Bill Burrows is the senior Veteran’s Service Officer stationed at the Vineland Veterans Memorial Home. In a recent case, through a thorough and exhaustive interview, Burrows discovered that a disabled veteran was greatly under-evaluated for his disabilities: post traumatic stress disorder, heart disease, asthma and back injury. This veteran had been a prisoner of war, a factor that was significant for proper VA compensation. Through careful gathering of medical evidence and arrangement of VA medical examinations, a case was presented to the VA by Burrows for an increase in compensation. The veteran received a retroactive check for $20,815 to compensate him for prior year’s underpayments and his monthly compensation was doubled to $2887. Burrows used knowledge of the VA system and persistence to get the ex-POW the compensation he deserved.

Bob Del Percio is the second of two Veteran’s Service Officer working for veterans at the Vineland Memorial Home. An interview with a World War II veteran took a decided turn when Bob discovered that the VA had made a mistake in evaluating the veteran’s foot condition back in 1957.

Del Percio appealed this 40-year-old error and compelled the VA to award retroactive compensation to the deserving veteran. Correction of this error led to receipt of a check for $29,094 to make up for 40 years of lost compensation at the 10 per cent rate. Knowledge of the law and incisive advocacy won the day for this veteran. As usual, unsung, but equally devoted to the welfare of veterans, Catherine Raniolo, secretary of the Vineland Veterans Service Office, prepared and presented all the crucial documents in these two cases, to ensure a successful result. Teamwork and advocacy strengthen the hands, and claims of our compensation worthy veterans.

Joe Battito at the Middlesex office assisted a widow in receiving benefits for her first husband who died in World War II. The claim began in 2005 and she received $17,000 in retroactive payments. Another veteran will now be receiving an additional $1,000 a month, plus a special housing grant and $14,000 in retroactive benefits.

Correction: in the May Veteran Journal issue, on page 7, it was stated that the widow of World War II veteran would be receiving $1,200 a year for the rest of her life. In fact, she will receive $1,200 a month tax-free for the rest of her life.