Under Section 401 of enacted November 23, 1977, d. Service Public Law (PL) 95-202, Certified as service which had not been recognized as active military service was certified Active Military as such for certain groups of individuals. Service under PL 95-202 Burial benefits can be paid for a Veteran who died before the Department of Defense (DoD) recognizes the Veteran’s service as active military service under the public law. However, payment may not exceed the rate in effect at the time of burial. The public law generally applies to Veterans who served as civilians Note: during World War II. However, there is no ending date to the public law. DoD still has authority to recognize service as active military service under the public law. For more information on groups whose service has been certified Reference: as active military service under see PL 95-202, , and . e. Service If the military service department certifies that there has been active Federal Department service, accept this as a basis for adjudicating benefits if the individual was, in Certification of fact, mustered into Federal service, there is evidence to the contrary. unless Active Federal Service For identification of certain individuals who had active Federal Reference: service that may not be recognized by the service department, see . f. Eligible If a Veteran resided in a country considered an enemy of the , a decision Veterans' concerning his/her loyalty or forfeiture of benefits would have been required Loyalty to pay him/her benefits. For burial claims, in the absence of a decision or Clearance forfeiture, the Veteran’s loyalty clearance will be required. not For more information on eligible Veteran’s loyalty clearance, References: see , , and M21-1, Part III, Subpart iii, 1.C.10. g. Suicide as by suicide does preclude the payment of burial benefits. However, not the Cause of the service-connected (SC) death burial allowance may be granted if the only Death suicide can be linked to a disability that is subject to service connection. For more information on References: suicide and mental unsoundness, see , and , and rating SC death, see M21-1, Part IV, Subpart iii, 2.A.
d. Service Certified as Active Military Service under PL 95-202 Under Section 401 of Public Law (PL) 95-202, enacted November 23, 1977, service which had not been recognized as active military service was certified as such for certain groups of individuals. Burial benefits can be paid for a Veteran who died before the Department of Defense (DoD) recognizes the Veteran’s service as active military service under the public law. However, payment may not exceed the rate in effect at the time of burial. Note: The public law generally applies to Veterans who served as civilians during World War II. However, there is no ending date to the public law. DoD still has authority to recognize service as active military service under the public law. Reference: For more information on groups whose service has been certified as active military service under PL 95-202, see , and . e. Service Department Certification of Active Federal Service If the military service department certifies that there has been active Federal service, accept this as a basis for adjudicating benefits if the individual was, in fact, mustered into Federal service, unless there is evidence to the contrary. Reference: For identification of certain individuals who had active Federal service that may not be recognized by the service department, see . f. Eligible Veterans' Loyalty Clearance If a Veteran resided in a country considered an enemy of the , a decision concerning his/her loyalty or forfeiture of benefits would have been required to pay him/her benefits. For burial claims, in the absence of a decision or forfeiture, the Veteran’s loyalty clearance will not be required. References: For more information on eligible Veteran’s loyalty clearance, see , , and M21-1, Part III, Subpart iii, 1.C.10. g. Suicide as the Cause of Death by suicide does not preclude the payment of burial benefits. However, the service-connected (SC) death burial allowance may be granted only if the suicide can be linked to a disability that is subject to service connection. References: For more information on suicide and mental unsoundness, see , and , and rating SC death, see M21-1, Part IV, Subpart iii, 2.A.
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