Same here, USN, 1954.
I lost all my high frequency hearing when the guys on the bow planes lost control and dived too deep for the snorkel to breathe (high-speed snorkeling run). The diesels sucked out all the air until the safety kicked in and shut the engines down. By then three of us who had colds and couldn't equalize fast enough had screwed up eardrums.
I wanted out so bad, I didn't want anything to slow my discharge and so I didn't make a claim. 50 years later the VA doc suggested I put in a claim so I could get a hearing aid. I wasn't looking for any money, but the govt wanted chapter, verse and page on how it happened. It was all hearsay (most of the crew were dead by then) so naturally I was disallowed.
How these phonies do it is beyond me.
“...lost all my high frequency hearing when the guys on the bow planes lost control and dived too deep for the snorkel to breathe (high-speed snorkeling run). The diesels sucked out all the air until the safety kicked in and shut the engines down. By then three of us who had colds and couldn’t equalize fast enough had screwed up eardrums.”
Wow. That sounds exactly like what dad said! The snorkels weren’t around that long, so I’m guessing you served between 1946 and 1950, say. He said he would wake up with blood on his pillow from his ears. He met Truman briefly on an inspection once, and Charles Kettering, whom was consulted on something or other. Kettering was known as an inventor, the electric-starter for engines iirc.
Another interesting trivia, the snorkel system was a sort of test-fit on American subs. One of the “features” on a highspeed run was the periscope would no longer turn easily. So apparently one of the remedies was to loosen the bolts in the assembly, to allow for loosening the system. Worked fine, but leaked seawater like a sieve. Dad said looking through the periscope at that time became a fulltime enlisted mans job!
When I retired in 1990, they gave us a "Transistion Seminar" to civilian life after 26 years. One of the speakers was from the DAV organization, and he strongly recommended that you go to the VA immediately after discharge with a copy of your medical record and submit a disability claim. Even if it was essentially denied and you were rated at zero per cent, you were considered a disabled veteran. This gave you preference for government hiring, but more importantly you could go back to the VA later and get your rating increased as you discovered other problems with your body that could be service related. I ended up with 10% for a combination of problems ranging from gout to hearing loss (too many big guns). The only benefit I got from this is that I don't pay income taxes on the $105 per month I get from the VA. They do subtract that $105 from my Navy pension.
I strongly suggest that if your local VA hospital has a representative from the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) that you contact him and they will help you put together a new claim. These folks do this all the time, and they know which words trip the trigger of the folks who approve them.
Good luck, and thank you for your service.
PS: We COBs still like to take care of the crew.