Ocala WWII Veteran Died After VA Benefits Restored

WWII veteran Joseph Desario dies shortly after benefits restored 
Ocala Star Banner
April Warren
May 1, 2015

Joseph Desario as a top turret

gunner during WWII.

In October 2013, World War II veteran Joseph Desario applied for an increase in his disability benefits.

The VA, instead, slashed the 91-year-old man’s monthly compensation for bilateral hearing loss and post-traumatic stress disorder by about $600.

Desario began fighting to have his benefits reinstated. On April 14, more than a year later, the VA sent a letter to his attorney saying it had reinstated his benefits, with retroactive reimbursement.

While the news was good, it was a little too late. Desario died April 24, a little more than a week after receiving the news.

Desario had been hospitalized with congestive heart failure and end-stage heart and renal failure, according to family members.

“His heart just stopped,” said his daughter, Mary Lynn Miraglia.

She said before he died, however, he had been told, and understood, that his benefits had been restored.

“It made his day, it really did,” Miraglia said.
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WWII Veteran Improved According to VA, Actually Clinically Deaf