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VA General Counsel Precedent Opinions |
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PREC 14-94 Determination of Period of Active Service under 38 U.S.C. § 3.9 for Philippine Veterans detained or interned by th
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PREC 14-94 Determination of Period of Active Service under 38 U.S.C. § 3.9 for Philippine Veterans detained or interned by the Enemy Citation: Vet. Aff. Op. Gen Couns. Prec. 14-94, VAOPGCPREC 14-94, 1994 QUESTION PRESENTED: Where a veteran of service in the Regular Philippine Scouts or the Philippine Commonwealth Army reports having been detained or interned by the enemy on a date following the date of termi- nation of the veteran's period of active duty as certified by the service department, may VA recognize the veteran as having been in a prisoner-of-war (POW) status during the period of detention or internment and recognize that period as a period of active service under 38 C.F.R. § 3.9?
HELD: In determining for veterans' benefit purposes under 38 C.F.R. § 3.9 the period of active service of a Regular Philippine Scout or a member of the Philippine Commonwealth Army while serving with the United States Armed Forces, the Department of Veterans Affairs is not bound by a service-department certifi- cation as to the ending date of the veteran's period of active duty. The Department may include a period spent in a prisoner-of-war status in determination of the veteran's period of act-ive service, if the veteran was detained or interned by the enemy "immediately following a period of active duty." The phrase "immediately following a period of active duty," as used in section 3.9(b), may be construed as referring to an event following closely after a period of active duty, directly related to that duty, and occurring before the veteran per- formed activities not related to active military duty. The Department is not bound in determining a period of active service by a service-department finding of pay entitlement under the Missing Persons Act, as amended. |
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