VA regional office finally lifts roadblock to veteran's benefits

A Tennessee World War II veteran will finally be able to collect his benefits now that a federal agency has dropped claims that he couldn't handle his own financial affairs.

In a decision issued this week, officials of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs dropped challenges to the competence of Millard W. Sells, an 88-year-old Byrdstown veteran who has been battling for benefits for nearly two decades.

Sells, whose service in the Marine Corps included the Battle of Iwo Jima, had been scheduled to face an agency hearing this week on the competency issue. That session has now been canceled, and Sells attorney, John Cameron, said his client should be receiving a check in the near future.

It was only in February that Sells learned that he had finally been awarded disability benefits dating back to 2005. That was followed, however, by a notice that the VA also had concluded that he was not competent to handle those benefits and someone would have to be appointed to oversee them.

Cameron, an Alabama attorney who specializes in veteran claims, said the latest decision by the VA's Nashville office cannot be appealed. He expects the check to include retroactive benefits.

He said that if a fiduciary had been appointed, that person would have been able to charge a percentage of Sells' monthly benefits for his or her services.

Sells, meanwhile, is continuing his efforts to collect benefits going back another 10 years.

In the three-page decision issued this week, the VA cited new evidence submitted by Sells on the competency issue, including a letter from his longtime personal physician.

"We have determined that you are not incompetent by reason of injury or disease," the notice states.

Sells served in the Marines from 1944 to 1946 and suffered wounds in the Battle of Iwo Jima. He later served in Okinawa. He suffered additional injuries when he slipped and fell off a wing of an aircraft he was refueling.

"Since the claimant in this case is not shown as unable to manage personal affairs, we have determined that the claimant is competent for VA purposes," the notice states.

Reach Walter F. Roche Jr at 615-259-8086