob.
(28:07):
He's retired now for the secondtime.
But I went to him and you know138 bucks is what a set of CFRs
cost.
I couldn't afford $138.
But the state employees get anew set every year so I would
(28:30):
always get his old one and itwould have his name in the
binder.
So the date I took my claim forR1 to him, he said you've
already got eight attendants.
I said no, tom, I don't.
He said you got an L.
I said that's for loss of useof two feet.
(28:53):
He said you mean to tell methere's more than one way to get
an L?
Speaker 3 (28:58):
I said yes.
Speaker 2 (28:59):
He said where are you getting that?
And I opened that CFR and Isaid, right here.
He said, let me go get my CFR.
Well, what I had in my hand wasa year old, but it used to
belong to him, so you could tellthat the book had never been
opened.
(29:20):
I kept it by my crapper.
Every time I'd take a crap I'dget a little smarter and I guess
that's why he wanted to go gethis own book.
Speaker 1 (29:33):
Well, you know, the VB is a veteran's service manual
that you can get from LexusNexus.
I ordered that a few years agoand you've got to keep updating
it.
It's got a lot of stuff in itand if I don't understand that,
there's two ways to get to R1,there's standard aid attendance
and loss of equal to extremities, or two feet.
I guess one foot and one handtoo would do it.
(29:55):
It puts you up to the level oh,you bounce off the O and slide
into R1.
You know, but you have to touchthe O and then bouncing off of
it is touching it, you know, andyou bounce off of it.
So you guys are doing it, youknow actually I got R1 two
(30:19):
different ways.
Speaker 2 (30:23):
The first time I got R1 through the BVA it was, I bet
, the requirements of the O Ihad two special monthly
compensation ratings between theL and the O and one of them was
(30:45):
standard aid and attendance Bamautomatically.
Speaker 3 (30:50):
R1.
Speaker 2 (30:51):
Like I'm telling this guy don't worry about the R1.
Worry about getting through theO, the R1 will come
automatically.
So then, five years later, Iwent to court and I'm asking for
an earlier effective date forthat.
R1.
10 years earlier in all.
(31:13):
So the court decided they couldaward it because they saw a
need of aid and attendance forheart disease alone and then
another aid and attendance forother service-connected
disabilities.
Two aid and attendances, andthat being loss of use of two
(31:39):
feet and loss of use of twohands.
So, I've had the best of bothworlds.
Speaker 1 (31:47):
you know, I think Alex is a big fan of R1 because
of two needs of aid andattendance, separate and
distinct.
Yeah, he is a big fan of it.
I mean, of course, he isbasically.
(32:07):
In my opinion, he's probablythe most up-to-date when it
comes to high levels of specialmonthly compensation.
I hate to say it, alex is aboutas badass as you're going to
get.
Speaker 2 (32:21):
You know, alex likes to learn and he's not going to
be defeated.
And that's a pretty goodcombination.
He just refuses to lose.
(32:41):
He does when you're fightingfor a veteran.
How could it get any better?
Speaker 1 (32:52):
It can't.
It can't.
I mean basically you know, ofcourse now you've got to realize
too that when he deals withmostly his cases, like you know,
vietnam vets are, you know, arescrewed up really bad.
It's almost morbid because alot of his claimants actually
pass away and he's carrying atorch and he's trying to get the
wife, the IC and the crewbenefits and things like that.
(33:15):
That's a lot of his business,that's what he does.
He really doesn't care aboutthe money much.
He's got plenty of it.
He does it because he can andhe wants to do it.
Speaker 2 (33:28):
Wow, that's a situation that he chose.
He wasn't forced into that.
He chose that, and if you canonly take so many clients, then
I can see why Alex would cherrypick the ones where he thought
(33:50):
he could do the most good and Ithink that's what he's doing
Speaker 1 (33:54):
yep, it's true, you know, and it's a different type
of cherry picker folks.
A lot of times we talk aboutcherry picker, we talk about
like the attorney groups outhere say you want to send a, say
you got a court case or a BAappeal, and they look at the
money that they're going to get.
Of course the court case hasgot the EAJA, but a lot of times
they're saying, well, this guyhere is only fighting for 20%,
(34:14):
so it's not going to be muchmoney, so we're not going to do
that.
You know it's called cherrypicking.
But Alex is different.
He don't cherry pick the money,he cherry picks the case.
And the case is who's in themost needy?
It doesn't do much.
Speaker 2 (34:28):
If it meets his standards and his requirement,
then he's cherry-picking it.
Otherwise he's referring it tosomebody else that can take that
case and run with it.
Guys, he's got some good people.
Yeah, I admire him for whathe's doing.
(34:49):
Good people, james, I've himfor what he's doing.
Speaker 1 (34:51):
Good people.
James, I've got a question.
Now, what is the veteran'soption?
It's okay to say you get aservice officer that you file a
claim with.
One of your vets files a claimand the service officer is
supposed to turn the claim in tothe VA.
If the veteran files multipleclaims, to give them to the
(35:12):
service officer, but the serviceofficer only turns in one or
two claims and there's like fiveor six left over and then
doesn't get touched past theexpiration date of a certain
document you've got in the VA.
What happens?
What's the veteran's options?
I mean I don't know.
I mean it's just been.
It's kind of a catch-22, isn'tit because the VA is not going
to go back, because they don'thave to?
Speaker 2 (35:35):
The situation we're in now and I don't mind telling
you it involves a serviceofficer.
Cheatham County, tennessee.
Speaker 1 (35:46):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (35:47):
One of our veterans filed an intent and then, after
he filed that intent together,we went to see the service
officer seven months later andfiled on five issues which
(36:11):
should have been covered by thatintent.
Well, she sat on it more thanfive months and five days after
his intent expired she filed itwith the VA.
Expired, she filed it with theVA.
(36:40):
We filed on five separateissues.
She only turned in one issue.
The one that she turned in wasloss of two feet.
The VA awarded that.
But then there was a 4138 thatwas written up in his file where
his disabilities were describedone by one.
The raider found the 4138 andhe knew the service officer
(37:07):
didn't do her job.
So he inferred PTSD and theveteran was awarded 50% for that
.
He also inferred loss of use oftwo hands, which I'm sure will
be granted His hands are justuseless.
(37:27):
Severe anxiety and depression.
We tried to file on and shedidn't file on it.
So the VA don't care why thatintent to file was five days
late, doesn't?
Speaker 3 (37:48):
matter to them.
Speaker 2 (37:50):
Expired means expired , so he lost $27,000 on loss of
use of two feet alone.
And then I don't know I haven'tbothered to figure out what he
lost on the 50% award for twofeet, but that would have been a
(38:12):
P1 award at F3, which wouldadded maybe 500 bucks a month
for that year the onlyalternative we have, or that he
has, is to sue sue the serviceoffice and the county which he
(38:37):
has.
Actually, when you sue thecounty, you have to serve them
with an intent to sue.
First.
Give them 15 working days tosee what they're going to do
about it, and that 15 workingdays is up tomorrow.
(38:58):
We haven't heard a word, not athank you, not a I'm sorry,
let's talk about it, not a.
Kiss my butt Nothing.
Let's talk about it, not kissmy butt nothing.
Most bank robberies wouldn'tproduce that kind of money, but
they just took that money awayfrom that veteran and we think
(39:24):
it was intentional.
We think we're talking grossnegligence because prior, six
months prior to that, he wrote astatement about that service
officer where she had not donehim right, so we think it was
intentional.
(39:45):
We're finding the problem isgetting an attorney to represent
somebody who's suing them a newmunicipal fatality, that's the
problem.
