WWII veteran's claim of Hiroshima radiation finally honored by VA

WWII vet exposed to radiation at Hiroshima wins VA benefits fight
San Francisco Chronicle
By Kevin Fagan
Published: January 25, 2014

John Brenan rolled his Jeep into freshly bombed Hiroshima in 1945 on a reconnaissance mission to see whether there was any enemy left to fight. The only enemy the Army sergeant found in the miles of rubble pulverized by America's atomic attack was the one he couldn't see: radiation.

The fallout surrounded his body, and that is almost surely why he got colon cancer four decades later, his doctors told him. Brenan managed to beat the disease, but then came the follow-up battle -- filing a disability claim with the Department of Veterans Affairs.

It took until last week for him to win that battle. And victory only came with the help of a member of Congress.

On Friday, Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Hillsborough, Calif., stood in her office with the 90-year-old Brenan and said his case is an example of the vexation that can come with filing for veteran disability benefits. But it's also evidence, she said, that the VA is making progress on clearing its infamous backlog of claims.

"This kind of thing should never happen, and we are working hard to make sure it doesn't," Speier said, as Brenan sat next to her in a walker-chair, a World War II veteran's cap on his head. "John's claim was denied over and over again, mistakes were made over and over, and he only finally got his benefits because we wouldn't take 'no' for an answer."
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