A tribute to fallen heros on behalf of a grateful nation. The Rivoli Revue is honored to present
its newest single off their "A Wild Ride In The No Zone" cd. An original song written and performed by Ron and Kay Rivoli
this song reminds us that every day should be Memorial Day. A special thanks to Matt McKeown Media Manager for his work on
both the video and song. http://www.RivoliRevue.com http://www.myspace.com/RivoliRevue
REMAINS LOCATED IN IRAQ
Remains Identified as Navy Captain Michael Scott Speicher
Sun, 02 Aug 2009 05:26:00 -0500 IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 571-09 August 02, 2009
U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs)On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/Releases/
Media Contact: +1 (703) 697-5131/697-5132 Public Contact: http://www.defenselink.mil/faq/comment.html
or +1 (703) 428-0711 +1
Remains Identified as Navy Captain Michael Scott Speicher
The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP) has positively identified remains recovered in Iraq as those
of Captain Michael Scott Speicher. Captain Speicher was shot down flying a combat mission in an F/A-18 Hornet over west-central
Iraq on January 17th, 1991 during Operation Desert Storm.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with Captain Speicher's family for the ultimate sacrifice he made for his country,"
said Ray Mabus, Secretary of the Navy. "I am also extremely grateful to all those who have worked so tirelessly over the last
18 years to bring Captain Speicher home."
"Our Navy will never give up looking for a shipmate, regardless of how long or how difficult that search may
be," said Admiral Gary Roughead, Chief of Naval Operations. "We owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to Captain Speicher and
his family for the sacrifice they have made for our nation and the example of strength they have set for all of us."
Acting on information provided by an Iraqi citizen in early July, US Marines stationed in Al Anbar Province
went to a location in the desert which was believed to be the crash site of Captain Speicher's jet. The Iraqi citizen stated
he knew of two Iraqi citizens who recalled an American jet impacting the desert and the remains of the pilot being buried
in the desert. One of these Iraqi citizens stated that they were present when Captain Speicher was found dead at the crash
site by Bedouins and his remains buried. The Iraqi citizens led US Marines to the site who searched the area. Remains were
recovered over several days during the past week and flown to Dover Air Force Base for scientific identification by the AFIP's
Office of the Armed Forces Medical Examiner.
The recovered remains include bones and multiple skeletal fragments. Positive identification was made by comparing
Captain Speicher's dental records with the jawbone recovered at the site. The teeth are a match, both visually and radiographically.
While dental records have confirmed the remains to be those of Captain Speicher, the Armed Forces Institute
of Pathology DNA Lab in Rockville, Maryland is running DNA tests on the remains recovered in Iraq and comparing them to DNA
reference samples previously provided by family members. Results will take approximately 24 hours.
NEVER FORGOTTEN
IN OUR HEARTS FOR EVER MORE
REMAINS IDENTIFIED IN IRAQ
What Happened to Matt Maupin - On Thursday April 17th, Pentagon officials briefed the family
of Sgt Matt Maupin. In an article for The Enquirer posted at Cincinnati.com Malia Rulon, writes;
“Keith
Maupin said that Pentagon officials told them Thursday that they would have to get a final report from the Armed Forces Medical
Examiner on exactly how and when their son died. “I was given the impression that they believe it was very early on,"
Maupin said. He said Pentagon officials told them that the June 2004 video released on an Arab television station
showing a person in a U.S. military uniform being shot to death "might well have been Matt, but we don't know for sure."
“The Army Medical Examiner's Office in Maryland has had Sgt. Maupin's remains for more than two weeks. They have
been doing forensic tests to determine when and how he was killed. Keith Maupin said they have been told that "because
of all the time that's gone by and the harsh conditions over there, there wasn't a lot of Matt left for them to examine."
The Maupins will get the report when it's finished.”
In the same article Rulon reported; “Two of
the Iraqis identified as being responsible for kidnapping and killing Staff Sgt. Matt Maupin four years ago have been sentenced
to death - though not for Maupin's death, Army officials told the soldier's parents Thursday.
