For Your Benefit
For and about Hawaii's military
See also: In The Military
VA offers service
for finding veteransQuestion: Is it possible to locate a buddy that I served with in 1956 through the Department of Veterans Affairs?
Answer: The VA cannot release personal information about a veteran without that person's permission under the terms of the federal privacy act. However, the VA can forward a message from you to the veteran, providing VA has a current address on record. Write your message to your friend and place it in an unsealed, stamped envelope. Include a note to VA explaining who it is that you are trying to reach and add as much identifying information as you have. Put all of this in another envelope and address it to the Spark M. Matsunaga VA Medical and Regional Office Center, 459 Patterson Road, Honolulu 96819-1522. If the veteran is in VA records, your message to the veteran will be sealed and the envelope will be sent to the address on file for the veteran. It is then up to the veteran to contact you. If you have any questions, you may call Honolulu VA Benefits and Services at 433-1000.
Q: Am I eligible for burial at Arlington National Cemetery? If not, what are my options?
A: Arlington National Cemetery is one of two cemeteries maintained by the Department of the Army, not the Department of Veterans Affairs. For further information, contact the cemetery at: Superintendent, Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA 22211, or call 703-695-3250. Or visit their Web site at www.arlingtoncemetery.org.
You may also wish to consider one of the VA's 120 national cemeteries, of which Hawaii has one, or a state veterans cemetery, of which one is located on Oahu and others on the neighbor islands. You may view a list of these cemeteries at www.cem.va.gov. Burial in a national cemetery is open to all members of the armed forces and veterans who have met minimum active duty service requirements and been honorably discharged.
If you have questions about your benefits as a veteran,
call Fred Ballard at the Veterans Affairs at 433-0049
or the Star-Bulletin at 529-4747.Gregg K. Kakesako, who covers military affairs for the Star-Bulletin,
can be reached by phone at 294-4075
or by e-mail at gkakesako@starbulletin.com.
