Posted on May 14, 2015
"Navy vet must offer proof of life after VA wrongly declares him dead"
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This news story was originally featured on wral.com:
PARKTON, N.C. — Navy veteran Jeremy Walsh served in Iraq, retired after 20 years in the military and now lives in Parkton with his wife – except that the Department of Veterans Affairs believes he is dead.
Shay Walsh received a letter from the Defense Finance and Accounting Service last month seeking more than $1,600 in VA benefits improperly paid out after her husband's death.
"They're sorry to hear that my husband has passed away, and I needed to send back their money for March and April," Shay Walsh said, summarizing the letter.
"As a sailor or any retired military, we don't have that kind of money sitting around," a very-much-alive Jeremy Walsh said Monday.
He quickly got on the phone with a DFAS office in Kentucky and tried to work things out.
"Hey, I'm alive," he said he told the agency.
"We need notarization," was the response.
Jeremy Walsh got a notarized letter stating that he's alive, but not before two bank accounts were frozen, putting his family's finances in turmoil.
"I had to go into Navy Federal (Credit Union), which I've had for 20 years and I love, and say, 'Hey, I'm alive,'" he said.
Again, the response was, "We need notarization."
"Really?" he said incredulously on Monday. "What better proof do you need if I'm standing 3 feet from you?"
The VA didn't immediately respond to a request from WRAL News for comment.
Jeremy Walsh said he wants to let other veterans know that something similar could happen to them. In fact, he said, it's happened recently to at least two other veterans in North Carolina.
"What mechanisms are in place to keep this from happening again?" he asked.
http://www.wral.com/navy-vet-must-offer-proof-of-life-after-va-wrongly-declares-him-dead/14638316/#aFytqHQrYgl5Oixf.99
PARKTON, N.C. — Navy veteran Jeremy Walsh served in Iraq, retired after 20 years in the military and now lives in Parkton with his wife – except that the Department of Veterans Affairs believes he is dead.
Shay Walsh received a letter from the Defense Finance and Accounting Service last month seeking more than $1,600 in VA benefits improperly paid out after her husband's death.
"They're sorry to hear that my husband has passed away, and I needed to send back their money for March and April," Shay Walsh said, summarizing the letter.
"As a sailor or any retired military, we don't have that kind of money sitting around," a very-much-alive Jeremy Walsh said Monday.
He quickly got on the phone with a DFAS office in Kentucky and tried to work things out.
"Hey, I'm alive," he said he told the agency.
"We need notarization," was the response.
Jeremy Walsh got a notarized letter stating that he's alive, but not before two bank accounts were frozen, putting his family's finances in turmoil.
"I had to go into Navy Federal (Credit Union), which I've had for 20 years and I love, and say, 'Hey, I'm alive,'" he said.
Again, the response was, "We need notarization."
"Really?" he said incredulously on Monday. "What better proof do you need if I'm standing 3 feet from you?"
The VA didn't immediately respond to a request from WRAL News for comment.
Jeremy Walsh said he wants to let other veterans know that something similar could happen to them. In fact, he said, it's happened recently to at least two other veterans in North Carolina.
"What mechanisms are in place to keep this from happening again?" he asked.
http://www.wral.com/navy-vet-must-offer-proof-of-life-after-va-wrongly-declares-him-dead/14638316/#aFytqHQrYgl5Oixf.99
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 14
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There's a chapter in Catch-22 (J. Heller) dedicated to the Flight Surgeon who was wrongfully declared dead.
https://www.rallypoint.com/answers/rp-book-club-catch-22-joseph-heller
What I'm wondering is how they can declare him dead without a Death Cert, and without paying out his VGLI. Alright, if you're going to freeze the Vet payments, fine, pay the VGLI. You can't have it both ways.
https://www.rallypoint.com/answers/rp-book-club-catch-22-joseph-heller
What I'm wondering is how they can declare him dead without a Death Cert, and without paying out his VGLI. Alright, if you're going to freeze the Vet payments, fine, pay the VGLI. You can't have it both ways.
RP Book Club: Catch-22 - Joseph Heller | RallyPoint
This week's submission is the "cult classic" Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. The term Catch-22 is now common vernacular, but where did it come from? Well, this book for starters. Using his own experiences from WWII, Mr. Heller creates a satire of the Korean Era, set in WWII... Check it out.
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This is not the first time it has happened and it will not be the last time. The only solution is to go public and shame the people that made the mistake so that heir bosses deal with them. Another solution is to visit your local Veteran's Office with and demand to see the supervisors. Making a big issue at the VA office that the walking dead is here scares people into action. Plus its fun to say that since you are dead you are there to eat their brains, since they do not use them, just have the news media other wise you end up locked up.
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One would think such stupidity from the administrators would be from an absence of wisdom, therefore a passive activity. The Veterans Administration however, carries stupidity to exponential levels. The administrators have to apply a lot of energy and resources to be this stupid and incompetent! One can reason therefore that stupidity in the VA system is an active process, requiring much energy and many resources by the administrators. ( In other words they have to work at it!)
As a rule, the clinical people are top-notch, caring, and responsible people who are hindered by these administrators whose primary goal is the active pursuit of stupidity.
As a rule, the clinical people are top-notch, caring, and responsible people who are hindered by these administrators whose primary goal is the active pursuit of stupidity.
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SPC Charles Brown
I don't think they have to chase it any more LTC Donald Cole, they have definitely caught it, they just don't know which particular department let their stupidity get loose in the first place.
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At this point in time, NOTHING the "Gooberment" does surprises me. It seems that that things went from bad to worse in January 2009. This is what happens when the Gooberment gets to big.
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Even after a notorized letter, he could be a zombie - so there probably more testing that needs to be done.
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This situation is a scary portent of things to come unless we establish better controls on our bureaucratic systems.
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So, a couple of quick statements... Is this the VA's answer to reducing work load for them, by starting to declare us dead? The other comment to this it seems to be a set up joke from Monty Python and the search for the holy grail... "I'm not dead yet!"
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You know, it's really not hard to convince someone you are, in fact, not dead. Dead people can't punch you in the face.
Not that I'd recommend this course of action....just saying it does work to convince someone you're not dead.
Not that I'd recommend this course of action....just saying it does work to convince someone you're not dead.
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