Why I Filed — and Why I Built VA Claim Mentor
LOUIS SCHWARTZ · RETIRED U.S. ARMY MEDICAL SERVICE CORPS OFFICER
Every veteran must know their story, understand what VA is doing, and be prepared to advocate for what needs to happen next.
Who stands behind this
NAME
Louis Schwartz
RANK / STATUS
LTC (Ret.), U.S. Army
YEARS OF SERVICE
23 years
ENLISTED
South Carolina Army National Guard, 1987
COMMISSIONING
The Citadel — commissioned into the U.S. Army Medical Service Corps
ASSIGNMENTS
25th Infantry Division, 2nd Infantry Division, First Army, Third Army, and Army hospitals at Fort Gordon and Fort Benning
SERVED IN
Iraq, Kuwait, Japan, Mongolia, Afghanistan, the Multinational Force and Observers mission in Egypt, and much of the former Soviet Union
RETIRED
2010
From The Citadel to a claim I wouldn't fight
I joined the South Carolina Army National Guard in 1987 while attending The Citadel, because serving my country had been a lifelong dream. Upon graduation, I was commissioned into the U.S. Army Medical Service Corps and served for 20 years with the 25th Infantry Division, 2nd Infantry Division, First Army, and Third Army, as well as at Army hospitals at Fort Gordon and Fort Benning.
My deployments and missions took me to Iraq, Kuwait, Japan, Mongolia, Afghanistan, the Multinational Force and Observers mission in Egypt, and much of the former Soviet Union. In 2010, while beginning the military retirement process, I filed through the newly established combined VA/DoD disability assessment process and received my rating about two years later.
My wife and several others encouraged me to challenge that decision, but I refused for more than a decade. I never served for disability compensation, and I wrongly felt that accepting it was stealing from the government.
What finally made me file
After my wife was diagnosed with cancer, my plan for early retirement fell apart. I went back to work part time at a big-box store while looking for full-time employment. A former command sergeant major noticed my camouflage vest and asked about my VA rating. When I finally told him, he bluntly said I would be a fool not to challenge the decision.
He was also a VA claims specialist, and he asked me to come see him at the VA clinic so he could help me file. I hesitated for several weeks before I finally called him and went to the appointment with my wife, because I needed her strength to get past my grief, my guilt, and my reluctance to ask for help.
During the appointment, I became emotionally overwhelmed and left the room. While I was outside, my wife told him about my conditions, how they affected me, and how I had been dealing with them. When I came back in, he was crying. He told me, "Your story is my story."
What changed, and why this guide exists
My supplemental claim changed my life. It allowed me to stop working part time and become my wife's full-time caregiver when she needed me most. I later discovered that VA had denied one condition because evidence already in my record had been missed — something that might have been corrected 13 years earlier if I had advocated for myself.
That experience is why VA Claim Mentor exists. VSOs, claims specialists, and lawyers can only tell your story as well as you understand it yourself. Even when you get help, the person helping you needs you to know your service, your medical history, and how your conditions affect your life.
Every veteran must understand their own story, understand what VA is doing, and know what they need to do next. I built VA Claim Mentor to provide affordable education that helps veterans advocate for themselves, without depending on anyone who promises outcomes no one can guarantee.
Lou's story is his own. His service, his evidence, and VA's decisions on his claims are not average, typical, or guaranteed, and nothing on this page predicts what will happen with yours.
Lou is not a VA-accredited representative, attorney, or claims agent. VA Claim Mentor is education only: it does not review, prepare, or file anyone's claim, and it is not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
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