They deserve more than “our thoughts and prayers”. They deserve a real effort to make sure they get the benefits they earned. Over the past three years I’ve been working to get a WWII veteran his VA card. I asked him why he didn’t have it originally and he said he applied but “they” couldn’t find his records. Until I got into this “hands on,” I would not believe the crap our veterans have to go through to get what they earned. Being in South Carolina, I called Lindsey Graham’s office. His DC office gave me numbers across the state of offices they said could help… everyone was a dead end. “Please leave a message…. sorry the mailbox is full… dial tone.” Mark Sanfords office was encouraging and did return calls but still nothing… After a year of applications, with times, dates, photos… he was still denied, “we can’t find any record, if you would like to appeal, please submit new paperwork… blah, blah, blah”… We appealed with the names and dates of other sailers who were injured with him… he had pictures and stories of his crew mates he remembered. The VA found their records and with that found his. He joined when he was 16, forging his mom’s signature to get in. Saw Pearl Harbor after the attack, was on the fantail of LST 959 transporting marines to the beaches of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. He reenlisted after the war… the Navy was his family. He got his VA card November 2017. He was so proud of that card that piece of recognition, he felt complete. My friend passed away two days ago…
They deserve more than “our thoughts and prayers”. They deserve a real effort to make sure they get the benefits they earned. Over the past three years I’ve been working to get a WWII veteran his VA card. I asked him why he didn’t have it originally and he said he applied but “they” couldn’t find his records. Until I got into this “hands on,” I would not believe the crap our veterans have to go through to get what they earned. Being in South Carolina, I called Lindsey Graham’s office. His DC office gave me numbers across the state of offices they said could help… everyone was a dead end. “Please leave a message…. sorry the mailbox is full… dial tone.” Mark Sanfords office was encouraging and did return calls but still nothing… After a year of applications, with times, dates, photos… he was still denied, “we can’t find any record, if you would like to appeal, please submit new paperwork… blah, blah, blah”… We appealed with the names and dates of other sailers who were injured with him… he had pictures and stories of his crew mates he remembered. The VA found their records and with that found his. He joined when he was 16, forging his mom’s signature to get in. Saw Pearl Harbor after the attack, was on the fantail of LST 959 transporting marines to the beaches of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. He reenlisted after the war… the Navy was his family. He got his VA card November 2017. He was so proud of that card that piece of recognition, he felt complete. My friend passed away two days ago…