That's where we're at now we'reshopping for an attorney?
(40:08):
not yet.
We've got some leads but thisveteran is not going to quit.
You know he's determined.
Yeah, if you've got one, we'lltake any leads we can get.
We'll see what happens.
I think you know there needs tobe an investigation.
(40:32):
Why did that service officerwait to file that 526EZ?
That's a 15-minute job.
That should have actually beendone before we left that office
that day.
Speaker 1 (40:51):
And then she waited five.
Speaker 2 (40:54):
Yeah, waited five months and five days.
I think worse than that.
Speaker 1 (41:05):
Well, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (41:07):
Yeah, yeah, I think it was a target.
Speaker 1 (41:12):
Now in.
Speaker 2 (41:14):
All right, should she get by with that Because she's
a service officer?
Like I said, she's one of thegood old boys and that's what
she prefers to be and that'swhat she prefers to be A lot of
(41:35):
these service officers.
They bring them on boardbecause they're family kid folks
and they become part of thegood old boys when they should
be becoming part of the veterancommunity.
Forget the good old boys.
But they're paid by the county.
Speaker 1 (41:55):
That's the catch-22.
It is, it's pathetic, and younever know they might pony up.
Speaker 2 (42:19):
Yeah, we'd love to find a lawyer that would take
this case, you know we've gotthe, we've got all the paperwork
from the Department of VeteransAffairs showing when he filed
his intent, when we actuallyfiled the claim and when she
turned it in to the VA, and it'sjust no question five days
after it expired, okay, it hasto be a furnished license
(42:45):
practice at Tennessee.
Speaker 1 (42:46):
Is that correct?
It don't have to be anywhere inthe state of Tennessee.
Say that again.
It has to be an attorney'slicense to practice in the state
of Tennessee, right.
Speaker 2 (42:59):
I would imagine.
Yes, you know it could turninto a federal tort.
I don't know.
You would have to be anattorney to decide that.
That's way above my pay grade.
Speaker 1 (43:19):
Well, I think we'll find the right one.
But I mean, basically, guys,what we're saying here is don't
take the word, you know.
I mean, if something like thiswas to happen to you and you got
a claim in there and something,similar situation happened, of
course people that are human aregoing to make mistakes, but
this doesn't.
This doesn't seem to be humanerror, it's kind of.
This kind of this is.
(43:40):
This is a bad case of harm andanytime, the first thing you got
to prove is, when you're doingsomething like this, you have to
prove that you were harmed, andthis situation harm means if it
cost you money or a benefit,that's called harm.
So that's what.
That's what the tour is allabout.
You know, for example, if theysay you go to a hospital and you
(44:03):
say, for example, your yourright kidneys bad and they go
operate on you and take out yourleft kidney, well it costs you
harm right there too.
If you take out the wrongkidney I ain't saying that, but
it happens cut off the wrong leg, you know anything like that.
Speaker 2 (44:20):
You know it's harm, so you know well, that would be
a that would be an 1151 claim,and what we've got is a civil
suit.
Well, that would be an 1151claim.
What we've got is a civil suit.
Speaker 1 (44:34):
Right, civil suit.
I mean, yeah, same thing.
I mean, you know, but itdepends on too if it's VA or not
.
You know, it could be a regularhospital In 1151, they just,
you know, I mean they'll serviceconnect what they did.
But I mean other than that youknow, it's kind's not along the
lines of aggravation.
You know each day they would payif you have one condition.
They'd rate something else.
They pay only to the extent ofthe aggravation.
(44:55):
Say, for example, you got highblood pressure when you're in
the service.
They let you in and they gotworse in service and they'll
they'll only do the aggravationpart of it.
So, come on, it's, it's.
It's that again.
You know you got to know thisstuff and you got to be able to
read this stuff because there'sso much complex, complexity with
these rules and regulations andthings like that.
(45:15):
There's so many subparagraphssubparagraph A, b and C's.
You know it can be a.
You know if you're not holdingyour tongue right you might miss
it.
You know you got to beparticular in order to
understand this stuff andfortunately some of these
attorneys are good at what theydo.
You know they can put ittogether and I know several of
them that are really good atwhat they do and so hopefully
(45:38):
we'll get one on board and getthis guy.
Make this man righteous,because the man needs to get.
You know, the man needs to getfinished and get his stuff done
so he can go and live his life.
I mean you sit here and wasteyour time and you sit here 15,
20 years fighting the VA.
You can get PTSD from doingthis stuff, can't you Ray?
Speaker 2 (45:59):
Well, I see no defense for the county and the
service office, because sixmonths prior to this we warned
them that she wasn't doing herjob right.
And then she has no right totriage a veteran's claims and
(46:19):
decide which one she's going tosend in and which one she's not
going to send in.
She just don't have that right.
Speaker 1 (46:36):
You know, back when I first started this Duke, when I
first started this stuff, I goteducated to a certain extent.
I won my claim based on myselfand my first claim after 14
years of fighting, I usedrepresentation.
After the DAV screwed my claimon pieces Excuse my French, I
didn't cuss, but I was going to.
I got an education.
(46:57):
I sat in front of the computerfor years reading and studying
Title 38 and all the regulationsand I decided well, in order to
be able to track the claimwithout having access, you know,
because you know, back then allyou had to do was call the 800
number and they had two minutesto get you off the phone.
Remember the old Peggy days,right, peggy Prince or somebody
else?
And so I said, well, let's usethem as secretaries.
(47:20):
So what I did was I would turnthe, did all the legwork myself
and it worked out, you know, forme eventually, finally, you
know, but still, guys, yourclaim is only as strong as your
representation.
(47:40):
But then again, I see somenightmares too on some of these
websites people doing the claimsthemselves and they post
something on the board I've donethis and this and this.
I'm like, oh crap, you'reseeing more crap moments when
somebody totally screwed a claimup and you and you see them do
it in real time because theydon't want to have a
representative to help them dostuff.
You know somebody's got somecatchy stuff off the back.
(48:01):
But I've seen and once you getoff the claim on the hamster
wheel and back in claimspurgatory you're in trouble.
It's going to take you years toget it straightened out.
Speaker 2 (48:12):
Well, you know, I did about the same thing you did,
John.
I just happened across awebsite, really good source of
(48:34):
reliable information.
I can't say it's the sameanymore.
But, I came a long way withthat website.
Speaker 1 (48:46):
That was a big part of that buddy back in the day.
Speaker 2 (48:50):
Yeah a lot of respect , a lot of respect for some of
them on there, a lot of peopleare dead and gone now, buddy.
Well, too many people got onthere that knew it all, that
knew nothing.
Speaker 3 (49:06):
many people got on there that knew it all.
Speaker 2 (49:10):
that knew nothing, and I wouldn't say it's not a
reliable site anymore.
Speaker 1 (49:23):
In fact, I don't think I've been on it going on a
year.
If it hadn't been a year, well,you're only as good as your
contributors anyway.
So you know, I'll leave it atthat.
Speaker 2 (49:33):
But it served its purpose, it did.
Speaker 1 (49:37):
It did, it did.
I mean a lot of folks get onthere and they do win their
claims and they just disappear.
You know, I like to it forwardand uh, you do too.
I mean you know you spend a lotof time helping.
That's right.
That's the same thing.
You know, we talk all the timeabout vets and things like that.
So, um, if you guys do win yourclaim and and you know what else
(50:00):
you're going to do, I mean youalready boogered up and uh, you
know and uh you keep your mindoff your past.
