Infantry, Armor, Artillery, and Cavalry (Airmobile these days) are called Combat Arms because they engage in combat. Add to these Combat Engineers, Explosive Ordnance Disposal,  Riverine Patrol and other functions involving being shot at and we have a sizable portion of our military forces.

As a vet rep, I file claims for men and women with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a topic I explain at length elsewhere. The claim usually goes quite well for any vet for whom the mental health professionals at the Vet Center or VA Medical facility diagnose PTSD, AND who have the Combat Infantryman Badge, Combat Action Badge (or Ribbon for USMC and Navy), the Purple Heart, or a combat award.

The problem is with Viet Nam conflict and later vets who do not have these combat credentials. The Combat Action Badge was not awarded by the Army until the mid 70's. This means that  veterans of artillery, armor, riverine patrol, combat engineers and many others have no tin badge or other tangible evidence that they were in combat. They will be required to describe an incident in detail that caused PTSD (a stressor statement). For too many, it is impossible to remember exact dates, places and the names of dead and wounded. The VA makes an effort to verify these stressors  as stated, but, because of time and personnel contraints, cannot put much time into any one case. Too often, legitimate combat cases go uncompensated. I was told recently by someone in the VA adjudication process, that unit morning reports and after-action reports are NOT checked.

For 'Nam vets like me, and others in non-combat units, the detailed stressor is probably an appropriate requirement. I must document that, for example, a fellow soldier was killed or wounded by hostile file in my presence. This song-and-dance, however, should not be imposed on any combat veteran.

A suggestion I have put before Congresspeople, and one the VCS should consider making, is that NO veteran who was in combat who has a disability should go uncompensated.  Service in artillery, armor, riverine patrol, helicopters crews, and especially medics and corpsmen should be legally presumed to have been combat service. There should be NO discrimination between infantry and the other combat arms in a matter as important as this. Combat is combat, whether it was a remote firebase, clearing roads of mines, driving mined roads through ambushes, or patrolling rivers.

For active duty and recently separated vets, BE SURE you are awarded the Combat Action Badge or Combat Action Ribbon if you were in fact in combat. This needs to extend to the Water Purification company that lost people in Saudi Arabia to a Scud, anyone affected by an attack on a convoy, the folks in the mess hall attack and anyone else in such a situation.  I am working with a Cavalry soldier from Iraq who, because of an administrative error, was not awarded the CAB. I am also working with a Navy Corpsman from Viet Nam who has no verification on his D214 that he served in combat.

This is injustice, pure and simple. We cannot recognize some combat and not all. Is there another veterans' organization who will advocate for these combat vets?