VA Buddy Letter Examples: Spouse, PTSD, Back Pain

A buddy letter is a signed statement from someone who personally saw the symptoms, events or changes behind your VA claim. VA calls it a lay or witness statement. A useful one says who the writer is, how they know you, what they saw, when and how often, and gives at least one specific example. It leaves the diagnosis and the cause to clinicians.

Below are eight complete fictional letters: a wife describing sleep apnea symptoms, a husband describing back pain, a wife describing changes after a deployment (PTSD), a supervisor describing hearing problems at work, a fellow service member describing a shoulder injury, a coworker describing migraines, a squad leader describing a back injury that never reached sick call, and a mother describing depression and anxiety after service. A fill-in outline, a fact-or-opinion check, the forms and how VA weighs a statement follow. Every name, date and detail in the examples is invented. A real letter should contain only what the writer knows.

What is a buddy letter?

VA's evidence page defines the category: "Lay evidence is written testimony by you or someone who knows about your condition or related events. Anyone can provide lay evidence. This person doesn't need to have any specific training or education." VA says it reviews lay evidence along with any other evidence you submit.

The names overlap. A lay statement is any statement based on what a person knows or saw rather than on medical expertise, and that includes your own account. A buddy letter or buddy statement is a lay statement from someone other than you: a spouse, relative, friend, coworker or someone you served with. VA's form for it is the Lay/Witness Statement, VA Form 21-10210, which VA notes people also call a buddy statement.

The regulation draws the line between lay and medical evidence. Under 38 CFR 3.159(a)(2), competent lay evidence is evidence that does not require specialized education, training or experience, and it is competent if it comes from a person who has knowledge of facts or circumstances and conveys matters a lay person can observe and describe.

What a buddy letter can support, in VA's own words:

• A first claim. VA says you need medical or lay evidence of a current disability, an event, injury or disease during service, and a link between the two. For the link, VA says it usually needs medical records or opinions, but "We may also accept lay evidence, like a buddy statement (VA Form 21-10210)."
• An increased rating. VA lists lay evidence, like a buddy statement, among the documents you can submit to show a service-connected condition has gotten worse.
• An injury your records do not show. VA's upload page says that if you are claiming an injury or illness you do not think VA has in your military records, you will also want to upload statements from people who know about the condition and how and when it occurred, such as service members who served with you, family and friends, clergy members and law enforcement officers.

Choose the VA buddy letter example that fits

The condition in each heading helps you find an example. It is not a list of symptoms to include. Start with the person who has the relevant knowledge, then let them describe it.

What every buddy letter should include

1. Who is writing: the writer's name, relationship to you, and how long they have known you.
2. How they know: living together, serving together or working together, and during which years.
3. What they saw or heard: one or more specific examples, with dates, ranges or frequency only when they know them.
4. What changed: a before-and-after comparison, only if the writer knew you before the change.
5. What they do not know: a plain statement that they cannot say what the diagnosis or cause is, when that is true.
6. Certification and contact details: a line certifying the statement is true and correct to the best of their knowledge and belief, then signature, printed name, date, phone and email.

Put the veteran's name and VA file number at the top so the letter can be matched to the claim, and name the condition it addresses. Form 21-10210 asks the writer to indicate the claimed issue they are addressing.

The certification line matters more than it looks. Under 38 CFR 3.200(b), written testimony submitted to establish service connection "will be certified or under oath or affirmation." VA's claims manual gives the wording for a statement: "I hereby certify that the information given above is true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief" (M21-1, Part III, Subpart i, 2.D.3). Every example below ends with that line.

Example 1: Spouse letter for sleep apnea (a wife's statement)

Fictional example. Do not copy its dates or details unless they are true for the person writing.

Statement in support of the VA claim of Marcus Ruiz, VA file number [number]

My name is Dana Ruiz. I am Marcus's wife, and we have been married since June 2012. We have shared a bedroom for the whole marriage. I am writing about what I have personally seen and heard at night and during the day.

Beginning around 2014, I started waking up because Marcus would stop breathing in his sleep. The pattern is the same each time: loud snoring, then several seconds of silence, then a choking or gasping sound as he partly wakes. In a typical week I notice this four or five nights. On the night of March 8, 2025, I was awake for about twenty minutes and counted four of these pauses. Since 2018 I have slept in the guest room about two nights a week so I can get a full night's sleep.