The
article also stated that Keith Maupin stated the Army paid a $200,000 reward for the tip that led to his son’s recovery.
However “The Army did not comment on the reward.” #################
Members of America's armed forces are serving around the world in places like Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait,
and Korea. Far from family and friends, these dedicated men and women have limited access to the everyday comforts of being
“back home.” Here’s your chance to make a difference! Show America’s Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and
Marines how much you personally appreciate their service and sacrifice. The Subscriptions for Soldiers program allows
you to show your support for our troops by donating a magazine subscription to our deserving overseas active duty servicemen
and women. We have gathered thousands of requests for magazine subscriptions from our soldiers and now we need your help!
"See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy," [Colossians
2: 8]
National Alliance of Families For the Return of America’s Missing Servicemen World
War II – Korea – Cold War – Vietnam – Gulf Wars
April 19, 2008
Bits N Pieces
"I told them when we'd go up to the Pentagon, whether he walks off a plane or is carried off, you're
not going to leave him in Iraq like you did those guys in Vietnam."
Keith Maupin as quoted by the Associated
Press March 31, 2007 #################
Services for Sgt. Matt Maupin - The remains of Sgt. Matt
Maupin will arrive at Lunken Airport in Cincinnati Ohio, on Saturday April 26th. A procession will escort Sgt.
Maupin to the Union Township Civic Center located at 4350 Aicholtz Road, Cincinnati Ohio. Public visitation will begin
at 11:00 AM and end at 7:00 AM Sunday April 27th.
A memorial service beginning at 1:00 PM will be
held at the Great American Ball Park located at 201 E. Pete Rose Way, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202. A private burial
service, at Gate of Heaven Cemetery, will follow the memorial service.
Our hearts and prayers are with the Maupin family. Those wishing to extend their sympathy
may send condolences to:
Carolyn
and Keith Maupin & Family c/o The Yellow Ribbon Support Center 700 S Eastgate Blvd. – Suite 430 Cincinnati
Ohio 45245
####################
What Happened to Matt Maupin - On Thursday April 17th, Pentagon officials briefed the
family of Sgt Matt Maupin. In an article for The Enquirer posted at Cincinnati.com Malia Rulon, writes;
“Keith
Maupin said that Pentagon officials told them Thursday that they would have to get a final report from the Armed Forces Medical
Examiner on exactly how and when their son died. “I was given the impression that they believe it was very early on,"
Maupin said. He said Pentagon officials told them that the June 2004 video released on an Arab television station
showing a person in a U.S. military uniform being shot to death "might well have been Matt, but we don't know for sure."
“The Army Medical Examiner's Office in Maryland has had Sgt. Maupin's remains for more than two weeks. They have
been doing forensic tests to determine when and how he was killed. Keith Maupin said they have been told that "because
of all the time that's gone by and the harsh conditions over there, there wasn't a lot of Matt left for them to examine."
The Maupins will get the report when it's finished.”
In the same article Rulon reported; “Two of
the Iraqis identified as being responsible for kidnapping and killing Staff Sgt. Matt Maupin four years ago have been sentenced
to death - though not for Maupin's death, Army officials told the soldier's parents Thursday.
The
article also stated that Keith Maupin stated the Army paid a $200,000 reward for the tip that led to his son’s recovery.
However “The Army did not comment on the reward.” #################
A Very Impressive 268 –
That is the current number of co-sponsors for H.Res 111. Unfortunately, we are still stuck in the Rules Committee.
Please DO NOT give up. Keep the pressure on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rules Committee Chairperson Louise
McIntosh-Slaughter. Send a fax to:
Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Tel: 202-225-0100 or Toll Free at 866-727-4894 Office of the Speaker
Fax: 202-225-8259 H-232, US Capitol
202-225-4188 Washington, DC 20515
And don’t forget Rules Committee Chairperson
Honorable
Louise McIntosh-Slaughter 2469 Rayburn Bldg
Tel: 202-225-3615 or Toll Free at 866-727-4894 Washington D.C. 20515
Fax: 202-225-7822
Remind them that that H.Res 111 enjoys overwhelming bi-partisan support. With 268
Co-Sponsors passage of H.Res 111 is clearly the will of the people.
