Q of them so often weard

but that much faster them.

sime applies to his shirts when there are accidents. Also the constant sitten

weard them from out that.

much faster therefore the added expense of new clothes More often than normal.

Lure live in the port port of the state where the winters are severe and long our dry cleaning bills are lips to as lacky time a person in the

wheelchair got

aurant in failed one way

The following is my personal statement is support of H.R. 33-52, Clothing Allowance for Veterans with Prosthetic Appliances. I sincerely hope that the following experiences will be of some assistance to you and your staff in gaining a successful passage of the above mentioned Bill.

I have been an amputee for six years. My amputations are labled as bilateral below knee amputations and are service connected. I wear a standard Patella Tendon Bearing prosthesis on my right limb and a Ischium weight bearing prosthesis on the left limb. Although both of my amputations are below the knee, the ischium weight bearing prosthesis that I have to wear on the left limb is compatible to the style of prosthesis that above knee amputees are required to wear. Both prosthesis cause separate and distint problems to my clothing and it gives me the advantage of being able to report to you the problems of both a below knee and a above knee amputee.

The left prosthesis is definately the greater clothes destroyer of my two limbs. Being constructed of plastic, it is just like a razor blade when I sit on an uncushioned chair. This limb has a felt pad covered with horse hide on the posterior thigh section of the artificial limb to protect my pants against tears and excessive wear when seated. Granted, this pad is responcible for saving my pants from many tears, but it is still inferior for the job that it is assigned. Unfortunately, the Prosthetic profession has nothing better to offer at this time that would be of a greater value in preventing these tears when seated. The pad does not cover the actual lip of the

Personal Statement con't.

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ischium weight bearing portion of this limb and that is its mis-comming. It is this edge, which is usually rather sharp, that will cut a pair of slacks when a above knee amputee is seated.

My left limb also has knee joints or braces. These joints have been the cause of numerous chewed and ragged knees on my slacks. These joints are metal and the edges of same, when seated, are extreamly sharp. One little bump of the car door, desk, table or anything and I have another pair of torn slacks. Most braces and artificial limbs of this nature are equiped with leather joint covers which help to remedy this situation to a certain degree but they too are grossly inferior. Unfortunately, I cannot utilize these joint braces on my above mentioned left prosthesis.

The right standard PTB prosthesis is not as great a problem, but it too is another slacks tearer. The problem with this particular prosthesis is the edges around the knee. When bumped, these edges will either snag a pair of slacks or tear

them.

I have in my posession at the present time three coats that I use for sport coats. These coats were not purchased as sports coats, but rather were purchased as suits. When I purchase a suit, I purchase one with an additional set of slacks mainly out of self defense. This way I am guaranteeded that I will be able to wear the suit at least twice before I am forced to add another sports coat to my ever growing collection. An expensive collection too, I may add.

Before the style in men's clothing changed to slimer legs, flares and what have you, a leg amputee could generally find either a taylor or cleaners that would add a liner to his slacks. This liner was given credit for saving many a pair of slacks. The liner got chewed or torn and not the slacks. Believe me, it was a lot cheaper to replace that inner lineing than it was to replace the slacks. Unfortunately, the new style of men's clothes does not permit the useage of such a protective measure. Unfortunately for the amputee's wardrobe and his wallet.

I have consulted various taylors in reference to the matter of reweaving some of my damaged slacks. I have been informed by these professional taylors that most of the slacks I have and that are offered for sale today are of such a material that makes them unpractical for such a reweaving. Either the material cannot be rewoven to repair the damaged area, or the reweaving itself cost more than a new pair of slacks. Either way I loose. In addition, these same taylors inform me that my prosthesis' would tear down the reweaving too rapidly to make it worth my while.

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Although I have no definate figures to offer you, I

can honestly submit to you that I have averaged a torn pair of slacks weekly for the past six years. This may sound a little exagerated to anyone that does not utilize a prosthesis, but I can assure you that it is closer to the trueth than these people could ever imageine. My wife would be more than happy to verify this fact. As you can probably imageine, this gets to be very expensive. Being in a position where I am required to wear dress slacks daily causes this expense to be even greater. Reasons being that dress slacks tear easier and are more expensive to replace. With a suit it is nearly an impossibility to replace the slacks. Even a taylor that makes a suit will not always be able to acquire the exact same material as the suit in order to replace the slacks.

Since I have been employed by the Disabled American Veterans, I have learned of the Veterans Administrations reweaving service. I knew nothing of this service prior to this employment. I am certain that many veterans are ignorant to this service also. This service most deffinately has to be one of the Veterans Administrations best kept secrets. One thing That I am certain of is that they don't publisize this service or even attempt to make it known to those of us who need it. The Veterans Administrations Prosthetic and Sensory Aids Representatives that I have contacted about this service sinee learning of it have more or less told me the same tale that the professional taylors have told. Otherwords, it is useless. Accordingly, I do not feel that the Veterans Administration is providing a useful service to us amputees at all. have been a useful service in earlier years, but today it does not come close to solving our clothing problem.

This may

Although I am not an arm amputee, I did work as a Prosthetist trainee for sixteen (16) months. During this employment I measured, constructed, fitted and repaired artificial legs and arms. It has been my experience to learn that the arm amputees have a similar problem as us leg amputees if not greater. The below elbow amputees are forever tearing their shirts and suit or sports coats at the elbows due to the edge of their prosthesis. If they don't tear the elbows, they certainally wear them out faster that the normal limbed person does. The above elbow and shoulder disarticulation amputees have an even greater problem because they tear or wear out their clothes at the elbow and at the shoulder. The shoulder disarticulation amputee wears and tears his clothes as mentioned above plus the anterior and posterior sections of his chest where the prosthesis is present. All of the above mentioned arm amputees have the additional hazard of their hooks which are fabulous for ripping a shirt, tearing off a button, tearing a necktie and ripping-off belt loops of their slacks when trying to get dressed. Theirs is an unique problem indeed.

The afore mentioned problems are unique. They are unique in that they pretain to artificial limb wearers and brace wearers and exclude the rest of our worlds population. The amazing thing is that the limbs themselves are not always the guilty party for ruining clothing, but the wheelchair is notorious for causing damage too. One catches his slacks or shirt upon entering or leaving the wheelchair and that is the end for that particular piece of clothing. The seriously disabled veteran that is forced to utilize the wheelchair is generally so disabled that he cannot stop himself in the mist of these types of movements so as to prevent the tear. By the time that one realizes that he is caught, it is too late to take any action to prevent it. That is, any evasive action that the individual is capable of because most could not make this type of manuver due to their disabilities. I have torn many an article of clothing this way when I was forced to utilize my wheelchair due to the fact that I could not wear my prosthesis or was having problems with my stumps that would not allow me to wear my prosthesis.

I feel that H.R. 33-52, Clothing Allowance for Veterans with Prosthetic Appliances, is a greatly needed and a justifiable benefit due the veteran. The $300.00 allowance that this bill would authorize on a yearly basis will be a much welcomed benefit, but I do not think that it will adequately cover the actual expenses of many the veterans. Whether it covers the actual expenses or not, it will be 100% more than the veterans are getting now.

I sincerely hope that the above statement will assist you and your staff in some small way in attempting to get this worthy legislation passed. If I can assist you in any way to gain favorable passage of this bill, I hope that you will not hesitate to call on me, and with kindest, personal regards, I am,

Sincerely yours,

THADDEUS L. PATIN

National Service Officer (T)