A week ago, Vietnam veteran DaNang65 wrote this amazing diary about his efforts to educate his fellow veterans about the important monetary benefits available to those who were stop-lossed.
In that diary, he cautioned his fellow veterans that the time to apply for those benefits was set to end on October 21.
Today, President Obama extended that deadline to December 3rd.
Is this important? It sure is.
In his diary DaNang65 said:
At the end of today's session I approached the young 'uns and asked them collectively "Any of you guys get 'stop lossed'?" Three nodded affirmatively. So I asked them "You do know about the retroactive 'stop loss' pay?"
One smiled broadly and said "Yeah, I got mine." The other two looked at me like I had two heads. So I explained to them that under the Defense Appropriations Act of 2009 they are entitled to $500 per month retroactive pay for each and every month they were "stop lossed".
They looked at me in amazement and asked for more information.
The first thing I made sure I drilled into their heads was that the deadline for applying for the retroactive pay is October 21, 2010. It's use it or lose it, and the clock is running out.
What does this mean to our veterans? Well, read this from DaNang65’s diary:
One, the big guy (I'm over six feet and two hundred pounds, if I call him a "big guy" he's a big guy) had tears streaming down his face. "I was 'stop lossed' eleven months" he said. "I've used up all my unemployment. You mean I can get $5,500?" he sputtered through the tears. "Sure", I answered, "it's as easy as going to that website and following the links."
He grabbed me in a bear hug as he told me that his wife hadn't had a new thing in many months, his kids didn't even get new clothes for school, yet alone supplies. They'd been subsisting on Food Stamps and the occasional visit to the food bank. His gratitude was more crushing than his considerable strength.
The other "stop lossed" vet hadn't sunk quite that low financially, but he said he sure could use the money. They offered me their thanks and we parted ways.
I Helped a 99’er Today
I cried while reading this diary. I wept in gratitude for DaNang 65, for his service during Vietnam, and for all he is doing now to help younger veterans. And I shed tears for veterans (like those he mentioned) who are unemployed and have run out of unemployment benefits . . .
I am grateful for our good Democrats who have actually taken steps to help our military and veterans, unlike the Republican magnet-on-the-SUV types whose assistance to veterans has included (just for starters) voting against paying them.
And I am grateful to President Obama, who today extended the time to claim these earned benefits to December 3!
On September 15, President Obama said:
“You served with honor. You did your duty. And when your country called on you again, you did your duty again. Now, it's time to collect the special pay that you deserve.”
Today, our President extended the time to claim those benefits to December 3.
To receive this benefit, those who served under stop loss must submit a claim for the special pay. Throughout the year, the services have been reaching out to servicemembers, veterans and their families through direct mail, veteran service organizations, and the media. But there is still money left to be claimed, and the deadline is approaching. The average benefit is $3,700.
Source ~ White House
If you, or someone you know, is owed stop-loss benefits, go here to read about how to claim them.
And please pass the word!
Thank you, President Obama!
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And thank you, DaNang65 and all the good kossacks (and others) he mentions in this comment:
GN1927 first diaried this topic here and brought it to dKos attention. Since then then a number of kossacks have gotten on the engine, willing to do the work of shoveling the coal.
Angelajean is a tireless advocate, jimstaro (dKos resident expert and constant diarist on veteran's affairs), Angie in WA State, and so many others have gladly picked up this ball and run with it.
A dKos superstar, Tom P, is waiting in the wings, ready as he always is to do his part in doing the right thing for America.
Beyond the dKos circle, Rep. Betty Sutton has been the genuine prime mover in getting things done with a simple extension through the House Armed Services Committee and getting the President to act.
Kossacks too numerous to mention have done invaluable work on this issue.
We will not let it die with a simple one month extension, there's more to be done and now we have (a little) more time to do it.
It's election season, we all know, but this simple issue of fairness and common decency should be a concern of every kossack.
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ACTION ITEM:
texasmom suggests:
I will email all of our local TV stations and ask that they cover this extension and place a link on their homepages. Our newspaper already covered the story and will doubtless cover the extension, but they might be persuaded to run a small box ad several times a week.
This would be a great local service announcement - please feel free to copycat!