WWII Veteran wins full disability after 20-year wait

[babylonsister]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/chronicle/4967645.html

Veteran wins full disability after 20-year wait
Former GI, 87, caught in system with a backlog of 400,000 cases

By ROSANNA RUIZ
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle

Veteran Ed Buckley of Houston needed almost 20 years, countless medical exams and reams of paperwork to prove he was owed full disability benefits.

The 87-year-old World War II veteran learned recently that he would be classified as completely disabled and reimbursed for back pay.

"I can be considered an example of not giving up," Buckley said. "It's just a matter of being persistent. It did pay off in a big way."

Buckley's story is not uncommon. Many veterans endure long waits without payoffs. Thousands wait six months, a year or longer for Veterans Affairs to rule on their claims.

more...

[MADem]

1. What nerve. His story unfortunately is NOT uncommon.

I know a Vietnam era vet who got his rating maybe seven years ago. And he had a wide spectrum of plainly service-connected issues.

[CC]

2. My sister and her SO run a nonprofit

that mainly helps homeless vets (and their pets now)though they do not turn down anyone that is homeless. They spend a lot of time helping guys get their VA benefits. They have one they have been helping now for a couple years. He even has a letter notifying him qualified for full disability from the early 70s but he never got even one payment. So the VA owes him back payments and they are still fighting it and trying to not give him his disability pay now. They have been walking through the process with him all this time and finally found him a lawyer to help him for free and they are still fighting for what he is owed.

[babylonsister]

3. Very noble work: perhaps this article will give someone hope. nt