During the day, he has trouble staying awake. On most weekends he falls asleep in his chair by mid-afternoon, even when we have plans. Since about 2020 he has asked me to drive on any trip longer than an hour because he does not trust himself to stay alert. I asked him for more than a year to talk to his doctor about his sleep before he did.

I do not know what causes these problems, and I am not giving a medical opinion. I am describing what I have seen and heard myself.

I hereby certify that the information given above is true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Signature: ________________ Printed name: Dana Ruiz Date: ____________

Phone: ________________ Email: ________________

A spouse can describe the pauses, the gasping and the daytime sleepiness. Whether that is sleep apnea is a question for a sleep study and a clinician. The same structure works for a husband, a partner or anyone else who shares the bedroom.

Example 2: Spouse buddy letter for back pain (a husband's statement)

Fictional example. Do not copy its dates or details unless they are true for the person writing.

Statement in support of the VA claim of Andrea Patel, VA file number [number]

My name is Ravi Patel. I am Andrea's husband, and we have lived together since 2018. I did not know Andrea when she was injured during service. I am writing about changes I have personally seen at home since we started living together.

Around the summer of 2024, I started helping Andrea put on her socks and shoes on some mornings. She stops partway when she bends forward and asks me to finish. I do not know exactly how many mornings; it is more than once most weeks.

I now carry the laundry basket up and down the stairs. In the fall of 2024 I twice saw her set the basket down halfway up and sit on the step before going on. On car rides longer than about 40 minutes, she asks to stop so she can stand and stretch. On our drive to her sister's house on July 4, 2025, a trip we used to make without stopping, we stopped three times.

Since early 2025 she has slept in the recliner two or three nights a week. She told me that lying flat makes her back hurt more.

I do not know the medical cause of her back pain. These are the changes I have seen while we have lived together.

I hereby certify that the information given above is true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Signature: ________________ Printed name: Ravi Patel Date: ____________

Phone: ________________ Email: ________________

Notice the difference between "I saw her set the basket down" and "She told me that lying flat makes her back hurt more." Both belong in the letter; the second is attributed to her. The husband also says plainly that he did not see the original injury, which keeps the letter honest about where his knowledge starts.

Example 3: Spouse letter for PTSD (a wife's statement)

Fictional example. Do not copy its dates or details unless they are true for the person writing.

Statement in support of the VA claim of Chris Brooks, VA file number [number]

My name is Tamara Brooks. I met Chris in 2005, two years before his second deployment, and we married in 2009. I am describing the differences I have personally observed since he came home in 2011.

Before that deployment, Chris slept through the night, kept in touch with his friends from high school, and took our son to ballgames and crowded events without a second thought.

Since 2011, I have seen the following regularly. Two or three nights a week he wakes up soaked in sweat, and sometimes he is shouting. Every night he checks the door locks in the same order, and if I interrupt him he starts over. In restaurants he will only sit where he can see the entrance. Twice in the past year we left before ordering because he could not settle. Since about 2015 he has not gone inside for our son's indoor games; he waits in the truck in the parking lot.

His two closest friends stopped calling around 2016 after he cancelled plans with them many times. At family gatherings he usually leaves within an hour.

I cannot say what diagnosis he has or what caused these changes. I am describing what I have seen at home and in public.

I hereby certify that the information given above is true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Signature: ________________ Printed name: Tamara Brooks Date: ____________

Phone: ________________ Email: ________________

The before-and-after comparison works here because the writer knew him before the deployment. A spouse who met the veteran later should describe only the period they know. For PTSD and other mental health conditions, VA's evidence page says the veteran also needs to submit VA Form 21-0781, the Statement in Support of Claimed Mental Health Disorder(s) Due to an In-Service Traumatic Event(s). The spouse's letter describes what changed at home, not the event itself.

Example 4: Coworker letter for work impact

Fictional example. Do not copy its dates or details unless they are true for the person writing.

Statement in support of the VA claim of Priya Nair, VA file number [number]

My name is Luis Ortega. I supervised Priya at Example Logistics from March 2021 through June 2025, and we worked in the same office five days a week. Our jobs required entering orders while speaking with customers by phone.

Beginning in late 2023, I saw Priya ask coworkers to repeat instructions and move closer to the speaker during group briefings. In January 2025, I reassigned two of her phone shifts to other staff after she told me she could not reliably hear callers in the shared workspace. From January to June 2025, she asked for a written summary after every team meeting. No one else on the team made that request.

