Research - Rehabilitation - Re-Employment

Sgt. Shaft 12/16/2002

Dear Sgt. Shaft:
I am a Nam vet who has been declared 100% unemployable due to PTSD. I recently got married. How do I inform the VA of my new marital status so they can increase my monthly disability compensation?

Thanks
Tom C

Dear Tom
You are entitled to an additional allowance for your spouse, (as are all veterans rated at 30 percent or greater). A few words of advice though from the old Sarge, entitlement to this increase is effective on the first day of the month following your marriage, only if your claim is received by the VA within a year of marriage. Otherwise increases are effective on the first day of the month following VA’s receipt of the claim. The claim can be initiated by sending the VA a copy of your marriage certificate and if either you or your wife had any prior marriages, VA will require additional information. Perhaps the simplest way of making sure you furnish the required evidence is to use VA form 21-686c, which is designed to solicit the necessary data. You can call the VA at1-800 827 1000 to request a copy of the form. I suggest you complete this form and send it to VA ASAP. Make sure you have a receipt in hand prior to the date of your first anniversary if the claim has not been processed.

Shaft Kudos
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony J. Principi has announced an overhaul of the five-year-old system that determines how much federal funding the regional health care networks of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) receive for treating veterans.

"Eligible veterans should receive the same level of care, regardless of where they live or what their medical needs are," said Principi. "By improving the fairness of the process and focusing better on patients with severe disabilities, these changes will strengthen the ability of VA clinics and hospitals to meet the needs of their patients." 

VA allocates funds to its medical facilities through 21 regional networks. Allocations are based on the number of veterans and the severity of their illnesses under a system established in 1997 called the Veterans Equitable Resource Allocation (VERA). 

"We've carefully considered many options," Principi said. "The changes I have approved are sound ones taken from recommendations by the General Accounting Office and the Rand Corporation." 

The latest refinements will allow VA to more accurately tie VA funding for networks to the complexity of care received and provide more funding to networks for the most severely ill patients. 

Although this is a step in the right direction, it is essential that veterans medical care be budgeted as an entitlement and not be funded as a discretionary program. Our veteran’s sacrifices are never discretionary when it comes to defending our great country. Should we not then, as a grateful nation, consider their healthcare as mandatory when we formulate the budget. As it is now, VA Health care is funded as a discretionary part of the budget and each year there is a scramble for money to fulfill our promise to care for those who have borne the battle. 

As we approach our joyous holidays it is incumbent upon all of us to remember our hospitalized veterans and those military men and women defending the freedoms we dearly cherish.

The following moving poem was written by a Marine in Okinawa. His only request was that people read it.

‘Twas the night before Christmas,
he lived all alone,
in a one bedroom house made of
plaster and stone.

I had come down the chimney
with presents to give,
and to see just who
in this home did live.

I looked all about,
a strange sight I did see,
no tinsel, no presents,
not even a tree.

No stocking by mantle
just boots filled with sand;
on the wall hung pictures
of far distant lands.

With medals and badges,
awards of all kinds,
a sober thought
came through my mind.

For this house was different,
it was dark and dreary;
I found the home of a soldier,
once I could see clearly.

The soldier lay sleeping,
silent, alone,
curled up on the floor
in this one bedroom home.

The face was so gentle,
the room in such disorder,
not how I pictured
a United States soldier.

Was this the hero
of whom I'd just read?
Curled up on a poncho,
the floor for a bed?

I realized the families
that I saw this night,
owed their lives to these soldiers
who were willing to fight.

Soon round the world
the children would play
and grownups would celebrate
a bright Christmas day.

They all enjoyed freedom
each month of the year,
because of the soldiers,
like the one lying here.

I couldn't help wonder
how many lay alone,
on a cold Christmas Eve
in a land far from home.

The very thought
brought a tear to my eye;
I dropped to my knees
and started to cry

The soldier awakened
and I heard a rough voice,
"Santa don't cry,
this life is my choice.
I fight for freedom,
I don't ask for more,
my life is: my God,
my country, my corps."

The soldier rolled over
and drifted to sleep.
I couldn't control it;
I continued to weep.

I kept watch for hours,
so silent and still
and we both shivered
from the cold night's chill.

I didn't want to leave
on that cold, dark, night,
this guardian of honor
so willing to fight.

Then the soldier rolled over,
with a voice soft and pure,
whispered, "Carry on Santa,
it's Christmas day, all is secure."

One look at my watch,
and I knew he was right.
"Merry Christmas my friend,
and to all a good night."

Send letters to Sgt. Shaft, c/o John Fales, P.O. Box 65900, Washington, D.C. 20035-5900; fax to 301-622-3330; call 202-462-4430 or email sgtshaft@bavf.org.

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