COASTAL LIVING
       January  2001

Unclaimed VA Insurance Funds

The VA reports that there are unclaimed VA insurance funds that are owed to current and former VA policyholders or their beneficiaries.  The money is owed to veterans of World War I, World War II, and the Korean War whom the VA has been unable to locate to make payment.  The insurance policies involved are/were under the following programs:

Insurance Program                               Policy Number Begins with …

US Government Life                                       K

National Services Life                                     N or V

Veterans Special Life                                      RS or V

Veterans Reopened Life                                  J or JR

Services-Disabled Veterans Life                      RH   

This money represents death awards, dividend checks and premium refunds that were owed to policyholders.  These payments were returned to the VA by US Postal authorities as undeliverable.   Some payments, needless to say, have been held by the VA for years.

The VA Insurance Center has created a VA Insurance website to facilitate searches for these unclaimed VA insurance funds.  If you have access to the Internet, go to https://insurance.va.gov/liability/ufsearch.htm, enter your name, and the site will search a roster of all of those owed VA insurance dividends.  Although others may search, the actual veteran or his survivor must contact the VA Insurance Center to claim an overdue dividend.  For more information, call the VA Insurance Center at 1-800-669-8477 or email VAinsurance@vba.va.gov or contact your County Veterans Services office at (252) 728-8440.

DoD 50^th Anniversary of the Korean War
Commemoration Committee Topics

A toll free number, 1-866-KOREA50, was recently activated which provides access to the DoD 50^th Anniversary of the Korean War Commemoration Committee Headquarters, so that Korean War veterans, families and friends can call to obtain information on national and international commemoration events or for general information on Korean War issues.

The commemoration, which was authorized by Congress and is administered by DoD will honor and will thank Korean War veterans and their families over a three-year commemoration period which began on June 25, 2000.

The Committee also recently made a nationwide call for group organizations, schools, businesses, veterans groups, and governmental agencies to join DoD by becoming Commemoration Partners in thanking and honoring Korean War veterans during this three-year period.

National level events can only touch a limited number of veterans who served in the Korean War.  The Commemoration Partner Program is one that is a grass roots community program to honor and to thank the nearly 1.8 million veterans who served in the Korean War.  For more information or to join call toll free 1-866-KOREA50 or visit the committee's website at http://korea50.army.mil/.

United States Flag Etiquette

The Veterans of Foreign Wars publishes "Etiquette of the Stars and Stripes" which has become a standard Flag reference for schools and for patriotic and fraternal organizations.  Within the document are the answers to most of the questions that periodically come up regarding the proper displaying and use of our National Flag.  For a copy of this most informative pamphlet, contact County Veterans Services at (252) 728-8440.

NC and the Department of Veterans Affairs

Did you know that in 1999, the VA spent nearly $1.2 billion in North Carolina?  More than 683,000 veterans live in the State (9,200+ in Carteret County) making up nearly 13.5 percent of the State's population.  In 1999, over 80,000 veterans received health care in the State's VA Medical Centers/Clinics.  Over 111,900 of our veterans received service connected disability compensation or non-service connected pension payments.  More than 9,000 NC veterans in 1999 used the GI Bill for their educational pursuits and over 20,000 NC veterans took advantage of the VA Home Loan Guarantee Program.