I know a young fella that graduated from HS in June and went into the Marines a few weeks later. Seem as though he got hit in the ear with a rifle butt in training and lost part of his hearing. Has been been discharged due to the injury with out even finishing boot camp.

My question is: Will he be entitled to any compensation for his hearing loss? If so, how does he go about getting a fair shake from our govt? How about any further medical cost due to the injury?

I think he was actually 17 (mother had to sign) when he left for enlistment and turned 18 while there. He had talked about going in the Marines for the last year or so. Be a shame for him to loos some ability to hear, lose his dream, and then get nothing for his loss.

quote:

Originally posted by gjgalligan:
I know a young fella that graduated from HS in June and went into the Marines a few weeks later. Seem as though he got hit in the ear with a rifle butt in training and lost part of his hearing. Has been been discharged due to the injury with out even finishing boot camp.

My question is: Will he be entitled to any compensation for his hearing loss? If so, how does he go about getting a fair shake from our govt?

I think he was actually 17 (mother had to sign) when he left for enlistment and turned 18 while there. He had talked about going in the Marines for the last year or so. Be a shame for him to loos some ability to hear, lose his dream, and then get nothing for his loss.

First, if he really wants to be a Marine, I'd have him enlist (pun intended) some legal help to see if he truly should be medically disqualified.

Next step I'd suggest is contacting his local VA office to be pointed in the right direction. It's totally appropriate to seek compensation for injuries sustained in the service of one's country.

I wouldn't necessarily go to the V.A. Office.

Contact a VFW, American Legion or your local county of state Veterans Rep. I went thru the VFW and they dealt with the V.A. to get my disability.

So sorry to hear about the disqualifing injury prior to completion of boot camp on medical grounds...Please have them contact the VA about any and all benifits and if need be contact legal advice to make sure that he is NOT being rushed out the door.....Semper Fi........................ drill sgt.

Not to disparage the kid, but there's also the possibility that this isn't the whole story...

I knew a guy in my early 20s who went off to Navy basic training, and then showed back up several weeks later with claims of a medical discharge. Turns out he was actually separated for disciplinary reasons.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
Not to disparage the kid, but there's also the possibility that this isn't the whole story...

I knew a guy in my early 20s who went off to Navy basic training, and then showed back up several weeks later with claims of a medical discharge. Turns out he was actually separated for disciplinary reasons.

Sounds like a guy I went to HS with.
Medical discharge in boot camp due to a knee injury, but no evidence of said injury when he'd returned...

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
Not to disparage the kid, but there's also the possibility that this isn't the whole story...

I knew a guy in my early 20s who went off to Navy basic training, and then showed back up several weeks later with claims of a medical discharge. Turns out he was actually separated for disciplinary reasons.

Maybe.
This guy has never been any problem for his mom (single mother), in school or around anybody else.
He is my grand nephew and I have never heard of any trouble at all.

If he was discharged he got paperwork. There will be a reenlistment code that can be looked up and will explain why he can’t re enter.

We had a cop who made it thru Marine bootcamp and was injured in advanced training, still managed to become a cop. When he asked me about the reserves I showed him the block (27) on his Dd214 and it showed medical discharge.

Seems like there would be quite a process to go through before separation if a recruit was injured in boot camp such that he/she would be medically disqualified from service. Seems especially so if that injury occurred during a supervised training evolution.

Trouble might have come his way from another source and he didn't handle it well, resulting in a barracks altercation that was the source of his injury. Again, just speculation based on your commentary.

To your question. If he was injured in a supervised training evolution such that he no longer qualified medically and will have permanent function deficit, and they just cut him loose, I would say an attorney should review the facts.

Hiring an attorney would be premature at this point. Contact a Veteran Service Officer to initiate a claim. If he was Medically Boarded there would be evidence of that in his Service Record. The process is more streamlined at present. If necessary the VA would arrange an audiological appointment.

If his heart is set on getting back in, he'll need to retain some legal help. If anything, to comb through all the hoops and wickets that exist which is government bureaucracy. Its not a secret that the Marine Corps is the most harsh to their own children, not unusual to find a lot of USAF & USA SOF personnel are former Marines, their reason for transferring was better opportunities and better upper management.

All the best to him, hopefully, he's keeping an open mind as there may be better opportunities from the other services in roles that he may not have considered initially.

At face value, if he was injured during training and subsequently medically discharged, then he will get compensated for the disability.
As for fair compensation, it will probably be handed off to the VA and he can get an attorney who specializes in thesev types of cases.

While I had a few recruits injured and sent home, I never saw thw end results.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
Not to disparage the kid, but there's also the possibility that this isn't the whole story...

I knew a guy in my early 20s who went off to Navy basic training, and then showed back up several weeks later with claims of a medical discharge. Turns out he was actually separated for disciplinary reasons.

LOL - truth!

The dude I signed up with in High School went to Boot a few months before me. He was home before he got out of ‘Receiving’…mysterious ailment MEPP’s didn’t pick up (right).

His sister’s told me later that he was so stressed out in Receiving (this is pre-boot camp where they teach you how to make your bed and eat on command) that he threatened suicide.

quote:

While I had a few recruits injured and sent home, I never saw thw end results.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Legit injuries in training are reimbursed. Some injuries such as drunk driving and running into the barracks are no longer covered. There are quite a few training injuries.

VFW probably won't be of help. However, there is the DAV (Disabled American Veterans).

A rifle butt hitting your ear that resulted in partial hearing loss? That's quite significant. Just make sure sure the boy got proper evaluation. Did they rule out skull fracture?

Supposedly he went through medical evaluation leading up to the discharge.

Seriously, documentation is everything, and I would get a second opinion. A dude in my basic training had a seizure. He was taken to the hospital and given allergy medicine and was around for a few days and was sent home. I’ve also seen people get pretty jacked up and stay in. He must have had some serious hearing loss go get kicked out. A dude in my platoon survived a grenade in a building and got a tbi and his hearing messed up but stayed in for years after the fact

Get a professional review of the "medical evaluation". How thorough was it? The boy sustained a head injury with resulting possible neurological damage.

This is typically done when the Vet applies for a service connected disability. These days the VA contracts out these evaluations. If he disagrees with the findings he most certainly can get his own medical opinion.
With many veterans sustaining injuries from IEDs, the skill set of their neurologists is pretty good.