I am not offering an opinion about the cause of her hearing difficulty. I am describing what I observed as her supervisor.

I hereby certify that the information given above is true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Signature: ________________ Printed name: Luis Ortega Title: Operations supervisor Date: ____________

Phone: ________________ Email: ________________

A work letter is most useful when the writer supervised or worked beside you and can point to specific changes, such as reassigned tasks or requested accommodations. Leave out confidential business details the claim does not need. A supervisor can describe the missed calls and the written summaries; the medical side of a hearing loss claim comes from hearing tests and clinicians.

Example 5: Service buddy letter for an in-service injury

Fictional example. Do not copy its dates or details unless they are true for the person writing.

Statement in support of the VA claim of Alex Moreno, VA file number [number]

My name is Kevin Doyle. I served with Alex in the same maintenance section at Fort Example from 2009 to 2011. I was Alex's team leader. This statement describes an event I saw myself.

In July 2010, during our summer field exercise, I saw a vehicle hatch fall and strike Alex's left shoulder while we were loading equipment. Alex sat down right away and held the arm against the body. I drove Alex to the unit clinic that afternoon. I remember the month because the field exercise was in July that year.

For the rest of the time we served together, I saw Alex avoid overhead lifting. At least twice I moved Alex off overhead parts work after Alex told me the shoulder hurt.

I do not know what diagnosis the clinic made.

I hereby certify that the information given above is true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Signature: ________________ Printed name: Kevin Doyle Rank and unit at the time: ________________ Date: ____________

Phone: ________________ Email: ________________

An approximate date is honest when the writer explains how they remember it. VA suggests supporting statements from people you served with when you do not think VA has the injury in your military records. For a shoulder claim, the letter establishes the event; a clinician still has to connect it to the shoulder condition you have now.

If you saw something like this happen to a veteran, the free Buddy Letter Builder walks you through how you know them, what you saw and specific examples, and you download the letter to sign.

Example 6: Coworker letter for migraines

Fictional example. Do not copy its dates or details unless they are true for the person writing.

Statement in support of the VA claim of Jordan Hale, VA file number [number]

My name is Sam Whitaker. I have worked with Jordan at Example Engineering since March 2019. We share an office and work the same day shift, four or five days a week.

Over the past three years I have seen Jordan's headaches end the workday many times. When one starts, Jordan goes pale, stops speaking in full sentences, turns off the office lights and lowers the blinds. On most of those days Jordan leaves early. Twice in 2025 I drove Jordan home because Jordan said it was not safe to drive.

Our team keeps a shared coverage calendar. Counting the entries on that calendar, Jordan left early or was out for this reason on eleven days in 2025 and on seven days from January through June 2026. I took over Jordan's deadline work on those days.

When Jordan is well, Jordan is one of the most reliable people on our team. What I see is how often this happens and how little warning there is.

I do not know the medical cause of Jordan's headaches, and I am not giving a medical opinion.

I hereby certify that the information given above is true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Signature: ________________ Printed name: Sam Whitaker Date: ____________

Phone: ________________ Email: ________________

The writer counts days from a record they can point to, the team calendar, and says so. A count drawn from a record is stronger than a guess presented as a count. The letter describes what the coworker saw (the pale face, the dark room, the early departures) and leaves the rating language for migraines to VA.

Example 7: Service buddy letter for a back injury with no sick call record

Fictional example. Do not copy its dates or details unless they are true for the person writing.

Statement in support of the VA claim of Daniel Reyes, VA file number [number]

My name is Marcus Lee. I served with Daniel in the same company at Fort Example from 2008 to 2011, first as his team leader and then as his squad leader. This statement describes an event I saw myself.

In about August 2009, during a field exercise, I watched Daniel fall roughly eight feet from the back ramp of a vehicle while we were unloading equipment in the rain. He landed on his back across a rucksack frame. He got up and finished the exercise, which lasted three more days. I remember him moving stiffly for the rest of that exercise and asking several of us for ibuprofen. I place it in August because it was the last field exercise before our change of command that September.

I do not remember him going to sick call during or after that exercise.

For the rest of the time we served together, he told me his lower back hurt after road marches and long vehicle movements. On at least two occasions I gave him different duties for the day because of it.

I do not know what diagnosis he has now.

