VA Pension: First Requirement of Veteran’s Military Service

VA Pension:  First Requirement of Veteran’s Military Service

VA Pension: First Requirement of Veteran's Military ServiceThere are three requirements:

If we meet these three requirements we can obtain this significant benefit that can be close to $25,000 a year tax free.

So let’s take a look at the first requirement which is military service.

Whether we’re talking about for a veteran or for a surviving spouse of a veteran, we still look at the veteran’s military record and service.

Here’s what we have to show.

We need to be a war time veteran.

What this means is that we were in active duty during a time of war – World War II, Korea, Vietnam, even the Gulf War which has been going on continuously since 1990.

  • World War II – December 7, 1941 to December 31, 1946.
  • Korean War – June 27, 1950 through January 31, 1955.
  • Vietnam War – There are two periods:
  • For veterans who served in the country of Vietnam, the period is February 28, 1961 through May 7, 1975.  This is sometimes called “in country” when the veteran was actually in Vietnam.
  • For veterans who did not actually go into Vietnam, the time period is August 5, 1964 through May 5, 1975.
  • Gulf War — August 2, 1990 to the present.

Here’s what it does not mean.

It does not mean that you needed to be in combat or you needed to go overseas.

I have clients who were World War II veterans that never left America.

They were stationed at bases here in America.

Maybe they didn’t go to any combat but they were on a transport ship.

Maybe they went into combat. For this benefit, it does not matter.

All we’re looking at is: did the veteran have active duty service during a time of war?

For World War II, Korea, and Vietnam, we’re looking at 90 consecutive days active duty and only one of those days needs to be during a time of war.

(The Gulf War is a bit different – we typically have to have a longer period of service.)

We need an honorable discharge.

As is true of almost all veteran benefits, we need an honorable discharge.

To be more precise, a “better than dishonorable” discharge.

It’s just easier to say an “honorable discharge” is what we’re looking for.

So to meet the military requirement, we need a wartime veteran with an honorable discharge.

In our next article we will look at the second requirement which focuses on the health or disability of the veteran (or surviving spouse)….

If you have questions about this benefit then we encourage you to investigate it.

You can do so through this website (see links below) or you can call us at 1-205-879-2447 to set up a scheduled call or to receive our free book entitled:

How to Avoid Being Forced into a Nursing Home: Discover 5 Simple Steps to Using a Little Known VA Benefit (VA Pension or Aid and Attendance) to Stay in Your Home and Stay Out of a Nursing Home

However you investigate this benefit — make sure you find out about it as it can make all the difference in the world to have these benefits.

Contact Us.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact us.

You can reach us by phone at 1-205-879-2447.

Or, you can also fill out a contact form and we will get in touch with you as soon as we can.

We look forward to chatting with you.

Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

-John G. Watts

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