VA is paying disability to more than twice the number of verifiable POWs from Vietnam and Gulf War.

NOTE from Larry Scott, VA Watchdog dot Org ... Last month the Associated Press reported:

Prisoners of war suffer in ways most veterans don't, enduring humiliating forced marches, torture or other trauma that may haunt them long afterward. In partial recompense, the government extends them special benefits, from free parking and tax breaks to priority in medical treatment.

Trouble is, some of the much-admired recipients of these benefits apparently don't deserve them.

There are only 21 surviving POWs from the first Gulf War in 1991, the Department of Defense says. Yet the Department of Veterans Affairs is paying disability benefits to 286 service members it says were taken prisoner during that conflict, according to data released by VA to The Associated Press.

A similar discrepancy arises with Vietnam POWs. Only 661 officially recognized prisoners returned from that war alive — and about 100 of those have since died, according to Defense figures. But 966 purported Vietnam POWs are getting disability payments, the VA told AP.

Now, two Members of Congress want to know what gives. 

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Investigation sought into POW discrepancies

Associated Press

DENVER (AP) - Reps. Mike Coffman of Colorado and Jim Marshall of Georgia have asked the Department of Veterans Affairs to investigate whether some veterans are falsely claiming to have been prisoners of war.

Coffman, a Republican, and Marshall, a Democrat, sent the request to VA Secretary Eric Shinseki on Monday.

The Associated Press reported in April that the Department of Defense has identified a total of about 580 surviving POWs from the Vietnam War and the first Gulf War in 1991, but the VA is paying disability benefits to about 1,250 purported POWs.

Coffman is a Marine veteran of the first Gulf War who also served in Iraq.

Marshall served in Vietnam with the Army.

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TOPICS: veterans, veterans' benefits, VA, Department of Veterans' Affairs, POW, prisoner of war