| Veterans
News Flash 
VA
Reaches Out to Former Prisoners of War
Department Enlists
Public’s
Help in Contacting Former POWs
WASHINGTON - Do you know any former prisoners
of war (POW) or their family members? If so, the
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) needs your
help.
VA is once again reaching out to former prisoners
of war not currently using VA benefits and services,
urging them to contact the Department to find out
if they are eligible for health care, disability
compensation and other services.
“One of VA’s highest priorities is
meeting the needs of former prisoners of war,” said
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson. “They
are extraordinary men and women who have endured
captivity, suffered extreme deprivation and sacrificed
their own freedom to preserve the freedom of all
Americans.”
VA estimates more than
25,000 former prisoners of war are alive today.
VA is trying to contact the remaining POW’s
not receiving any benefits or health care through
an outreach program that includes asking citizens
to pass the word to veterans they know.
VA also extends a helping hand to the surviving
spouses and family members of former POWs, who
may be eligible for certain benefits and services.
In recent years, VA has expanded benefits to all
former POWs with strokes and certain common heart
diseases. More than a dozen other diseases were
already covered.
The government's effort to inform former POWs
about improvements in benefits faces a particular
hurdle with older veterans who may not have been
in touch with VA for decades.
A majority of former
POWs are veterans of World War II, and their
military service was before the use of Social
Security numbers as military "service
numbers." As a result, it is difficult for
VA to track down those who have not been in contact
with the Department in recent years.
During recent years through a nationwide outreach
campaign that included direct mailings and the
help of news media and veterans organizations,
VA has added hundreds of former POWs to its compensation
rolls, people who had not previously been receiving
benefits to which they were entitled.
If you know a former
POW, please ask him or her to contact VA at 1-800-827-1000.
Details about benefits and services available
to former POWs and family members are available
at http://www.vba.va.gov/bln/21/Benefits/POW/index.htm
SOURCE:
US Department of Veterans Affair
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