Another Widow Eligible For Va Assistance?

[out_here04]

like rockytop, i have an older lady neighbor who i have been talking with about any assistance she may be able to qualify for through the va. here's her situation:

her husband was an army national guardsman during which time he was called up during the berlin crisis (1961?) and was activated to serve at ft meade, md. (more on that later)

years later, still a member of the guard, but not activated, he had a civilian job industrial accident and cut off some of his fingers. as he was very close to having 20 years in the guard he was allowed to stay until he got his 20 years in to qualify for retirement points to start drawing retirement at age 65, i believe. at that time he had to prove he could use his left hand (right was dominant) to fire a weapon or he probably would have been MEB'd out.

upon retirement eligible, for whatever reason, he did not sign his wife up for SBP (survivors benefit pension?) where he could have paid in to ensure that in the case of his death his widow would get a portion of his retirement (up to 55 percent, i believe). because of that, she does not get SBP. she DOES have a pinkish dependent military ID card which gives her access to the px, commissary, post theater, etc., and access to the military hospital's emergency room in case OF emergency. health insurance-wise, she has Tricare for Life, with SS picking up any slack after that. so, she gets army benefits, but no cash directly, and the army has told her that is not ever going to change.

her veteran husband did not live very many years after he became eligible to retire with the national guard. he developed cancer and died shortly after being diagnosed.

okay, that's the back-history.

i believe i have seen on hadit scenarios where widows are attempting to quaify for dependents indemnity clause pension (dic) with or without a service-connected claim from the veteran. i may be mistaken, and only sc vets' widows qualify. that may be the case with her at first glance, but there is more.

Q: without her husband having a service-connected claim ever filed, yet having experienced a non-service connected disability (albeit as an in-activated national guardsman), does she have any rights to filing, at this point, for her to get va dic based on the idea that he might have been eligible if he had applied? i don't remember if pension hinges on income levels or on whether the non-sc had to occur while activated or not. could she feasibly qualify as his widow? would this depend on her financial situation? she does get social security (not sure if this is her own or her husband's or both).

Q: another question involves a "what if" scenario of this widow going back many years to a possible exposure at a known site where cancer-causing agents were used in weaponry possibly causing contamination. i recently saw on hadit a case history where a veteran won a decision involving agent orange being used/stored on guam. the widow's husband/vet was activated and deployed to ft. meade, md, during the berlin crisis (think krushev not airlift which was around 1948-49). the (anti-nuke) nike ajax missiles were first set up at ft meade, md in the 1950s through 1980 per research online. the veteran did not work directly with the missiles (those soldiers wore protective outfits to prevent exposure). he was a cook and i have no idea of his proximity to the missiles or if it has ever been/or will be established that there was verifiable contamination from those missile sites.

researching any possible service-connection to the widow's veteran's cause of death (cancer) i ran across this:

an online description says:

"Nike Ajax was a slender, two-stage guided missile powered by a liquid-fueled motor utilizing a combination of inhibited red fuming nitric acid (IRFNA), unsymmetrical dimethyl hydrazine (UDMH) and JP-4 jet petroleum."

more on the highlighted UDMH

unsymmetrical dimethyl hydrazine (UDMH)

UDMH is toxic, a carcinogen and can explode in the presence of oxidisers. It is toxic and is absorbed through the skin. During the 1980s there was concern about the levels of UDMH in various foods being a cancer risk, especially for apple juice."

ft meade is an environmental protection agency "supersite". if you dig enough, you find mention of the nike ajax missiles and other accounts theorize that the fuel for these rockets could have been spilled out of catch-tanks and thus contaminated ground-water. fuel spills do not dissapate to a point, they spread out like a funnel and eventually meet up with ground-water if in sufficient amount.

i know it could be viewed as a stretch to say that the veteran ingested or was exposed to something 30 years before he developed cancer (or not), and it would be a tough row to hoe for a 77-year-old widow to gather the documents such a case would take, but she is still feisty and i think she would. i just wish i had met her years ago with the insight of hadit.

i told her she is very fortunate to have the benefits and ss compensation that she does have, which she acknowledged. i also told her i'd ask the questions of my hadit family on getting some answers to some of the basic dic eligiblity questions, primarily, as well as the obviously complicated ones about whether or not a long-ago documented cancer risk could have eventually killed her husband, and if so, is it worth filing a claim at this point.

i know this was windy, and thanks for listening, as well as any answers, guidance or advice for one vet's family member.

[out_here04]

well, deltaj, he died around 1996 at age 61, so the veteran's widow apparently barely missed both of those requirements for SBP or supplemental annuity payment.

i'm doing research now to see if there is a nexus(?)link from the epa superfund site at ft meade md (rocket fuel spill) which could have "just as likely as not" caused this veteran to die of cancer. the widow is attempting to get her deceased husband's medical records (possibly service included if very, very lucky) that spells out exactly what type of cancer he suffered from.

any suggestions from anyone on any of those aspects is greatly appreciated.

[deltaj]

SBP is the survival benefit plan. I think you should call the National Guard retirement office and get this widow some help. Congress changed the law so that if a National Guard retiree died after January 1, 2001 without making an election enrollment for survivors in the survival benefit plan is automatic. Also there is some sort of supplemental annuity payment for retirees who died before reaching age 60.

I also failed to mention that if her husband was receiving pension from V.A. for 10 years or more prior to death there might be eligibility for DIC. Someone please correct me on this if I am wrong.

[out_here04]

he had never filed a va disability claim, even after contracting cancer. he died within a few months of knowing, i believe.