Veterans benefits without being a Veteran...

[Dana Nield]

Rejected by army, man gets veterans benefits
Last Updated Wed, 16 Apr 2003 7:29:04
OTTAWA - A man who never served with the Canadian Armed Forces has been granted veterans benefits.

The National Service Bureau of the War Amps learned on Tuesday that Hugh Trainor had been granted benefits under the Veterans Independence Program.

Trainor, 80, of Summerside, P.E.I., applied for veterans benefits because he travelled across the Straits of Northumberland from the Island to Nova Scotia to enlist during the Second World War.

His application for service was rejected on medical grounds, but because he travelled through a designated war zone at the expense of the federal government, he argued he was entitled to the special allowance paid to veterans of overseas service.

Veterans Affairs rejected the application, so Trainor appealed to the courts. Federal courts recommended that the Veterans Review and Appeal Board reconsider the case.

On March 31, the board decided Trainor would be entitled to hospitalization, help with his medical needs and other benefits.

Cliff Chadderton, CEO of the War Amputations of Canada, wrote a letter in January to Veterans Affairs Minister Rey Pagtakhan, asking him to support the board's original decision to deny the benefit.



Written by CBC News Online staff
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I'm not the PM but I want his benefits. Can I have them?

........Interesting!:

Carman