Posted on Mar 13, 2016
Vietnam vet loses suit against VA to get benefits in Cuba
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HAVANA — A Cuban-American veteran of the Vietnam War lost his lawsuit Wednesday seeking to force the U.S. government to restore the pension that was cut off when he moved back to Cuba.
Otto Macias was 19 when he left Cuba, enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as a machine-gunner in Vietnam. As he stayed with family in Havana in 1980, he required hospitalization for a mental breakdown and never returned to the U.S.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs then ended his pension. Lawyer Jason Flores-Williams says that was because of the Unite States' trade embargo on Cuba.
On Wednesday, a U.S. Court of Appeals judge denied Macias' suit seeking the restoration of the pension. The ruling said Macias failed to show he had pursued his case with the secretary of veterans' affairs before asking the courts to intervene.
Macias lives with his brother in a modest apartment in a high-rise in east Havana. He is psychologically stable after years of treatment but suffering from skin cancer and has said he would like to return to the U.S. to visit if he was able.
The Department of Veterans Affairs has declined to comment on the case.
Otto Macias was 19 when he left Cuba, enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as a machine-gunner in Vietnam. As he stayed with family in Havana in 1980, he required hospitalization for a mental breakdown and never returned to the U.S.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs then ended his pension. Lawyer Jason Flores-Williams says that was because of the Unite States' trade embargo on Cuba.
On Wednesday, a U.S. Court of Appeals judge denied Macias' suit seeking the restoration of the pension. The ruling said Macias failed to show he had pursued his case with the secretary of veterans' affairs before asking the courts to intervene.
Macias lives with his brother in a modest apartment in a high-rise in east Havana. He is psychologically stable after years of treatment but suffering from skin cancer and has said he would like to return to the U.S. to visit if he was able.
The Department of Veterans Affairs has declined to comment on the case.
Vietnam vet loses suit against VA to get benefits in Cuba
Posted from armytimes.comPosted in these groups: 
Cuba
Cuba
Posted 9 y ago
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When is it required to get the Secretary of Veterans Affairs involved with a claim? If that is the case, damn near everyone on this site should sue the current Secretary for our benefits. This makes NO sense. I hope he appeals.
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SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL
SSG Warren Swan well said and profoundly stated. On another note. I hope your enjoying the weather. Its been great here in Newport News, VA.
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Meanwhile the VA finds 2 VA execs of firing subordinates for their positions finds no wrong doing.
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SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL
MAJ Ken Landgren why must Veterans go through this. This is sickening.
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MAJ Ken Landgren
We are the keeper of the nations values, and thus, we hold ourselves to higher standards. We re driven to do the right thing when the rest of the world is corrupt or void of requisite values needed to make the right decision. That is something they can't take from us. I wish the rest of the world will catch up.
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