WWII Vet Requested Benefits in 1974, Received Them 40 Years Later

Eighty-nine-year old World War II Navy veteran Milton Rackham requested veterans’ benefits in 1974, but he didn’t receive them until 2014.

Rackham says that every time he would ask the Veterans Administration (VA) about the delay they would tell him they could not find him in the system because his records had been “lost in a fire in Missouri.”

According to Fox News, Rackham received a Purple Heart for his service and injuries that have made it difficult for him to work through the years. He said when the VA told him, “We can’t help you,” it made him “feel worthless.”

Rackham’s story began to seep out to the public in 2011 when one of his friends began writing about his war experience. About two months ago he “started receiving $822 a month from the VA and as well as $7,000 in back pay.”

He said the craziest aspect of it all is that the VA has no new information on him, so they made their decision to start paying him based on the same information they had in 1974 and at all the subsequent points in time when they said they could not help him. 

Rackham’s wife, Carol, may qualify for spousal benefits, but she “has received no money to date.”

Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.