Dear Sgt. Shaft:
As a vet of Vietnam (32 months), three tours and a DAV from there in 1973 I want to pass on that I had radical prostatectomy in 1994 at Walter Reed Hospital. I filed a claim under the new regulations that PC are eligible for disability compensation. The VA found it was caused by Agent orange but my residuals effects, prostatectomy to include impotency due to adenocarcinoma of the prostate remains a 0%. They did say I was entitled to a special monthly compensation based on the loss of the use of creative organ. This was after an appeal of VA finding in 1997 and a hearing in October 1997. So much for prostate cancer being an agent orange disease. There may be more cases like this.

God bless, and keep up the fine writing.
GVP@aol

Dear GVP:
After receiving your communication, I asked Bob Epley, Director of Compensation and Pension Service, VACO to share detailed information on prostate cancer, service connection and criteria for disability rating with my readers. Bob sent me the following information:

"On or after November 7, 1996, service connection can be granted for prostate cancer if there is: (1) verified service in the Republic of Vietnam during the period from January 9, 1962 through May 7, 1975, and (2) evidence that the individual has prostate cancer.

If those two pieces of evidence are presented, medical evidence showing the current level of disability is required for evaluation. This can be private medical information, if sufficient for evaluation, or a VA exam.

A veteran who did not serve in the Republic of Vietnam during the specified period can establish service connection for prostate cancer if prostate cancer was diagnosed at any time during service or within one year following service. (38 CFR 3.309(a) provides direct service connection, or service connection based on standard presumptions.)

A non-Vietnam veteran may also claim service connection for prostate cancer based on exposure to ionizing radiation during atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons, the occupation of Hiroshima or Nagasaki during a specified period or as a result of other claimed activities. (Under 38 CFR 3.311, a claim based on radiation exposure requires an assessment of the amount of radiation exposure (i.e., dose assessment); and a VHA opinion as to whether it is as likely as not that the amount of radiation exposure in that case caused prostate cancer.)

Regardless of the basis for service connection, evaluation for prostate cancer is based on Rating Schedule criteria in 38 CFR Part 4. A 100% evaluation is assigned during the period of treatment for the malignancy. Six months after surgical, X-ray, chemotherapy or other therapeutic treatment ends, a VA exam is required to assess residual disability for re-evaluation. Any reduction of the 100% requires the usual due process notice."

Dear Sgt. Shaft:
I have a question regarding the eligibility date for the 50% retirement. I enlisted in the Navy in April, 1986. At this time an oath of enlistment was taken and enlistment paperwork was signed. The next available Officer Candidate (OSC) class started on 1 August 1986. I reported to OCS on 1 August 1986.

My question is: which date counts for the retirement? If it is the enlistment date then I assume I am eligible for the 50% retirement. If it is the report date then I am afraid that I miss the 50% rate by a day. Is there any enlistment paperwork that spells out the benefits one signed up under?

LCDR SC USN
Great Mills, MD

Dear LCDRetc.
You pose an interesting question. Basically, you signed an agreement to become an Officer Candidate with a Class Start Date of August 1, 1986 -- which becomes your Active Duty Service Date. There are some grandfathering provisions when the change in retirement systems came into being. One of those changes was for those who had a formal delayed entry agreement with the military service. However, lacking further details, this may or may not have been the situation in your case. A number of people were recruited against their class start dates.

I strongly suggest that you contact the Bureau of Naval Personnel Officer Retirement Section at (901) 874-3184. They can review your situation and discuss the issue with you. If you believe their information is in error, based on documents in your possession, or not available in your record, you can send pertinent documents for further review and decision.

Shaft kudos

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) recently awarded Dr. John F. Kurtzke the VA Secretary's Distinguished Career Award for his pioneering work in the study and diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS).

Dr. Kurtzke, a career VA employee for 39 years, is internationally known in neuroepidemiology. He developed the benchmark standard for rating patients in all MS clinical studies, known as the Kurtzke Functional Scale. His landmark epidemiology and demographic studies explored disease prevalence related to geographic distribution and age of potential exposure and provided much of the foundation of suspicions that MS could be triggered by an infectious agent. For his contributions, Dr. Kurtzke received the John Jay Dystel Prize for Multiple Sclerosis Research in 1997 from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and the American Academy of Neurology.

Dr. Kurtzke served as chief of the Neurology Service at VA Medical Centers in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, and Washington, DC. He continues his research and teaching as a consultant at the Washington, DC, Medical Center, professor of Neurology at Georgetown University and Distinguished Professor of Neurology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, F. Edward Herbert School of Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland. Throughout his career Dr. Kurtzke contributed significantly to the care of veterans with neurological diseases and to the development of military medicine. He attained the rank of Rear Admiral, Medical Corps, U.S. Navy Reserve. A well deserved congratulations, Admiral.