PLEASE SHARE THIS INFO from NBC evening news WITH OTHER LISTS, ESPECIALLY
DISABLED VETS -- PETE
Retired, disabled vets to file suit Veterans allege violation of American
with Disabilities Act By Fred Francis
NBC NEWSNEW ORLEANS, Jan. 31 — There is an update on story involving
veterans who feel they were fleeced because of a 19th century law
affecting their retirement income.
A CRAMPED OFFICE serves as a recruiting center for soldiers who
want to fight. They are retired, disabled soldiers in a legal fight
against the very government they served, the government that they say
has fleeced them.
“I thought I had it made,” says World War II veteran John Deaver.
Three decades in uniform left him 100 percent disabled. Deaver
receives $2,400 per month in disability payments, but because of a
quirky, 19th century law, all of it is then deducted from his retirement
pay.
“I am funding my own disability out of my hard-earned retirement
pay,” says Deaver.
Class action suit • Click here to learn more about the Military Retired
Pay Restoration Act and the related lawsuit. Veterans' Voting Bloc,
unitedvets.tripod.com Had Deaver only finished his career in
another branch of the federal government — with the Post Office or the
IRS, for instance — he and half a million other disabled vets’
retirement pay would remain untouched. And that’s discrimination, says
Philip Jones, a disabled war veteran who became a lawyer.
“It violates our rights because they are taking away a percentage
of our entitlement that we have earned and they are not taking it away
from any other government employee,” says Jones.
NBC News reported on the veterans’ plight twice last year. They
fought back and lobbied Congress to pass a law that would provide them
with their full benefits. But this law must be funded by the
administration, which vets say is unlikely. Advertisement
“They can pass all the bills they want to but if they don’t fund
them they’re no good,” says disabled veteran Robert Manley.
“What are the veterans that put in 26 years in the service? What
are they? Chopped liver? It’s ludicrous,” says John Keene, another
disabled veteran.
So now, disabled vets are banding together again. Deaver is one
of about 2,000 — a small army — who is filing suit, alleging that the
current law is unconstitutional, and violates the Americans with
Disabilities Act.
The Pentagon would not talk to NBC News about the lawsuit, but in
a statement said it remains “committed to the adequate compensation of
retirees.”
That’s doublespeak, the veterans say, since the Pentagon has told
Congress it is opposed to any change in the current system; too costly
it says.
Follow the fleece • May 21, 2001: Blind eye to disabled vets? • June 8,
2001: Relief for retired vets? • Jan. 31, 2002: Retired, disabled vets
to file suit
“The message I have for the government is if you are gonna treat
one set of citizens different than the rest, then you are gonna have to
pay the piper,” says Piper.
The old vets like John Deaver just want to be paid their
disability and retirement.
“If they gave me both I’d be sitting here in hog heaven,” says
Deaver.
A lawsuit is now Deaver’s only hope for the retirement he had
dreamed about as a young soldier.
CONTACT INFO
Philip E. Jones, (USA, RET)
Attorney at Law
126 East Main Plaza
San Antonio, Texas 78205
Phone: (210) 224-1923; Fax: (210) 227-4229
Web site:http://unitedvets.tripod.com
email: [log in to unmask] or [log in to unmask]
ADDITIONAL INFO TO CHECK:
Pass HR303/S170, Military Retired Pay Restoration Act And Fund It
(Authorize concurrent receipt of VA Comp + Mil Ret Pay)
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