Go ahead and start and start toutilize your experience and
help people out.
Do what you can do.
Pay it forward.
That's what you should do.
You're right, man, you're onlyas good as your representation
(50:23):
and your information and yourcontributions that you have that
people make for you and thecontributions you make for other
areas.
So you know, hey guys, there'sFacebook pages now, like the
Veterans Claiming AssistanceGroups, doug Haines' groups and
things like that.
I mean it's just so much overthe top.
I mean you're talking 50 to100,000, 250,000 members.
(50:45):
You got accredited agents, yougot VA employees, you got
everything on there andinformation and advice is pretty
much golden.
Of course, they don't advertise.
They're going to do this andhelp people, but they do help
you and you know it's a lotbetter, a lot easier you can get
your questions answered there.
Speaker 2 (51:05):
Yes, you can, especially and usually by
somebody that's accredited getyour questions answered there.
Speaker 1 (51:10):
Yes, you can this one , and usually by somebody that's
accredited to answer thequestion too.
Don't forget that folks Get onthat.
It's BA Veterans Claims,Assistance Scripts on Facebook.
They'd be glad to have you.
You can just research and studythose questions and that you
can probably get your questionanswered without even asking the
question.
You can probably just do asearch on questions and you can
probably get your questionanswered without even asking the
question.
You can probably just do asearch on it and it'll pop up a
(51:31):
hundred times and the biggestquestion on there is what's
going on with McLean?
That's about the number onequestion in the world with Dylan
Zetcher what's going on withMcLean?
Speaker 2 (51:46):
get on one go ahead.
I saw on.
I got an email today that theVA is bragging because they're
only 250,000 claims behind now.
Ain't that something to bragabout?
(52:07):
Behind now, Ain't thatsomething to brag about?
Speaker 3 (52:16):
I can remember being 650,000 back in the legacy
system.
Well, what I've seen aroundhere too, you gotta look at that
.
How did they get there?
And how did they get there soquick in the last 120, 130 days
somewhere along in there?
You know, it's very simple.
They do a denial.
(52:38):
As far as they're concerned,it's over with, it's finished.
So if they can't find exactlywhat's going on, they deny it.
And they say, well, that'sgoing on.
They deny it and they said,look, that's another one off of
our desk.
You know, give me a net a boy.
You know I cleared five forclaims today.
How many did you approve?
Speaker 2 (52:57):
none, yeah, well, you already know what I had to say
about their 125 days days.
Speaker 3 (53:07):
You want a.
Speaker 1 (53:07):
Spanish lesson.
Toro de caca Myth.
Alphabetical folks A-9, b-9,c-9, d-9.
I wonder how much the I wonder,if the claims have gone down
that much, how much has theappeal went up?
Oh yeah, there there yeah,they're connected.
Speaker 3 (53:34):
Peter Todder.
Yeah the old seesaw up and downseesaw.
Speaker 2 (53:42):
I just happened to be at one of Ray's seminars when
it was announced that the VAcould now adjudicate a claim in
125 days.
I just happened to be the nextspeaker.
Speaker 1 (53:59):
I wouldn't have had a shift, would I?
Speaker 2 (54:04):
I think I said the VA can't pick their own nose in
125 days, I think I said the VAcan't pick their own nose in 125
days.
Speaker 1 (54:13):
Well, they blame a lot of stuff on the face and
things like that.
You know IG comes in.
They got popped the other dayabout the PACT Act.
All these claims were, what doyou call it?
Misguided, mispaid.
Some got underpaid, Most gotoverpaid and they got gigged
pretty hard for that, up to thetune of billions of dollars.
Then last year they went infront of Congress saying they
(54:34):
needed money.
They were broke and then theydid a final audit and they were
ahead by $5 billion.
So what's what?
I don't think I know what theyhad.
Of course, it's such a bigorganization that it's money to
get a handle on it, and allthese claims and these mistakes
that they make should have beencalled by quality assurance in
the aftermath, Because that'swhat you've got quality
(54:56):
assurance for.
You check things over to makesure things are done right.
That's my background withquality assurance.
If you do a claim and thingslike that, somebody has to go
through it and look at it with afine-tooth comb and say, okay,
this is wrong, this is wrong,this is wrong.
Can you fix it?
That's what should be done.
Speaker 2 (55:12):
Who does quality control work for?
Speaker 1 (55:17):
Same person that the raider does.
There's your sign.
Talk worthy.
Well, guys, I hate to tell youthis.
It's kind of a bad newssituation, but we're up against
the wall here.
We're totally out of time.
We've got about a minute towork on it, james.
Thanks for coming on, buddy,and you've been a breath of
(55:38):
fresh air.
Thanks for your advice, yourguides and information.
Ray, thank you for yourkindness, your guidance and your
information.
You're really good at what youdo.
We appreciate both of you.
I just wish we could do thisfor a lot longer, but I mean,
you know, you never know whatdiabetes is going to relate to.
You know, it's just kind of abad thing.
(56:01):
So we'll do this again.
Ray and I will be on next weekwith Bethany.
I'll be in DC, but we'll stilldo the show.
We'll be on next week withBethany.
I'll be in DC, but we'll stilldo the show.
And, james, we'll get you backon here soon, buddy.
Real quick.
When does that video?
You did that YouTube.
Is it clear?
Is it going to come out anytimesoon?
Speaker 2 (56:24):
I expect it any day now.
Usually it takes about threeweeks from the day that it's
executed.
It has to go through theediting when it comes out, it'll
just be bam.
You'll know it, you'll know it.
Speaker 1 (56:42):
Oh yeah.
Well, listen, guys.
I appreciate you guys coming onOn behalf of Mr James Cripps
and Mr Ray Cobb of the greatstate of Tennessee.
This is John Stacy, aka JayBesser, and we'll be signing off
for now.
Appreciate that, mike.
I think it's okay.
Welcome, folks, to anotherepisode of Exposed Vet
Productions.
My name is John Stacy.
On this beautiful May 22nd 2025.
A little chilly outside in thestate of Kentucky, but hey,
we're alive and we're doing well.
Anytime you wake up on the sideof the dirt, you're doing
something.
Today, I want to have a specialguest on.
(00:22):
His name is Mr James Cripps.
Actually, Mr Ray Cobb is onhere too.
He's my co-host, but I do wantto tell you guys I'm sitting
here talking to the first two,not the first 20, the first two
veterans that received theirservice connection based on
agent-owned exposure that wascontracted, or that they
(00:43):
actually were exposed inside thecontinental United States of
America, after being toldnumerous times that they didn't
use Agent Orange.
Mr Pipp, how are you doingtoday, buddy?
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Doing pretty good, john, considering all things.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Considering all things, I know what you mean.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Considering all things.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Yeah.
So you know things areconsiderable.
I mean, you know we have tolive what we have to do, you
know, and unfortunately we'reall three a hot mess of diabetes
anyway, you know, and I thinkit's going to be the end of us
all one of these days to tellyou the truth, and I hope not,
but you never know.
Anyhow, we were discussing somestuff early in the week and
(01:26):
this is a very important topicbecause we did last week's show
on what to do if you get a badservice officer.
You know, and I did say thatyou can fire a service officer
at will if you had to, and ofcourse, a lot of them maybe need
to be fired if they don't dothe job or if they're naked and
doing their job.
And James has got a story thereabout one that of course, we're
not going to.
(01:46):
You know we're going to do thison the light version, we're not
going to go too heavy on it.
But, james, what is going onwith some of these service
officers not doing their jobs?
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Well, john, I know a handful of good service officers
and.
