Military survivor fights for benefits under Hubbard Act

Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2008

WASHINGTON -- Madera County resident and Marine Corps veteran Nick Ramey is one frustrated sole survivor.

Ramey is apparently eligible for benefits provided under the Hubbard Act, which Congress passed and President Bush signed into law in August.

But until he got help from the office of his congressman, Rep. George Radanovich, Ramey hadn't been able to penetrate bureaucracy and get the aid the Hubbard Act promises.

By Tuesday afternoon, Radanovich's office indicated the right Pentagon offices had been located. The Rameys were preparing to submit the discharge papers needed to show eligibility for Hubbard Act benefits.

"Most of the people we talk to don't even know what it is," Ramey said. "It's almost like the bill was signed and scooted under the table with no action to be taken."

The Hubbard Act extends health, education and separation benefits to sole-survivor veterans who have accepted early discharge.

The bill is named for the Hubbard family of Clovis, two of whose sons died in Iraq.

After Jared and Nathan Hubbard died, surviving brother Jason Hubbard accepted an early honorable discharge from the Army. The military has long permitted early discharges to preserve what's left of a devastated family. Until the Hubbard Act was signed, though, the military denied standard benefits to those discharged early.

The Pentagon estimated the Hubbard Act provisions would cover about 55 sole-survivor veterans discharged since Sept. 11, 2001, as well as about 20 more annually going forward.

Nick Ramey thinks he deserves coverage.

Ramey's stepbrother Branden died in Iraq. He was a Marine lance corporal, killed near Fallujah in November 2004. Nick Ramey enlisted in the Marines a month later and served with the 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion in Iraq. He took an early honorable discharge in September 2007.

Nick Ramey is now 21; he and his wife, Crystal, have a young child, and they have struggled. They have not been to a doctor or a dentist in more than a year. Hearing about the Hubbard Act, Crystal Ramey and Nick's mother, Sandy, figured some help could be close at hand. Over the past month, it hasn't been.

"We have spent countless hours on the phone with numerous people and offices, including the Department of Defense, Marine Corps headquarters and the veterans association," Crystal Ramey said by e-mail. "No one seems to know anything about the Hubbard Act, nor who we should even begin to talk to about claiming our benefits."

The Rameys contacted Radanovich's office, which determined that military offices were not yet fully informed of the Hubbard Act provisions.