Evening star., 1946-08-25
Veterans Guide
By Maj. Thomas M. NioI

An ex-Marine I know got nttl'
yellow slip from the New Yorl
branch of the central office OF th'
Veterans Administration the othe'
day. It was receipt for an insur'
ance premium he paid on his ma
tional service life insurance in De
cember, 1945-seven months before
Only seven months late.
The Veterans Administration sp'
pears to be getting to its feet. Al
least, 1t claims it is. It's not quite
standing up straight yet, owing Il
its long delinquency in handling IN
surance matters. Insurance Is get
ting decentralized from Washington
to the l3 new branch offices. 81
don't be surprised If your premium
due notices and receipts begin tt
arrive on time.
I know an ex-WAC who started
school a little over a month ago
She has already received her first
subsistence allowance check of $50
That's not like the old days wher
subsistence checks we're delayed fol
weeks and months.
I stopped in at one OF the large
eastern VA regional offices the Other
day to see how things looked. They
looked as jamlned as Times Square
on vi night. Ex-service guys were
sitting all over the place. Most OF
them were after certificates of elgi-
bility. I was told it takes two hours
to process an application. If the
veteran doesn't want to wait the
certificate will be mailed.
~ * X
It'll be a good idea If all veterans
who think they want to take a tour
of duty with the books next fall gel
their certificates of eligibility pronto
The reason is that if every ex-Joe
or Jane who intends to return tC
school or college next fall waits un-
til the last minute to apply for a
certificate, there's going to be q
jamup in regional offices of the
Veterans Administration. And that
means there are going to be delays
in the delivery of subsistence allow
ance checks.
The other day a veteran said to
me. IF a man who lost leg in
action wants to get repairs on his
artificial limb, he has to go all the
way to a VA field station for ap-
proval-unless he wants to pay for
the job himself"
That isn't true any longer. The
$4,000 amputee veterans are being
given special cards emitting them
to repairs at any limb manufacturer
or repair shop in the United States
up to $35 worth.
Regional VA Offices are keep
ing three copies of the card giver
to each veteran, just in case the
original card gets lost. If you're
one of the $4,000 amputee veterans
and haven't gotten your card yet
contact your regional office.
The Veterans Administration
which runs the biggest life insur-
ance business in the world" guar.
anteed s22O,0OO,00O of private life
insurance for IS, 900 service men and
women during the war.
This was done under the Soldiers
and Sailors Relief Act. Anybody
who went into the service could gel
his private life insurance premium
payments guaranteed by the Gov
ernment.
The guarantee is good up until
two years after discharge. By that
time, the policyholder must be in
a position to pay any unpaid back
premiums and to carry the policy
along himself.
Public Law All authorizes three
month visitors visa to foreigners
who are engaged to be married te
American vets. If, at the end OF
three months, the altaring hasn't
been done, back to the auld coun-
try go the prospective brides OF
grooms.
But there's to be no more wait.