Disabled vet has to prove he isn't dead yet

South Weber veteran fighting red tape after receiving notices of his death from VA
By Charles F. Trentelman (Standard-Examiner staff)


Last Edit: Apr 10 2010 - 9:20pm


SOUTH WEBER -- Being declared dead can be scary if, as the old Monty Python movie gag says, you aren't quite dead yet.

Merle Voss, South Weber, received a letter from the Department of Veterans Affairs on April 1 telling him he was dead. He felt alive enough to spend the weekend on the phone trying to convince people he was alive, with little success.

He felt alive enough Monday to go to work, which was good because the Veterans Administration not only cut off his benefits, it asked him to send money back.

And will he keep his job? He works at Hill Air Force Base, which is operated by the same government that declared him dead.

"These big bureaucracies talk to each other, so I was worried," he said. So far his co-workers have shown no problem with hanging out with a dead guy.

All this started on April 1. Voss, who is 53, found out quickly it was not a joke. He actually got two letters. One was from the Veterans Administration addressed to "The estate of Merle D. Voss," commiserating on the event of his death and elling his survivors they qualified for funeral benefits.

The other letter was more ominous. It was from Department of Veterans Affairs Debt Management Center. It said dead people can't collect benefits, said Voss had been sent money after he died and asked Voss to send it back.
read more here
South Weber veteran fighting red tape