Underserved Veterans

Guest: Bart Stichman, Joint Executive Director of the National Veterans Legal Services Program  A new report by two veterans’ advocacy groups and Harvard Law School finds roughly 125,000 men and women who have served in the military since 2001 are being wrongfully excluded from basic veteran benefits. That’s a much higher rate than veterans of previous wars, including Vietnam and World War II.  The trouble stems from something called “bad paper” and the consequence is that veterans who served in combat, and may have suffered traumatic injuries, are being denied housing, health care and disability benefits. Which puts them at greater risk for homelessness and suicide.  The Department of Veterans Affairs has praised the report and says it’s working with the advocacy groups to remedy the problem.