Not sure if your Congressional
Representative is a cosponsor, visit www.nationalalliance.org/legis/110congress.htm If your Representative is highlighted in red, he/she is a cosponsor. And,
remember if your Congressional Representative is not a cosponsor, keep working on them! ###################### Status
of PWs in South Vietnam – We recently located an interesting memo. Both the recipient and sender are redacted.
However, the content of the memo, dated November 13, 1969 is basically un-redacted. We found this memo interesting
because it acknowledges the possibility that POW camps abandoned in South Vietnam may have been re-activated.
Unfortunately, as the memo indicates abandoned facilities were not “carried as detention facilities.”
This
concept of re-activating a once abandoned camp is one possibility DPMO refused to consider in the case of Army Captain John
T. McDonnell (Vessey 119 Discrepency Case, Project X and one of the 19 New POWs.) According to the memo;
“The
MACV Joint Prisoner Recovery Center investigates on the ground all credible reports of detention sites in South Vietnam.
In some cases evidence of hastily evacuated prison cages have been found and in one case a fatally wounded American soldier
was recovered. These sites investigated on the ground by JPRC are usually left in an unusable state and are not afterwards
carried as detention facilities. In some cases the sites may in fact have been re-used, but this is problematical.
There are also reported sites in Cambodia and Laos. There is little point in attempting to summarize this information,
since interrogation of released and escaped prisoner indicates that the VC move the captives from camp to camp as the tactical
situation demands.”
The memo also discussed a no bomb area assigned to “one detention facility –
a cave in Laos.” We can only assume that strong intelligence reporting indicated this cave was a detention
facility for American POWs in Laos in 1969.
To view the full document, visit the Vietnam section of our website
at www.nationalalliance.org #####################
Government Acknowledges Mis-Identification of World War II Airman - “The
POW/MIA bunch (Joint POW-MIA Accounting Command, or JPAC) gave it all their spin - and boy, can they spin it. They're better
than Bill O'Reilly." Those are the words of Mary Roberts, sister of World War II airman Wesley Stuart. In
the March 15th edition of Bits we reported how one World War II family exhumed and tested remains returned to them in the
late 1940’s after the Bent Prop Project, a private group researching World War II aircraft losses, located Stuart’s
aircraft with remains inside. This information was provided to the U.S. government but no action was forthcoming.
So,
Mary Roberts took matters into her own hands, exhuming and paying for private mt-DNA testing. The test confirmed the
families long held suspicions that the remains were not those of Wesley Stuart.
On April 17th the Recorder published
a follow up to this story, written by Michael Fitzgerald. Excerpts from his story follow:
[Begin Story]
"They wanted me to go away. Trust me," said Roberts, a Stockton bar owner. "But I didn't. They don't know Irish people.
Irish people are persistent."
“This latest twist in the story of Wesley Stuart involves an admiral's apology,
an honor guard and Stuart's hope that, far away on a tiny coral island in the Pacific, recently discovered remains may really
be those of her beloved brother.”
“On Sept. 13, 1944, Wesley Raymond Stuart, a lanky, 6-foot-1, blue-eyed,
fun-loving cowboy, who rode bucking broncos in Oakdale rodeos, who played guitar and sang, flew off the deck of the carrier
U.S.S Enterprise, bound for the island of Peleliu. Stuart, 20, a turret gunner in a three-man Avenger light bomber,
never returned.”
“Civilian searchers with the Bent Prop Project found his plane's wreckage in 2005.
They conjecture Stuart's Avenger, crossing over the island's shore, took a direct hit from intense Japanese anti-aircraft
fire. Its bomb and gas tank exploded.”
