2023 New York Laws › VET - Veterans' Services Law › Article 1 - Department of Veterans' Services › 23 - Persons Who May Receive Annuity.

§  23. Persons who may receive annuity. 1. a. The word "veteran" means
a veteran as defined in section one of this article who is  a  resident,
and  who  (i)  has been or may be released from such service under other
than dishonorable conditions, or (ii) has  a  qualifying  condition,  as
defined  in  section  one  of this article, and has received a discharge
other than bad conduct or dishonorable from such service, or (iii) is  a
discharged  LGBT veteran, as defined in section one of this article, and
has received a discharge other than bad  conduct  or  dishonorable  from
such  service,  and  who  (iv)  was  a  recipient  of  the  armed forces
expeditionary medal, the navy expeditionary medal or  the  marine  corps
expeditionary medal for participation in operations in Lebanon from June
first, nineteen hundred eighty-three to December first, nineteen hundred
eighty-seven,  in  Grenada  from  October twenty-third, nineteen hundred
eighty-three to November twenty-first, nineteen hundred eighty-three, or
in Panama from  December  twentieth,  nineteen  hundred  eighty-nine  to
January  thirty-first,  nineteen hundred ninety, or (v) served on active
duty for ninety days or more in the uniformed  services  of  the  United
States during any one of the following wars or hostilities:
(1)  in  the  Spanish-American war from the twenty-first day of April,
eighteen hundred ninety-eight to the eleventh  day  of  April,  eighteen
hundred ninety-nine, inclusive;
(2) in the Philippine insurrection or the China relief expedition from
the  eleventh  day  of April, eighteen hundred ninety-nine to the fourth
day of July, nineteen hundred two, inclusive;
(3) in the Mexican border campaign from the ninth day of May, nineteen
hundred sixteen, to the fifth day of April, nineteen hundred  seventeen,
inclusive;
(4)  in  World  War  I  from  the sixth day of April, nineteen hundred
seventeen to the eleventh day of November,  nineteen  hundred  eighteen,
inclusive;
(5) in World War II from the seventh day of December, nineteen hundred
forty-one   to  the  thirty-first  day  of  December,  nineteen  hundred
forty-six,  inclusive,  or  who  was  employed  by  the   War   Shipping
Administration  or Office of Defense Transportation or their agents as a
merchant  seaman  documented  by  the  United  States  Coast  Guard   or
Department  of  Commerce,  or  as a civil servant employed by the United
States Army Transport Service (later redesignated as the  United  States
Army  Transportation  Corps, Water Division) or the Naval Transportation
Service; and who served satisfactorily  as  a  crew  member  during  the
period  of armed conflict, December seventh, nineteen hundred forty-one,
to  August  fifteenth,  nineteen  hundred  forty-five,  aboard  merchant
vessels in oceangoing, i.e., foreign, intercoastal, or coastwise service
as  such terms are defined under federal law (46 USCA 10301 & 10501) and
further to include "near foreign" voyages between the United States  and
Canada,  Mexico,  or the West Indies via ocean routes, or public vessels
in  oceangoing  service  or  foreign  waters  and  who  has  received  a
Certificate  of  Release  or  Discharge from Active Duty and a discharge
certificate, or an Honorable  Service  Certificate/Report  of  Casualty,
from  the  Department  of  Defense,  or  who  served  as a United States
civilian employed by the American  Field  Service  and  served  overseas
under United States Armies and United States Army Groups in World War II
during  the period of armed conflict, December seventh, nineteen hundred
forty-one through May eighth, nineteen hundred forty-five, and  who  (i)
was discharged or released therefrom under honorable conditions, or (ii)
has  a  qualifying condition, as defined in section one of this article,
and has received a discharge other than bad conduct or dishonorable from
such service, or (iii) is a  discharged  LGBT  veteran,  as  defined  in
section one of this article, and has received a discharge other than bad

