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ARMED FORCES NEWS |
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On Sept. 16, NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw presented a special segment on the forfeiture of military retired pay by retirees awarded disability compensation by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Referring to "an obscure 19th Century law," the presentation was billed as "Forgotten Heroes Is Anyone Listening?" Using the term, "broken promises," the segment concluded that wounds are a penalty to full retirement pay. Military retirees are the only retirees from any sector who must forfeit one dollar of their retired pay for each dollar of VA disability compensation awarded. For some, the forfeiture cancels all retired pay earned, thus forcing those retirees to fund their own retirement. A House bill would provide concurrent receipt incrementally to military retirees with VA disability ratings of 60 percent or higher, while a Senate bill would allow full concurrent receipt immediately for all retirees with disability ratings. |
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