“Four long years passed, and the war was over, when the Navy
notified the family Stuart's remains - skeletal fragments - had been recovered. To the Stuarts, the delay in identifying
Wesley's remains, and the thin evidence on which identification was based, raised doubts. Stuart's mother disbelieved.”
"How
she knew that, I don't know," Roberts confessed. "Mother's intuition. Something." But the family interred the
remains. "My mother took good care of him. She said, 'It's not my son. But it's someone's son.'"
“Roberts
grew up with the doubt. Long after her parents died, when forensic DNA technology evolved, she asked the Navy to test the
remains. The Navy refused.
"The POW/MIA bunch (Joint POW-MIA Accounting Command, or JPAC) gave it all their spin
- and boy, can they spin it. They're better than Bill O'Reilly," Roberts said.”
“When Stuart's plane
was found in 2005, human remains were found beneath the fuselage. "I thought, 'I have to find out. I have to know,'”
Roberts recalled. So she hired an attorney to handle the legalities of disinterment and sent remains from the mausoleum
to a lab in Pennsylvania along with a sample of her DNA.”
“The specialist called her personally.
"I didn't want your attorney to call you and tell you," she told Roberts. "The DNA didn't match." Roberts said she notified
the Navy, which changed its tune. "No more spin. They came down to earth. ... Let me tell you, it really shook them up."
“An
official from JPAC promised a letter of apology, signed by an admiral, Roberts said. The Navy is sending an honor guard and
"high-ranking official" to Park View Cemetery for a formal disinterment ceremony on April 23.”
“The
unknown soldier will be transported to Honolulu , where experts will try to match the remains to the military's database of
MIAs.”
“Roberts wonders if the remains beneath the fuselage are her brother's. She hopes JPAC will
investigate. But there's another possibility: Could the Navy have mixed up the other two crewmen, sending Wesley's remains
to the family of the airman who long rested in French Camp?” [End Story] ###############
Question –
Ms. Roberts had to hire an attorney, pay for exhumation, and mt-DNA testing at her personal expense ($11,000) to proved remains
returned as her brother where not his, shouldn’t the government repay her expenses?
Why does Johnie Webb
still have his job? ###################
National Alliance of Families 19th Annual Forum is scheduled for June
19th – 21st, 2008. Our forum is conducted to coincide with the Government s annual Vietnam POW/MIA Family Briefings.
We urge all family members to attend this year’s government briefing. The government will provide free airfare to two
family members to attend the government briefings. There is no charge or registration fee to attend these briefings and you
DO NOT have to belong to an organization to attend the government briefings.
This year our meeting will be held
at the Holiday Inn National Airport, located at 2650 Jefferson Davis Highway Crystal City, VA. The special Alliance
rate is $129.00 per night, plus tax. Parking rate under the Alliance is $10.00 per night. Cutoff
date for reservations is May 20th so make your reservations early. There will be no extension on this date.
To reserve your room, call 1-703-684-7200. The Alliance is an all volunteer organization. Our meetings are open to all,
without charge. At this time of year, we actively seek contributions to finance our forum. If you wish to contribute, donations
may be mailed to: National Alliance of Families P.O. Box 40327 Bellevue, WA . 98015 Remember all contributions
are tax deductible.
3472
Please take a moment to visit The VFW Veterans Memorial Wall.
The VFW Veterans Memorial Wall is meant to be a lasting tribute to all of the proud men and women who have served our country
and live on in our memories.
If you have another loved one that you would like to add to The VFW Veterans Memorial Wall, there's still time! Add your hero's name today so the thousands of visitors to our site each year will see their name proudly displayed.
We want to ensure that not one single veteran is ever forgotten.
They helped make this the greatest country in the world. And we have a duty to make sure that their dedication to this
country is remembered long after they are gone.
