Memorandum from Rear Admiral Robert Dennison to President Harry S. Truman

THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON 24 June 1950 MEMORANDUM FOR: The President Subject: Veterans Administration Expenditures in the Philippines. $132,011,115 was spent by the Veterans Administra- tion in the Philippines from the end of the war through 31 March 1950. Of this amount, $5,855,205 was for administrative purposes. Expenditure trends are upward. Typical monthly expenditure rates: January, 1949 - $3.6 million January, 1950 - $6.5 million February, 1950 - $6.2 million March , 1950 - $6.5 million Public Law 301, 79th Congress provides, in part, that service in the military forces of the Government of the Common- wealth of the Philippines could not be considered to have been service in the U. S. military or naval forces for the purpose of veterans benefits, except for National Service Life Insurance con- tracts accomplished before passage of the Act, and except for compensation payable for service-connected injury or death, and in such latter case, at the rate of one peso per dollar. Furthermore, it appears that the "blanketing in" of the Philippine Army in 1941 made its members full fledged members of the U. S. Army, subject to the same duties and responsibilities, and entitled to the same benefits. Thus, at the time of the surrender of Japan, service in the Commonwealth Army qualified its members for all veterans benefits. The benefits, of course, were reduced somewhat for those veterans who chose to live outside of the United States. Further- more, after the Philippines obtained their independence, some of the G.I. bill benefits (notably Loan Guaranty and Readjustment Allowances) would become unavailable for those veterans residing in the Philippines, as they would for any veteran resident in a foreign country. Since the Philippine Constabulary was never a part of either the U. S. Army or the Philippine Army, service in the Constabulary itself does not qualify for veterans status. -1-