conduct  or  dishonorable  from  such service, or who served as a United
States civilian Flight Crew and Aviation Ground Support Employee of  Pan
American  World Airways or one of its subsidiaries or its affiliates and
served  overseas  as  a  result  of  Pan  American's  contract  with Air
Transport Command or Naval Air Transport Service during  the  period  of
armed  conflict, December fourteenth, nineteen hundred forty-one through
August  fourteenth,  nineteen  hundred  forty-five,  and  who  (iv)  was
discharged  or released therefrom under honorable conditions, or (v) has
a qualifying condition, as defined in section one of this  article,  and
has  received  a  discharge  other than bad conduct or dishonorable from
such service, or (vi) is  a  discharged  LGBT  veteran,  as  defined  in
section one of this article, and has received a discharge other than bad
conduct or dishonorable from such service;
(6)  in  the  Korean  hostilities from the twenty-seventh day of June,
nineteen hundred fifty to the  thirty-first  day  of  January,  nineteen
hundred fifty-five, inclusive;
(7)  in  the Vietnam conflict from the first day of November, nineteen
hundred  fifty-five  to  the  seventh  day  of  May,  nineteen   hundred
seventy-five;
(8)  in  the  Persian  Gulf  conflict  from  the second day of August,
nineteen hundred ninety to the end of such conflict.
b. The word "veteran" shall also mean any person who meets  the  other
requirements  of  paragraph  a of this subdivision, who served on active
duty for less than ninety days, if he or she was discharged or  released
from such service for a service-connected disability or who served for a
period of ninety consecutive days or more and such period began or ended
during  any  war  or  period of hostilities as defined in paragraph a of
this subdivision.
c. The term "active duty" as used in this article shall mean full time
duty in the uniformed services, other than  active  duty  for  training;
provided,  however,  that "active duty" shall also include any period of
active duty for training  during  which  the  individual  concerned  was
disabled  or died from a disease or injury incurred or aggravated during
such period.
2. No annuity shall be paid under this article to or for a person  who
is  in prison in a federal, state or local penal institution as a result
of conviction of a felony or misdemeanor for  any  part  of  the  period
beginning sixty-one days after his or her imprisonment begins and ending
when his or her imprisonment ends.
3.  Where  any  veteran is disqualified for the annuity for any period
solely by reason of the provisions of subdivision two of  this  section,
the  commissioner  of veterans' services shall pay to his or her spouse,
if any, the annuity which such veteran would receive for that period but
for said subdivision two.
4. In case an unmarried, divorced or widowed veteran or a widow  of  a
deceased  annuitant is being furnished hospital treatment, institutional
or domiciliary care by the United  States  or  the  state,  the  annuity
payable  under  this  article to such veteran or widow or widower may be
discontinued after the first day of the seventh calendar month following
the month of admission of such veteran or widow for treatment  or  care.
Payment  of  such  annuity  shall be resumed if such veteran or widow or
widower is discharged from the hospital, institution or home, or if  his
or her treatment or care therein is otherwise terminated.
5.  Where  payment  of the annuity as hereinbefore authorized is to be
made to a mentally incompetent person or a conservatee, such payment may
be authorized by the commissioner of veterans' services of the state  to
be   paid   only  to  a  duly  qualified  court-appointed  committee  or
conservator, legally vested with the care of such  incompetent's  person

or  property  or of such conservatee's property, except that in the case
of an incompetent annuitant for whom a committee has not been  appointed
or  a  person  under a substantial impairment for whom a conservator has
not  been  appointed and who is hospitalized in a United States veterans
health administration hospital or in a hospital under  the  jurisdiction
of  the state of New York, the commissioner of veterans' services of the
state may in his or her discretion certify payment of  the  annuity,  as
hereinbefore  authorized,  to the manager of such United States veterans
health administration hospital or to  the  commissioner  of  such  state
hospital  for  the  account  of  the  said  incompetent or substantially
impaired annuitant.