Long story. I’d greatly appreciate advice or referrals for my questions at the end of this post.
I’m trying to help an adult child of a veteran confirm the (deceased) father’s cremation/interment benefits with the VA. The surviving spouse might also be eligible for the VA’s “Survivor pension”, but she’s in a care facility with an Alzheimer’s diagnosis. Their son is totally ignorant of the U.S. military but has recovered a dozen pages of his father’s Navy service records from the National Archives.
Two years ago my friend the son (we’ll call him “Brian”) contacted me with questions about his father’s Reserve pension. Dad’s service record has the NRPC 1070/61 hand-written point-count form (with over 20 good years from 1964-88) and 3025 points. It also has a letter approving Dad’s transfer to the Retired Reserve in 1992. (I think it implies “retired awaiting pay”-- gray area-- and not separation or discharge.) From other pages of these records, it’s possible that Dad had 3-4 more Reserve good years of drill weekends and ACDUTRA with maybe another 180 points-- I can handle this part of the research with the pages from the National Archives and possibly from Navy Reserve microfiche.
In 2024, Brian’s problem was that Dad (born in 1940) would have been eligible to start his Reserve pension in 2000. For whatever reason, Dad never did that. There may have been PTSD symptoms (we’ll never know) but there was definitely a lack of understanding that in 2000 he would have had to apply to start his Reserve pension.
Dad also never filed for any VA disability screening or benefits… not in 1969, not anytime during his Reserve years, not in 1992, and… not ever. We’ll never know why not.
Back in 2024, I loaded up Brian with the information he needed to start the DD Form 2656 pension application and he had the talk with his Dad.
Last week I heard from Brian again. It turns out that Dad never did anything about his pension in 2024, either, let alone a VA disability screening. Brian said that now Dad had run out of savings and was still surviving only on Social Security. He had just been admitted to a civilian hospital where he was diagnosed with end-stage kidney disease. He had been intubated and was heavily sedated. The doctors were discussing hospice.
I’ve read the Barring Act (Title 31 U.S. code section 3702) limiting claims to six years, and if Dad had started his pension in 2024 then he may have been subject to that act. I updated my math-- with Dad’s retired rank and point count and COLAs, his pension from 2020-2026 would have been about $143K. I’m sure there would have been more VA benefits, but he never filed for those either.
Dad’s first DD-214 (from 1969) shows that he spent at least May 1964 – September 1968 aboard the USS LUZERNE COUNTY (LST-902) and earned a Purple Heart. (LUZERNE’s website mentions their service in South Vietnam ports during this time.) It’s possible that a PACT Act screening would make a service connection between Dad’s kidney failure and Vietnam exposure to Agent ORANGE, and Brian is working that question with the VA.
I advised Brian to talk with a VSO, and he made an appointment for the afternoon of 22 January 2026.
Brian’s Dad passed away on the morning of 22 January before doing anything with the VSO or the VA.
Brian’s contacting a civilian lawyer (with military experience) to work through the issue of the pension (the six-year lump sum of $143K).
Brian’s working with the VSO on:
- Dad’s cremation/interment benefits, and
- any VA determination of his death due to a service-connected condition (PACT Act’s Vietnam-era Agent ORANGE kidney disease?), and then
- a screening of Mom’s finances to determine her eligibility for the VA’s payment of DIC and the VA’s Survivor’s Pension.
Does anyone here have any references, resources, precedents, or lawyer referrals for claiming a Reserve pension in arrears?
Now that Dad has passed away, a Reserve pension is probably more than a DD-2656… possibly filing with the Board for Corrections of Navy Records?
Can a VSO help Brian get a retroactive VA disability rating (perhaps presumptive under the PACT Act) for the kidney disease which would make his mother eligible for the VA’s Survivor Pension?
Would she be eligible for DIC without her deceased spouse’s VA disability rating?
I’m trying to help an adult child of a veteran confirm the (deceased) father’s cremation/interment benefits with the VA. The surviving spouse might also be eligible for the VA’s “Survivor pension”, but she’s in a care facility with an Alzheimer’s diagnosis. Their son is totally ignorant of the U.S. military but has recovered a dozen pages of his father’s Navy service records from the National Archives.
Two years ago my friend the son (we’ll call him “Brian”) contacted me with questions about his father’s Reserve pension. Dad’s service record has the NRPC 1070/61 hand-written point-count form (with over 20 good years from 1964-88) and 3025 points. It also has a letter approving Dad’s transfer to the Retired Reserve in 1992. (I think it implies “retired awaiting pay”-- gray area-- and not separation or discharge.) From other pages of these records, it’s possible that Dad had 3-4 more Reserve good years of drill weekends and ACDUTRA with maybe another 180 points-- I can handle this part of the research with the pages from the National Archives and possibly from Navy Reserve microfiche.
In 2024, Brian’s problem was that Dad (born in 1940) would have been eligible to start his Reserve pension in 2000. For whatever reason, Dad never did that. There may have been PTSD symptoms (we’ll never know) but there was definitely a lack of understanding that in 2000 he would have had to apply to start his Reserve pension.
Dad also never filed for any VA disability screening or benefits… not in 1969, not anytime during his Reserve years, not in 1992, and… not ever. We’ll never know why not.
Back in 2024, I loaded up Brian with the information he needed to start the DD Form 2656 pension application and he had the talk with his Dad.
Last week I heard from Brian again. It turns out that Dad never did anything about his pension in 2024, either, let alone a VA disability screening. Brian said that now Dad had run out of savings and was still surviving only on Social Security. He had just been admitted to a civilian hospital where he was diagnosed with end-stage kidney disease. He had been intubated and was heavily sedated. The doctors were discussing hospice.
I’ve read the Barring Act (Title 31 U.S. code section 3702) limiting claims to six years, and if Dad had started his pension in 2024 then he may have been subject to that act. I updated my math-- with Dad’s retired rank and point count and COLAs, his pension from 2020-2026 would have been about $143K. I’m sure there would have been more VA benefits, but he never filed for those either.
Dad’s first DD-214 (from 1969) shows that he spent at least May 1964 – September 1968 aboard the USS LUZERNE COUNTY (LST-902) and earned a Purple Heart. (LUZERNE’s website mentions their service in South Vietnam ports during this time.) It’s possible that a PACT Act screening would make a service connection between Dad’s kidney failure and Vietnam exposure to Agent ORANGE, and Brian is working that question with the VA.
I advised Brian to talk with a VSO, and he made an appointment for the afternoon of 22 January 2026.
Brian’s Dad passed away on the morning of 22 January before doing anything with the VSO or the VA.
Brian’s contacting a civilian lawyer (with military experience) to work through the issue of the pension (the six-year lump sum of $143K).
Brian’s working with the VSO on:
- Dad’s cremation/interment benefits, and
- any VA determination of his death due to a service-connected condition (PACT Act’s Vietnam-era Agent ORANGE kidney disease?), and then
- a screening of Mom’s finances to determine her eligibility for the VA’s payment of DIC and the VA’s Survivor’s Pension.
Does anyone here have any references, resources, precedents, or lawyer referrals for claiming a Reserve pension in arrears?
Now that Dad has passed away, a Reserve pension is probably more than a DD-2656… possibly filing with the Board for Corrections of Navy Records?
Can a VSO help Brian get a retroactive VA disability rating (perhaps presumptive under the PACT Act) for the kidney disease which would make his mother eligible for the VA’s Survivor Pension?
Would she be eligible for DIC without her deceased spouse’s VA disability rating?
