Q about VFW

[EweSheep]

Yep that is what he wanted all those info on his headstone. Not sure about how it would be done but I figured you can have anything on your headstone nowadays.

Thanks for the links! I did look at all of them and sometimes its a blur and need layman's terms to read thru it. At least my hubby knows most of it.

I wished my hubby would get some kind of school grant but he was honorably discharged from the Navy just a few weeks from finishing his boot camp. UGH!

 

[seismic wonder2]

His DD214 (discharge papers) are the end all be all. DD214 is his key to getting medical benefits, burial, Vetrans Administration services ETC. At the VA the very first thing after saying "hello" will be "Do you have your DD214?"
Have them copied and NOTORIZED as official copies and stash them all over the place (bank, storage unit, home) but don't keep them all in one place in case the place burns down.
GO TO THE VA ASAP!! In his time when people got discharged from the service they didn't tell them squat about all the benefits they may be entitled to from the govt. SOMETIMES EVEN MONEY!
If he has any health problems he may be able to get them declaired "service related" (he is probably deaf from artellary) and get free medical from the VA hospital.

If he's worried about his headstone, you may want to check on survivors benefits also. It's not much but it will help out with the cost for services that don't come free for being a service member.

There is a gobb of stuff out there for him if he had that golden DD214!
They WILL NOT COME TO YOU!!! You have to ask or you will not receive!

Tell him Chief Petty Officer (paygrade E-7) Hale, USN, Said "Thanks for serving"

 

[EweSheep]

Well they did ask him for his discharge papers and he REFUSED to give it to them because he does not want to give out personal information, including his SS#.

He just didnt trust the folks at the VFW because "you just dont know how these people will use your information for their own purposes like stealing your ID thingy.

I am very certain that they will not give out his information to anyone else for other than VFW.

 

[dacjohns]

Quote:
What I gave was for VA furnished headstones. I suppose you could do whatever you want with a headstone you pay for yourself. The VA does offer emblems that can be put on privately furnished headstones.

http://www.cem.va.gov/cem/hm/hmtype.asp

 

[spatcher]

I think he may be a little too paranoid to be a member of anything. Just my opinion!

 

[WriterofWords]

The headstone he wants he could have in any civilian cemetary, most military cemetaries have very strict rules about headstones and they all match. Ft. Bliss National Cemetary went from white upright marble headstones to flat grey granite headstones the year my grandfather passed away, he would hate it! Then they found out it is too hard to maintain the flat ones and went back to the upright white marble, so one section is different from all the rest, but they are still uniform and no one is allowed bells and whistles like brass plaques or anything.

 

[Blisschick]

My brother served in Korea about 6 years ago and is a member of the VFW. He told me that even though there isn't any active combat, they are still technically at war since there is only a cease-fire that has been in place for years. It doesn't make much sense to me, but I guess if they say they're at war, then they must be.

 

[spatcher]

If any of you out there are retired military, you are eligible to be buried in Arlington. Just so ya know!

 

[dacjohns]

Arlington:

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.org/funeral_information/guide.interment.html

 

[EweSheep]

Never been to Arlington but my parents been there and they said it was AWESOME! Particularly with the Kennedy family plot...

I dont know if our dear Ted Kennedy would be buried there or not since he has been in service AND a senator at best.

I am not sure why my FIL hates to give out personal information....he does that with every job he goes to and wont give out his SSN until they hire him. He retired as a guard from Pontiac prison, yep, the big bad guys LOL!

Where he has bought his plot along with his wife, its a public cemetery, not a military cemetery.