[Newsbot]

Title: Royal Canadian Legion pressuring feds to pay for poor soldiers' funerals
Category: Military
Posted By: Strutz
Date: 2013-01-31 09:21:21
Canadian

[martin14]

$1:

Last fall, in a story by The Canadian Press, it was revealed the fund had rejected 20,147 applications submitted to it by the families of poor soldiers who passed away.

That was roughly two-thirds of the total number of pleas the fund had received since 2006.

It seems the income cut-off for an application is around $12,000 a year.

That's not much.

[bootlegga]

martin14 martin14:

$1:

Last fall, in a story by The Canadian Press, it was revealed the fund had rejected 20,147 applications submitted to it by the families of poor soldiers who passed away.

That was roughly two-thirds of the total number of pleas the fund had received since 2006.

It seems the income cut-off for an application is around $12,000 a year.

That's not much.

They refused to pay for my father's funeral in 2011. Before his death he was living on his Air force pension (partial) and OAS/CPP, which worked out to just about $23k annually. For a disabled former aircraft mechanic like him, it was barely enough to live on.

All of us kids routinely chipped in to help him make ends meet - it sure would have been nice if the government could have kicked in a few bucks to cover the cost of his funeral (most of which he had already prepaid himself).

[BartSimpson]

I guess that's the one thing we have down here to be grateful for. Every soldier is entitled to a place in a US National Cemetary, rich or poor.

[DrCaleb]

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

I guess that's the one thing we have down here to be grateful for. Every soldier is entitled to a place in a US National Cemetary, rich or poor.

There's been talk around our Legion of also calling for a National Cemetary system.

The Poppy fund is only so big.

[Strutz]

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

I guess that's the one thing we have down here to be grateful for. Every soldier is entitled to a place in a US National Cemetary, rich or poor.

Are the funerals and burials paid for by the government then?

[martin14]

bootlegga bootlegga:

martin14 martin14:

$1:

Last fall, in a story by The Canadian Press, it was revealed the fund had rejected 20,147 applications submitted to it by the families of poor soldiers who passed away.

That was roughly two-thirds of the total number of pleas the fund had received since 2006.

It seems the income cut-off for an application is around $12,000 a year.

That's not much.

They refused to pay for my father's funeral in 2011. Before his death he was living on his Air force pension (partial) and OAS/CPP, which worked out to just about $23k annually. For a disabled former aircraft mechanic like him, it was barely enough to live on.

All of us kids routinely chipped in to help him make ends meet - it sure would have been nice if the government could have kicked in a few bucks to cover the cost of his funeral (most of which he had already prepaid himself).

Yeah I guess I'm torn between the idea that people should make their own arrangements,
versus the Vets who wind up really too poor to be able to do it.


Maybe some extra publicity for the Last Post Fund would help a bit.

[BartSimpson]

Strutz Strutz:

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

I guess that's the one thing we have down here to be grateful for. Every soldier is entitled to a place in a US National Cemetary, rich or poor.

Are the funerals and burials paid for by the government then?

Some funeral expenses are covered, some are not. The burial and the plot in a National Cemetary, however, are 100% covered.

On funeral expenses you get a modest check (less than $300) if you opt for a casket but if you opt for cremation then you can get up to $1700 of those expenses covered.

And if you pay for your own expenses and have yourself buried in a private cemetary you're still entitled to a bronze memorial plaque for free.

[BartSimpson]

DrCaleb DrCaleb:

There's been talk around our Legion of also calling for a National Cemetary system.

I think that's a great way to honor those who serve. I know that I always find it to be a spiritual experience to visit such a place and see the sacrifices writ large that were made in my behalf by men who bled and died long before I was born.

It's one of the reasons why the Constitution isn't just 'a piece of paper' to me and that's because it has been secured with blood, bone, and sleepless nights.

DrCaleb DrCaleb:

The Poppy fund is only so big.

But it says a lot for the people who support it.

[Strutz]

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

Strutz Strutz:

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

I guess that's the one thing we have down here to be grateful for. Every soldier is entitled to a place in a US National Cemetary, rich or poor.

Are the funerals and burials paid for by the government then?