WWII Database Now Available: DPMO researchers have completed the first electronic
listing of Missing Personnel from the Second World War, which is now available on the DPMO website . Click HERE to see the database. Developed from two historical sources created by different agencies, as well as thousands
of individual casualty files, the list will serve as the foundation for building detailed information on each WWII-era serviceman
whose remains were not recovered. Work on expanding the list to include information such as aircraft or ship involved in each
loss is already underway, and plans for further analytical enhancements are in development.
The Torch
Newsletter is Back: The Torch publication
has been off the shelves for a while, but now it's back with a new image and focus. This quarterly publication will inform
readers about what the accounting and personnel recovery communities are doing to account for service members missing from
past wars, and how we prepare today's service members to avoid and survive captivity. Click here to read the latest edition.
Links to Military Services: If you would like to visit the Army, Navy, Air Force or
Marine Corps POW/MIA websites, click on the icons below.
ARMY
NAVY
AIR FORCE
MARINE CORPS
To snag our banner and display it on your website, right click on it, save it under whatever name you'd
prefer in the format as a .gif to a file on your pc where you can relocate it. Merely upload it to your website and
link to: http://powmiaawareness.tripod.com and you're set to go. WE APPRECIATE IT!
This is our FUND RAISER
PROCEEDS GO TO ASSIST THE POW/MIA FAMILIES
The POW/MIA Holy Bear is being sold by this website as a fund raiser. Proceeds will go to assist the
families of current POW/MIA families. Each POW/MIA Holy Bear costs $10.00. A gift box is also available for an extra $1.00 each. The gift box keeps
your bear looking clean and new and proudly displays your Honorable Bear and your SUPPORT FOR OUR PRISONERS OF WAR AND MISSING
IN ACTION! Checks and Money Orders only please.
We wish to give a SPECIAL THANKS to Rob LeClair and Holy Bears for making this
opportunity available to us! www.HolyBears.com
We also have some items on Vista Print which can be located by CLICKING HERE One is a new National POW/MIA Awareness Assn. T Shirt. I sure am looking forward to getting mine
and my husband feels the same about getting his!
This website and the National POW/MIA
Awareness are both *NEW* ideas; but ideas that will succeed! For far too long now, POW/MIA has been, and continues
to be, hushed and whispered words. NO MORE! We are joining together to bring the words to LIFE! And in so
doing, to bring forth AWARENESS to the American people. THAT, dear Americans, is NECESSARY!
I think that most every American Veteran will wholeheartedly
agree that there were far too many POW/MIAs left behind, either dead or alive, in Vietnam. Many are yet, still there.
Obviously it is unknown if all are now deceased or if some remain alive. I can advise you that some families remain,
to this day, hopeful. My son, serving as an MSG for the USMC, was stationed in Hanoi, N. Vietnam for over a year.
He spoke of untold 'carts' of Vietnamese selling American 'dog tags'. In an attempt to reunite dog tags with the families
we began to do some research before putting tons of money into the purchase of said 'dog tags'.
What we discovered was that there was NO WAY of distinguishing
a real, American G.I. dog tag from the Vietnam Era to a fake one made by the Vietnamese to make money. They'd had plenty
of time to learn their 'trade'.
My son spent approximately $100.00 in purchasing dog
tags that we were never able to reunite with family members because of privacy issues. My marine also found it very
difficult to walk away from such carts as he felt like he was 'turning his back and walking away from his fellow comrades.'
This, I understood. Also, when a Vietnamese sees an "American" approaching, the prices jump way up! "Rich Americans"
ha ha ha.
Currently we KNOW of two POW/MIAs in our recent past.
In Desert Storm, Scott Speicher. In Operation Iraqi Freedom, 'Matt' Maupin. 'Matt' is an Ohioan, as am I.
Thus, Chapter 1 of the National POW/MIA Awareness is Ohio, obviously. I am in contact with Mr. Keith Maupin by email
and the family holds the Faith and the Hope that any young man or woman would be so gratefully honored to have their family
hold on to. Whether dead or alive, the Maupin family, as well as their numerous supporters, continue in the strength
of prayers and faith and hope! Isn't it time that the entire Nation stand with them? Isn't it time that we no
longer whisper POW/MIA and instead shout it from the rooftops and DEMAND to know what our Military and our Government is doing
about these situations and these men/women? Yes, rescues of some were made. Some were alive, some were not.
