“Larry! Have you heard about the PACT Act?”

Larry Wilson, a housekeeping aide, often makes my day during his rounds. I can count on the gentle knock on my office door and the familiar greeting, “Ms. Cureton, how are you today and do you need your trash emptied or a new trash bag?”  We talk briefly and then I turn to my computer and he to his work as the door closes.

Our usual small talk got serious one day when I asked Larry about his Vietnam service. The Vietnam Veteran ball cap he wears with the “Ranger Roll” ever present.

“Have you heard about the PACT Act?”

“No ma’am,” he replied.

I grabbed a flyer and explained the PACT Act to him. He listened, thanked me and carried on with his work.

Concerned, I shared my encounter with a colleague. Concerned because our facility walls, tables and digital display monitors have had PACT information on them for months. VA is advertising the PACT Act on social media and promoting it on radio stations locally and across the nation. VA senior leaders are actively engaged in discussing the landmark legislation. Fayetteville NC VA was even selected to participate in the VA National PACT Act Week of Action in December 2022.

Spoke to everyone at his staff meeting

Despite all of that, Wilson didn’t have a clear understanding what this legislation could mean to him and millions of other Veterans who served during the Vietnam War, Gulf War and Post-9/11 eras.

I realized there was more work to do. I called the Environmental Management Services chief and asked to speak at one of their staff meetings. 

Two weeks later, Wilson stopped by my office with the same knock and the same greeting. But there was something a little different. Instead of waiting for my response, he kept talking. “I just want you to know I went to the Cumberland County Veterans Services Office and completed my intent to file.” 

He smiled and so did I. The intent to file is a Veteran’s way of letting VA know a claim is coming.  For Wilson, that means a PACT Act claim.

Cureton and Wilson are pictured above.

Aug. 10 PACT Act deadline

When President Biden signed the PACT Act Aug. 10, 2022, it initiated one of the largest expansions of VA benefits in history. This includes extended VA health care enrollment eligibility to Vietnam-era, Gulf War-era and Post-9/11 Veterans. The PACT Act added more than 20 presumptive conditions, expanding benefits to Vietnam-era, Gulf War-era, and Pos- 9/11 Veterans.

Check out the complete list of presumptive conditions and see how to file a claim.

Share this information. Veterans submitting their PACT Act-related claims (or intent to file) before Aug. 10, 2023, are eligible for benefits backdated to the date of enactment (Aug. 10, 2022).

If you believe you are an eligible Veteran, act now on your PACT Act claim!