Other Groups
U.S. Groups Who Provided Military-Related Service
WWI or WWII Veterans from Allied Countries
Other Foreign Veterans
Additional Groups
A number of groups who have provided military-related service to the United States have been granted VA benefits. For the service to qualify, the Secretary of Defense must certify that the group has provided active military service. Individuals must be issued a discharge by the Secretary of Defense to qualify for VA benefits. Service in the following groups has been certified as active military service for benefits purposes:
- Women Air Force Service Pilots (WASPs).
- World War I Signal Corps Female Telephone Operators Unit.
- Engineer Field Clerks.
- Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC).
- Quartermaster Corps female clerical employees serving with the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I.
- Civilian employees of Pacific naval air bases who actively participated in defense of Wake Island during World War II.
- Reconstruction aides and dietitians in World War I.
- Male civilian ferry pilots.
- Wake Island defenders from Guam.
- Civilian personnel assigned to OSS secret intelligence.
- Guam Combat Patrol.
- Quartermaster Corps members of the Keswick crew on Corregidor during World War II.
- U.S. civilians who participated in the defense of Bataan.
- U.S. merchant seamen who served on blockships in support of Operation Mulberry in the World War II invasion of Normandy.
- American merchant marines in oceangoing service during World War II.
- Civilian Navy IFF radar technicians who served in combat areas of the Pacific during World War II.
- U.S. civilians of the American Field Service who served overseas in World War I.
- U.S. civilians of the American Field Service who served overseas under U.S. armies and U.S. army groups in World War II.
- U.S. civilian employees of American Airlines who served overseas in a contract with the Air Transport Command between Dec. 14, 1941, and Aug. 14, 1945.
- Civilian crewmen of U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey vessels who served in areas of immediate military hazard while conducting cooperative operations with and for the U.S. Armed Forces between Dec. 7, 1941, and Aug. 15, 1945.
- Members of the American Volunteer Group (Flying Tigers) who served between Dec. 7, 1941, and July 18, 1942.
- U.S. civilian flight crew and aviation ground support employees of United Air Lines who served overseas in a contract with Air Transport Command between Dec. 14, 1941, and Aug. 14, 1945.
- U.S. civilian flight crew and aviation ground support employees of Transcontinental and Western Air, Inc. (TWA), who served overseas in a contract with the Air Transport Command between Dec. 14, 1941, and Aug. 14, 1945.
- U.S. civilian flight crew and aviation ground support employees of Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corp. (Consairway Division) who served overseas in a contract with Air Transport Command between Dec. 14, 1941, and Aug. 14, 1945.
- U.S. civilian flight crew and aviation ground support employees of Pan American World Airways and its subsidiaries and affiliates, who served overseas in a contract with the Air Transport Command and Naval Air Transport Service between Dec. 14, 1941, and Aug. 14, 1945.
- Honorably discharged members of the American Volunteer Guard, Eritrea Service Command, between June 21, 1942, and March 31, 1943.
- U.S. civilian flight crew and aviation ground support employees of Northwest Airlines who served overseas under the airline’s contract with Air Transport Command from Dec. 14, 1941, through Aug. 14, 1945.
- U.S. civilian female employees of the U.S. Army Nurse Corps who served in the defense of Bataan and Corregidor during the period Jan. 2, 1942, to Feb. 3, 1945.
- U.S. flight crew and aviation ground support employees of Northeast Airlines Atlantic Division, who served overseas as a result of Northeast Airlines’ contract with the Air Transport Command during the period Dec. 7, 1941, through Aug. 14, 1945.
- U.S. civilian flight crew and aviation ground support employees of Braniff Airways, who served overseas in the North Atlantic or under the jurisdiction of the North Atlantic Wing, Air Transport Command, as a result of a contract with the Air Transport Command during the period Feb. 26, 1942, through Aug. 14, 1945.
- Honorably discharged members of the Alaska Territorial Guard during World War II.
Former Czechoslovakian or Polish service members who served during WWI or WWII in combat with an enemy of the United States are eligible for VA health care benefits if:
- they also served in, or with, the Armed Forces of France or Great Britain during WWI or WWII, and
- have been citizens of the United States for at least 10 years, and
- who present satisfactory evidence of such military service
WWI and WWII veterans of these countries who have disabilities attributable to, or aggravated by their military service may be eligible for VA health care services for their service-connected conditions only. Treatment must be authorized and reimbursed by the foreign government.
VA health care benefits are now available for:
- Filipino Commonwealth Army Veterans,
- New Filipino Scouts, and
- Veterans recognized as belonging to organized Filipino Guerilla Forces
who reside in the United States and who are citizens or lawfully admitted for permanent residence. Old Filipino Scouts are also eligible for VA health care benefits; however, they do not have to meet the citizenship and residency requirements.
Service-connected Filipino veterans receiving VA disability compensation at the full-dollar rate do not have to furnish proof to qualify for the benefit. Other Filipino veterans must provide one of the following pieces of evidence to be eligible for this benefit:
- A valid U.S. passport
- A birth certificate showing he or she was born in the U.S.
- A Report of Birth Abroad of a Citizen of the U.S. issues by a U.S. consulate abroad
- Verification by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to VA that the Filipino veteran is a naturalized citizen of the U.S.
- Verification by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to VA that a veteran is an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the U.S.
VA may provide care to foreign veterans of conflicts after WWII if the veteran is from a nation that was an ally during WWI or WWII and the care is authorized by the respective government.
- Engineer Field Clerks (WWI).
- Civilian Crewmen of United States Coast and Geodetic Survey (USCGS) Vessels Who Performed Their Service in Areas of Immediate Military Hazard While Conducting Cooperative Operations with and for the United States Armed Forces Within a Time Frame of December 7, 1941, to August 15, 1945 on a qualifying USCGS vessel. Qualifying USCGS vessels are the Derickson, Explorer, Gilbert, Hilgard, E. Lester Jones, Lydonia, Patton, Surveyor, Wainwright, Westdahl, Oceanographer, Hydrographer, and Pathfinder.
- U.S. Civilian Flight Crew (including pursers) and Aviation Ground Support Employees of Transcontinental and Western Air (TWA), Inc., Who Served Overseas as a Result of TWA's Contract with the Air Transport Command During the Period December 14, 1941, through August 14, 1945.
- The approximately 50 Chamorro and Carolinian former native policemen who received military training in the Donnal area of central Saipan and were placed under the command of Lt. Casino of the 6th Provisional Military Police Battalion to accompany United States Marines on active, combat-patrol activity from August 19, 1945, to September 2, 1945.
- Three scouts/guides, Miguel Tenorio, Penedicto Taisacan, and Cristino Dela Cruz, who assisted the United States Marines in the offensive operations against the Japanese on the Northern Mariana Islands from June 19, 1944, through September 2, 1945.
- The Operational Analysis Group of the Office of Scientific Research and Development, Office of Emergency Management, which served overseas with the U.S. Army Air Corps from December 7, 1941, through August 15, 1945.
- Alaska Territorial Guard: Members of the Alaska Territorial Guard during World War II who were honorably discharged from such service as determined by the Secretary of Defense.
NOTE: These veterans are subject to the January 17, 2003, enrollment decision. If the financial assessment (Means Test) exceeds applicable thresholds, these newly recognized veterans will not be enrolled at this time.
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