I would be desperate to find ahandful, but I don't know.
It kind of seems like they'rebrother-in-laws of politicians
(02:19):
or buddies somewhere along thefamily line in the counties that
they work for.
And you know, it's not based onqualifications.
I just, you know, there shouldbe a standard for a service
officer.
Now they apply.
(02:44):
Now they apply If they get anyschooling at all.
It's five days and that fivedays is spent going over
Friday's test, what the test isgoing to be on on Friday.
So they pick certain topics,pick certain topics not out of
(03:10):
the Code of Federal Regulationsbut off of a sheet, a piece of
sheet paper, and they go overthat every day for the four days
and they say you might want topay particular interest to this
question here.
You may see it later on.
(03:31):
So at the end of the week, onFriday, they're giving a test,
used to be 20 questions,multiple choice of true or false
.
You pass that test, you make a70% and guess what?
You're now a certified not knowa whole lot service officer and
(03:59):
you're going to go out andyou're going to represent these
veterans.
You know, some of them havebeen waiting 50 years for their
benefits and now you're going torepresent them and you're going
to advise them based on 20 trueor false questions or multiple
(04:20):
choice.
You know I took that testnumerous times, multiple choice.
You know I took that testnumerous times and I'll never
forget one day.
When they passed the test backout, the director of claims said
Crips, you cheated on that test.
I said how did I cheat on thetest?
He said you made a hundred.
And I didn't even do that.
(04:41):
Well, it's an open book test.
You know what's the excuse.
But if you're going to be aservice officer, you're going to
have to learn this stuff onyour own.
The statewide training is notgoing to.
You know they pick one subjectand they harp on that one
subject.
(05:01):
You don't.
It's like picking one passageout of the Bible and then
swearing up and down.
You know the Bible.
There's got to be a better way.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
Well, I need a set of knowledge, skills and abilities
, need a merit system in placefor all this stuff, because you
know this is a very importantjob and in order to do that
people you know, I mean in orderto actually become a service
officer I think you'd need totake a certain test to see if
you qualify to be one, because Imean it takes a level of skill
to do this.
I mean you have to know.
You know you've got to study VAlaw and you've got to know how
(05:47):
things work and I think theyneed a merit-based system to get
them in there and get themhired.
It is buddy system stuff.
You know it's for the birds.
I mean sure, it gets peoplejobs, but you've got to realize
that merit-based system is alittle bit different because I
mean you know if you're notqualified to do a certain job
and you're not qualified torepresent people, you don't need
(06:09):
to be doing a job.
I'm already saying you know.
You know maybe you need to godo something else.
You have to be able to beconscientious enough to
understand the regulations andrules for a veteran.
You know, first of all, if aveteran wants to file a claim,
you know you talk to theveterans.
Okay, what do you follow me,claim for here and so and so,
and you sit down, you sign themup and you go to the records
moving, you help them out.
(06:29):
That's how you do it.
But you got to know what you'redoing, how to do it, and if you
take a test on a certain subject, that's fine, but you got to
have an overall knowledge in thegeneral knowledge of how to do
the whole frame.
You can't just go up onesubject.
So, even though that themtrainings and things like that
are great, but you know I'mgonna tell you something, guys
that accredited agents test islike 300 questions now and they
(06:52):
had one just the 20th here theother day and that is a very
difficult test and I've studiedit and looked at it and looked
at it and took practice testsall day long and that covers the
entire gambit, from filing yourinitial claim all the way going
through the tough and feelsprocess, even some of the higher
echelon stuff you know.
So I mean you got to bequalified at your job.
(07:13):
I mean, if I wasn't qualifiedat my job when I was working in
the automobile industry I wouldshut down an assembly line that
cost my company $8,000 a minuteor $20,000 a minute.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
You got to be able to do your job Well.
You know, the claim sharks sowe call them have spent a lot of
money trying to ensure theirvery existence.
Spent a lot of money trying toensure their very existence.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
They're fighting the.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
Guard Act and I think 40 some odd states support the
Guard Act, which would put themout of business.
So they're spending millions ofdollars lobbying Congress and
it's working.
You know they're spending 15million.
(08:15):
They'll drop $15 million and tocombat that, they've come out
with the Choice Act.
They're saying you know, comeout with the Choice Act.
They're saying you know theseveterans need a choice.
You know we must be providing aservice if all these veterans
(08:41):
are freely coming to us.
When they can get free helpthrough the service
organizations, right, well, I'llhave to say that I think the
service officers themselves,along with the VA, has created a
niche for these people tooperate.
(09:03):
If there wasn't a need createdby the service offices and the
VA, you know they would beself-extinguishing, but that's
not happening.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
We wouldn't be having this discussion if they had
done their jobs right to beginwith.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
Exactly, there would be no claim shorts jobs right to
begin with.
Exactly, there would be noclaim sharks.
Well, I happen to know thatthere's fixing to be another act
introduced and that's going tobe the Service Officers
Accountability Act and that'sbeing brought by the claim
sharks to hold service officersresponsible when they take that
(09:46):
job and they accept thatpaycheck and they sit down in
that chair.
They better know what they'redoing Otherwise.
That's what I said they're justclogging up the system.
You know we don't need them, wedon't want them.
Push comes to shove, we couldhandle our claims ourselves.
(10:07):
You can go to getonvagov andyou know read the simple
instructions, do the uploads.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
We're not really dependent on them.
That's true, the only thing youreally need, and they're not
really dependent on them.
That's true, the only thing youreally need.
And they're not accreditedanyway.
So they got the same tools yougot.
They can't get into VBMS andthings like that and track your
claim like these agents can orthese VSOs can.
They got access.
That's the only differencebetween somebody filing their
claim by themselves and having arepresentative, and that's
(10:40):
basically the only differencebetween somebody filing their
claim by themselves and having arepresentative, and that's
basically the only difference isthe tracking part of your claim
when is it at?
And that's the most honestquestion.
Everybody wants to know whereis my claim at?
What's going on with my claim?
That's probably asked 10million times a day.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Our last meeting we had a veteran.
He came up to me and he saidI'm going for R1.
I said okay.
The prior meeting to that hetold me that he was an R1.
Well, I know all the R1s in thestate of Tennessee.
(11:21):
I didn't know him because Iwent to high school with him,
but I didn't know him as beingan R1.
A little while later he tookout his phone and he showed me
where he was knocking down$5,000 a month.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
I said well, you know you're coming up about $6,000 a
month.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
I said well, you know you're coming up about $6,000
short.
So now he's decided that he'sgoing to pursue R1.
Now he's an amputee.
He's an amputee.
He's already drawing aid andattendance and he's amputated
(12:02):
from his hip.
Got into some kind of landminein Vietnam.
It affected his kidneys.
It really blew the guy up.
He looks good but everythingdon't meet the eye.
If you know him well, you knowhe's in trouble and he's got his
(12:27):
own troubles.
He said yeah, I'm going for one.
He said I've got somebodyhelping me.
I said yeah I said uh who yougot helping me.
He didn't know her last name,but he said Phyllis.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
I went to a door and heard you.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Ray, that ain't funny .
Phyllis has been with the VA 40years.
What are you laughing about?
Speaker 3 (12:58):
We know Phyllis, we know her very well now.
Phyllis means well phyllismeans well, and I told him when
I was going for r1, what shetold me we were down exactly
down here at the conference.
I went and I said I'm trying forr1.
(13:18):
You and James Cripps, y'all arealways making up something.
