CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — An Army veteran thanks NewsChannel 5 investigates after the Department of Veterans Affairs stopped withholding money from their monthly disability checks.
Janet Hudson was a cook in the army for 28 years.
She contacted NewsChannel 5 investigates after the VA began withholding $338 a month from her disability benefits.
Hudson said the VA reviewed her case this week and said it would no longer withhold the money and promised to repay the withheld money.
“I don’t think it would have ever happened without your reporting,” Hudson said in a text message. “Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
The VA confirmed that it contacted Hudson following our report and that her case was “resolved.”
The VA withheld the money because federal law prohibits veterans from receiving disability and severance benefits.
Hudson said the VA changed course because her disability compensation claims were filed after 1999.
Her case is unusual because she left the Army in 1999 and re-enlisted in 2007. She served until 2012 before retiring.
Hudson thanked the VA for its quick review of her case.
Other veterans called for more leniency in legislation requiring veterans to repay separation benefits.
“I was very proud to serve my country and now it seems like we are getting a slap in the face,” Janet Hudson said in our first report.
She joined the Army right after high school. Hudson served all over the world, but was also a mother.
“My first deployment was when my daughter was 18 months old. I had to go to Somalia,” Hudson said.
She said she voluntarily left the Army in 1999 and joined the National Guard.
“I decided to leave the Army because as a cook I couldn’t be with my daughter. I couldn’t spend a lot of time with my daughter,” Hudson said.
But Hudson enlisted again in 2007 and went to Iraq and Afghanistan.
She retired after 28 years and was receiving disability benefits for back pain. She recently applied for an increase in her disability benefits but was shocked by the response from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
“I got a letter and they’re going to withhold $338.00 a month for seven years,” Hudson said.
The VA said she received more than $33,000 in severance pay when she left the Army in 1999 and then demanded the money back.
Information from the VA shows that the government has withheld disability payments from more than 100,000 veterans over the past twelve years.
The VA said in a statement that it is “legally required” to collect severance payments from veterans who also receive disability benefits, but added that less than 1 percent of benefit applicants are withheld any money.
“We recognize this can be challenging for veterans. We try to identify the need for reimbursement as early as possible and work with them every step of the way to minimize the impact this may have on them,” the VA said in a statement.
The veterans’ aid organization Operation Standdown Tennessee has found an attorney who can help review Hudson’s case.
Hudson is just happy that the problem is now solved.
