VA Disgrace: Demands Proof World War II Purple Heart Vet Served in Military
Worst federal benefits agency or THE worst federal benefits agency?
Does the Veterans Administration ever help veterans?
A World War II combat veteran was denied benefits by the Veterans Administration. The VA claims they do not have enough proof of his service:
When 90-year-old Emil Limpert sought VA benefits to help pay for assisted living costs, he was told there was no record of his service. “I must be an unknown soldier, I guess,” said Limpert.
Fox News has the heartbreaking story:
Fox 2 Now in St. Louis reports that after Emil Limpert submitted an application for benefits to the Department of Veterans Affairs he was told he needed to provide more proof that he was in the military.
“I get this letter that says we can’t accept it because we’ve got no record of you being in the service,” he told the station. “I guess I’m the unknown soldier.”
He was wounded in a foxhole in the Philippines in 1944.
“There were four guys in there, and two guys got killed,” he told the station. “And then the other guy, he got his leg… Oh, hell. I guess he lost his leg. It was slit in four places where a grenade hit between us and I got one in my leg.”
Limpert said he waited until now to apply for benefits because he is down to nothing.
He and his wife live in an assisted-living facility outside St. Louis.
“We got rid of our car, we got rid of our house,” he said. “I got rid of money I had in bonds and stocks and now I need help.”
His application included plenty of documentation, including discharge papers, the names of his foxhole pals and the X-ray of his wounded leg. The proof also included his Purple Heart and two Bronze Stars he received in the Pacific.
Fox 2 reported the VA letter asks Limpert to submit affidavits from fellow service members, most of whom are dead, or the location of the hospital where he was originally treated.
“There ain’t no hospital,” he told the station. “We were in the jungles.”
The station reported that Limpert’s military records were apparently among the millions destroyed in a massive fire in Overland, Missouri, in 1973.
The station also reported that it sought comment from the VA in Washington without success.
Embroiled in scandal, mishandling like Limpert’s case magnify the Veterans Administration’s growing list of ineptitudes.
Last year, $142 million in bonuses were awarded to VA employees despite the wait time for veterans needing assistance increasing more than 50%.
Democratic presidential frontrunner, Hillary Clinton, contended the VA scandal was not, “as widespread as it was made out to be.”
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Comments
Isn’t this the model for the ‘healthcare’ the Fascist-Progressive Democrats want us all to have?
Well, all of US…not them.
Well, if he was illegal he would have free healthcare right now. No paper work. No questions asked. And a free brochure thrown in to boot urging him to vote for Hillary Clinton.
“What difference, at this point, does it make”?
See how that works as the the universal band-aid for the Collective…???
Jonn Lilyea at This Ain’t Hell quips,
As it stands, some overpaid VA bureaucrat is probably getting a performance bonus for every day they keep this guy off the books.
He has his discharge papers, which should have all the info that is needed. What is really going on here is that at a certain point military records are sent, I believe, to the Library of Congress. So most likely someone is just being to lazy to request the documents.
Veterans records are sent to the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis.
In 1973 a fire destroyed multiple millions of veteran’s service and medical records.
Uncle’s webpage about the fore is:
http://www.archives.gov/st-louis/military-personnel/fire-1973.html
yup…
This is true. My dad’s records were among those lost.
No Navy records were lost.
I mention this because, it’s common tactic of fake SEALs/combat swimmers/WWII frogmen, what have you. They’ll try to claim they were some kind of SPECWAR legend but the only reason they can’t prove it is because there was a fire in St. Louis.
Ain’t true. The SEALs know who is who going all the way back to 1942.
Some records were lost in that fire, don’t get me wrong. The farthest thing from my mind is to cast aspersions toward a veteran who was effected.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNwFMcC4e2s
“Phony Navy SEAL of the Week. TOP 50 Fake Navy SEAL Claims. Tips to BUST a fake Navy SEAL”
They get to the BS records center fire inside of four minutes.
Oh, by the way, if you’re tempted to think you can get away with lying about being a Ranger or Green Beret, or a precursor to a special operator, they know, too.
They’re not going to be put off by a little thing like a fire.
SNAFU
Anybody who ever earned a DD 214 should know it’s damned near as important as your birth certificate. Not being able to quickly put your hands on your 214 is fairly serious business. Waiting until you actually need it is not the time to go about requesting a new copy, especially if your separation was pre-1985 or so. Keep multiple copies in multiple places. Make sure your mom, wife and kids know where to find one of them.
In most places, you can file them with your county. I recommend this.
Wow. H8ers gotta HATE. OK. Be like that…
They are also copied and stored at the Library for Congress or at least they used to be, I had to get a new copy of mine in 2000 or 2001 and that is where I had to get it from.
Depending on when he mustered out he may not have a DD214 but instead have the affidavit from the Army or Navy. DD214 were phased in during the 1950’s.
I wonder if his “discharge papers” are the older form and the barely literate person helping him didn’t know what it was?
Fire everybody in the VA who isn’t a veteran. Hire veteran replacements for at least half the former employees before you allow them to reapply for their jobs, and allow each of the retained veterans to blackball two re-hires.
That’d be ‘nice’ but there’s not enough medically trained veterans available to even begin to fill the staff requirements.
Personally, I’ve never received anything but exemplary performance from the ‘worker bees’ at my VA hospital.
