To protect against the threat of a Japanese invasion during World War Two, the Alaska Territorial Guard was created: a 6,600-member unit whose duties included scouting, patrolling, and building airstrips. The Guards were unpaid volunteers, such as then-16-year-old Paul Kiunya, from the Alaskan village of Kipnuk. He worked in communications as a spotter of Japanese aircraft movements. "We did not get one cent being in the territorial guard," says Kiunya, now 88. "And we worked hard."
Now only 300 of these Guards veterans remain. A handful of these survivors qualified for military retirement by adding their Guard service to their military service, to reach the 20-years-of-service requirement or to augment their existing military pensions. But the Army's interpretation of Federal law has now changed. Come February, these octogenarian veterans will be getting drastically reduced military pension benefits -- and some may lose their benefits completely.
ANCHORAGE (AP) — The Army has decided to cut off retirement pay for veterans of a militia formed to guard the territory of Alaska from the threat of Japanese attack during World War II.
The change means 26 surviving members of the Alaska Territorial Guard — most in their 80s and long retired — will lose up to $557 in monthly retirement pay, a state veterans officer said this week. The payments end Feb. 1.
Applications for retirement pay from 37 others have been suspended. . . The action comes nearly a decade after Congress passed a law qualifying time served in the unpaid guard as active federal service. The Army agreed in 2004 to grant official military discharge certificates to members or their survivors.
http://www.nytimes.com/...
The Army now says a provision of Federal law was misinterpreted to permit retirement pay, but is actually restricted to certain benefits, including medical benefits. Lt. Col. Richard McNorton of the Army's Human Resources Command explained the pension cutoffs were mandatory: "We can’t choose whether to follow the law." Some small consolation: the Army will not seek to recoup past overpayments.
Territorial Guard veteran Paul Kiunya, despite his 32 years in the National Guard and Reserves, will lose more than $358 a month from his retirement. "It’s not good for us right now," he said.
"Not good," indeed.
UPDATE: Thanks for the input, and more importantly for the concern you are all expressing for this legion of the forgotten. In the comments, Kewalo posted some useful contact info, which I thought should be here as well:
Rachel Maddow
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/...
Keith Olbermann
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/...
The White House:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/...
UPDATE #2: The indefatigable Kewalo provided yet another link, to General Shinseki at the Dept. of Veterans' Affairs:
http://www.va.gov/
Perro amarillo noted that it may well be an Army / Dept. of Defense issue, and I think this is likely a correct analysis, but it couldn't hurt if Shinseki got interested and made a phone call to Gates or to what's-his-name, that new President guy.