Question:
Hello Jim, I am a Vietnam era veteran, I served 1972 to 1974. I was on leave in 1973, I was at a friends house, we were drinking beer, but all of a sudden I was hallucinating, I got paranoid and left, I was walking down the side of a highway when I was hit by a car, which caused a puncture wound. I was treated for the puncture wound at Rock Island Arsenal. I was then sent to my permanent duty station at San Antonio (Fort Sam Houston) for some reason they took me off my MOS of 72delta20 and had me doing janitorial work. I suffered anxiety through out the years and also had problems with alcohol. I was awarded 20% disability for service connection and a percentage for non-service connection. The V.A. did not consider my anxiety as connected to my being hit by a car while on leave, but did allow the puncture wound as service connected. I guess my question is on my non-service connected disability pension. Can they deduct from that when I start receiving Social Security?
Jim's Reply:
I'm not sure that I follow your story? Veterans aren't usually able to receive service connected disability payments simultaneously with VA pension benefits. The non-service pension is for veterans over the age of 65 who are totally disabled and very low income and a 20% VA disability award usually means that you won't be eligible for the pension benefit. In any case, yes, the SSA retirement benefit will offset any pension benefit you may receive.