Then I'm sitting there and Itold her what it was like and
the girl sitting behind her whowas looking on the computer said
Phyllis, you need to come andlook at this.
She goes over and looks at itand reads it and goes next to it
.
Ray, you write that letter backto them exactly the way you
(13:39):
told me.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
Yeah, the last time I talked to her she said you know
, you and Ray used to intimidateme because you knew more about
it than I did.
When I asked this veteran, Isaid so how is Phyllis going to
(14:00):
get you R1?
He said she's already workingon it.
She told me all she had to dowas get me a higher level of aid
and attendance.
Well, that's what R1 is.
I said how are you going to getthrough SMCO?
He said what are you talkingabout?
(14:24):
I said you have got to gothrough SMCO to get to R1.
You can't go around it.
You've got to qualify for SMCO.
He said well, she didn't saynothing about that.
He said well, she didn't saynothing about that but you know
(14:47):
the man is missing a leg.
I know he has some internalproblems from the blast and you
know he's bound to have problemsthat I don't know about.
But I can't analyze his case asis and get him to an R1.
(15:10):
You know you got to have lossof use of two limbs or total
loss of bowel and bladder aphobia and it's just not there.
I know how to get him to R1,and I made my suggestion.
(15:34):
You know, walking all theseyears with a prosthetic up to
the hip has bound to affectedhis right leg and I'm trying to
(15:57):
get him to go see an ankle footspecialist who Ray is very well
acquainted with, who writes ourletters for loss of the perineal
nerve.
Now I can watch the guy walkand I don't think he has a
perineal nerve left, but it'shard to tell because he's got a
shuffle.
But that's been developed allthese years by wearing that
(16:19):
prosthetic.
So can't you know I can'tdiagnose, but in my opinion he
he needs to go and get adiagnosis and I don't.
I don't doubt at all they don'tfind that he's lost the perineal
nerve in that right leg.
Uh, he's a little hesitant togo do that, but it's the only
(16:44):
ticket that I can see to his R1.
Lord knows he deserves it, butdeserving it and meeting the
qualifications two differentthings.
It'll be a shoe-in if he canget that diagnosis.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
Well, that's the key right there, james.
I mean, if a person like myself, when I went through it, you
know, we you and I you helped mefor sure plan out the direction
, the steps to go through andthe order in which to go through
.
And you and I both have onseveral occasions have told guys
(17:22):
, unless you know for sure, youdefinitely don't want to put in
for the loss of both, becausethen they'll say it bilateral
and that can knock you into theP program, the parking lot as we
refer to it.
It's hard to get out and we,all three of us, know somebody
that that happened to, andthat's one thing you don't want
(17:46):
to do.
I mean, he's already got theloss of use of one, so he's
automatically set up.
You and I worked on mine and wemade sure there was 18 months
between my loss of use of myright foot and the loss of use
of my left foot.
Even though it happened alittle earlier, even though we
had the diagnosis a littleearlier, I still waited 18
(18:10):
months before I filed the claimand then made it a point to them
to point out that I wanted togo to O, and for those of you
who are not familiar O says yougo to the next level of aid and
attendance and if you havestandard aid and attendance, the
next level is your R1.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
And he does already have aid and attendance,
standard aid and attendance.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
So all he needs is, like you said, that perennial
loss of use of the second footor second leg.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
He's got to throw that dart through the O and he's
home free.
He's really, really an honestfellow and he don't want to do
anything.
That's not right.
Uh, that's not right, uh.
(19:06):
First he insinuated that I hadsome kind of pull with the
doctor and I assured him thedoctor knows my name, but that's
all.
He wouldn't know me if I passedhim on the street.
He said what, what would be myexcuse for driving all the way
to tell home to see a doctor,when I'm driving by a lot of
podiatrists on the way?
(19:27):
I said why would you need anexcuse?
You know we're not required tosee a doctor.
We can see whatever doctor wewant to see.
To see a doctor, we can seewhatever doctor we want to see.
Speaker 3 (19:41):
And the reason we choose this.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
Reason we choose this doctor is we know if he finds
something, he's going to do thetest to back it up.
You know he's going to supporthis findings and he's going to
write you a letter and he'sgoing to put it in your record
and he's going to order yourbraces, just like he should.
And all those podiatrists thathe's driving by to get to
(20:08):
telehoma I'm not so sure thatthey would.
Speaker 3 (20:13):
I don't know one that would well, you know that
that's the thing that people youknow they don't accept the fact
.
You know I mean my son-in-law'sa doctor and he's very cautious
to see veterans and write aletter for them even when
they're his patients, to comeback and look at his business or
(20:42):
look at what he does and haveto go through all the red tape
that these doctors have to gothrough if they become under
investigation.
So he chooses just not to do itand we have several here in
Winchester who will no longersee veterans because of some of
the red tape that they had to goto, even when it was a VA
(21:03):
sending the veterans to them.
So there's a lot to be said.
It's hard to find doctors thatare willing to write those
letters of support.
You know they may tell you whatthey've got, they may even
recommend a treatment, may tellyou what they've got, they may
even recommend a treatment, butto actually put it in writing or
to say it in your notes,they're very, very reluctant to
(21:25):
do that.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
Right.
Actually, what they're doing isthey're putting a reputation on
the line.
They write a letter and theystand behind it.
They're putting theirreputation on the line letter
and they stand behind it.
They're putting theirreputation on the line.
Now a lot of vets think this isjust a funny deal getting a
doctor's letter.
You know, I'll give him 200bucks and get a letter.
(21:51):
This ain't no joke and matter.
This is serious and as far asI'm concerned that's bribery.
You know, if a doctor don'thave good credentials and a good
reputation, then he can't do usany good.
We don't need him.
They need to maintain theirreputation, their good
(22:15):
credentials and be straight upif they're going to do us any
good.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
That's exactly right.
Speaker 3 (22:27):
Yeah, and I'm sure that he's got.
All you're asking for is anevaluation, Exactly.
If you don't like thatevaluation, you walk outside,
you wind it up and you throw itin the trash, can?
I've heard you say that severaltimes.
There's nothing says you haveto use it.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
You can tell me that for a second opinion.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
You don't have to use evidence against your claim in
your claim, against your claimin your claim.
And another thing like I toldhim, if he don't have loss of
that perineal nerve, doctor'sjust going to tell him you don't
have a loss of the perinealnerve.
It's that simple.
(23:13):
You know you got Medicareinsurance.
You use your Medicare to payfor the visit.
They gladly accept it and youtake what the doctor says.
You know If he says you've gotit, he's gonna prove it.
He's gonna do all the tests.
He's gonna do the x-rays, he'sgonna do the sonograms.
(23:33):
He's gonna back it up.
Speaker 3 (23:36):
He's gonna take that needle and stick it in the
bottom of your foot.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
Exactly.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
But anyway.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
I hope this guy gets his R1.
He certainly deserves it andhas for many years, believe it
or not.
I mentioned the automobilegrant.
Believe it or not, I mentionedthe automobile grant and you
(24:06):
know, if you've ever had one now, you've got to have had it 30
years before you can get yoursecond one.
All right, I mentioned theautomobile grant and he said I'm
doing my second one, so for 30years he's been an elf for 30
(24:26):
years.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
I don't think I'll ever need a second one if you
get an automobile grant tomorrowand 10 years down the road you
can get another one.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
If you've never had an automobile grant the date of
that law.
If you've had an automobilegrant prior to the date of that
law, then you've got 30 years togo to get the second one.
Speaker 1 (24:59):
Yeah, that's what I was thinking.
Yeah, that's kind of unfair,isn't it?
