What is a nexus letter?
A nexus letter is a document that explains the connection between an in-service event with the medical condition that the veteran is suffering from and is seeking service-connected compensations for, this letter must be prepared by a medical professional and must be done with care extreme care to details.
why is a nexus letter important?
The nexus letter is one of the most important elements in your VA claim and can be the deciding factor on whether you’re gonna get the benefits that you deserve or not
before the VA can provide you with your disability benefits they are required by law to have proof that the unpleasant condition that you’re suffering from is caused by your time in service that is where the nexus letter comes into play, A letter that is provided by a qualified medical professional that states the above and includes strong evidence can greatly raise your chances of getting the disability benefits you deserve.
“Most denied veterans’ claims failed because of the lack of a nexus letter altogether or the lack of a properly written Nexus letter.” – State of North Dakota Veterans Affairs
after reading this statement I don’t believe that I need to emphasize the importance of a nexus letter any further.
How to obtain a well-done nexus letter?
one of the most important elements of a good nexus letter is having a medical professional who preferably specializes in your area of injury write the letter and provide evidence. however, keep in mind that when writing your letter your doctor doesn’t have to be 100% certain about everything, mentioning that he believes the condition you’re filling your disability claim for was presumably caused by your time in the military is enough to help with your case.
also having professionals helps you with filling your disability claim and obtaining and reviewing your nexus letter is something that will greatly raise your chances of getting the VA benefits you deserve, if you are facing any obstacles or you are uncertain about anything related to your VA claim and nexus letter do not hesitate to contact the team at Gumps VA Compensation Services.

As an elderly veteran, there are many programs aimed at you that you probably don’t know about, and it’s our duty at gumps legal to make sure that you get the benefits that you deserve for your service, those programs serve different needs some are necessary for a lot of veterans and some are more of an entertaining ones that are also essential for your well-being mentally, In this blog we’ll make sure that you learned about those programs that you rightly earned.
There are two types of programs:
1- home and community-based programs:-
•Home based primary care: this is a program that is aimed at veterans with complex medical needs where the ability to travel to the medical center back and forth is limited, this program provides you with primary care in your own home, and a VA physician supervises the work of the health care team that is providing you with health care services.
•Adult day health care: this is a program that veterans can attend during the day, it’s a social program that allows veterans to be surrounded by fellow veterans and enjoy social activities, peer support, and recreation. Some health services may be available too.
•Hospice Care: this service is offered for veterans at the very last stage of their life, typically 6 months or less, it’s focused on palliative care and dealing with end-of-life pain, both physical and emotional pain.
•Skilled home health care: this program provides veterans with short-term health care while they’re moving from a hospital to their home or from a nursing home, and they offer veterans with ongoing needs a long-term care.
•Respite care: this is a service that pays for the health care expenses when the family health giver needs a break.
•Veteran-Directed care: this program gives veterans a budget to allow them to hire their own workers that can provide them with the detailed care that they need.
•Remote Monitoring Care: this service allows the Veteran’s health giver to monitor their medical conditions using home monitoring equipment.
•Homemaker/Home Health Aide: this service provides veterans with a trained person that helps the veterans take care of themselves and their regular daily activities. However, keep in mind that this person isn’t a nurse but their work is supervised by a registered nurse.

2- Residential based options:
•Adult Family/Foster Homes: those are places that the veteran can rent a room and stay in with 6 other residents or less, a trained caregiver is always present 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, this place involved a shared common space, and a nurse can come and provide extra care when needed.
•Assisted living: those facilities are places where the veterans can live in a rented room or apartment, those facilities have some shared living spaces and just like the (Adult Family/Foster homes) there’s always a trained caregiver present at the facility.
•Community residential care: the (CRC) is for veterans who do not require nursing home care or a medical center but cannot live alone because of medical and psychiatric conditions, this service takes place in different places like the assisted living facilities, personal care homes, group living homes and more.
•Medical Foster Home: this place is similar to a nursing home and it serves as an alternative for individuals who prefer a non-institutional setting with fewer residents, A Caregiver is always present.
3- Nursing home options:
•Community Living center.
•Community Nursing Home.
•state veterans home.
If you’re a veteran and you’d like to know more about those programs and how to qualify for them and get your full rights, Gumps legal legal is the right place for you, Because oftentimes some veterans that deserve those benefits and more face a significant number of obstacles on their journey of getting the disability compensation that they deserve mostly due to their unskilled or inexperienced representatives.