I hereby certify that the information given above is true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Signature: ________________ Printed name: Marcus Lee Rank and unit at the time: ________________ Date: ____________

Phone: ________________ Email: ________________

This is the kind of statement VA's upload page asks for when you do not think your military records show the injury. A missing sick call record does not by itself make the account unbelievable. In Buchanan v. Nicholson, the Federal Circuit held that the Board "cannot determine that lay evidence lacks credibility merely because it is unaccompanied by contemporaneous medical evidence," although the Board may weigh the missing record against it. The letter still cannot supply the medical link between the fall and a back condition today. That takes a clinician, usually in a nexus letter.

Example 8: Parent's letter for depression and anxiety

Fictional example. Do not copy its dates or details unless they are true for the person writing.

Statement in support of the VA claim of Kayla Morgan, VA file number [number]

My name is Linda Morgan. I am Kayla's mother. I raised her, and since she left the Army in 2021 she has lived about ten minutes from me. I see her at least once a week.

Before she enlisted in 2016, Kayla played softball, worked part time at a grocery store through high school, and called me most days.

Since about 2022 I have seen these changes. She stopped coming to our Sunday dinners for months at a time; in 2024 she came to three of them. Several times a year she does not answer calls or texts for a week or more. When I go to her apartment during those stretches, the curtains are closed, dishes are piled in the sink, and she is still in bed in the afternoon. In March 2025 we were in a grocery store when she left her cart in the aisle, said she could not breathe, and waited in the car until I finished. She has told me she now has groceries delivered so she does not have to go inside.

She left two jobs in 2024. She told me she could not keep up with the schedule.

I am not a medical professional and I do not know what her diagnosis is. I am describing what I have seen and what she has told me.

I hereby certify that the information given above is true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Signature: ________________ Printed name: Linda Morgan Date: ____________

Phone: ________________ Email: ________________

A parent can often describe the before and after better than anyone, because they knew the veteran long before service. Notice that what Kayla said is marked as what she told her mother, and what the mother saw is written as her own observation. For depression and anxiety claims, the VA Form 21-0781 requirement for mental health conditions applies to the veteran's own paperwork; a parent's letter does not replace it.

VA buddy letter format (fill-in outline)

Replace each bracket and delete any line that does not apply. The outline is a structure, not a reason to add a symptom, event or date the writer did not see. To answer guided questions and download a finished letter instead, use the free Buddy Letter Builder.

Statement in support of the VA claim of [veteran's full name], VA file number [number]

My name is [writer's full name]. I am [veteran's name]'s [relationship], and I have known [him, her or them] since [year or approximate period].

I know about the events or changes below because [how you were present: lived together, served together or worked together, and during which years].

I personally saw [one specific example]. This happened [date, month, season or year, or how often, if you know].

I also saw [another example, if you have one].

[If you knew the veteran before the change: what you saw before, and what you see now. If you did not know them before, leave this out.]

[Effects on everyday activities, work or sleep that you saw yourself.]

[Anything the veteran told you, written as "[Name] told me that..."]

I do not know the medical diagnosis or cause, and I am not giving a medical opinion. [Delete this line only if you are a clinician giving an opinion within your training.]

I hereby certify that the information given above is true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Signature: ________________ Printed name: ________________ Date: ____________

Phone: ________________ Email: ________________

If the writer uses VA Form 21-10210, the body of the letter goes in the statement section (item 17), and the form's own witness and certification sections replace the last three lines.

A quick fact-or-opinion check

38 CFR 3.159 separates competent lay evidence, facts a person can observe and describe without specialized training, from competent medical evidence, which comes from someone qualified through education, training or experience to offer medical diagnoses, statements or opinions.

Specific observations, not rating language

Compare these two fictional statements:

My back is terrible and I deserve a higher rating.

During our grocery trips over the past two months, I have usually stopped walking after about ten minutes because of back pain. My wife has finished the shopping while I sit near the checkout. Before that period, I could usually finish the trip with her.

The second gives the reader an activity, a time period, an approximate frequency and a change. Those details can be compared with other evidence. They do not make a statement automatically believable, and the example is not language to copy unless it describes someone's own experience. A useful statement usually answers these questions:

• What did you experience or observe?
• When did it happen, and how often?
• What activity did it interrupt or change?
• How do you know? Were you there, or are you repeating what someone told you?
• Are the dates exact, or your best recollection?