Well, I had one.
Speaker 2 (25:06):
Yeah, I had one and Ray had one, so we were 30 years
out.
But now you take my friend DonSmith he just got one a few
months ago, ten years, he didn'tget another one.
Uh-huh, he just got one a fewmonths ago, 10 years, he didn't
get another one.
Yeah, it's kind of stuck in thedeck, but I don't, I don't need
(25:29):
another one anyway.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
So I don't know, you probably ain't got room for one.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
I don't have room for one I've got.
You know, I went down to theDMV and I bought tags for my
Chevelle and we got a veteranhater down there.
She's kind of jealous, so shehollers back and she said Miss
(25:57):
Teresa, this veteran has got 13sets of tags and he wants
another one.
How many can he have?
She said all he wants.
So I got another set put on myChevelle.
My dump trucks even gotveterans tags veterans tags.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
That's what you do, I've got more money.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
You know I have to pay, I think, 28 bucks a set for
the excess plates that I have,but if not, I would be running
antique tags.
But I would be running antiquetags, but I like to run veterans
tags.
I can park in the wide spacesand don't get my doors slammed,
(26:50):
yeah it's worth it to me.
Yeah, it's plenty worth it tome In front of Walmart.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
you'd pull in that big long one there in front
where nobody gets around you atall.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
Right, I'll fight over that long one.
I've seen sides over that beforewe see some kind of training
(27:24):
updates for service officers.
But training just ain't goingto buy it.
You know it's got to get inyour blood.
You got to want to know theselaws.
You take somebody like the onewe were just talking to, ben.
Let's take another one.
(27:45):
My mentor that I went to stateservice officers training school
under for 20 years never hadever heard of an R1.
He did not know that there weretwo ways that you could get an
L and he spent 40 years on thejob.
(28:07):
He's retired now for the secondtime.
But I went to him and you know138 bucks is what a set of CFRs
cost.
I couldn't afford $138.
But the state employees get anew set every year so I would
(28:30):
always get his old one and itwould have his name in the
binder.
So the date I took my claim forR1 to him, he said you've
already got eight attendants.
I said no, tom, I don't.
He said you got an L.
I said that's for loss of useof two feet.
(28:53):
He said you mean to tell methere's more than one way to get
an L?
Speaker 3 (28:58):
I said yes.
Speaker 2 (28:59):
He said where are you getting that?
And I opened that CFR and Isaid, right here.
He said, let me go get my CFR.
Well, what I had in my hand wasa year old, but it used to
belong to him, so you could tellthat the book had never been
opened.
(29:20):
I kept it by my crapper.
Every time I'd take a crap I'dget a little smarter and I guess
that's why he wanted to go gethis own book.
Speaker 1 (29:33):
Well, you know, the VB is a veteran's service manual
that you can get from LexusNexus.
I ordered that a few years agoand you've got to keep updating
it.
It's got a lot of stuff in itand if I don't understand that,
there's two ways to get to R1,there's standard aid attendance
and loss of equal to extremities, or two feet.
I guess one foot and one handtoo would do it.
(29:55):
It puts you up to the level oh,you bounce off the O and slide
into R1.
You know, but you have to touchthe O and then bouncing off of
it is touching it, you know, andyou bounce off of it.
So you guys are doing it, youknow actually I got R1 two
(30:19):
different ways.
Speaker 2 (30:23):
The first time I got R1 through the BVA it was, I bet
, the requirements of the O Ihad two special monthly
compensation ratings between theL and the O and one of them was
(30:45):
standard aid and attendance Bamautomatically.
Speaker 3 (30:50):
R1.
Speaker 2 (30:51):
Like I'm telling this guy don't worry about the R1.
Worry about getting through theO, the R1 will come
automatically.
So then, five years later, Iwent to court and I'm asking for
an earlier effective date forthat.
R1.
10 years earlier in all.
(31:13):
So the court decided they couldaward it because they saw a
need of aid and attendance forheart disease alone and then
another aid and attendance forother service-connected
disabilities.
Two aid and attendances, andthat being loss of use of two
(31:39):
feet and loss of use of twohands.
So, I've had the best of bothworlds.
Speaker 1 (31:47):
you know, I think Alex is a big fan of R1 because
of two needs of aid andattendance, separate and
distinct.
Yeah, he is a big fan of it.
I mean, of course, he isbasically.
(32:07):
In my opinion, he's probablythe most up-to-date when it
comes to high levels of specialmonthly compensation.
I hate to say it, alex is aboutas badass as you're going to
get.
Speaker 2 (32:21):
You know, alex likes to learn and he's not going to
be defeated.
And that's a pretty goodcombination.
He just refuses to lose.
(32:41):
He does when you're fightingfor a veteran.
How could it get any better?
Speaker 1 (32:52):
It can't.
It can't.
I mean basically you know, ofcourse now you've got to realize
too that when he deals withmostly his cases, like you know,
vietnam vets are, you know, arescrewed up really bad.
It's almost morbid because alot of his claimants actually
pass away and he's carrying atorch and he's trying to get the
wife, the IC and the crewbenefits and things like that.
(33:15):
That's a lot of his business,that's what he does.
He really doesn't care aboutthe money much.
He's got plenty of it.
He does it because he can andhe wants to do it.
Speaker 2 (33:28):
Wow, that's a situation that he chose.
He wasn't forced into that.
He chose that, and if you canonly take so many clients, then
I can see why Alex would cherrypick the ones where he thought
(33:50):
he could do the most good and Ithink that's what he's doing
Speaker 1 (33:54):
yep, it's true, you know, and it's a different type
of cherry picker folks.
A lot of times we talk aboutcherry picker, we talk about
like the attorney groups outhere say you want to send a, say
you got a court case or a BAappeal, and they look at the
money that they're going to get.
Of course the court case hasgot the EAJA, but a lot of times
they're saying, well, this guyhere is only fighting for 20%,
(34:14):
so it's not going to be muchmoney, so we're not going to do
that.
You know it's called cherrypicking.
But Alex is different.
He don't cherry pick the money,he cherry picks the case.
And the case is who's in themost needy?
It doesn't do much.
Speaker 2 (34:28):
If it meets his standards and his requirement,
then he's cherry-picking it.
Otherwise he's referring it tosomebody else that can take that
case and run with it.
Guys, he's got some good people.
Yeah, I admire him for whathe's doing.
(34:49):
Good people, james, I've himfor what he's doing.
Speaker 1 (34:51):
Good people.
James, I've got a question.
Now, what is the veteran'soption?
It's okay to say you get aservice officer that you file a
claim with.
One of your vets files a claimand the service officer is
supposed to turn the claim in tothe VA.
If the veteran files multipleclaims, to give them to the
(35:12):
service officer, but the serviceofficer only turns in one or
two claims and there's like fiveor six left over and then
doesn't get touched past theexpiration date of a certain
document you've got in the VA.
What happens?
What's the veteran's options?
I mean I don't know.
I mean it's just been.
It's kind of a catch-22, isn'tit because the VA is not going
to go back, because they don'thave to?
Speaker 2 (35:35):
The situation we're in now and I don't mind telling
you it involves a serviceofficer.
Cheatham County, tennessee.
Speaker 1 (35:46):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (35:47):
One of our veterans filed an intent and then, after
he filed that intent together,we went to see the service
officer seven months later andfiled on five issues which
(36:11):
should have been covered by thatintent.
Well, she sat on it more thanfive months and five days after
his intent expired she filed itwith the VA.
Expired, she filed it with theVA.
(36:40):
We filed on five separateissues.
