Persistent and determined

Dear Friend,

Last year at a Farmington Stand Down event, Bloomfield veteran James Campbell was volunteering at the American Legion Post 93 table. He approached my constituent services staff who were also there and shared that he was experiencing difficulties with his VA disability claim.

Mr. Campbell served in the Navy for eight years in the late 1980s and early 1990s as a Second Class Petty Officer and as a Boiler Technician. He was suffering from tinnitus and he needed to access his military records to file a disability claim. He had contacted the National Archives in 2020 and again in 2021. But he had received no response.

That’s when my office stepped in to help. We sent inquiries to the VA, to the Department of the Navy, and to the National Personnel Records Center. For well over a year, each agency gave us the runaround. At one point, we were told that his records must have been lost. But we were persistent and determined. After we successfully obtained his records, Mr. Campbell was able to submit his claim. The VA approved it and he was finally able to receive hearing aids and compensation for his tinnitus.