What are WE doing about the atrocities committed against our POW/MIA Americans held by terrorists who ended up beheaded and
other such atrocities that ended up being their awful fate? And I am NOT just referencing our Military here.
We are currently prosecuting our own men/women who
return from the hell of a warzone for crimes against innocent Iraqis they say. What, if anything, are we doing against
the not so innocent terrorists who have committed such atrocities against our fellow Americans?
These are just 'some' of the issues and reasons this
National POW/MIA Awareness Association was founded and why WE WILL NEVER FORGET AND WE WILL NEVER
FAIL.
I ENCOURAGE someone from every state in this
Great Nation, the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave, to step forward and begin a State Chapter of the POW/MIA
Awareness Association. Each new Chapter will be given a Chapter
No. and the Chapter's contact person and their information, as they see fit to provide such information, will be listed here
per state. Some may opt to only give an email address while others give out their entire mailing, email, phone no.,
etc. information. I do NOT decide how much information is provided by a State Chapter Leader; THEY DO. Their privacy
is as important as anyone else's. But they must, at bear minimum, supply an email addy for contact information.
I am hoping that we can continue to
grow and make a difference in the importance of the POW/MIA Awareness Issue.
There will ALWAYS be a full accounting of funds received
and funds paid on this website for all members as well as non members viewing.
Thank You for taking the time to read and get acquainted.
Fact
Sheet: VA Benefits for Former Prisoners Of War
Former American prisoners of war (POWs) are eligible
for special veterans benefits, including enrollment in Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical care for treatment in VA
hospitals and clinics without copayments as well as disability compensation for injuries and diseases that have been associated
with internment. These benefits are in addition to regular veterans benefits and services to which they, as veterans,
are entitled. Records show that 142,246 Americans were captured and interned during World War I, World War II, the Korean
War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, the Somalia and Kosovo conflicts, and Operation Iraqi Freedom. There were no servicemembers
reported missing in action from the Bosnia deployment nor from recent Afghanistan operations. Of the 125,214 Americans
surviving captivity, about 29,350 were estimated to be alive at the end of 2005.
American
Prisoners Of War at End of 2005 Captured and Interned Died while POW Returned to U.S. Military
Control Refused to Return Alive at end of 2005
GRAND TOTAL 142,246 17,009 125,214 21 29,350
WW I 4,120 147 3,973 -- -- WW
II 130,201 14,072 116,129 -- 26,750 Korean 7,140
2,701 4,418 21 2,000 Vietnam 725 64
661 -- 579 Gulf War 47 25 21
-- 21 Somalia 1 -- 1 --
1 Kosovo 3 -- 3 -- 3 Iraq
9 -- 8 -- 8 Notes: A more detailed analysis
is at http://www.vba.va.gov/bln/21/Benefits/POW/DOCS/POW4-06-05.doc . The Iraq column includes one servicemember who continues to
be listed as "missing/captured" and while not counted in the column of living former POWs, this is not meant to imply anything
about his vital status. One Gulf War servicemember is listed as missing-captured after his status was changed.
The estimate of the number alive from World War II and the Korean War at the end of 2005 is based on mortality estimates from
VA's Office of the Actuary that are rounded to the nearest 50. This report assumes all returned POWs of the Gulf
War, Somalia and Kosovo are still alive, but the government has not individually tracked their vital status. Because
of the advanced age of World War I veterans, estimates of those alive would be too unreliable to report.
Congress has
defined a prisoner of war as a person who, while serving on active duty, was forcibly detained by an enemy government or a
hostile force, during a period of war or in situations comparable to war.
With nine out of ten former POWs having served
in World War II, the estimated number of living POWs decreased from nearly 32,500 to 29,000 during 2005 due mainly to the
estimated death rates for World War II and Korean POWs.
