Machine gun at the ready, U.S. Army Pfc. David. A Straza moved along the path that snaked through a flooded area known as "pineapple grove." It was late morning on Oct. 30, 1968, and quiet, as his squad patrolled alongside a brush line. Suddenly, gunfire erupted. Straza was about to become a casualty of the Vietnam War.

"The point man went down, and my sergeant got hit and killed in front of me," Straza said. "I started firing and my machine gun jammed. I knelt thinking the M60 may have been hit. When I opened the breach, my leg was knocked from under me, and I went down. I pulled my .45 and fired from the prone position."

According to Straza, the firefight lasted about five minutes. Within a half hour, he was on a helicopter on his way back to a field hospital. He had suffered a gunshot wound through his lower left leg, just above the ankle. The wound was treated, and he spent two days in the field hospital before he was transferred to an Army hospital in Japan for a week. Then he was sent to the Great Lakes Naval Hospital in Illinois. He spent approximately four and a half months in treatment at Great Lakes before returning to duty at Ft. Benning, Ga., where he remained until his honorable discharge at the rank of sergeant on Oct. 7, 1970. He left the military with a service-connected disability rating of 10 percent and an injury that became worse over time.

In 2001, Straza contacted the DAV, and a National Service Officer reviewed his file and submitted a claim for reconsideration of a clear and unmistakable error to establish a service-connected disability rating of 30 percent retroactive to Oct. 8, 1970. However, a VA rating decision of March 27, 2002, assigned a 20 percent evaluation for a moderately severe muscle disability, not 30 percent for a severe injury based on the information furnished by the DAV. Straza's wife, Colleen, died in 2003, and the claim went uncontested as he worked through grief and put his life back together.

In 2008, Straza attended a reunion of the 82nd Airborne Division in Texas. During the reunion he got into a conversation with a DAV member from Maryland. When he recounted the story about his disability claim, the DAV member strongly advised him to have an NSO look into the matter. Straza decided to take the advice, after he and his new bride, Lana, returned from their honeymoon.

"We had just returned from our honeymoon, when I read a notice that a DAV Mobile Service Office (MSO) would be visiting at a local Harley-Davidson dealership," Straza said. "So, I went and talked with NSO John Rodriguez. I told him I was having difficulty walking, had lost feeling in my foot and leg and was experiencing pain in the area. I also told him it was getting progressively worse."

"We were on site at the Zylstra Harley-Davidson/Buell, when Mr. Straza came by to discuss his claim," NSO Rodriguez said. "He wanted to discuss his claim which had previously sought to establish a clear and unmistakable error for failure to establish service-connected compensation at 30 percent for the gunshot wound he had suffered in the Vietnam War. Mr. Straza felt the VA did not properly address his injuries and requested a review of his file."

In reviewing the claim, Rodriguez, a Senior NSO at the DAV National Service office in Chicago, discovered that the VA had, in fact, granted service-connected disability compensation for the gunshot wound to the lower left leg retroactive to Oct. 8, 1970, but only for 20 percent. NSO Rodriguez was convinced a further error had been made.

"Based on my review, on July 25, 2008, I submitted a request for corrective action based on the clear and unmistakable error made by the Rating Board Decision on April 2, 2002," Rodriguez said. "Our memorandum dated Aug. 16, 2001, argued that Mr. Straza warranted a higher rating based on the severity of his injury. The rating board did not comply with the request, which was correct. Since the error was still in effect, we wanted it corrected."

In a letter dated Oct. 9, 2008, Straza received the VA decision stating that a clear and unmistakable error was found in the evaluation and a retroactive increased evaluation to 30 percent disabling was established from Oct. 8, 1970. His claim had been corrected.

NSO Rodriguez views the success of Straza's claim as an example of the effectiveness of the MSO outreach program and the partnership between the DAV and Harley-Davidson.

"The Mobile Service Office program is a great way to bring service to veterans nearly anywhere," Rodriguez said. "The combined partnership of the DAV and Harley-Davidson is cemented in service to our disabled veterans through the MSO program. Reaching out to veterans at Harley-Davidson dealerships provides an opportunity to expand our contact with veterans beyond a typical MSO stop. Many of the veterans who visit us at Harley-Davidson dealerships don't know they are eligible for membership or services from the DAV."

"NSOs are litigators, mediators, technicians and detectives all in one," National Service Director Randy Reese said. "The goal of an NSO is to provide superior, quality representation to disabled veterans and their families to ensure they receive all of their benefits. Whether the disability compensation is rated at 10 percent or 100 percent, every veteran is important." David Straza couldn't agree more.

"The service the DAV provided was exemplary," Straza said. "NSO Rodriguez paid attention to what I was saying and was genuinely concerned. He followed up on the claim in a timely fashion and accurate manner. And he got results."

"From their own experience as disabled veterans, they know the rules and regulations and can help without you having to go it on your own," he said. "I was talking to one of the guys I served with recently, when he brought up an issue he was having difficulty with. Like the DAV member at my reunion in Texas, I recommended that he contact the DAV — I strongly recommended it," Straza added.

SOURCE: DAV Magazine (Jul/Aug 2009)