VFW Action Corps Weekly

Burial Benefits Improvement Legislation Introduced: Sens. Jerry Moran (R-KS) and Mazie Hirono (D-HI) introduced S. 4100, Honoring Veterans’ Legacies and Burial Benefits Enhancement Act. This bill aims to preserve veterans’ legacies for posterity, upgrade burial benefits for certain decedents, and establish a nonprofit entity enabling private donations, rather than tax dollars, to fund Veterans Legacy Program grants. Grantees would conduct historical research on veterans buried in national cemeteries and share their findings with the local communities through educational outreach programs. This legislation would also ensure dignified interments and enhance burial benefits for eligible family members and Medal of Honor recipients, regardless of service era.

VA Mobile App Surpasses Two Millionth Download: More than two million users have downloaded the VA Health and Benefits mobile app. This tool empowers veterans to access their health care and benefits information from anywhere on their mobile devices. Features include the ability to manage health care appointments, view the status of benefits claims and appeals, read benefit decision letters, refill and track prescriptions, and locate VA facilities. It also provides quick and direct access to the VA Crisis Line for immediate care. VA plans to add health care appointment scheduling to the app this year. Get the app.

MIA Update: The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced three burial updates for service members who have been missing and unaccounted for from World War II and the Korean War. Returning home for burial with full military honors are:

-- Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. John E. McLauchlen Jr., 25, of Detroit, Michigan, was a member of the 436th Bombardment Squadron, 7th Bombardment Group. He and his flight crew were reportedly hit by anti-aircraft fire on Dec. 1, 1943, and later declared missing in action. He will be buried at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, sometime this summer. Read about McLauchlen.
-- Army Staff Sgt. Harold A. Schafer, 28, of Denver, Colorado, was assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion, 357th Infantry Regiment, 90th Infantry Division. He was killed in action on Dec. 10, 1944, and declared non-recoverable in November 1951. He will be buried in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, on a date to be determined. Read about Schafer.
-- Army Private 1st Class Lawrence H. Williams, 22, of Norton, Kansas, was a member of Able Company, 728th Military Police Battalion, 8th U.S. Army. He went missing in August 1951. The Army issued a finding of death and non-recoverability on Nov. 9, 1951. He will be buried in Denver, Colorado, on a date to be determined. Read about Williams.

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