I am the widow of SFC Ricky W. Green, a Persian Gulf Veteran, whom died from his service connected injuries. I am also a Veteran having served for 21 years and retiring as a Msgt. The following is a synopsis of what I dealt with after my husband passed away: 1. SFC Green should have had a 21 gun salute with full military honors at his funeral, however due to a mix up this did not happen. I had to file a complaint with the Office of Survivor Assistance. Six weeks later the Army came down and provided a 21 gun salute with full military honors for SFC Ricky W. Green. Not having full military honors during my husbands funeral, knowing that he was eligible was very upsetting and heartbreaking for myself, our two sons and my husbands family. 2. My initial claim for Death Indemnity Compensation took 18 months for a decision to be rendered. The VA lost the claim, I had to “resend” and “recertify” all the paperwork not once but twice. I again had to file a complaint with the Office of Survivor Assistance in Washington in order for a decision to be rendered. After filing the complaint it took approx 4 days and I received a favorable decision. 3. Upon my husbands death, I personally went to the County Service Office to file and appeal on my husbands denial of an upgrade on his service connected back injury. The V A denied it the same day he had surgery I was told that when the Veteran died his claim died as well. I was not allowed to file. It was only later that I found out that this was false information presented to me. This caused me to lose the opportunity to file an appeal with the possibility that a decision would have been rendered favorable upon appeal and resulting in compensation for myself and my two sons. 4 VARO, Veterans Administration Regional Office, input wrong data into the system. The data input was that SFC Green was not buried at the National Cemetery and that he did not have honorable service. This data had to be corrected in order to receive reimbursement for the burial expenses. 5. SFC Green’s retirement compensation took approx 8 months. This claim also was “lost” and had to be resubmitted. In dealing with the Army Reserves, I contacted my husbands 1SG. He told me that he would call me back. I never heard back from him even though I left at least three messages. 6. I received a letter a year after my husbands death from the Little Rock Office of Survivor Assistance stating that records in reference to my husbands death had been “misplaced” and that an investigation was being initiated to determine what happened to our records. 7. After Ricky’s death I also had an open Social Security claim in which I had to go before the Social Security judge. The Judge rendered a favorable decision however it was very stressful. Fortunately prior to my husbands death he obtained an attorney to assist with the Soc Security claim. If he had not obtained an attorney, I am sure that I would never have been able to have adequately navigated the system. 8. Upon my husbands death, all benefits stopped, which included his service connected VA check, in which we had come to depend on due to his inability to work. Not only did his pay stop but I was so distraught and overcome with grief that I could not work. 9. After two years, I found where Ricky had an accidental policy on our bank account. Although, I called the bank and went to speak to bank representatives after his death no one bothered to tell me about this policy after his death, even though I inquired. Both my husband and I are honored to have had the opportunity to have served our country. I am however very disappointed that the system, in which takes care of our Veterans and their family members and should have checks and balances is very flawed. I never would have suspected that these things would have occurred but they did and I am sure it continues to happen to other Veteran’s family members as well. I fully understand how one can get lost and forgotten and get so frustrated that they just give up.
Posted on: Sun, 02 Feb 2014 03:21:09 +0000
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