VA POW claims questioned
Stars and Stripes has a story about a legitimate former POW who once more has pointed out how the VA is paying POW benefits to more men than were ever actually held by the North Vietnamese.
From Stars and Stripes;
When the number of former prisoners of war receiving benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs nearly doubled without explanation, an American survivor of the “Hanoi Hilton” wanted answers.
Mike McGrath, a Vietnam veteran who spent six years in captivity and now investigates false military claims, said his research points to impostors receiving Veterans Administration POW benefits.
The VA offers a different explanation. Officials say the surge in POW figures stems from a confusing accounting system that may count the same veteran more than once across multiple conflicts.
The department also acknowledged it does not track where a veteran was held captive.
McGrath and a network of fellow POWs and researchers say they’ve identified cases of veterans falsely claiming POW status to obtain benefits and prestige.
“It hurts and it’s insulting because these claimants never spent a day in a prison in their life,” McGrath said. “They’ve never been tortured.”
The VA said it is not aware of any fraudulent claims, but officials did not address whether the agency has audited its POW rolls.
“VA conducts a thorough review of all POW claims to ensure service records and other dates align with their dates of service before delivering any benefits,” VA press secretary Peter Kasperowicz said in a statement.
Yeah, right. A thorough review of forged documents before they rubber-stamp your claims. There’s a lot more at the source.
Category: fraud, Veteran Health Care, Veterans in politics, Veterans in the news, Veterans' Affairs Department
Sounds about right. Since there are more claims to service in the Viet of The Nam Times now than there ever were people actually in country during the Viet of The Nam Times, it stands to reason that there are a lot more POWs than we ever thought. Maybe we need to get Chief Lies-A-Lot Phillips to drum up some some Raise Awareness Chants for all of these POWs?
Despicable co@ksuckers!
Yeah, I got let go a few years ago when the JEF screwed up the solar panel craze. No job, no insurance. So I go to the VA the first time in my life and they tell me I make too much money (even though I am unemployed) to qualify for benefits.
Eventually got another decent job and have absolutely no use for the VA. You go in when you are truly in need and they kick you to the curb, go in and lie your ass off and they throw money at you, go figure.
What sort of benefits were you looking for? I don’t think the VA does unemployment or welfare benefits.
I was in a similar situation as SgtM, I was laid off of my first civilian job after retiring from active duty when all of the companies contracts were finished and the company owner retired. I went to the VA and asked if they had a program to help vets find a job; I was asking for nothing more. The counselor said, “You’re getting a pension, live off of it!”
What ever was open to me, I did emphasize medical but was told no to everything. The company I worked for did not pay our unemployment and I was audited about it. Had to provide pay stubs to the irs showing they with held the funds from my pay but never payed the irs. Fun times, I was the criminal in their eyes, never trust the guvment.
Fake POWs are the lowest form of life.
Divorce lawers, ex-wives, DCF, people who don’t flush deuces in public restrooms?
Even lower.
I dunno, I kinda liked my divorce lawer. The ex-wife didn’t care for him much, though. He’s no longer a lawer, though. Got arrested for beating on HIS ex-wife, gave up his license and left the area.
I don’t think the VA verifies documents that are given to them by claimants. My records were never forwarded to national archives after service. Left at my last base till a congressional inquiry found them. So there is no way the VA had my records initially during a claim I filed.
PS. My records were located around 40 years after service in 2013.
Records aren’t needed; every person ever captured and held by Vietnam as a POW is in that DoD database. Anyone who escaped or was released and returned from captivity is in that database. This applies to men who were held for less than 24 hours. Every such person was interviewed and debriefed. Obviously, anyone who didn’t make it out of captivity is not collecting benefits, unless they are committing identity fraud. In that case, that same database would prove they are frauds, as it would show the name they are using is a person who never returned or escaped. There are many who are listed that are shown as deceased or presumed dead, as well as rhe MIA’s known to have been captured. One example is 1LT Danny Entrican, a CCN team leader captured in May, 1971. I used to wear his bracelet.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) of the U.S. Department of Defense lists 687 U.S. POWs as having returned alive from the Vietnam War. North Vietnam acknowledged that 55 American servicemen and 7 civilians died in captivity. During the war, POWs in Hanoi prisons endeavoured to maintain a registry of captive Americans; they concluded that at least 766 POWs entered the system. POWs were initially held in four prisons in Hanoi and six facilities within 50 miles (80 km) of the city. No POW ever escaped from Hanoi.
It was about 800 who returned at the end of the war. But there are others who were released earlier. Plus there were a few who escaped, like Nick Rowe and Dieter Dengler.
According to the research I just did, DoD says 684 men retuned alive from captivity during and at the end of the War.
Anybody who says they were in the same POW camp Rambo escaped from in ’71 because they remember him there is full of crap, of course.
I would think being a POW would also show up on your DD214. Doesn’t the VA have access to the same records the good people at this site do when they expose “Stolen Valor”? Everybody else seems to require a copy of your DD214.
The DD214 would list the POW medal.
