Ohio Veterans Bonus available
COSHOCTON – A total of 60,593 Ohio veterans and family members have received payments from the Ohio Veterans Bonus totaling $50,893,704 – and other eligible veterans are urged to take advantage of this special thank-you for their service from Ohio voters.
Action is particularly critical for two groups of veterans – those from the Persian Gulf War and Iraq War eras. The deadline to apply for Persian Gulf veterans is Dec. 31, 2013. Iraq War veterans face a deadline of Dec. 31, 2014 to apply.
The law implementing the Bonus set a deadline for Persian Gulf War veterans to apply of Dec. 31, 2013. The same law set the deadline for Iraq War veterans as the third year following a date determined by the President as the end of the conflict.
Tentatively, this date is the termination date of the Iraq Campaign Medal, which was Dec. 31, 2011, making the deadline for bonus application for service in Iraq Dec. 31, 2014. No deadline has yet been announced for the Afghanistan War.
“Every veteran who’s served during our recent wars is eligible for the bonus,” said Coshocton County Veterans Service Officer Jim Barstow. “We’re very pleased with the response we’ve had to this point, but we’re not going to relent in getting out the word to all of our Gulf War and Iraq veterans.”
The citizens of Ohio overwhelmingly approved the Ohio Veterans Bonus in November 2009 for veterans of the Persian Gulf War, Iraq War and Afghanistan War eras. To date, nearly 150 veterans have applied for the Bonus through the Coshocton County Veterans Service Office
“I am asking that our entire Ohio veterans’ community be sure that our veterans of today know about the bonus, and take the time to apply for it,” Barstow said.
To learn more about the Ohio Veterans Bonus, contact the Veterans Service Office at 740-622-2313 or stop by the office at 318 Main St., Courthouse.
Category: Government, People & Places
