Dayton veteran wrongly marked deceased by VA

A Dayton man was recently shocked to learn he was deceased when he received a letter of condolence from the Department of Veteran’s Affairs addressed to his late wife.

Alfred Wilson joined the Marine Corp in 1967, sent to Vietnam in 1968, and was discharged with medical retirement in 1969 for being shot in the leg.

Wilson was married for 44 years to his wife who had a stroke back in October 2017 and later passed away in March.

He received the letter addressed to his wife from the VA in the mail stating he was dead and had been so for the past 30 days. They also sent his wife two checks for burial expenses. Wilson sent them back and immediately called the VA’s office in Cleveland.

The person he spoke with said the letter was mistaken, and Wilson was reinstated in May.

Wilson went to his American Legion representative at the VA Hospital and they told him it would be 5-10 days before he would receive his benefits check. He then went to Congressman Mike Turner’s office, who told him his check would be deposited into his account sooner. Wilson said the check arrived when the office said it would, finally putting an end to the bizarre case.

Wilson said he would advise other veterans to make sure they reach out to representatives like the American Legion or their local congressman if something like this should ever happen to them.

“They need to go to them, don't call their selves, that's where the mess up starts," he said. "I called and turned her in and they misunderstood. They're better off to let the American Legion, one of those groups that they work with, to call it up or do it on the computer, that way it doesn't get screwed up."

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