Social Security billed Vietnam Vet for a mistake made 41 years ago

Social Security bills disabled Hayward war vet over 41-year-old checks
The Daily Review
By Chris De Benedetti
POSTED: 11/23/2013

HAYWARD -- For Vietnam War veteran Thomas Testerman, a letter he recently received from the Defense Department was a reminder of the mistreatment his generation of soldiers faced.

Landing in his mailbox two days before Veterans Day, the letter informed him that he owes nearly $500 because of checks the Social Security Administration mistakenly sent him in 1972. If Testerman does not pay or dispute the bill, the letter stated, deductions from his monthly military retirement checks will begin just days before Christmas.

"The disabled vets from my era have been putting up with this crap for decades now," he said. "It's not right what they're doing to these guys."

Testerman, 61, of Hayward, says he nearly died from a lengthy list of wartime wounds, including severe injuries to his bladder, pelvis and scalp, and fractures to a hip, knee, femur bone and two vertebrae. Testerman, the son of a war veteran, says he lives in constant pain and, though he stands on his own, sometimes he must use a cane to walk.

"On a pain scale of 1 to 10, I walk around every day with a 7 or 8," he said.

While he was recovering 41 years ago, the government began mailing the monthly disability checks that he still receives today. Social Security then sent him a couple of checks, which perplexed him. Though he cashed a couple of them, Testerman consulted his attorney, who said he was not eligible for the Social Security payments. On his lawyer's advice, Testerman stopped cashing the checks, mailing them back for several months until the agency stopped sending them.

"Since then, I have just received my military disability retirement pay, which is about $600 a month," he said.
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