It is time for the VA to take care of widows seeking VA spousal payments. Denise is a widowed mother of three. 20 years ago, her military veteran husband died from a prolonged bout of lymphoma. It was a long protracted battle that took his life after 9 long years of fighting. After her husband’s death, Denise went to her local VA and requested spousal support payments. She was horrified to learn that a woman had already claimed her spousal support payments and the VA was already paying this woman monthly. Denise began to fight the VA to receive the benefits she deserved and her husband earned through his military service to his country. The VA still has not responded to her requests for redress of this issue for the last 20 years and she has had to wait.
Denise reported this information to the VA and for the past 20 years they have failed to act. What type of reprehensible human beings can hear her story and decide that they will not act or fix the problem as it should be fixed immediately. I wonder how many other widows are in this same situation as Denise? I wonder how many other scam artists have been able to perpetrate a crime of this nature against the VA or other government agencies? Does the VA leadership even know about this situation?
As President Lincoln promised, “to care for him who shall have borne the battle, his widow and his children.” In this case, it does not appear that the VA has done a very good job of caring for “his widow.” Denise has been treated with contempt and not the type of response you would expect from a government agency. Having said that, even after 20 years, the VA can still do right by this person and solve this very serious problem of epic proportions. It might be critical to find out whether this scam artist has done this before and perhaps the VA will find that she is receiving multiple monthly checks on the deaths of several military Veterans. I would hope there is something in place to ensure this doesn’t take place.
The VA is not above the law and should abide by the rules. Likewise, the VA should prosecute the woman who perpetrated this heinous crime against this family to the fullest extent of the law. Now is the time for action. The VA cannot put aside its responsibility to the Veteran community and blow off this woman’s claims. It is time for Denise to be heard.
