Here's a real "Hooah" for the top leadership at the Veterans Affairs Department, who decided early on Friday to keep all 57 of the department's 57 regional offices open until every veteran waiting in line picked up an emergency GI bill check valued at up to $3,000.
Based on reports I have received from individual veterans and veterans groups, the Washington D.C. office on 1722 I Street N.W. was nearly overwhelmed by a crowd of 300 vets waiting for payment at about noon on Friday.
VA spokeswoman Katie Roberts told me that to speed processing on I street, VA dispatched more computers and staff to handle the crowd. And since it was lunch time, they ordered pizza for one and all, she said.
VA likely was able to quickly assess the situation at the Washington regional office because Roberts told me Deputy Secretary W. Scott Gould and Assistant Secretary of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs Tammy Duckworth were hanging out there to greet veterans.
Also in the crowd at the I Street office was Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., chairman of the House VA Committee, who showed up to say hello and also eyeball the emergency payment process.
Lines in other areas of the country were smaller, Roberts said, a fact confirmed by Ryan Gallucci, a spokesman for AmVets, a veterans service organization like the VFW or the American Legion. Gallucci said AmVets staffers at VA offices in Oakland, Calif.; Phoenix, Ariz.; Atlanta, and Winston-Salem, N.C., reported long lines early in the morning, but had disappeared by the end of the day.
As of 3 p.m. on Friday, VA had made 6,619 emergency payments to veterans at regional offices and another 6,752 had requested emergency payments online, Roberts said.
Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense, gets high marks for the emergency payment program and described the decision to keep the office open until everyone gets paid "unprecedented."
COMMENTS
If it was so great why are some banks not honoring the checks. Just look at the offical VA web site. Duckworth and Gould should have thought of the delay they caused by not just electonically transfering the fund to the Vet.'s checking accounts. Or do they think that vets don't have checking accounts? Maybe more forethought could improve the Adminstration's hepl to vets.
fred wilson 10/06/09 09:23 am ET
I'd also like to hear what role Vets for Common Sense played in this.
And don't spend that $3k too fast, you never know how long it's going to be before you see the next payment!
Denver RO did a great job with a very large waiting area, more than a dozen staff processing vets.
Snead 10/05/09 05:08 pm ET
At least some places were issuing hand written checks that not all banks wanted to cash. US Bank and Bank of America both said that they would cash them and the VA set up a hotline for banks with questions at 1-800-827-2166.
Perry Jefferies 10/05/09 10:29 am ET
What role did Paul Sullivan, Veterans for common Sense, play in the decision to provide emergency payments and kee the offices open until they were all paid?
Henry Nolan 10/05/09 08:00 am ET
Very interesting AND disappointing to read this. I have been waiting for almost seven weeks for VA to make their payments to me since the college showed me as registered in the VA's system. Great to see VA taking this emergency action to get some funds in our hands, but how, where, and when did they tell people to come to their offices to get these payments. We have heard absolutely nothing from them...
Jim Barnard 10/05/09 06:41 am ET
I waited at the VA office In Los Angeles for more than six hours there was more than 2000 people alone i think at that one it was crazy i waited outside for what seemend like forever and once i got inside it was just as long im glad i got my money but it should have never got to that point to begin with i still wait on the rest of the money that the VA owes me which it probley about $6000
Robert miley 10/02/09 08:29 pm ET