Check the draft before anyone signs

• Basis of knowledge: can a reader tell how the writer knows each fact?
• Honest detail: are dates and frequency known, approximate or not remembered? Keep that distinction visible.
• Observation versus conclusion: describe what happened without adding a medical explanation the writer cannot support.
• Individual voice: each witness writes their own account. Several letters with the same wording raise questions instead of answering them.
• Unresolved differences: explain a difference honestly instead of quietly making records agree.

Common questions before someone signs

What if my spouse met me after service? They can describe what they know from the time they have known you. The letter should say when that began and should not suggest they saw an earlier event.

What if the writer cannot remember an exact date? They should say so. A month, season, year or range is fine if it reflects their memory. An invented exact date is worse than an honest estimate.

Can a template or AI tool help? It can organize a draft. It cannot supply the writer's memories. The writer should check every sentence, delete anything they did not see, and make sure the final letter sounds like them.

What if two records give different dates? Check what each date describes; one may mark an event and another a later change. Explain the difference honestly rather than changing a memory to make the dates match.

How many letters should I ask for? Ask the people who saw different parts of what you need to show. Each writer signs their own statement, and on Form 21-10210 each statement uses its own form. The factors VA's claims manual lists for weighing a statement are about the writer's memory, firsthand knowledge, how recent the events were and the writer's competence, not the number of letters.

Lay statement vs buddy statement: who should write what

A buddy statement is a lay statement written by someone other than you. Both are lay evidence, so the choice is not which label sounds stronger. It is who can truthfully describe the fact that needs support.

One event, two useful viewpoints

Fictional personal statement (the veteran's account):

During the March 2014 training exercise, I slipped from the vehicle step and felt immediate pain in my right ankle. I finished the exercise and went to the clinic the next morning. Since then, the ankle has rolled unexpectedly several times a year.

Fictional buddy statement (a witness's account):

I was standing beside Sam when Sam slipped from the vehicle step during the March 2014 exercise. I saw Sam sit down, take off the right boot, and avoid putting full weight on that foot. I drove Sam to the clinic the next morning.

The statements overlap but do not duplicate each other. Only the veteran can describe the pain and the later instability in the ankle. Only the witness can confirm, from the outside, that the fall happened and what it looked like.

A simple author-choice test

Write the fact you need to support in one sentence. Then ask:

• Did you experience it yourself? Put it in your own statement.
• Did someone else see it? Ask that person for a buddy statement.
• Is it a diagnosis, a cause or a medical interpretation? Ask a qualified clinician.
• Is it already clear in a dated record? Cite the record, and add a statement only if context is still missing.

What each writer can describe

Your own statement can cover what happened during service, symptoms you feel, why a date is approximate, why there is a gap in treatment, how often symptoms occur and how long they last, and how the condition affects work, sleep, movement and relationships. VA's claims manual notes that a claimant is often the most qualified source to describe the disabling effects of their own condition (M21-1, Part V, Subpart ii, 1.B).

Someone else's statement can cover an event they saw, changes they noticed in your movement, sleep, mood or routine, help they have given you, work changes they supervised, and things you told them at the time, clearly attributed to you.

Neither writer should diagnose the condition or decide its medical cause unless qualified to. And a veteran should not write a witness's statement and present it as the witness's own memory. For complete examples of your own side, see VA personal statement examples.

Which VA form to use for a buddy statement

VA's evidence page lists three ways you or someone else can provide lay evidence:

For a witness, Form 21-10210 is the form built for the job. The July 2024 edition has five sections: the veteran's identification (Section I), the claimant's identification if the claimant is not the veteran (Section II), the statement itself (Section III), the witness's contact information and relationship (Section IV), and the certification and signature (Section V). The relationship boxes are served with, family or friend, coworker or supervisor, and other. The form's instructions say to indicate the claimed issue the statement addresses, and to use a separate form for each statement and each witness. The statement box tells the writer to describe what they themselves know or have observed.

Form 21-4138 is narrower. VA's form page describes it as a way to share more information as instructed by another VA form or process, and its signature block is for the veteran or beneficiary, so it fits your own explanation better than a witness's account. To complete it with plain-English questions, fill out VA Form 21-4138 online.

A plain-paper letter works too, if it carries the certification. VA's claims manual says that besides a signed 21-4138 or 21-10210, VA accepts "any other written communication that is signed, and includes the appropriate certification statement" (M21-1, Part III, Subpart i, 2.D.3). If an uncertified statement is needed to grant service connection, the manual tells VA staff to send a copy back to the writer to certify and to advise them that failing to certify it within 30 days may result in a denial.