Compensation
As of August 2006, there were 16,884 former
POWs receiving compensation benefits from VA. Approximately 13,000 of them are rated as 100 percent disabled.
Studies
have shown that the physical hardships and psychological stress endured by POWs have life-long effects on health and on social
and vocational adjustment. These studies also indicate increased vulnerability to psychological stress. The
laws on former POW benefits recognize that military medical records do not cover periods of captivity. For many diseases,
unless there is evidence of some other cause, VA disability compensation can be paid on the basis of a presumption that
a disease present today is associated with the veteran's captivity or internment.
For POWs detained for 30 days or
more, such eligibility covers any of the following illnesses that are found at a compensable level (at least 10 percent disabling):
avitaminosis; beriberi; chronic dysentery; cirrhosis of the liver; helminthiasis; irritable bowel syndrome and malnutrition,
including associated optic atrophy. Also covered are: pellagra and any other nutritional deficiency; peptic ulcer disease;
and peripheral neuropathy, except where directly related to infectious causes. Several categories of diseases are
presumptively associated with captivity without any 30-day limit: psychosis; any anxiety state; dysthymic disorders;
cold injury; post-traumatic arthritis; strokes; and common heart diseases.
The rate of VA monthly compensation,
according to degree of disability, ranges from $112 to $2,393 per month. Veterans rated as 30 percent or more disabled
qualify for additional benefits based upon the number of dependents. Dependents of those rated 100 percent disabled
may qualify for educational assistance.
Spouses of veterans who die as a result of service-connected disabilities are
eligible for dependency and indemnity compensation. Spouses of former POWs who were rated 100 percent disabled and who died
of a condition unrelated to their service also may be eligible, depending on the date of death and how long the veteran
held the 100 percent disability rating. Those non-service-connected deaths prior to October 1999 are covered if the
former POW had been 100 percent disabled for at least 10 years. More recent non-service-connected deaths are covered
under a law that provides the benefit when the former POWs was 100 percent disabled for a year or more.
Medical Care
Former POWs receive special priority for VA health-care enrollment, even if their illness
has not been formally associated with their service. Former POWs are exempt from making means test copayments for inpatient and
outpatient medical care and medications, but they have the same copay rules as other veterans for extended care. They
also are now eligible for dental care without any length-of-interment requirement.
VA periodically has provided training
for its medical staff about former POWs, and an online curriculum is maintained at http://www1.va.gov/VHI/page.cfm?pg=9 .
Outreach Campaign
In collaboration with its Advisory Committee on Former Prisoners of War,VA launched a campaign
in 2003 to ensure that eligible former POWs are aware of their VA benefits. Direct mail was used where addresses could be
found for veterans who were not currently on the rolls. Those already receiving VA benefits were reminded of the possible
availability of increased compensation if a condition has worsened, and they also were alerted to the improvement of benefits
in recent years. In addition, to seek former POWs for whom VA could not locate an address and to reach widows of veterans
who may have died of a service-connected condition, VA issued news releases and provided interviews to alert the public
to expanded policies. Brochures, exhibits and VA Web sites were improved to provide more information to former POWs
and the public.
Later in 2004 and 2005, VA initiated another outreach campaign to locate former POWs who were experiencing
two new presumptive conditions - heart disease or stroke - to alert them to the change in law.
Additional Resources
POW coordinators are assigned to each VA regional office and medical center and are available
to provide more information. Former POWs may contact VA regional offices with general benefits questions at 800-827-1000. Medical eligibility questions may be directed to 877-222-8387.
Additional information for former POWs also is available from VA's Web site at http://www.vba.va.gov/bln/21/Benefits/POW/ .
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No Members claim to have made any of the graphics that they send to this lis/websitet. The
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Please spread the word of our Prisoners of
War and our Missing in Action. There are STILL Americans who don't know anything about them! There are Americans who don't
know the true meaning of POW/MIA! TEACH THEM. NEVER FORGOTTEN!!