She only turned in one issue.
The one that she turned in wasloss of two feet.
The VA awarded that.
But then there was a 4138 thatwas written up in his file where
his disabilities were describedone by one.
The raider found the 4138 andhe knew the service officer
(37:07):
didn't do her job.
So he inferred PTSD and theveteran was awarded 50% for that
.
He also inferred loss of use oftwo hands, which I'm sure will
be granted His hands are justuseless.
(37:27):
Severe anxiety and depression.
We tried to file on and shedidn't file on it.
So the VA don't care why thatintent to file was five days
late, doesn't?
Speaker 3 (37:48):
matter to them.
Speaker 2 (37:50):
Expired means expired , so he lost $27,000 on loss of
use of two feet alone.
And then I don't know I haven'tbothered to figure out what he
lost on the 50% award for twofeet, but that would have been a
(38:12):
P1 award at F3, which wouldadded maybe 500 bucks a month
for that year the onlyalternative we have, or that he
has, is to sue sue the serviceoffice and the county which he
(38:37):
has.
Actually, when you sue thecounty, you have to serve them
with an intent to sue.
First.
Give them 15 working days tosee what they're going to do
about it, and that 15 workingdays is up tomorrow.
(38:58):
We haven't heard a word, not athank you, not a I'm sorry,
let's talk about it, not a.
Kiss my butt Nothing.
Let's talk about it, not kissmy butt nothing.
Most bank robberies wouldn'tproduce that kind of money, but
they just took that money awayfrom that veteran and we think
(39:24):
it was intentional.
We think we're talking grossnegligence because prior, six
months prior to that, he wrote astatement about that service
officer where she had not donehim right, so we think it was
intentional.
(39:45):
We're finding the problem isgetting an attorney to represent
somebody who's suing them a newmunicipal fatality, that's the
problem.
That's where we're at now we'reshopping for an attorney?
(40:08):
not yet.
We've got some leads but thisveteran is not going to quit.
You know he's determined.
Yeah, if you've got one, we'lltake any leads we can get.
We'll see what happens.
I think you know there needs tobe an investigation.
(40:32):
Why did that service officerwait to file that 526EZ?
That's a 15-minute job.
That should have actually beendone before we left that office
that day.
Speaker 1 (40:51):
And then she waited five.
Speaker 2 (40:54):
Yeah, waited five months and five days.
I think worse than that.
Speaker 1 (41:05):
Well, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (41:07):
Yeah, yeah, I think it was a target.
Speaker 1 (41:12):
Now in.
Speaker 2 (41:14):
All right, should she get by with that Because she's
a service officer?
Like I said, she's one of thegood old boys and that's what
she prefers to be and that'swhat she prefers to be A lot of
(41:35):
these service officers.
They bring them on boardbecause they're family kid folks
and they become part of thegood old boys when they should
be becoming part of the veterancommunity.
Forget the good old boys.
But they're paid by the county.
Speaker 1 (41:55):
That's the catch-22.
It is, it's pathetic, and younever know they might pony up.
Speaker 2 (42:19):
Yeah, we'd love to find a lawyer that would take
this case, you know we've gotthe, we've got all the paperwork
from the Department of VeteransAffairs showing when he filed
his intent, when we actuallyfiled the claim and when she
turned it in to the VA, and it'sjust no question five days
after it expired, okay, it hasto be a furnished license
(42:45):
practice at Tennessee.
Speaker 1 (42:46):
Is that correct?
It don't have to be anywhere inthe state of Tennessee.
Say that again.
It has to be an attorney'slicense to practice in the state
of Tennessee, right.
Speaker 2 (42:59):
I would imagine.
Yes, you know it could turninto a federal tort.
I don't know.
You would have to be anattorney to decide that.
That's way above my pay grade.
Speaker 1 (43:19):
Well, I think we'll find the right one.
But I mean, basically, guys,what we're saying here is don't
take the word, you know.
I mean, if something like thiswas to happen to you and you got
a claim in there and something,similar situation happened, of
course people that are human aregoing to make mistakes, but
this doesn't.
This doesn't seem to be humanerror, it's kind of.
This kind of this is.
(43:40):
This is a bad case of harm andanytime, the first thing you got
to prove is, when you're doingsomething like this, you have to
prove that you were harmed, andthis situation harm means if it
cost you money or a benefit,that's called harm.
So that's what.
That's what the tour is allabout.
You know, for example, if theysay you go to a hospital and you
(44:03):
say, for example, your yourright kidneys bad and they go
operate on you and take out yourleft kidney, well it costs you
harm right there too.
If you take out the wrongkidney I ain't saying that, but
it happens cut off the wrong leg, you know anything like that.
Speaker 2 (44:20):
You know it's harm, so you know well, that would be
a that would be an 1151 claim,and what we've got is a civil
suit.
Well, that would be an 1151claim.
What we've got is a civil suit.
Speaker 1 (44:34):
Right, civil suit.
I mean, yeah, same thing.
I mean, you know, but itdepends on too if it's VA or not
.
You know, it could be a regularhospital In 1151, they just,
you know, I mean they'll serviceconnect what they did.
But I mean other than that youknow, it's kind's not along the
lines of aggravation.
You know each day they would payif you have one condition.
They'd rate something else.
They pay only to the extent ofthe aggravation.
(44:55):
Say, for example, you got highblood pressure when you're in
the service.
They let you in and they gotworse in service and they'll
they'll only do the aggravationpart of it.
So, come on, it's, it's.
It's that again.
You know you got to know thisstuff and you got to be able to
read this stuff because there'sso much complex, complexity with
these rules and regulations andthings like that.
(45:15):
There's so many subparagraphssubparagraph A, b and C's.
You know it can be a.
You know if you're not holdingyour tongue right you might miss
it.
You know you got to beparticular in order to
understand this stuff andfortunately some of these
attorneys are good at what theydo.
You know they can put ittogether and I know several of
them that are really good atwhat they do and so hopefully
(45:38):
we'll get one on board and getthis guy.
Make this man righteous,because the man needs to get.
You know, the man needs to getfinished and get his stuff done
so he can go and live his life.
I mean you sit here and wasteyour time and you sit here 15,
20 years fighting the VA.
You can get PTSD from doingthis stuff, can't you Ray?
Speaker 2 (45:59):
Well, I see no defense for the county and the
service office, because sixmonths prior to this we warned
them that she wasn't doing herjob right.
And then she has no right totriage a veteran's claims and
(46:19):
decide which one she's going tosend in and which one she's not
going to send in.
She just don't have that right.
Speaker 1 (46:36):
You know, back when I first started this Duke, when I
first started this stuff, I goteducated to a certain extent.
I won my claim based on myselfand my first claim after 14
years of fighting, I usedrepresentation.
After the DAV screwed my claimon pieces Excuse my French, I
didn't cuss, but I was going to.
I got an education.
(46:57):
I sat in front of the computerfor years reading and studying
Title 38 and all the regulationsand I decided well, in order to
be able to track the claimwithout having access, you know,
because you know, back then allyou had to do was call the 800
number and they had two minutesto get you off the phone.
Remember the old Peggy days,right, peggy Prince or somebody
else?
And so I said, well, let's usethem as secretaries.
(47:20):
So what I did was I would turnthe, did all the legwork myself
and it worked out, you know, forme eventually, finally, you
know, but still, guys, yourclaim is only as strong as your
representation.
(47:40):
But then again, I see somenightmares too on some of these
websites people doing the claimsthemselves and they post
something on the board I've donethis and this and this.
