Kankakee Valley Post, Volume 19, Number 37, DeMotte, Jasper County, 12 August 1949 — Gl's Fumbling In Making Out Bonus Forms [ARTICLE]

Gl's Fumbling In Making Out Bonus Forms

Nearly Half Of Applications Being Returned Because Of Irregularities Indanapolis, Ind., Aug. 9. Irregularities in filling out applications for the Indiana World War II soldiers bonus has necessitated return of nearly half the 35,000 requests received so far to the veterans. Orville Bray, administrative officer of the bonus, announced today that only 34,461 applications have been received by the Veterans Affairs Department during the first month of operations. Bray said of the total receive, 27,628 were from Army veterans and 6,833 were from veterans of the Naval services. Irregularities mean further correspondence will be needed with the veteran before his claim can be definitely established.

Bray said most of the irregularities were caused by carelessness on the veterans’ part. He said hundreds of applications have been received with improper discharge documents. Many photostats, which cannot be . accepted, have been sent in by veterans with their applications. And over one-hundred veterans have vailed to enclose any documents with their application while a similar amount have failed to enclose the completed application. Bray asserted: “All these little details may seem minor to the veteran but they will indefinitely postpone final adjudication of his claim and create a large amount of extra work for the bonus division.” Bray also pointed out that several hundred applications had been received by the next-of-kin section and that seemed to be considerable misunderstanding as to who is eligible for a deceased veterans bonus. If xne mother is living, Bray said, she must make the application herself. Many applications have been received from fathers of veterans when the mother is still living.