This is a very odd and screwball question I really hope that someone can answer for me,

way back my dad was Drafted, he served that term of service ( I dont know if he re-upped) and then went into the Army reserve (no lapse in his service to the army) right after and stayed with them for 20+ years and attained a rank of Master sergeant. He died in 1992, and we were told he had no life insurance.. but the people I have talked with said his life insurance was automatic from the day that he was drafted and should have carried on when he was in the reserve. we were told that his benefits would start on the day of his 65th birthday (retirement Px stuff medical insurance etc) a few months after that we called to see about the status of all this and they then said it should have been started on the day of my mothers 65th birthday some years before that. Well, we fought like hell and finally got his retirement benefit but the rest remains an enigma. Was he supposed to have life insurance and who would we even talk to, to find out this information. We've called a couple state senators to no avail, they either ignore is, dont answer the phone or just never bother to look into this issue, so I am hoping that someone here can help out some since we're basicly lost on this whole situation.

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hum.....
1987 300TD 311,000M Stolen. Presumed destroyed

The terms you are looking for are "SGLI" or "VGLI" - Serviceman's group life insurance or veterans...

I know that when you are active duty or a drilling reservist, you pay into the SGLI for a set amount of life coverage- I dont know what happens once you retire (ask me in 5 years...). If your father died after retirement but before age 65 then he was whats called a 'gray area' retiree - I don't know what benefits are/were available to gray area retirees.

I can't judge and I don't know the facts here, but if someone died in 1992, and its 2010 and if you **look like** you are just trying to get a check out of the system - there isnt going to be a whole lot of sympathy on the part of the (already non-sympathetic) VA/.gov/.mil workers you need to talk to- you've probably seen this. Not all .gov workers are like this, but its kinda like the DMV - some are pretty bad and some aren't.

Stop by a local VFW or VA hospital and ask around - usually those places have a 'benefit expert' who will be of the correct generation (my info might be too new for your situation) and specializes in helping people find answers like this. VFW posts people are not .gov employees so I'd go there first - they are more likely to game the system to your advantage than anyone else.

lastly have you combed - www.militaryonesource.com ? (relatively official site) try calling their 800-number- I was impressed the one time I tried it.


-John

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