I'm like, oh crap, you'reseeing more crap moments when
somebody totally screwed a claimup and you and you see them do
it in real time because theydon't want to have a
representative to help them dostuff.
You know somebody's got somecatchy stuff off the back.
(48:01):
But I've seen and once you getoff the claim on the hamster
wheel and back in claimspurgatory you're in trouble.
It's going to take you years toget it straightened out.
Speaker 2 (48:12):
Well, you know, I did about the same thing you did,
John.
I just happened across awebsite, really good source of
(48:34):
reliable information.
I can't say it's the sameanymore.
But, I came a long way withthat website.
Speaker 1 (48:46):
That was a big part of that buddy back in the day.
Speaker 2 (48:50):
Yeah a lot of respect , a lot of respect for some of
them on there, a lot of peopleare dead and gone now, buddy.
Well, too many people got onthere that knew it all, that
knew nothing.
Speaker 3 (49:06):
many people got on there that knew it all.
Speaker 2 (49:10):
that knew nothing, and I wouldn't say it's not a
reliable site anymore.
Speaker 1 (49:23):
In fact, I don't think I've been on it going on a
year.
If it hadn't been a year, well,you're only as good as your
contributors anyway.
So you know, I'll leave it atthat.
Speaker 2 (49:33):
But it served its purpose, it did.
Speaker 1 (49:37):
It did, it did.
I mean a lot of folks get onthere and they do win their
claims and they just disappear.
You know, I like to it forwardand uh, you do too.
I mean you know you spend a lotof time helping.
That's right.
That's the same thing.
You know, we talk all the timeabout vets and things like that.
So, um, if you guys do win yourclaim and and you know what else
(50:00):
you're going to do, I mean youalready boogered up and uh, you
know and uh you keep your mindoff your past.
Go ahead and start and start toutilize your experience and
help people out.
Do what you can do.
Pay it forward.
That's what you should do.
You're right, man, you're onlyas good as your representation
(50:23):
and your information and yourcontributions that you have that
people make for you and thecontributions you make for other
areas.
So you know, hey guys, there'sFacebook pages now, like the
Veterans Claiming AssistanceGroups, doug Haines' groups and
things like that.
I mean it's just so much overthe top.
I mean you're talking 50 to100,000, 250,000 members.
(50:45):
You got accredited agents, yougot VA employees, you got
everything on there andinformation and advice is pretty
much golden.
Of course, they don't advertise.
They're going to do this andhelp people, but they do help
you and you know it's a lotbetter, a lot easier you can get
your questions answered there.
Speaker 2 (51:05):
Yes, you can, especially and usually by
somebody that's accredited getyour questions answered there.
Speaker 1 (51:10):
Yes, you can this one , and usually by somebody that's
accredited to answer thequestion too.
Don't forget that folks Get onthat.
It's BA Veterans Claims,Assistance Scripts on Facebook.
They'd be glad to have you.
You can just research and studythose questions and that you
can probably get your questionanswered without even asking the
question.
You can probably just do asearch on questions and you can
probably get your questionanswered without even asking the
question.
You can probably just do asearch on it and it'll pop up a
(51:31):
hundred times and the biggestquestion on there is what's
going on with McLean?
That's about the number onequestion in the world with Dylan
Zetcher what's going on withMcLean?
Speaker 2 (51:46):
get on one go ahead.
I saw on.
I got an email today that theVA is bragging because they're
only 250,000 claims behind now.
Ain't that something to bragabout?
(52:07):
Behind now, Ain't thatsomething to brag about?
Speaker 3 (52:16):
I can remember being 650,000 back in the legacy
system.
Well, what I've seen aroundhere too, you gotta look at that
.
How did they get there?
And how did they get there soquick in the last 120, 130 days
somewhere along in there?
You know, it's very simple.
They do a denial.
(52:38):
As far as they're concerned,it's over with, it's finished.
So if they can't find exactlywhat's going on, they deny it.
And they say, well, that'sgoing on.
They deny it and they said,look, that's another one off of
our desk.
You know, give me a net a boy.
You know I cleared five forclaims today.
How many did you approve?
Speaker 2 (52:57):
none, yeah, well, you already know what I had to say
about their 125 days days.
Speaker 3 (53:07):
You want a.
Speaker 1 (53:07):
Spanish lesson.
Toro de caca Myth.
Alphabetical folks A-9, b-9,c-9, d-9.
I wonder how much the I wonder,if the claims have gone down
that much, how much has theappeal went up?
Oh yeah, there there yeah,they're connected.
Speaker 3 (53:34):
Peter Todder.
Yeah the old seesaw up and downseesaw.
Speaker 2 (53:42):
I just happened to be at one of Ray's seminars when
it was announced that the VAcould now adjudicate a claim in
125 days.
I just happened to be the nextspeaker.
Speaker 1 (53:59):
I wouldn't have had a shift, would I?
Speaker 2 (54:04):
I think I said the VA can't pick their own nose in
125 days, I think I said the VAcan't pick their own nose in 125
days.
Speaker 1 (54:13):
Well, they blame a lot of stuff on the face and
things like that.
You know IG comes in.
They got popped the other dayabout the PACT Act.
All these claims were, what doyou call it?
Misguided, mispaid.
Some got underpaid, Most gotoverpaid and they got gigged
pretty hard for that, up to thetune of billions of dollars.
Then last year they went infront of Congress saying they
(54:34):
needed money.
They were broke and then theydid a final audit and they were
ahead by $5 billion.
So what's what?
I don't think I know what theyhad.
Of course, it's such a bigorganization that it's money to
get a handle on it, and allthese claims and these mistakes
that they make should have beencalled by quality assurance in
the aftermath, Because that'swhat you've got quality
(54:56):
assurance for.
You check things over to makesure things are done right.
That's my background withquality assurance.
If you do a claim and thingslike that, somebody has to go
through it and look at it with afine-tooth comb and say, okay,
this is wrong, this is wrong,this is wrong.
Can you fix it?
That's what should be done.
Speaker 2 (55:12):
Who does quality control work for?
Speaker 1 (55:17):
Same person that the raider does.
There's your sign.
Talk worthy.
Well, guys, I hate to tell youthis.
It's kind of a bad newssituation, but we're up against
the wall here.
We're totally out of time.
We've got about a minute towork on it, james.
Thanks for coming on, buddy,and you've been a breath of
(55:38):
fresh air.
Thanks for your advice, yourguides and information.
Ray, thank you for yourkindness, your guidance and your
information.
You're really good at what youdo.
We appreciate both of you.
I just wish we could do thisfor a lot longer, but I mean,
you know, you never know whatdiabetes is going to relate to.
You know, it's just kind of abad thing.
(56:01):
So we'll do this again.
Ray and I will be on next weekwith Bethany.
I'll be in DC, but we'll stilldo the show.
We'll be on next week withBethany.
I'll be in DC, but we'll stilldo the show.
And, james, we'll get you backon here soon, buddy.
Real quick.
When does that video?
You did that YouTube.
Is it clear?
Is it going to come out anytimesoon?
Speaker 2 (56:24):
I expect it any day now.
Usually it takes about threeweeks from the day that it's
executed.
It has to go through theediting when it comes out, it'll
just be bam.
You'll know it, you'll know it.
Speaker 1 (56:42):
Oh yeah.
Well, listen, guys.
I appreciate you guys coming onOn behalf of Mr James Cripps
and Mr Ray Cobb of the greatstate of Tennessee.
This is John Stacy, aka JayBesser, and we'll be signing off
for now.
Appreciate that, mike.
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