Vermont State Pay for Vietnam Era Military Service

Title 20, section 1544 is still on the books and almost nobody claims it. Each enlisted individual in the U.S. Armed Forces subsequent to August 5, 1964 and not later than March 31, 1973, who resided in Vermont at the time of enlistment or induction, is entitled to receive from the State, in addition to federal pay, the sum of $10.00 for each month served, not exceeding a total of 12 months. The ceiling is therefore $120.00. Payment may be made upon honorable discharge from service, upon death in service, or upon honorable separation from active federal service. Where the enlisted individual died after discharge and before receiving payment, it is paid to the individual's spouse or, if no spouse is living, to the next of kin who are lineal heirs. Where the individual died in service, the spouse or lineal heirs receive $120.00 outright under subsection (b), and where the claimant is someone other than a spouse or issue the claim is not paid for nine months after the death. Two exclusions. A person who enlisted for a period of six months or less for the sole purpose of training receives nothing. And no compensation is paid for service after the end of the Vietnam era as set out in 38 U.S.C. 101, which the statute fixes at May 7, 1975 although the section's own window closes earlier, on March 31, 1973. The residence test is residence in Vermont at the time of enlistment or induction, not residence now. A Vietnam-era veteran who entered from Vermont and has lived elsewhere for fifty years is inside the section. What is not in the section is a deadline. Section 1544 sets no time limit for making a claim and has never been repealed, unlike the World War II and Korean bonus provisions at sections 1541 and 1542, which were repealed in 1965 with effect in 1966 and 1967. Whether the Office of Veterans Affairs can still pay a claim in 2026 is a question of appropriation and administration rather than of eligibility, and the honest answer is to call and ask rather than to assume either way. The amount is small and has never been adjusted since 1969 Act 209 (Adj. Sess.) set it. It is in this catalog because it is live law that no summary of Vermont benefits carries, and because for a surviving spouse a $120 claim that nobody told them about is still theirs. No disability rating is involved.