Now management? Oh you betcha, change them out. Up to and including the VA secretary should not just be a veteran, but a service connected, disabled veteran.
i agree that you might not be able to fill all the medical staff positions, but you could surely find many vets to do things like scheduling, intake, and all the other logistical stuff.
of course, if you think back to your time in service, how many uselessly stupid, willfully lazy and just plain mean a55holes did you know, many of them with rank?
those are who would wind up being in charge, and, unless they were to make fragging legal, i’m not sure anything would be that different. certainly the officer i had who dragged us over to his VA shop every drill saturday to do the scut w*rk his full timers wouldn’t was part of the problem, but that was the early 90’s, and i’m sure the lazy bastard is retired by now and double dipping.
my vet friend quit his j*b at the VA, because he was the only competent one in the office…
to include the other vets.
“…Hillary Clinton, contended the VA scandal was not, “as widespread as it was made out to be.”
I’m sure she got that info from her husband, the former commander-in-chief, who was drafted into the military. Oh wait. He wasn’t drafted – he DODGED that one.
Yes, he did, cleverly – like Trump.
Yes, indeed. They sure did.
according to this, he got a couple student deferments, which were perfectly legal, as the military always has need of people with advanced education, and then he apparently flunked a MEPS physical.
unless he bribed the doc, he didn’t dodge anything.
(assuming the report is correct, of course)
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/celebrity/deferments-helped-trump-dodge-vietnam
“(assuming the report is correct, of course)”
Exactly. Many men fought to stay out of the draft back then. Some were determined to stay in school as long as it took. Some used influence and money. A most notable case was Joe Namath who used money, doctors and lawyers to get him a medical deferment. (Imagine. A professional football player too infirm to serve.)Trump used money and doctors also to avoid service. The article you linked glosses over the medical deferment that Trump got conveniently right after his school deferment expired. He fought hard to get that deferment after a draft physical deemed him to be fit. Bill Clinton used Senator J. William Fulbright to interfere in the draft board selection to avoid serving. He delayed and stalled until finally the draft ended.
There are many articles on the net about these things. But should you happen to meet a Viet Nam vet who was drafted into service and who was aware of the slimy draft dodging that went on back then, please ask him about it all.
VA is beyond reform; the department is rife with corruption and incompetence and always has been – it was formed as an agency because of corruption and incompetence in the old agency, but simply changed nameplates for the most part.
They haven’t even ASKED for bonuses awarded on faked numbers to be repaid. Think about that for a minute.
– –
Voucher out services, transfer those which can’t be outsourced, prohibit anyone involved in the frauds – from top to bottom – from ever working for the federal government again in any capacity.
“We’re not going to solve every difficult problem in terms of end-of-life care. …Maybe you’re better off not having the surgery, but taking the painkiller. Unless you’re a veteran, in which case, you can go die in a fire.” – Barack Obama
There has to be some missing information here. If Emil Limpert has no money and no assets, he is eligible for free government-paid quarters in a senior living facility somewhere.
Where or not the incompetent VA is involved or not, the government will pay a private old-folks facility on his behalf.
The guy is 94 years old. He shouldn’t have to move to a different assisted living facility. The VA needs to make this right.
Funny… just by searching his name I was able to find a record of his service from the National Archives yet the VA isn’t able to find proof of service?
And after 60 seconds, I was able to find him in the muster rolls of the LCI that landed him in the Philippines yet the VA doesn’t know if he served.
well, that Facebook page isn’t going to update itself, you silly person you…
😉
the VA as an institution is willfully incompetent and dishonest too.
i have a Retired Reserve ID card in my wallet, and i put in for care for the various injuries i suffered over the 20+ years i was in.
i was told to FOAD, as i wasn’t really a veteran (not enough active duty time, just NG/AR)…
i went to Senator FIneswine’s office for help, and they told her i had never applied, yet my VA printout shows a denial.
i was collecting moar paperw*rk to try and fight it, and actually ran into a competent and caring VA employee: they printed out a document they weren’t supposed to share with me, and sent me over to a SO in another building, who knew how to file a claim for injuries…
we’re now waiting for a response. as for my records, no one seems to know where they are, St Louis says the VA has them, but also manages to send bits and pieces every time i request them, and the VA says “no habla” when i ask them, since i’m not a vet. (lather, rinse, repeat)
i asked for copies of my hospitalization for ankle surgery, and i got 3 pages. i asked for all records from X to Y, and, in the pile of paper, there was my entire medical chart.
St Louis might as well be the VA.
i sent in a records request for a Nam vet, with his RA serial number filled in, and got a letter back saying it was a very common name, and did i have a serial number or something to help identify him?
F them all.
Well, then, I’m sure you’ll be glad to know that Mrs. Clinton/Mr. Sanders will be able to fix that minor little problem you’re having-with boatloads more tax dollars. Comforting thought, no?
And thank you for serving. 🙂
It is just plain morbid to say, but, the VA wants to “run out the clock” on this poor man.
Look who is president.
Look who is the attorney general.
Look at the past secretary of state and the current putz occupying that office.
Why should the VA be any different than any other government office under the management of the malignant a-holes above?
Yes, it is probably a little morbid, but that doesn’t keep it from being true.
“(assuming the report is correct, of course)”
Exactly. Many men fought to stay out of the draft back then. Some were determined to stay in school as long as it took. Some used influence and money. A most notable case was Joe Namath who used money, doctors and lawyers to get him a medical deferment. (Imagine. A professional football player too infirm to serve.)Trump used money and doctors also to avoid service. The article you linked glosses over the medical deferment that Trump got conveniently right after his school deferment expired. He fought hard to get that deferment after a draft physical deemed him to be fit. Bill Clinton used Senator J. William Fulbright to interfere in the draft board selection to avoid serving. He delayed and stalled until finally the draft ended.
There are many articles on the net about these things. But should you happen to meet a Viet Nam vet who was drafted into service and who was aware of the slimy draft dodging that went on back then, please ask him about it all.