A former marine, Conley Monk, Jr., who served in the Vietnam War, said that his applications for education, housing, and disability benefits had been denied for decades, according to an announcement. Then, in December 2020, he learned he’d been eligible the entire time.
Let's see how this ends as it could be huge for Black Veterans who have been denied benefits.
[00:00:01] Welcome, welcome, welcome. You are listening to National Black Guide Radio. I am your host
[00:00:21] and founder Leonard Young. And as I say at the beginning of every episode, we really just
[00:00:26] want to add some additional dialogue to some of the articles that we report on on our
[00:00:33] Instagram account. And this is one that you know, we definitely wanted to talk about a little bit more.
[00:00:40] So if you're not familiar, there is a former Black Marine veteran Connolly Munk who is suing
[00:00:50] or has a lawsuit against the VA, Veterans Affair, regarding discrimination over receiving
[00:01:00] benefits. So I'm going to play a quick clip and then I'll talk about this a little more.
[00:01:04] The court in Connecticut today accusing the U.S. Veterans Administration of racial
[00:01:09] discrimination when it comes to veterans benefits. Connolly Munk Jr. was a Marine in Vietnam. He
[00:01:15] says he tried for years to get education, housing and disability benefits from the VA
[00:01:19] only to be denied. Munk says in 2020 the VA announced that he had actually been eligible
[00:01:24] all along. He and some Yale student lawyers say it follows a long time pattern of discrimination
[00:01:30] by the VA. A Black veteran who served honorably could walk into the VA, file a disability claim
[00:01:38] and be at a significantly higher likelihood of having that claim denied. We're hoping and praying
[00:01:44] that you know we're successful in our fight because once again it's not only for me and my
[00:01:51] father, it's for thousands of other veterans. Munk is also filing a claim on behalf of his
[00:01:58] father or a World War II Normandy. He says he was also denied veterans benefits back in the 1940s.
[00:02:05] Okay so just to kind of recap what was said, Connolly Munk Jr. who served in the Vietnam War
[00:02:12] had submitted applications to Veterans Affair for Education, Housing and Disability Benefits
[00:02:22] and had been denied for decades. Then in December of 2020 he learned that he had been eligible
[00:02:31] the whole time. He is currently being represented by Yale law students and one of the students
[00:02:39] stated that they have documented that Black veterans who are honorably discharged have a higher
[00:02:49] likelihood of being denied than White veterans. So of course these law students are acting
[00:02:57] like his lawyers on the case and they hope that this extends beyond him. You know I think we all
[00:03:02] know the struggles that Black veterans have definitely regarding health but then of course
[00:03:08] education, housing you know other things as well and they're really hoping that,
[00:03:16] hoping and praying that they're successful in their fight because not only does it represent
[00:03:20] Connolly Munk, it represents thousands of other veterans who you know current and before him.
[00:03:29] So there was a written statement from Terrence Hayes who is the VA Press Secretary and this is
[00:03:39] what he says, we are actively working to do to right these wrongs and we will stop, we will stop,
[00:03:47] we will not stop until we ensure that all Black veterans get the VA services that they earned
[00:03:57] and deserve. We are currently studying racial disparities and benefit claim decisions and we
[00:04:04] will publish the results of this study as soon as they are available but we are not waiting on the
[00:04:10] results of the study to take action. He also says additionally, we are taking steps to ensure
[00:04:16] that our claims process combats institutional racism rather than perpetuating it, reevaluating
[00:04:24] our policies that equitably serve veterans who are wrongly given other than honorable discharges
[00:04:33] and proactively reaching out to veterans with other than honorable discharges so that they
[00:04:39] know that they will be able to access the VA's benefits and healthcare.
[00:04:46] So you know of course, we kind of hear that talk all the time as soon as something comes up
[00:04:52] there's always statements to kind of right the wrong and let us know what direction they will
[00:04:56] be moving forward in but of course here we really hope action is being taken. There are way too many
[00:05:04] Black veterans who really dedicated their lives to serving the country who are now to only be
[00:05:12] unjustly treated in the aspect of trying to receive benefits that as one of the Black
[00:05:20] lawyers said earlier, I mean one of the Yale lawyers said earlier they have earned and they deserve.
[00:05:27] So some of the comments from our Instagram post which you know I can definitely agree with
[00:05:33] there were a lot of Black veterans on our comments who are really stating you know
[00:05:40] their running with the VA and how they felt like they were treating unfairly so I'm just
[00:05:45] going to read a couple of them here so one person says in regards to the article they said whoa
[00:05:52] same here I only got 10% for tinnitus nothing for hearing loss flat feet or other injuries that
[00:06:00] are documented in their medical record of my injuries. Another person says listen I've been
[00:06:09] fighting for an increase for 15 years just got denied again this year while all my white counterparts
[00:06:16] have been sitting on 100% discharge I've lost out on over a half a million dollars in benefits
[00:06:24] since my discharge in 2009. Another person says this has been happening to my dad as I type he
[00:06:31] is currently suing for the Camp Lejeune water contamination and of course you know we've
[00:06:36] seen those commercials pretty much all over you know the the TV so you know this is something
[00:06:43] that's very common hopefully this lawsuit works in the favor of Mr. Connolly Munk and that this
[00:06:51] kind of set of precedents for other Black veterans who have been denied benefits or
[00:06:57] treated unfairly because of you know racist policies past or present but long story short we just
[00:07:06] want to draw attention to this if you get a chance check out all the information on our
[00:07:10] Instagram page national black guide and again you know make sure you follow us on our website
[00:07:18] nationalblackgod.com and for anyone who may be new out there we just want to appreciate
[00:07:24] you for listening to us and we will be back next time