Steven Brodbeck of Colorado Springs could be $6,000 richer this holiday season, but his concern for fellow veterans trumped the easy money.
Brodbeck, an infantry sergeant who served two tours in Iraq, received a $3,000 check in the mail from the education division of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
He suspected it was an emergency fund check given to veterans who had not yet been paid their monthly stipends under the post- 9/11 GI Bill.
“They also sent my wife $3,000,” he said. “Though we are both veterans, neither of us has applied for the GI Bill benefits.”
He could have kept his mouth shut and cashed the checks. Instead, he called the VA.
“After being bounced around from department to department, and waiting on hold for 52 minutes, they told me they would call me back,” he said.
To his surprise, they did call back.
“They kept asking if we had applied for the GI Bill, and we hadn’t,” he said. “They determined it was a check for the GI bill.”
He told them his concern.
“At this very moment, there are veterans waiting for their $3,000 emergency payments who are about to lose their homes because they aren’t receiving their benefits,” he said.
“All the while, my wife and I who have not even applied for these benefits were mailed a total of $6,000, with no questions asked.”
VA spokesman Terry Jemison said Brodbeck’s is a unique case.
“We have not before heard of a case of a payment to someone who had not applied for the emergency funds,” he said via e-mail.
Brodbeck said he was never tempted to cash the checks. Just angry.
“It seems like they are incompetent,” he said. “They can’t handle the task they’re assigned to. It is a large responsibility they have, but $3,000 in this economy is pretty good, and then to send $6,000 to one household is unbelievable.”
Colleen O’Connor: 303-954-1083 or coconnor@denverpost.com