Some funeral expenses are covered, some are not. The burial and the plot in a National Cemetary, however, are 100% covered.

On funeral expenses you get a modest check (less than $300) if you opt for a casket but if you opt for cremation then you can get up to $1700 of those expenses covered.

And if you pay for your own expenses and have yourself buried in a private cemetary you're still entitled to a bronze memorial plaque for free.

Well that is certainly more than we seem to do here.

DrCaleb DrCaleb:

There's been talk around our Legion of also calling for a National Cemetary system.

What are doing... waiting for another war?

[DrCaleb]

Strutz Strutz:

DrCaleb DrCaleb:

There's been talk around our Legion of also calling for a National Cemetary system.

What are doing... waiting for another war?

It's not up the the Legion to create the cemetery system. All they can do is chip in a little to help out the families of soldiers who have gone to the last post. If it were, there'd already be a National Cemetery.

[DrCaleb]

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

DrCaleb DrCaleb:

There's been talk around our Legion of also calling for a National Cemetary system.

I think that's a great way to honor those who serve. I know that I always find it to be a spiritual experience to visit such a place and see the sacrifices writ large that were made in my behalf by men who bled and died long before I was born.

A couple years back, someone here asked us to take pictures of monuments around Canada, and I got go through a few war time cemeteries. It is indeed a great way to honour those who have served. Recently a couple schools have taken it upon themselves to mark Remembrance Day by making sure each stone in some of those graveyards have a poppy.

2:

No Stone left alone.jpg [ 58.82 KiB | Viewed 243 times ]

http://www.nostoneleftalone.ca/

These were taken in the same cemetery that I became familiar with, the same one as in the above article. It's ubiquitous, I'll bet many people living in Edmonton don't know it's there. Right between 106 st and 97st, right along the Yellowhead.

1:

Beechmount.jpg [ 431.9 KiB | Viewed 59 times ]

0:

Beechmount1.jpg [ 284.17 KiB | Viewed 63 times ]

And I know there are many 'empty' spots like the 3 in the front of the above picture, and quite a few I spotted were 'recent', only filled in the last 3 - 10 years that I noticed. The earliest I saw was 1916, and so many more from 1939 - 1945. And there are so many more places like this across the country.

It would be relatively easy I would thing to declare these as part of a National Cemetery system.

[Strutz]

DrCaleb DrCaleb:

Strutz Strutz:

DrCaleb DrCaleb:

There's been talk around our Legion of also calling for a National Cemetary system.

What are doing... waiting for another war?

It's not up the the Legion to create the cemetery system. All they can do is chip in a little to help out the families of soldiers who have gone to the last post. If it were, there'd already be a National Cemetery.

I should have been more clear with that post. No knock on the Legion at all. Moreso at our pathetic government, current and past, that have not handled this situation properly. The Legion should not even have to call for one, it should be damn well provided. What I was getting at is whether it would take more "justification" to get it done. WWI was damn near 100 years ago...


And yes, the cemetaries you speak of above should be declared a part of a National Cemetary system.

[martin14]

DrCaleb DrCaleb:

Strutz Strutz:

DrCaleb DrCaleb:

There's been talk around our Legion of also calling for a National Cemetary system.

What are doing... waiting for another war?

It's not up the the Legion to create the cemetery system. All they can do is chip in a little to help out the families of soldiers who have gone to the last post. If it were, there'd already be a National Cemetery.

It gets even more depressing.. we have a National Cemetery, best kept secret in Canada.


http://www.beechwoodcemetery.com/
http://www.cmp-cpm.forces.gc.ca/cen/ps/nmc-cmn-eng.asp


Never heard of it.




Turns out the Last Post Fund has 'it's own Cemetery', in Montreal.

http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/bereavement/lpf
http://www.lastpostfund.ca/EN/foh.php


I lived in Montreal for 5 years, never heard of this either.



Funny how if you mention Arlington National Cemetery, many people in Canada know of that place, but nothing of our own.

It would seem to be easy to arrange a cemetery in each province where Vets could
have a decent funeral, and be buried with their brothers, but it seems no one
is able to coordinate it, even if they know these places exist.

We are losing Vets every day, and as usual the whole thing is being swept under the rug.
I swear they are doing it on purpose.