As a veteran, getting certain accrued benefits for your service to the nation is your right no doubt. When
there are injuries or disabilities sustained in the course of the discharge of your duties; then you can
make a claim and receive compensation for it. This will not take away the pain or injury but it should go
a long way to show that the nation cares about Veterans and is committed to making the rest of their
lives as easy as possible.
However, filing a VA disability claim is not a walk in the park and would require that you follow strictly,
the due process. You would need tangible and cogent evidence to support your disability claim. Some
important documents to present would include:
1. An approved and verified VA medical report that clearly states the disability or injury you are
claiming.
2. A professional doctor's report from a private healthcare facility supporting your claim and
3. Attestations from trustworthy members of the society such as your family or clergymen proving
the validity of your VA disability claim and how if has affected you.
If you need assistance, do not fail to ask every step of the way. You definitely deserve to be
compensated.

Getting certain accrued benefits for your disability claims as a veteran is your right. This is something you are entitled to without a doubt for all the efforts and sacrifice made to see that everyone sleeps peacefully without fear of attack on the nation. Losing a part of the body in the line of duty can be a lot to cope with, most people never recover from it. The country can only alleviate part of the pain by providing veterans some benefits. The issue comes when a veteran is unable to convincingly put to writing what he has lost and what kind of help he deserves.

Here are a few tips to bear in mind when you want to write that killer VA statement:

• While the VA Statement that will increase your ratings should be detailed, explaining the severity and impact of your disability, it should not be too long.
• Clearly state when the disability started and the present symptoms you experience. Add specific dates if you remember.
• Rather than trying to evoke pity, be factual and have evidence readily available to back up your claim.

Veterans are real life superheroes and deserve the best of treatments. In order to know how and what exacy you need help with, there is a need to let the rater know where the shoe pinches. A top notch VA statement will pull down the needed support faster because in that 3 -5 paragraph document, the reader will get a glimpse of your world.

Celebrating veterans is a duty of all whether you are in the military or not. Veterans Day is a day of honour and recognition for those most deserving of it. Both serving and non-serving veterans deserve all the appreciation for their sacrifices, timeless labour and several deprivations that come with the job.
How then should one ensure a fun-filled and memorable veteran’s day celebration for our living heroes?

● You should attend: it’s a special annual celebration hence your presence will go a long way to convey a message of love and support to the veterans. People go out sometimes for family get-togethers and picnics, so honouring veterans by showing up on their day to celebrate them would speak value and honour.

● Fly the country’s flag: whichever way you understand how to, a flag off for the sake of veterans on their day will be well appreciated and would also communicate to them that they are loved, honoured and appreciated.

● Support: there are countless organizations opened to donations and other services for the sake of honouring the veterans day, you could team up with anyone to donate cash and gifts.

● Drop a note: no matter how bad you are at writing, scribbling your gratitude on a card and sending it to a veteran on his day is a priceless gift. It sends a signal of deep appreciation down his marrows.

● A visit to a VA health care: checking up on veterans in the hospital as well and marking the day with them in that state is a great show of love and appreciation.

In the words of Roy Rogers, “we all can’t be heroes”, hence, it’s only fair to celebrate those who are in every way possible.

After spending months and even years in combat with national enemies facing the horror of war and the fear of death; it is not too much to take a few days to cool off and relax while unboxing surprise gifts. As a matter of fact, it is well deserved. Spending quality time with family and loved ones at Christmas, going on sightseeing, eating fine meals during Thanksgiving are the luxuries that most veterans have either been denied or can not afford.

