It's the luck of the draw. You expect the worst and hope for the best. It ain't a deep philosphy. You have to find out what your service earned you and then you go from person to person, and phone call to appointment tracking down the pathway to the benefit. The best way to shoot yourself in the foot is to be half way out that door on the way in.

You don't know who can and will help you. Don't take no for an answer. If one person says no, go ask somebody else. And if everybody tells you no, go talk to the patient advocate and find out why. Be willing to listen and learn when you go   You have to keep poking that son of a bitch (the VA) until you find the right one.

A good Vet Center comes into play if you are a combat veteran - go to your nearest Vet Center. Their mission is to provide a broad range of counseling, outreach, and referral services to eligible veterans in order to help them make a satisfying post-war readjustment to civilian life.

CC has gotten mountains of information and leads at our local Vet Center. He has learned what he is eligible for and to whom he needs to talk to with to move forward.

75% of the information he has gotten from the Vet Center is from other veterans who tried to get the same things he is applying for. This is one the best benefits of going there.

Find yourself a National Service Officer. They work for the veteran, not the VA and the good ones know their way around the VA and are there to help you file a claim. You have to sign over power of attorney if they are going to represent you, so make sure you can communicate with this person. Some are good and some are not worth a damn. 

The State of Georgia used to have  good service officers in a nearby town and now they don't. We had to travel to Atlanta to find one we were willing to trust our claims with. This is how talking with other veterans come in handy. That is how we found the one we use.

Concerning the enrollment records update - this is what having a purple heart gets you at the VA:

Dept of Veterans Affairs  

We are pleased to inform you the Department of Veterans Affairs has confirmed your receipt of the Purple Heart Medal.

What this means to You

•  Your enrollment records have been updated to reflect your receipt of the Purple Heart Medal.
• You remain enrolled in Priority Group 1 and are not required to provide a co-payment for your VA medical care, long-term care or medications