published: Friday, November 14, 2008

Veterans documents safe at regional office in St. Petersburg

By MARY MARGARET STAIK

Special to the News-Sun

The Inspector General for the Department of Veteran Affairs recently initiated an investigation into the discovery of more than 10 Veterans' documents, which were in the shredder room in bins designated for shredding in October. The regional offices involved in the original discovery include St. Petersburg, Detroit, St. Louis, and Waco, Texas.

Veteran Affairs ordered each of the regional offices to cease any document shredding while the VA officials and the Office of Inspector General determine how widespread the problem was.

A statement from Kenneth A. Thie, director of VFW National Service Office in St. Petersburg, allows a collective sigh of relief for all veterans with claims at the regional office.

"For the record, I have been attending several meetings with the VA. Although Columbia, S.C. and St. Louis, Regional Offices have some serious problems, there have not been any original documents found in the shred boxes at St. Petersburg," Thie said.

"Of all the 'to be shredded' documents reviewed here, none were original documents. There were only eight documents found in the shred bins at St. Petersburg, and were found to be duplicate copies of personal information, such as a marriage certificate and death certificates. The Office of Inspector General officials indicated these should not be shredded, but rather returned to the veteran or survivor as duplicates."

Those employees found to be involved in shredding of documents in other facilities in the other localities will be prosecuted, according to Thie.

On Oct. 23, VA told VFW that nearly 490 documents had been recovered from its 57 regional offices. Sixty percent of the documents recovered were found in shredder bins in Columbia, St. Louis and Cleveland. The VA is still checking to see if some of those documents were duplicates already present in claims files.

The VFW is working with VA to ensure that veterans with missing records are not adversely effected by this problem.

If the veteran continues to be, concerned over this issue it is suggested that the veteran submit all claims and evidence for the claims through the County Veteran Services Office, 7205 S. George Blvd. Duplicates of all documents submitted to the regional office are kept on file.

Further, the veteran should keep copies of all claims and evidence they submit directly to VA. The veteran should also notice the date the documents were submitted to the VA. If the veteran has not heard anything, or received any correspondence from the VA within 45 days of filing a claim or evidence to a claim, the veteran should contact the Veteran Services Officer who is assisting their claim. The VA should acknowledge all claims within 30 days of receipt.

Sometimes a veteran wants to continue to file the claims and evidence without the aid of a county Veteran Service officer. The veteran should take great care that each page is submitted with the name and claim number or social security number at the top right of each sheet of paper submitted. Staple the papers together to ensure the entire packet is received intact at the designated official's office.

The veteran or surviving family member can call the regional office to check on the status of the claim on file at the toll free number, 1-800-827-1000. There are four recorded prompts. Listen carefully to each prompt. If done properly, the veteran will have an opportunity to speak to a claims representative, rather than a recorded message. Due to the overwhelming number of concerned veterans, there may be a delay.