A terrible situation involving a deceased veteran in Arkansas; as a spouse is forced to choose between burying her husband or paying her rent. This is because of delays caused by the government shutdown which is already a couple of weeks old (story HERE).

Specifically, it’s because the shutdown has kept this woman from getting her husband’s DD 214 form.

If you’re a veterans you already know how important this piece of paper is.

For the uninitiated, a DD 214 is a transcript of your military career. It spells out everything you did while wearing the uniform, and also describes what kind of discharge you received, which is paramount when it comes to the benefits you’re eligible for.

Without a DD 214, you really don’t have any acceptable proof of service in the eyes of many agencies.

And without a DD 214 you run into difficulties like this. The worse part is that when you’ve passed, it’s your families that have to navigate the red tape that is tough enough for us to deal with when we’re alive.

So, we’re left with an Arkansas veteran that can’t even rest because of not only an antiquated system of proving your service, but also because of political finger pointing taking place in Washington.

This post doesn’t exist to coerce you into taking sides. There is enough of that out there already.

But what is a problem is that our brothers and sisters are suffering during this shutdown.

And now that suffering is being passed on to family members, who during an already extremely trying time, has to take on the burden of securing the benefits earned by a veteran a long time ago.

Are you experiencing problems during the shutdown? Let me know in the comments.

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