National Veterans Foundation

Today (1/22/08) a bill was introduced in Washington by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchins of Texas that would forgive the debt owed to the VA by soldiers who have lost their lives in combat. Well, someone should have thought of this a long time ago. I am surprised that a bill like this ever existed in the first place.

Here are a few examples of Texas veterans that the VA is attempting to collect from:

• A Marine reservist who received education assistance to attend Texas A&M University was killed in an explosion in Iraq. The VA informed his mother of his death with a collection letter that said he owed the VA $845, which must be collected from his estate.
• An Army soldier on his third tour in Iraq was killed by a sniper's bullet and owed the government $389 for an education overpayment. The family paid this debt in full because they believed it was the right thing to do.
• An Army Sergeant who had served in the U.S. Marine Corps before enlisting in the Army attended two different colleges with VA education benefits. After serving one tour of duty in Afghanistan, he was serving his second tour in Iraq when he was killed by a bomb explosion. He owed the VA $2,282 in student loans and was survived by a wife and four children. The family paid the debt because they, too, felt it was the right thing to do.

So far the VA has attempted to recover $56,000 from 22 families of veterans who have died in combat. There are cases in Wisconsin, North Carolina, Illinois, Iowa, Connecticut, Nebraska, Colorado, Michigan, Washington, California, New York, Kentucky, Georgia, South Carolina, and the three examples above from Texas.