To fill in the official PDF by answering plain-English questions, use Claim Raven's tool to fill out VA Form 21-10210 online. How to fill out VA Form 21-10210 walks through each section.

Does a buddy letter need to be notarized?

No. The regulation, 38 CFR 3.200(b), accepts written testimony that is "certified or under oath or affirmation." Form 21-10210 and Form 21-4138 have a certification and a signature block and no notary section. Form 21-10210's certification reads: "I CERTIFY THAT I have completed this statement and that its information is true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief." Both forms also carry a penalty warning that the law provides severe penalties, including fine or imprisonment, for knowingly submitting a false statement of a material fact. That warning is the reason to keep every sentence true.

How to ask someone for a buddy statement

Ask one witness for a short account of what they personally saw or heard. Tell them which issue you are documenting and why you chose them, then leave the wording and the conclusions to them. The best witness is not always the person closest to you. It is the person who knows the fact your claim still needs.

Match the witness to the fact you need

One witness does not need to cover the whole claim.

A request script

Fictional example:

I am preparing a VA claim about my right knee. You worked with me during the period when it started limiting my walking and lifting. Would you be willing to write a short statement about what you personally saw, including when you noticed it and one specific example? Please use your own words and leave out anything you do not remember. You do not need to give a medical opinion.

Give prompts, not answers

Prompts that draw out the details a VA rater can weigh:

• How do you know me, and during what period did you see me regularly?
• What did you see me do, or struggle to do? Name a task, a place or a time.
• When did you first notice it, and how often did you see it after that?
• What changed compared with how I was before?
• Which details are you unsure about?

Do not send a finished statement and ask the witness to sign it. You can check names and dates and point out an unclear sentence, but the account must stay theirs.

Let the witness decline or narrow the request

Some people will not remember enough. Others may describe one event but not a private medical topic. A narrow, truthful statement is more useful than a broad one written out of obligation.

Follow up with a reason and a date

Give the witness a reason for your timing, for example: "If you can help, could you send it by the end of next month? I am hoping to file before then." One friendly reminder is reasonable. Repeated pressure can make the account read as yours rather than theirs.

How to find a service member you lost touch with

Start with what you remember: the person's full name, rank, unit, dates and where you served together. Your own records can fill gaps. Orders, award citations, photos, old emails and saved messages often show full names and units.

Then work outward through people who knew you both:

• mutual friends from the unit
• the unit's reunion association or veterans group, if it has one
• online groups for the unit, ship or base during your years
• veterans service organization posts near where the person lived

The National Personnel Records Center cannot help with the address. The National Archives says NPRC cannot release personal information about a veteran, such as a home address, and lacks the resources to forward letters. It also says NPRC does not recommend or endorse any internet site or private researcher.

When you reach the person, explain the claim before you ask for anything, and accept a no. If you cannot find them, write down who they are, their unit and what they saw, then ask whether someone else knows the same fact. Your own statement can still describe what you personally experienced.

How VA weighs a buddy letter

VA asks two separate questions about a statement: is the writer competent to say it, and is it believable?

Competent: is this something a witness can know?

A witness is competent to describe what they can observe: a fall, a limp, gasping at night, missed workdays. Diagnosis and medical cause are different. VA's claims manual says a person without medical training is not usually competent to offer an opinion on what caused a disorder, and such an opinion generally gets little weight (M21-1, Part V, Subpart ii, 1.B).

The line is not absolute. In Jandreau v. Nicholson, the Federal Circuit held that lay evidence can be competent and sufficient to establish a diagnosis when the layperson is competent to identify the condition, when the layperson is reporting a diagnosis a medical professional made at the time, or when lay testimony describing symptoms at the time supports a later diagnosis by a medical professional. The court's own illustration: a layperson can sometimes identify a simple condition such as a broken leg, but not, for example, a form of cancer.

Credible: does VA believe it?

VA's claims manual lists the factors for weighing lay evidence: the accuracy or clarity of the writer's memory, direct personal knowledge or experience, how recent the event was, and the writer's competence. That is why the examples above say how the writer knows each fact and admit what they do not remember.

A missing record is not an automatic strike. Under Buchanan v. Nicholson, the Board may consider the absence of medical records made at the time, but that absence does not, by itself, make lay evidence not credible.