I thought DOGE was auditing the DOD, so wouldn’t the VA also be part of their review? There HAS to be lots of fraud, waste, and corruption at the VA, right?
The VA works very closely with the DoD but has its own cabinet level secretary. It is not subordinate to the DoD.
We had a commenter here, Wilted Willy, whose brother had been receiving VA benefits for decades as a Vietnam POW. The brother was never in combat in RVN, let alone captured by the enemy. In fact he was a dental technician stationed on Okinawa who went to Vietnam TDY to do dental work, so his records showed he had some service in the RVN. Although Willy reported he was a fraud, he continued to receive his 100% Va disability benefits.
The VA Administrators are too busy getting their freak on. Diddy would be proud.
https://nypost.com/2024/12/04/us-news/probe-into-va-facility-uncovers-orgy-official-who-had-sex-with-32-coworkers-report/
All these VA morons have to do is search that gov’t DoD database of POW’s for the Vietnam. It has the names everyone captured by the VC or the NVA. Aside from my unit’s knowledge, that is how POWNET confirmed the fact Rick Cayton was never a POW.
Over twenty years ago the VA admitted it had about 13,000 veterans claiming the were Vietnam veterans.
If the VA would send the full names of every veteran receiving benefits for being a Vietnam POW, I could find each faker in about five minutes research for each one.
…13,000 claiming they were Vietnam POWs….
From Stars and Strips
”A December letter from Guy Kiyokawa, VA assistant secretary for the Office of Enterprise Integration, to former Rep. Doug Lamborn acknowledged that 899 Vietnam-era POWs listed by the VA were not on DOD rosters. The VA validates veteran claims at the time of enrollment and exclusion from the DOD tally does not warrant a claim reversal, Kiyokawa said.”
Read more at: https://www.stripes.com/veterans/2025-05-19/pow-veteran-counting-vietnam-gulf-17786591.html
Source – Stars and Stripes
Never been in there. Thank goodness my health has held up so far.
Fuck it…I’m about tired of this VA shit….I’m going to just fucking upload this shit…..
Is that a real document or one created by Bob Neener?
Of course, if you look in the bottom left-hand corner, there’s that document number identifier and yes, I was not alive in 1945 of course it’s a Bob Neener special
The ribbon depicted in Neener’s fake certificate is wrong. The real POW medal ribbon has a wide black center section. Also, If you google the name of the signatory, nothing comes up for a James T. LaRosa.
Well, McCreary can’t be ChipNASA … that name does not show up in the id.nasa.gov name database. I see 23 McCrearys and none say ChipNASA!!! (^__^)
Oh I just pulled Googeeeellll for Bob Neener POW Certificate and came up with this…..
I mean, it’s not a LEGIT certificate like this….
(Thanks TAH Freaks who made it for me….can’t remember who, I’m old)
I think Phil Monkress (CEO of All-Points Logisgtics) makes these.
“The VA said it is not aware of any fraudulent claims” Well of course not because IF they were they would have to either be incompetent or ignorant (or both). AND they only review dates to see if they “line up” with a claimed period? Could they at least start by checking the DPAA?
PHONY POW WILLIAM SPURLOCK JR / Murfreesboro, TN
This old prick from 1½ years ago still pisses me off.
He CONNED a Tennessee VA into VA / POW enhanced benefits.
Then THIS, Fall 2023.
Grand Marshal at a VA sponsored parade, and given a plaque.
WORSE,
he told BS PHONY POW tales on local radio station WGNS
that was advertising the upcoming parade.
Plenty of phone calls and emails to the radio station.
Plenty of phone calls and emails to 4 locations of the VA.
NONE of them wanted to point a finger of blame.
NONE of them wanted anything in PUBLIC.
So, here it is, once again, in PUBLIC, only because
1 veteran in a far away state decided to contact POW Network
for an FOIA and a POW verification.
Emails (2) from Vietnam POW Mike McGrath saved.
Kudos to ninja
for getting the ball rolling here…..
Holiday Open Thread thebesig | November 11, 2023
https://valorguardians.com/blog/?p=149565
More followup a few days later, here ……
Weekend Open Thread thebesig | November 17, 2023
https://valorguardians.com/blog/?p=149819
Looks like this dirtbag left the service after over 4 years’ service as a PVT. So, I think we all know what that means. There are no assignments after 1971, so where was he until he left the service in 1974. In any event his assignments show he was a bridge specialist in Engineer companies until he apparently was injured or became ill and was shipped to a hospital in Japan. He has no PH and he certainly was never captured by the enemy. Maybe he has “patient” confused with “prisoner.”
I suspect a dickstepper, having left AD after over four or more years as only and E-1 or E-2. But hey, he once knew how to operate a portable bridge.
“a confusing accounting system that may count the same veteran more than once across multiple conflicts.” So, somebody who was a PW in both the Korean conflict and Vietnam? How many of those guys are even left?
Once again, cheaterz, you can’t have flashbacks from or be a POW of wars you weren’t in!
Complete Shitshow