For disability resulting from personal injury suffered or disease contracted in line of duty, or for aggravation of a preexisting injury suffered or disease contracted in line of duty, in the active military, naval, or air service, during a period of war, the United States will pay to any veteran thus disabled and who was discharged or released under conditions other than dishonorable from the period of service in which said injury or disease was incurred, or preexisting injury or disease was aggravated, compensation as provided in this subchapter, but no compensation shall be paid if the disability is a result of the veteran's own willful misconduct or abuse of alcohol or drugs.
For disability resulting from personal injury suffered or disease contracted in line of duty, or for aggravation of a preexisting injury suffered or disease contracted in line of duty, in the active military, naval, or air service, during other than a period of war, the United States will pay to any veteran thus disabled and who was discharged or released under conditions other than dishonorable from the period of service in which said injury or disease was incurred, or preexisting injury or disease was aggravated, compensation as provided in this subchapter, but no compensation shall be paid if the disability is a result of the veteran's own willful misconduct or abuse of alcohol or drugs.
By Law every person who is injured while on Active duty and who are disabled due to their injuries must be given a Service Connected Disability Rating and Paid Compensation for their disabling injuries and conditions. This includes but is not restricted to exposure to any chemical agent or substance. Like Agent Orange, radiation or whatever chemical or biological agent regardless if it is man made or indigenous to the area we served in which we have come into contact with.
The Law even covers us in the event that an injury and/or condition become disabling years after we are discharged from Active Duty and states that we must be paid compensation back to the last period of service. For some of us this could go as far back as 1944 or 45. The only circumstances allowed by the Law for a denial of compensation is if a person is discharges with something less than an honorable discharge, a disabling injury or condition was not suffered as a result of some injury or illness contracted while we were on Active Duty, or a person?s disability is the result of that person?s own willful misconduct.
Willful misconduct would be a person who has purposely and with the intent to get out of some duty or out of the Military Service. While there maybe those individuals who would attempt to get the DVA to pay them disability for injuries they received after they were discharged. These individuals are few and far between. The Law acknowledges the possibility and authorized a denial of a Veteran's claim on those grounds, which the DVA must be able to prove. The only other reason that the DVA may use for denying a Veteran's claim is if that person was discharged with a less then honorable discharge. Now this one we are having a problem with since it is highly probable for a person to receive a disabling injury while they are serving time in a stockade or brig which was not due to their own willful misconduct. Therefore by denying any person thus disabled is inconceivably wrong.