Combat veterans

For a veteran who engaged in combat with the enemy, 38 U.S.C. 1154(b) requires VA to accept satisfactory lay or other evidence that an injury or disease was incurred or aggravated in combat, if it is consistent with the circumstances, conditions or hardships of that service, even without an official record. 38 CFR 3.304(d) says the same. VA's claims manual adds that medical evidence of a link to the current condition is still needed.

PTSD and personal assault

Service connection for PTSD under 38 CFR 3.304(f) requires a diagnosis, a medical link between current symptoms and an in-service stressor, and credible supporting evidence that the stressor occurred. For a claim based on an in-service personal assault, the regulation says evidence from sources other than service records may corroborate the account, and it names statements from family members, roommates, fellow service members or clergy. It also lists behavior changes after the assault as relevant evidence, such as a request for a transfer, a drop in work performance, or episodes of depression, panic attacks or anxiety without an identifiable cause. A roommate or relative who saw those changes can describe them. See MST claims for the rest of that evidence.

What Board decisions show about lay evidence

Claim Raven reads Board of Veterans' Appeals decisions for what the Board found about lay statements, meaning personal statements, buddy letters and testimony. The table compares rulings where the Board found the lay evidence credible with rulings where it found it not credible.

Board of Veterans' Appeals rulings, 2021 to 2026, from Claim Raven's reading of 511,036 decisions. Appealed claims, not first-time claims, and not your personal odds. Associations, not causes. Lay evidence is read only on rulings the Board granted or denied. A credibility finding often travels with other strong evidence, so this shows what credible statements sit beside, not what they cause. How these figures are built.

Read it as a pattern, not as odds. The Board writes its credibility finding in the same decision that grants or denies the claim, after weighing everything, so a credible finding often travels with a stronger file overall. An earlier Claim Raven count compared decisions that quoted lay evidence with decisions that did not and pointed the same direction, with the same limit: a quotation is part of the Board's explanation, written after the evidence was weighed.

Two more patterns matter for anyone writing a letter. When the Board accepted statements only as a description of symptoms, not as proof of a diagnosis or a link to service, grants were far less common than average. And where the Board relied on a medical opinion against the claim, credible lay statements usually did not change the result: most of those rulings were still denied. A buddy letter proves what the writer saw. The medical link usually still needs a clinician.

Board of Veterans' Appeals rulings, 2021 to 2026, from Claim Raven's reading of 511,036 decisions. Appealed claims, not first-time claims, and not your personal odds. Associations, not causes. "Symptoms only" means the Board accepted the statements about symptoms but not as proof of a diagnosis or a link to service. How these figures are built.

The full tables and how they are counted are on Claim Raven's VA disability statistics page.

How to submit a buddy letter

• While the claim is pending: VA says you can upload evidence to a pending disability claim with its claim status tool for up to one year from the date VA receives the claim. If you do not send evidence or the information VA needs within 30 days, VA may decide the claim earlier, and you keep the rest of the year to send more. VA claim status steps 1 to 8 explains what happens when new evidence arrives.
• For a decision review or appeal: VA points to its QuickSubmit tool (VA upload page).
• After a denial: a buddy letter can be the new and relevant evidence for a Supplemental Claim. VA's own example on that page is a fellow service member who witnessed the incident behind a denied back claim. A Higher-Level Review does not take new evidence, so a new letter does not belong there. What to do when a VA claim is denied covers the choice.
• Online on Form 21-10210: VA's online form requires the writer to sign in with an identity-verified Login.gov or ID.me account. To support someone else's claim, VA asks for that person's date of birth, Social Security number, VA file number if available, and contact information. For trouble with the online form, VA lists 800-698-2411 (TTY 711).
• By mail: Forms 21-10210 and 21-4138 list Department of Veterans Affairs, Evidence Intake Center, P.O. Box 4444, Janesville, WI 53547-4444.

Organize statements before you send them

Name each file with the writer's name and the date. Keep a short list of which statement addresses which condition and time period, so you and any representative can find it later. Pair each statement with records when you have them; a statement can explain why there is no record from the time, but it cannot erase a record that says something different. Keep a copy of every letter and every submission confirmation. If a decision later overlooks a witness's account, note the letter's date and page when you choose a review option.

