My husband has so many heart issues from Agent Orange that he can't work. Stents, quad bypass, pacemaker along with kidney issues. Back when he filed the first time (1999) the VA was difficult to work with. He was a truck driver and couldn't pass a DOT physical because of his diabetes caused by Agent Orange. I sent them documentation out the kazoo and then they'd want more. I finally met with the safety directors of 3 trucking companies he had worked for in the past. They sent letters to the VA through me that said he couldn't pass a DOT physical so he couldn't drive, and they wouldn't hire him. Then I copied a DOT physical highlighting the requirement's pertaining to his heart and endocrine. I sent all that to the VA and said he was a professional, owned his own trucking company, was an active driver and now he couldn't even get a job washing trucks because his diabetes was erratic, and he couldn't take the heat. I never heard a word and about 3 weeks later we got a reply, and they awarded him 120% disability. That was 80% because of Agent Orange and 40% because he was unemployable. I am giving you all these details, so you understand it's not as hard now as it was then, but you need to either have him go to an advocate at a VA clinic or facility, or in the case of our county we have a VA advocate's office. I didn't do that because they weren't available, but you can use them now. I know you probably already have his certified DD214, a list of the places he was in country, and if you go online, you can find how much Agent Orange they used at each location. I have a fellow Marine that it took about 18 months, and he used an advocate. I was a safety director for a trucking company, and I always talked to the drivers who failed the physical because of a health issue caused by Agent Orange and helped them with their paperwork, and with the permission of our Legal Department I would even send a letter to the VA outlining the physical reasons they could not driver a truck. I don't want to offend anyone who reads this but our veterans gave months and years (in my husband's case two tours from 1962 to 1969) and they deserve the country's gratitude and all the help they can get for medical problems caused by Agent Orange and burn pits. Sorry, I'll get off my soapbox now. Good luck, keep trying and get an advocate.

Thanks so much for your reply. I just set up an appointment with a VA dr through a compensation and pension scheduler at the VA for the end of September (earliest I could get), so we are on the road. The VA sent me a letter (yet to have received) about two weeks ago, so I sent them an email through the VA website to find out what is going on. You definitely have to keep after them. Thanks again for your help!!