DEFINITION OF A  FORMER PRISONER OF WAR

Period of War – a former  POW is a veteran who, while on active duty in the military, air, or naval service, was forcibly detained or interned in the line of duty by an enemy government or its agents or a hostile force during a period of war. 

Periods of war include:  World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Iraqi Freedom.  

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Peacetime-Comparable to Wartime - a former POW also includes a veteran who, while on active duty during peacetime, was forcibly detained or interned by a foreign government or its agents or a hostile force, if the circumstances of the internment were comparable to wartime internment (for example: Somalia or Kosovo).

HEALTH CARE

The VA health care system affords priority treatment for former POWs.

Former POWs who have a service–connected disability are eligible for VA health care. This includes hospital, nursing home, and outpatient treatment.

Former POWs who do not have a service-connected disability are eligible for VA hospital and nursing home care – without regard to their ability to pay.  

They are also eligible for outpatient care on a priority basis – second only to veterans with service-connected disabilities.

While former POWs are receiving treatment in an approved outpatient treatment program, they are eligible for needed medicines, glasses, hearing aids, or prostheses.�

Former POWs are also eligible for all needed dental care.

There is no co-payment requirement for former POWs at VA pharmacies. 

DISABILITY COMPENSATION

Former POWs are eligible for VA service-connected disability compensation to the same extent as other veterans.  Certain conditions, however, are presumed to be related to time in captivity.  These presumptive disabilities are based on studies of the long-term effects of captivity, deprivation, trauma, and cold injury on former POWs.  For first-time claimants, there must be a special POW Protocol Examination conducted at a VA medical facility to determine the existence and degree of these disabilities.

Former POWs who are diagnosed for any of the conditions in the three categories below are presumed to be service-connected for those conditions, regardless of their length of time in captivity:  

Neuro-Psychiatric.  Disabilities in this category are normal consequences of POW captivity.   Some of these 

disabilities can show up many years following captivity and can produce mild to severe symptoms.  Irritability, anxiety, restlessness, sleep disorders, and unsociability are only a few of the symptoms.  These disabilities include:

·	Psychosis

·	Dysthymic Disorder (Depressive Neurosis)

·	Any of the Anxiety States (e.g., PTSD)

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Cold Injury.  The freezing of tissue.  The extremities farthest from the heart are usually affected, primarily the nose, ears, hands and feet.  This usually produces long-term side effects such as numbness, discoloration, excessive swelling, pain, and possibly arthritis in the affected areas.

Traumatic Arthritis.  This disability looks and is treated like degenerative arthritis (arthritis associated with age) except it is caused by severe trauma to specific joints.

The following additional conditions are presumed to be service-connected for former POWs who were captive for 30 days or more:

Nutritional.  These disabilities result from the long-term effects of the malnutrition suffered as a POW.  While the former POW may not be suffering from malnutrition now, it is possible to have residual disabilities from malnutrition during captivity.  These include:

	   Avitaminosis – a disease resulting from lack of vitamins.

·	Beriberi – a disease marked by inflammatory or degenerative changes of the nerves, digestive system, and heart caused by a lack of thiamin.

·	Malnutrition (including atrophy associated with malnutrition).

·	Pellagra – a disease marked by dermatitis, stomach disorders, intestinal disorders, and nerve symptoms associated with a lack of niacin.

·	Any other nutritional deficiency.

Helminthiasis.  Infectious residuals from any type of parasitic worm.

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Gastrointestinal Disabilities.  These include:

	Peptic Ulcer Disease– ulcerations of the digestive tract.

·	Irritable Bowel Syndrome – symptoms can include pain and constipation, chronic diarrhea, or both.

·	Chronic Dysentery – frequent, watery stools with rectal/abdominal pain, fever and dehydration.

Peripheral Neuropathy.  A neurological disorder characterized by numbness and tingling of the extremities.  It can be caused by nutritional deficiency and will be evaluated by VA as a separate disability for each extremity affected. 

Ischemic Heart Disease.  A heart disability which may be related to service.  Also called coronary artery disease, this disability is characterized by the narrowing of arteries which supply vital oxygen to the heart.  Often treated by angioplasty or coronary artery bypass surgery, this is a disability which is commonly found in the 

aging  population.  However, this disability can be presumed to be related to service if a diagnosis of this type of heart disease is made and the veteran indicates swelling of the legs (edema) during captivity on his/her POW Protocol Examination.

Cirrhosis of the Liver.  A chronic disease of the liver in which normal tissue is replaced with fibrous tissue and associated loss of liver function.  It can result from nutritional deprivation or infectious hepatitis. �

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DEPENDENCY & INDEMNITY

COMPENSATION  (DIC)

DIC is payable to the surviving spouse (and parents and children in some cases) of a former POW who:

·	was a service member who died on active duty; or

·	died from service-related disabilities; or

·	died on or before September 30, 1999, and  was continuously rated totally disabled for a service-connected condition (including individual unemployability) for at least 1 year immediately preceding death; or  

·	died after September 30, 1999, and was continuously rated totally disabled for a service-connected condition (including individual unemployability) for at least 1 year immediately preceding death.  

DIC is terminated for a surviving spouse who remarries, but is resumed if the remarriage ends in death, divorce, or annulment.  Generally, DIC entitlement continues for a surviving spouse who remarries on or after attaining age 57.

OTHER VA BENEFITS

The following are other significant VA benefits to which certain veterans may be entitled:  education and training, vocational rehabilitation & employment services, home loan guaranty, insurance, and burial benefits.  Certain survivors may be entitled to health care, death pension, education and training, home loan guaranty, and burial in a national cemetery.  Contact VA for more information.

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FOR ASSISTANCE

Call VA’s toll-free number for more information and assistance on VA benefits and services, call

1-800-827-1000

For the hearing impaired, use the Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD) by calling

1-800-829-4833

The VA Internet web site contains complete information on the full range of VA benefits and services.  Visit

www.va.gov

Each VA Regional Office has a coordinator for former POWs.  Any former POW who needs special assistance should ask to speak to the Former POW Coordinator. �

“To care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan...”

- Abraham Lincoln -

RESCISSION:  VA Pamphlet 21-01-1, dated February 2001

VA Pamphlet 21-01-1 

March 2004

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KEEPING

THE

PROMISE  

Benefits and Services for

Former Prisoners of War

Department of

Veterans Affairs

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Veterans Benefits Administration

Department of Veterans Affairs

Washington, DC

OFFICIAL BUSINESS

Penalty for Private Use $300