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VA BENEFITS FALL WAY SHORT – YOU CAN HELP!
VA funeral benefits include a plot, a marker, and a 20-minute service. Not covered is the average funeral home costs of $12,000. Our families take loans or use credit cards to bury our Veterans. This isn’t right. With your help, we will continue to gift more help to more families. Thank you.
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OUR FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE PROCESS
After we receive the DD 214 and a death certificate, we review detailed funeral costs with the family and cover items up to $1,000. The average funeral cost is $12,000.
FAMILIES WAITING FOR YOUR HELP
By donating under their story, your dollars will go directly to that family.
My name is Joseph A. Gonzalez, my wife Chelsea, was a former Army officer. She recently passed away from suicide. We have 4 children together. My family is currently overseas at Naval station Rota because of her government job. I am concerned about the financial costs of her burial and transport back to the United States. My wife was our family main source of income. I still have the cremation bill that is almost $3,000. Thank you for all you do.
He drives an 18 wheeler and committed suicide in his truck on a job in California.
They are shipping his body back to Texas for the funeral.
His wife and four children may need some help and I am asking for them.
He spent seven years in the Army and did tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.
FAMILIES WE’VE HELPED. FEEL FREE TO READ THEIR STORIES AND DONATE IN THEIR NAME TO HELP OTHERS.
I’m reaching out to you today to see if you might be able to help or point me in the right direction of some help for myself and my two children after the suicide of their dad 8 months ago. He was receiving VA disability as well as regular disability for PTSD. He had 100% of the disability for the PTSD and another 25% for back and neck injuries. We lived off of his income between his VA disability and his regular disability.
When he committed suicide we were left with nothing. My kids got denied survivor benefits because of the fact that he had not served during an active wartime.
I just need some assistance getting back on my feet trying to find a place to live, accumulating deposits and all that is very daunting and scary for all of us, with him gone. We lived in the house with no electricity and no water for close to a month and now we’re staying with my sister which is a very temporary situation and I just don’t know where to turn.
Monday afternoon (July 13, 2020) my cousin took his life. He was a vet of the Alabama National Guard who served in Iraq early on during the occupation. He was getting PTSD treatment. He was like a brother to me.
Eric had three children, the youngest is 9 years old. We are not sure his life insurance is going to pay anything.
Since Dan died, my credit has really suffered and it’s hard to find a safe place to move. The COVID pandemic doesn’t help either.
Cedrick was a big sports fan. Baseball was his favorite sport (Yankees all the way). He played baseball for two teams for several years. He would play for his school team, eat and change in the car, then we would go onto his second game for our local club. Two games a night on several occasions and he loved it.
Cedrick was also a very caring and loving brother. As a kid he always took care of his younger brother AJ and sister Jackie. Jackie and Ceddy looked exactly alike. Both had same face and green eyes. She has a problem looking in a mirror now – all she sees is her brother. They were extremely close. He made us all laugh, was so funny, quick witted, and full of energy. As you can see, his smile was warm and loving.
Written by Helen Taylor, Cedrick’s mom
One of my happiest memories of Jared was recently, in August of 2018, three weeks before his suicide. We went to the NASCAR Xfinity Series in Lexington, Ohio. Every year we go there to my brother Gator’s house to have a guys weekend. The race is practically in my brother’s backyard so we drive his two John Deere Gators and a golf cart to the track. There were about 50 family and friends that tailgate together on the inside of turn #6. At one point during the race, me and Jared were so close to the cars as we stood next to the fence that you could feel the wind in our face as they raced by. I remember Jared turning to me and saying, “Dad, this is so awesome.”
Written by Kevin Johns, Jared’s dad
Jamie served on active duty in the U.S. Air Force for 11 years and eventually moved to Tampa. She was a passionate athlete, scholar, and entrepreneur. Jamie was a beloved sister, aunt, Air Force Captain, friend, and inspiration. She lost her battle with PTSD in 2015.
My brother was my rock since day one. He was always there for me as I tried to be there for him. He had the biggest smile and would try and help anyone with anything if he could. He told me once that seeing people smile and making them feel good made him feel good.
Written by Shayna Zellaha, Tyson’s sister
My Robert was half Jew/half Christian. With love I called him my Mousy. He was a funny and fun person. He had a beautiful smile that I hardly can’t forget and it broke my heart that I won be able to see it again. A Patriot, hero, a man of focus, commitment, sacrifice and integrity to his job serving his country; loving father and very supportive husband. He was a good servant of God. He was well educated and a gentleman.
Written by Izzy Zaza, Robert’s wife
Mikey grew up the small town of Steeleville, Illinois. As a child he was always running off with his brother’s Geoffrey and Joshua to play in the woods with Airsoft guns. He loved nothing more than to go out and play “Army” with his brothers. All three of them dreamed of nothing more than being a “Soldier” like their Dad was. They would do this all of the time, sometimes until well after dark. Mikey was inseparable from his two brothers. They did almost everything together.
Written by Chas Forsting, Michael’s father
I am reaching out because my brother, a combat vet, died by suicide last month (May 2020). Mickey served as 11C airborne for 8 years. He did tours in Kuwait and Panama in the 90’s. He was 42 years old when he passed away. Mickey has three kids. Last year he was told that he would be paralyzed by the end of 2020 if he didn’t have something done to his back. This set him way back because the VA kept cancelling his appointments. He was in so much pain. Last November his son, who had then joined the military himself as a combat medic, tried committing suicide and ended up hospitalized with TBI and PTSD.
Mickey’s wife didn’t have the funds to pay the funeral home up front so I ended up putting it on my credit card. She was told that the life insurance may not be paid out because of the manner of his death, even though his death certificate lists PTSD and he was rated for that by the VA. I know the VA was paying $300 towards the headstone. That was part of the $1,800 my mom paid at the funeral home initially. The $6,000 that I paid was not expected to be due until life insurance was figured out but I guess because of the virus things had to be done sooner. Now we know that the VA won’t be paying anymore life insurance because he wasn’t a 100% disability rating. I struggle with that because the PTSD was part of his disability rating and his death certificate says PTSD so I feel like he should have gotten the full life insurance.