When it comes to comfort and making fun memories with loved ones who are veterans, no one can put a price to that of course but some Veterans can not afford it.  Some organizations exist who have taken it upon themselves to shoulder part (or all) of the cost and responsibilities of affording veterans who have defended the country so fearlessly the opportunity to be pampered during holidays or to reach out to their loved ones  with gifts to remind them that they are not alone.  They are:

1. Operation Holiday Joy: They provide food, toys and presents to families of military personnel and their loved ones.
2. Veteran Service Organization: they offer diverse help to veterans to make their holidays enjoyable.
3. USO: this is the Santa for Veterans. They give out gifts, food and giveaways.

Final Note

You never have to have a boring holiday as a veteran or leave your loved ones without some presents while you are away during the holidays. Visit your VA headquarters to find out holiday treats near you for Veterans.

Benefits for Spouses of Veterans.

Marriage comes with a lot of responsibilities no doubt but marrying an active service member, a retired military personnel or a veteran can bring with it some extra responsibilities. You would have to deal with their constant absence and the ever looming shadow of death or an injury that changes your whole marital experience. The unpredictability of their profession can take a toll on anyone but it gets better!

When you know that there are benefits that you stand to enjoy as a spouse of a veteran, though it does not in anyway compensate for the actual loss,  you can heave sighs of relief without worrying so much about the future. These VA benefits seeks to alleviate the aftermath sufferings of spouses and families of Veterans and show gratitude.  There are different criteria that must be met to qualify for different benefits but they are not rocket science. Some of the benefits accrued to spouses of

Veterans include:

• Dependency and Indemnity Compensation: as a program under the Veteran Affairs, this supports spouses of dead or disabled veterans in the event of economic losses brought about by their demise.
• VA loans for homes: Spouses of Veterans can get VA loans to acquire homes as long as their veteran spouses died or suffered service-related injuries and disabilities.
• Healthcare benefits: this is about the most popular benefits spouses to living or dead veterans can enjoy. Healthcare benefits ranging from surgeries to drug prescriptions are covered by the VA.
• Educational assistance benefits: spouses caring for veterans can enjoy educational benefits too.

 

Final Note

Being a spouse of a veteran whether dead or alive qualifies you for some benefits. You can visit appropriate VA quarters to find out the steps to take to begin enjoying benefits that are due to you.

In the spirit of the season, our dedicated team at Gumps Legal has compiled a list of deals, giveaways, and discounts for veterans and active-duty military members this holiday.

We are glad to bring you a resource guide that will help you enjoy your holiday. However, keep in mind that most of the companies will require a means of identification or proof of military service.

2020 Holiday Deals, Giveaways, and Discounts for Veterans and Service Members

Trees for Troops
Trees for Troops is a wonderful organization on a mission to extend the Christmas spirit to veterans, children, and the environment at large by delivering free and farm-grown Christmas trees to various places.

The Christmas-based organization delivers trees directly to various military bases across the United States.

You can check HERE for more information or contact your MWR office.

YMCA Operation Holiday Joy
YMCA is an amazing organization that gives out gifts and foods to junior service members and their families. The organization was founded in 2004, and more than 25,000 food baskets and 320,000 toys has been given out to service members and their families.

YMCA has different branches in various cities across the United States.

You check HERE to find your local branch

Operation Christmas Spirit
The Operation Christmas Spirit’s mission is to show gratitude and appreciate active service members for the sacrifices they make for the nation by giving them Christmas gifts.

The organization also has a program that give toys to children and an Adopt-a-family program.

Eligibility requirements:

• Rank of E1 to E5
• Any rank with four children and above.
• Any rank with proof of need.

Apply for Operation Christmas Spirit support HERE

Full Circle Home

Full circle home supports deployed service members by helping them send Christmas gifts to their loved one(s) back home.

If you are a deployed service member, click HERE to sign up and send a gift to that special person or people.

Veterans’ Service Organization

The local veterans’ organization are not left out too. They also support veterans and their families in various ways during the holiday. This includes grocery gift cards, Adopt-a-family programs, and toy drives.

