In God We Trust
Too many Korean War veterans are unaware that they can file a claim with the federal government for Veteran's Assistance for service-related injuries. The filing process is time-consuming, slow, and often exasperating (to say the least), but the financial benefits to the veteran and his or her family can be well worth the misery involved in going through the claim process. To make filing a claim even harder, thousands of veterans' military records were destroyed in a fire at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis. (See "National Personnel Records Center and the Fire of 1973" on the KWE Topics Index.) Detailed information about filing claims can be found on the VA Watchdog website for veterans: http://vawatchdog.org/.
[Taken from the Department of Veterans Affairs website.] - The Korean War was fought from 1950 until 1953 and pitted the United States, South Korea and their UN allies against North Korea and the Chinese Communists. Cold injuries including frostbite and immersion (trench) foot constituted a major medical problem for U.S. service personnel during the Korean War. Veterans of the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir are recognized as having suffered especially high rates of severe cold injuries. Cold accounted for 16% of Army non-battle injuries requiring admission and over 5000 U.S. casualties of cold injury required evacuation from Korea during the winter of 1950-1951.
In many instances U.S. Service members did not seek or were unable to obtain medical care after cold injuries because of battlefield conditions. Documentation of such injuries may never have been made in their service medical records or may no longer be available.
It is important for VA staff examining and caring for veterans who have experienced cold injuries to be familiar with the recognized long-term and delayed sequelae. These include peripheral neuropathy, skin cancer in frostbite scars (including in such locations as the heels and earlobes), arthritis in involved areas, chronic tinea pedis, fallen arches and stiff toes, nocturnal pain, and cold sensitization. These cold-related problems may worsen as veterans grow older and develop complicating conditions such as diabetes and peripheral vascular disease, which place them at higher risk for late amputations.
VA staff is encouraged to utilize the following sources of additional information on examination and treatment of cold-injured veterans: Questions relating to examination and treatment of cold-injured veterans may be referred to the Office of Public Health and Environmental Hazards (13), VA Central Office, telephone [Please enable JavaScript.], fax [Please enable JavaScript.]. Veterans' questions regarding cold injury compensation claims should be addressed to the appropriate VA Regional Office, telephone [Please enable JavaScript.].
Our nation's veterans may be at risk for identity theft--including Korean War and DMZ veterans. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs website, this is what happened:
In May 2006, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) learned that an employee, a data analyst, took home electronic data from the VA, which he was not authorized to do. This behavior was in violation of VA policies. This data contained identifying information including names, social security numbers, and dates of birth for up to 26.5 million veterans and some spouses, as well as some disability ratings. Importantly, the affected data did not include any of VA's electronic health records nor any financial information. The employee's home was burglarized and this data was stolen. The employee was initially placed on administrative leave, and VA is now implementing procedures necessary to dismiss the employee.
On June 6, 2006, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced that active-duty service members and members of the National Guard and Reserves may be affected by the personal data loss. As the two agencies compared electronic files, VA and DoD learned that personal information on as many as 1.1 million active-duty service members, 430,000 National Guardsmen, and 645,000 members of the Reserves may have been included in the data theft.
It potentially affects all veterans who were discharged after 1975, which is when VA automated its records systems and began regular input of information received from the Department of Defense on all separating veterans. When VA automated its records systems, VA also input data from all historical claimant records that had been manually maintained by the agency. This data loss therefore also potentially affects all veterans who have ever filed a claim for VA disability compensation, pension, or education benefits, or who have (or had) a VA insurance policy – no matter when the claim was filed or when they were discharged. These veterans would be included even if their claim was denied or they are not currently receiving benefits.
Appropriate law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and the VA Inspector General's office, have launched full-scale investigations into this matter. Authorities believe it is unlikely the perpetrators targeted the items because of any knowledge of the data contents. It is possible that they remain unaware of the information which they possess or of how to make use of it. However, out of an abundance of caution, the VA is taking all possible steps to protect and inform our veterans.
The VA is working with members of Congress, the news media, veterans service organizations, and other government agencies to help ensure that veterans and their families are aware of the situation and of the steps they may take to protect themselves from misuse of their personal information. The VA will send out individual notification letters to veterans. Additionally, working with other government agencies, the VA has set up a manned call center that veterans may call to get information about this situation and learn more about consumer identity protections.
Recommendations: The V.A. recommends that all veterans carefully monitor bank and credit card statements and report any unusual activity to the institution involved and contact the Federal Trade Commission. Anyone detecting any suspicious financial activity should: (1) Contact the fraud department of one of the three major credit bureaus: Equifax at [Please enable JavaScript.], Experian at [Please enable JavaScript.] or TransUnion at [Please enable JavaScript.]. (2) Close any accounts that have been tampered with, or opened fraudulently. (3) File a report with your local police departments or with the police department in the community where the identity theft took place. (Where the account was opened). (4) File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission by using the identity theft hot line at [Please enable JavaScript.]. (5) For more information contact the Department of Veterans Affairs special website at www.firstgov.gov or call [Please enable JavaScript.]. The call center will operate from 8 am to 9 pm (EDT), Monday-Saturday as long as it is needed.