01:00 AM EDT on Sunday, August 24, 2003

Some of them are in their 80s now, with memories of their battles fading as the toll of their wounds becomes more painfully clear.

Some are in their graying 50s and 60s, still trying to deal with injuries that pushed them off track and away from a richly normal life.

They are due some things. They are due health care, counseling, the right to go to a Veterans Affairs hospital, maybe some cash.

But the sad truth is that for many military veterans in the Unites States, the effort to get what's coming to them becomes a different kind of battle -- one that saps their energy and wears them down and leaves them wondering what ever happened to all those rock solid promises to "take care of our own."

For those who have never had to deal with the Department of Veterans Affairs, there is probably the assumption that if a veteran suffers some kind of disability that can be directly linked to his or her time in uniform, then the necessary help is provided. It is part of that special bond the country has with those who serve.

But it's not so easy. Rather than a warm "thank you" and help with the paperwork, many veterans are told to "prove it" when they apply for benefits. Some of them become intimidated by the system and don't even try. Some put together a pile of yellowing documents and try to make their case. They find that nothing is automatic. They might spend years trying to show the connection between their service and an illness or disability. And for many, the clock is ticking. They are old. Time is working against them.

Consider the case of Francis Roy, who had to retire early as a Coventry schoolteacher because of pain in his back and leg, which he injured during training in World War II. Despite the injuries, he went on to serve in Europe and participated in the landing at Anzio and the Battle of the Bulge.

After the war, Roy applied for some kind of disabilty compensation. Then he applied again. And again.

"He's been working at this since the '50s," says Roy's son, Jeff, who contacted The Journal about his father's long and so far fruitless effort to connect those long ago injuries with his current pain and disability.

Roy's appeal has been complicated, as many veterans' appeals have been complicated, by a fire several years ago at the federal records center in St. Louis. For many veterans, the fire has meant there is no record of their time in service. Amazingly, there was no backup.

The process grew really strange when Roy was asked by the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide three letters from people saying that he had been in the service and had been injured. His wife and two sisters wrote the letters. They were ruled ineligible to write such letters.

And so it goes. And not just for Francis Roy.

"I've represented veterans who have been in the system for decades," says Robert Chisholm. "In some cases, they've been denied benefits for years."

Chisholm is a lawyer in Providence with a specialty few lawyers share -- veterans benefits. It is a specialty few lawyers share because the system of veterans benefits is one that keeps lawyers at a distance.

For veterans who appeal a denial of benefits, the process is long. And through the early stages, they can't have a lawyer representing them.

It sounds a little nutty. It is. It goes back to the days of the Civil War when limits were placed on the fees lawyers could charge for pushing veterans' claims. The $5 fee limit was imposed to prevent unscrupulous lawyers from preying on war widows. It probably made sense at the time. But it stuck around, so that now a veteran has to convince a lawyer to provide his services for free through the first steps of the appeal process or go without legal representation.

"Some veterans don't apply for years," says Chisholm. "These are good guys. They've served their country. But there's that stigma about applying for benefits. They're embarrassed."

There should be no embarrassment, of course. Veterans earn their beneifts in the toughest way possible. But for some, there is that feeling that asking for their rightful benefits is asking for charity. It is a tough feeling to overcome.

For Chisholm, the first exposure to the system came when he moved back to Providence in 1990 to join his father's law firm. A relative was having problems getting veterans' benefits. He took on the case. Nine years later, his relative got the benefits.

He says the average time it takes to get an appeal of a benefits denial to the Board of Vetereans Appeals -- the point at which a lawyer can actually get involved -- is 4 to 7 years.

It's not that the Department of Veterans Affairs is out to deny veterans what is rightfully theirs -- not in a direct, calculated way, at least. But the system that is now in place makes it far too tempting for veterans to simply give up rather than face the bureaucratic jumble.

Francis Roy is 84. His son, Jeff, says his father is not obsessed with the pursuit of his claim. But he keeps on. Recently, a member of Sen. Jack Reed's staff told him his case would be reopened.

Still, Jeff Roy says he can't help thinking that there is a deliberate strategy of delay -- a cold calculation that people who die won't need benefits.

Some changes need to be made. Veterans shouldn't have to go through this "second battle" to win benefits that are rightfully theirs.

Bob Kerr can be reached by e-mail at bkerr@projo.com.