You can check for your local VSOs HERE

Vietnam Era Navy Deck Logs

In a bid to ensure that disability claims are disbursed for Vietnam-era veterans, the Department of Veteran Affairs announced that they have successfully digitized thousands of deck logs from ships used during the Vietnam war which were stationed offshore. They were able to achieve this due to their collaboration with the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Who worked closely with VA to discover locations of those ships and then digitize the deck logs recovered from the ships, all of which sums up to over 1,800 in numbers.

How The Digitization Helps Veterans

The information in these deck logs will help validate the claims made by the Blue Water Navy Veterans (those who were posted to serve on ships in deep waters off the Vietnam coast). So, these deck logs will help VA determine where the veterans served, the type of toxins they were exposed to, and also determine if they are eligible for VA disability benefits.

In a press statement made by the VA secretary Robert Wilkie, he said “the deck logs move should make it easier for veterans to receive the benefits they have earned without burdening them with paperwork”.

In the past, only Vietnam-era veterans that served within inland waterways or served on the ground could receive VA disability benefits based on an assumption of exposure to harmful chemicals. The veterans that served on ships offshore were not granted this same opportunity by Veteran Affairs. They were required to provide certain proof that the illnesses they experienced later in life were service-related, and they were also required to provide ship logs as a proof that they truly served in the waters around Vietnam.

Veterans Affairs Advocates clamored for years that the proof required was an unfair obligation on aging and infirm veterans. Now, lawmakers have finally agreed and passed legislation last year which instructed the Department of Veteran Affairs to update their decades-old records.

What Veterans Should Know

The collaboration between VA and NARA successfully digitized over 29 million images from the Coast Guard deck logs and U.S Navy dating back as far as 1956-1978. This provides vital information like date, ship name, and coordinates, which are enough to foster the VA internal processing system. It also ensures that the Veteran representatives have all the evidence needed to make a decision when a claim is filed.

The data obtained has also resulted in faster service for veterans as it has already assisted the VA in granting more than 22,524 claims since Jan 1, 2020. However, NARA has not finished their work yet, as they are still trying to make the newly-digitized records publicly available on the National Archives Website.

VA  officials have also advised veterans looking to file a claim to do so with the help of an approved Veteran Lawyer. However, if veterans or survivors have previously filed a claim and were denied, they can also file a supplemental file with the help of their VA Lawyer.

The military lifestyle has taught servicemen and women to be strong in battlefronts and expect the unexpected. Unfortunately, there is no training that teaches them how to handle life after they leave the military. For this reason, many veterans deal with a lot of crises and stress that their civilian family and friends can’t understand, and 95% of the time, these crises are usually due to experiences from their military years.

So, helping these veterans requires a deep understanding of what they are going through. They need to talk to someone who gets it or who has once been in their shoes, and a veteran community is precisely what they need to scale through a crisis.

Below are some of the benefits of community support for veterans in crisis:

• Access To Top-Notch Care

Veteran communities help veterans get the medical care they need by connecting them to the health services based on their unique needs.

• Helps Identify More Veterans In Crisis

Many campaigns and programs have been carried out in the past to create awareness and also identify veterans in crisis. Some of these programs have been effective, while some are not.

Fortunately, veteran communities have been able to identify veterans in crisis with the help of social media. Once they find a veteran in crisis, they immediately appoint another veteran in that area to care for the veteran in crisis.

• Restrict Access To Lethal Equipment

Veterans find it difficult to give up their weapons, and research shows that this is the most common tool veterans use to commit suicide.

So having a supportive community that can be trusted with their weapons will help reduce suicide rates.

Final Note

There are lots of veterans out there that have lost their sense of meaning and can’t figure out their life after the military.

So, if you know a veteran in crisis or you are a veteran in crisis, you can try connecting with other veterans in real life or social media, seek out faith-based communities, reach out to mental health experts at the VA hospital, and also apply for VA benefits available through the Veteran Affairs Department.