Draft or request a letter with Claim Raven

This page shows what a buddy letter looks like. Claim Raven's Buddy Letter Builder is where a witness writes one. The free builder guides a witness through their relationship to you, what they saw and specific examples, then downloads a plain letter as a PDF or text file with no account needed. If you want to send someone a writing link and keep their returned statement with your claim materials, invitations are part of Standard and Plus, and the witness can open the link without an account. Returning a statement does not file it with VA. For your own account, the free personal statement builder works the same way. Claim Raven sells these tools and has a commercial interest in them.

Questions about buddy letters and lay statements

What is a buddy letter for VA?

A buddy letter is a signed statement from someone other than the veteran describing what they personally saw: an event during service, symptoms, or changes in daily life. VA treats it as lay evidence and reviews it with the rest of the evidence.

What is a lay statement?

A lay statement is any statement based on what a person knows or observed rather than on medical training. Your own statement is a lay statement; a buddy statement is a lay statement from someone else. Under 38 CFR 3.159(a)(2), lay evidence is competent when it describes matters a lay person can observe and describe.

Can a spouse write a VA buddy letter?

Yes. VA says anyone who knows about your condition or related events can provide lay evidence, and Form 21-10210 has a box for family or friend. A spouse should describe only the period they have known you and should not suggest they saw an earlier event.

Does a buddy letter need to be notarized?

No. 38 CFR 3.200 accepts written testimony that is certified or under oath. VA's Forms 21-10210 and 21-4138 use a signed certification with no notary section. On plain paper, add the line "I hereby certify that the information given above is true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief," then sign and date it.

What VA form is used for a buddy statement?

VA Form 21-10210, the Lay/Witness Statement. VA also accepts a signed, certified statement on plain paper. Form 21-4138 is for more information another VA form or process asks for, and its signature block is for the veteran or beneficiary.

How many buddy letters should I submit?

Ask for one from each person who saw a different part of what you need to show, one statement per writer. VA's claims manual weighs each statement by the writer's memory, firsthand knowledge, how recent the events were and the writer's competence; none of those factors is the number of letters.

Can I write the buddy statement for my witness to sign?

No. You can explain which issue you are documenting and check names and dates, but the account must be the witness's own memory in their own words. A letter you wrote for them to sign is not their testimony.

Can a buddy statement say what caused my condition?

Usually not. A witness without medical training can describe what they saw, but VA's manual says such a person is not usually competent to say what caused a disorder. The cause and the link to service belong in a medical opinion.

Do buddy letters help VA claims?

They can supply facts a medical record misses: that an event happened, when symptoms started, and how a condition affects daily life. VA says it may accept lay evidence for the link to service and lists buddy statements among the evidence for an increased rating. A letter does not guarantee any result.

Can I submit a buddy letter after my claim was denied?

Yes, as new and relevant evidence with a Supplemental Claim. VA's Supplemental Claim page uses a fellow service member's statement about a denied back claim as its example. A Higher-Level Review does not accept new evidence.

Sources

Checked October 6, 2026.

• VA, Evidence needed for your disability claim (last updated June 8, 2026): lay evidence definition, the three ways to submit it, what each claim type needs, Form 21-0781 for mental health conditions
• VA, Lay/Witness Statement, VA Form 21-10210 (last updated July 29, 2026), its July 2024 PDF edition, and the online form: sections, separate form per statement, certification, penalty warning, mailing address, sign-in and information requirements
• VA, Statement in Support of Claim, VA Form 21-4138 (last updated August 13, 2026) and its July 2024 PDF edition
• VA, Upload evidence to support your disability claim (last updated August 6, 2026): supporting statements, the one-year and 30-day rules, QuickSubmit
• VA, Supplemental Claims and Higher-Level Reviews
• National Archives, Locating veterans and service members
• 38 CFR 3.159(a), 3.200 and 3.304(d) and (f) (eCFR, October 1, 2026); 38 U.S.C. 1154(b)
• M21-1, Part V, Subpart ii, 1.B (reviewing testimony and lay evidence) and Part III, Subpart i, 2.D.3 (certifying statements)
• Jandreau v. Nicholson, 492 F.3d 1372 (Fed. Cir. 2007); Buchanan v. Nicholson, 451 F.3d 1331 (Fed. Cir. 2006)
• Board figures: Claim Raven's reading of Board of Veterans' Appeals decisions, described on the VA disability statistics page. All letters, scripts and statements on this page are fictional teaching examples.

Claim Raven is not a law firm, a VSO or an accredited representative, and this guide is not legal advice. For help with your claim, talk to an accredited representative.