VETERANS AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT:

Laws of Minnesota 1949, chapter 642 [Veterans Adjusted Compensation Act] authorized "adjusted compensation" [bonus payments] to Minnesota residents who served honorably in the U.S. armed forces for at least 30 consecutive days between December 7, 1941 and September 2, 1945, or to their beneficiaries. The law authorized the sale of up to $84 million in bonds for this purpose. Awards were made at the rate of $10 per month for domestic duty and $15 for foreign duty, with the total amount not to exceed $270 for domestic duty and $400 for foreign or a combination of domestic and foreign duty. The awards were administered by the commissioner of veterans affairs.

The initial deadline for bonus applications was December 31, 1950, but it was extended first to December 31, 1951 [Laws 1951 c450], and then to December 3, 1953 [Laws 1953 c228].

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Denied files for beneficiaries of deceased World War II soldiers and related personnel; beneficiaries included, in order of preference,: surviving spouse if not remarried, the veteran's children if no surviving spouse or if surviving spouse has remarried, the remarried surviving spouse if no children, the surviving mother, the surviving father, a surviving person standing 'in loco parentis', or surviving brothers and sisters.

The beneficiary's application included name of deceased veteran, place and date of death, whether or not the death was service-connected, legal residence of the deceased and where last voted, date and place of birth, service dates, dates of service outside the United States, places where the veteran served, and a computation of the bonus payment due and the warrant number of the payment. A copy of the veteran's service or discharge record may also be present.

The beneficiary applicant also supplied his/her full name and address, and the names, addresses, and ages of any surviving spouse, children, parents, or siblings. Additional supporting evidence may include copies of telegrams notifying relatives of the veteran's death, marriage certificates, and birth certificates.

A claimant had sixty days to appeal the denial to the Veterans Affairs Review Board where the case was reviewed and a decision made to accept or deny.

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The files are arranged by application number.

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An index to all applications, both accepted and denied, is available on microfilm (housed in the library as SAM 340-I).

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Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Minnesota. Department of Veterans' Affairs. World War II Denied Bonus Beneficiary Records. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession number: 2005-22

Processing Information:

Processed by: Rich Arpi, October 2004

Catalog ID number: 990036570500104294

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Spot checks revealed that there are files with the same application number in both these denied bonus claim files and in the records of the Veteran Affairs Review Board (cataloged separately). Often files were not transferred in their entirety, leaving a file here with a new file carrying the same number established by the Review Board.

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This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:

Bounties, Military -- Minnesota.

Veterans -- Minnesota.

World War, 1939-1945 -- Veterans.

Functions:

Disbursing.

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