Posts Tagged ‘WWII’

Filipino WWII veterans must file claim for $15,000 by mid-February

Monday, November 23rd, 2009

Filipino veterans who served in WWII have until February 16, 2010, to claim a one-time lump sum payment of $15,000. The payment was authorized in the Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which was signed into law by President Obama on February 17, 2009.

Filipinos who are US citizens are entitled to the full $15,000 payment, and non-US Filipino WWII veterans can receive $9,000. So far the VA has paid out $105 million and processed more than 11,000 claims for the Filipino World War II Veterans Equity Compensation (FVEC).

Accepting the benefit will not affect any other benefits your are currently receiving. 

Read more about how to apply for the benefit by February 16, 2010.

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What is the VA’s Tiger Team?

Tuesday, October 27th, 2009

Did you know that the VA maintains a special claims processing unit that expedites high priority compensation claims from across the nation?

The team of senior adjudicators is located in the Cleveland VA Regional Office. The Tiger Team was formed in November of 2001 with a goal of quickly processing claims from veterans age 70 or older that have been pending for over one year. Typically, WWII and Korean War veterans are the claimants served by the Tiger Team.  The team works in collaboration with nine Resource Centers and processes no less than 1,380 claims per month.

The Tiger Team has three main duties:

  • Developing needed evidence
  • Preparing rating decisions
  • Processing award actions

While precise information on the processing time of a typical claim reviewed by the Tiger Team is not available on the VA’s website, some veterans say they received a rating decision within 10-15 business days.

Have you received a rating decision from the Tiger Team? Do you know anyone who has? If so, share your experience with other readers in our forum, Your Voice.

If you are disabled vet and need assistance with your VA disability claim, contact the disability rights law firm of LaVan and Neidenberg.

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VA nurse accused of murdering veteran patient

Thursday, October 8th, 2009

A Kentucky nurse who worked at the Veteran’s Administration Medical Center in Lexington has been indicted in federal court for allegedly murdering a veteran who was her patient. Maria Kelly Whitt, 32, was indicted last month in the 2006 death of veteran Jesse Lee Chain, according to the Ledger Independent online newspaper.

Mr. Chain had served with the 445th Bombardment Group of the U.S. Army Air Corps during WWII. Prior to his death, he had been hospitalized at the VA and under Whitt’s care. An autopsy performed on Chain’s body revealed that he had 14 times the appropriate dosage of morphine in his system.

Whitt reportedly has been a registered nurse since June of 2005 and the Kentucky Board of Nursing has not documented any discipline record for her. Mr. Chain’s family denies that their beloved father would have requested a medically-assisted suicide. Circumstances surrounding the death are unknown at this time according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.

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WWII veteran convicted of murder released due to Alzheimer’s

Tuesday, October 6th, 2009

A former Marine convicted of murdering his son-in-law in 1998 will be released from prison due to his inability to care for himself in prison.

Dick Keech, 89, was convicted at the age of 77 of shooting to death his son-in-law who was estranged from Keech’s daughter. Keech defended the murder charges, arguing that he had a flashback to his days as a POW in the Phillipines when he shot Nicholas Candy after an argument.

Keech currently has Alzheimer’s Disease and uses a wheelchair. According to the AP, the judge who originally presided over Keech’s case was brought out of retirement to hear the motion for a compassionate release. The judge said that it would be of no benefit to keep Keech in prison and cited the tax dollars spent on caring for seriously ill prisoners.

If you are a veteran and suffering from PTSD and fighting the VA to get disability compensation, contact the veteran rights law firm of LaVan and Neidenberg.

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