LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — Local veterans are missing out on benefits they are entitled to, according to legal professionals and a Purple Heart veteran who spoke with FOX5.
Vincent Palmieri, a Purple Heart veteran, said he returned from Vietnam in 1967, spent nearly six months in the hospital, and did not apply for benefits until 2000.
‘We deserve benefits also’
Palmieri said guilt was a factor in his delay.
“You look at yourself, and you look at other people, and you say, ‘Oh, he needs it more than I do. She needs it more than I do,’” Palmieri said. “And that’s a big mistake that we all make. Because we fought for this country. We deserve benefits also.”
Older and younger veterans face different challenges
Nevada Legal Services provides legal resources to veterans — often low-income and unhoused or at risk of becoming homeless. Erika Bailey Drake, a senior attorney at Nevada Legal Services, said older veterans frequently are unaware of what is available to them.
“A lot of times they don’t know what benefits are available to them, and they have either not applied or just had no clue that they could possibly apply,” Bailey Drake said.
She said younger veterans face a different set of obstacles.
“They may have filed for benefits but been unsuccessful, maybe not really known exactly what to argue, what impairments to claim,” Bailey Drake said.
Drake emphasizes it’s important to persevere through denials, saying that the process can take several appeals until getting what you want.
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How Nevada Legal Services helps
The organization’s Veterans Law Project assists veterans with housing and eviction issues, VA claims, Social Security claims and SNAP benefits. Bailey Drake said attorneys also help veterans understand how to present their medical issues during the claims process.
“Sometimes they don’t know exactly how to frame what their medical issue is,” Bailey Drake said. “So that’s one way that we can really assist them, because we understand how the VA ratings work.”
Palmieri said he is now connected to services and benefits and helps other veterans do the same. He said one challenge arises when veterans transition out of military service into civilian life and hopes more organizations can assist veterans during that phase.
Nevada Legal Services said it has served more than 400 veterans in just the past few years.
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