Agustin Viola v. United States

483 F.2d 1209, 157 U.S. App. D.C. 206, 1973 U.S. App. LEXIS 9446

• Court: Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
• Decided: June 13, 1973
• Docket: 71-1901
• Status: Published

Opinions

PER CURIAM:

Agustín Viola is a farmer and shepherd on the island of . Negros near the southern end of the Philippine archipe-lagian chain. Viola is the son of Hilario Dagoy, a Philippine national who fought for the United States in World War II (71st Field Artillery) and who gave his life in that conflict. Viola sued the Veterans’ Administration for benefits to which he claims he is entitled because of his father’s military service.

Of the various benefit programs Congress has established for veterans and their families, two are relevant to this case: (1) Dependency and Indemnity Compensation is essentially a monthly pension paid to the widow or children of a veteran whose death is service-connected;¹ (2) Gratuitous National Service Life Insurance is an insurance program that provides a $5,000 payment to beneficiaries of qualified veterans.² Agustín Viola has been receiving Dependency and Indemnity Compensation payments since 1958. However, his applications for Life Insurance benefits have been denied on the ground that they were not timely filed. In this suit Viola challenges that denial.

The record shows that when the plaintiff was 14 years old, his mother, Maria Viola, had a letter prepared in which she expressed her intention “to apply for death compensation on account of the services rendered by the late veteran HILARIO DAGOY”. The letter explained that the application was being made on behalf of Dagoy’s illegitimate son, Agustín Viola. Srta. Viola signed the letter with a thumbprint and mailed it to the Veterans’ Administration (V. A.) on June 9,1956.

The V.A. responded by sending Srta. Viola an application form for Dependency and Indemnity Compensation. The agency did not send an application for National Service Life Insurance benefits, apparently because the V.A. considered illegitimate children ineligible for insurance benefits at that time. Srta. Viola completed the application form she had received. After a careful investigation, the V.A. confirmed that Agustín Viola was the son of Hilario Dagoy; the agency awarded him Dependency and Indemnity Compensation beginning in 1958.

On May 18, 1961, in the Tranas decision,³ this court held that an illegitimate child is entitled to receive gratuitous life insurance benefits if either parent was covered by the program. Under this ruling, Viola is an eligible beneficiary of such benefits. The V.A. did not inform Viola of this fact, however, and because of the remoteness of his home,⁴ he did not learn of our decision until late in 1964. Viola filed a formal application for insurance benefits on Dec. 4, 1964. By statute, such applications must be filed by the applicant’s 22nd birthday;⁵ Viola filed his at the age of 22 years, six months. His application was rejected as untimely by the Veterans’ Administration, and this action followed.

We think the V.A. is in error in asserting that Viola’s 1964 letter was his first application for insurance benefits. Rather, the initial application came in Maria Viola’s 1956 request for the benefits due her son. We think that letter, couched in general terms, can only be reasonably interpreted as a request for all benefits to which Agustín Viola was entitled.⁶ To suggest that an illiterate Philippine farm woman intended to make fine distinctions among various sections of the veterans’ laws strains credulity beyond tolerable limits.

Moreover, there were continuing contacts between Agustín Viola and the Veterans’ Administration following Srta. Viola’s initial letter. There was first the patrimonial investigation, which culminated in the award of Dependency and Indemnity Compensation in 1958. Then, in November, 1961 — six months after we issued the Tranas opinion — Viola was granted school attendance benefits. In January, 1962, Viola’s compensation award was reviewed and modified by the V.A. Thus it can hardly be said that the formal (1964) application for insurance benefits came to the government as a bolt out of the blue.

We do not suggest here that the Veterans’ Administration had a duty to track down and notify all eligible illegitimate children of veterans following our decision in .Tranas. We do not suggest that the agency was at fault in failing to provide Viola or his mother the forms necessary for filing an insurance claim. But Agustín Viola was not at fault either. “Since the child is not at fault, there is no reason to penalize him. We are not persuaded that Congress thought otherwise.” Tranas, supra, 110 U.S. App.D.C. at 252, 292 F.2d at 745. This conclusion comports with the expansive tenor of case law concerning the National Service Life Insurance program. Decisions in this court and elsewhere ⁷ reflect a generous attitude toward eligible beneficiaries, in keeping with the “humane and patriotic” purposes for which this “generous legislation” was passed. Tranas, supra, 110 U.S.App.D.C. at 251-252, 292 F.2d at 744-745. When the Veterans’ Administration received the 1964 application, it was under an obligation to consider it a renewal of a part of the 1956 request on which it had not yet acted.

Since we find that Viola’s initial application for National Service Life Insurance benefits was filed prior to his 22nd birthday, we rule that the trial judge erred in granting the government’s motion for judgment on the pleadings. The government has also argued in this court that Viola’s law suit was initiated after the time period for filing such an action had run. Appellant’s request was filed in 1956 and denied sometime in 1965. Since the statute was tolled during this period, the government’s argument is without merit. Timoni v. United States, 135 U.S.App. D.C. 407, 419 F.2d 294 (1969).⁸ Accordingly, the case must be remanded for appropriate proceedings.⁹

Reversed and remanded.

1 . See 38 U.S.C., Chapt. 13, Subchapt. II (1970 Ed.).

2 . See 38 U.S.C. § 802(d) (1952) ; 38 U.S.C. § 788 (1970). The government agrees that Hilario Dagoy was covered by the program.

3 . United States v. Philippine Nat’l Bank, as Guardian of Tranas, 110 U.S.App.D.C. 250, 292 F.2d 743 (1961).

4 . By his own account, Viola has spent most of his life “in my field in the mountains of Valencia, Negros Oriental, Philippines.” Appellant’s brief at 5.

5 . 38 U.S.C. § 802(d)(5) (1952).

6 . This reading is compelled not only by common sense but also by the broadly inclusive statutory definition of what constitutes a valid claim. 38 U.S.C. § 784 (h) (1970).

7 . United States v. Philippine Nat’l Bank, 110 U.S.App.D.C. 250, 251, 282, 292 F.2d 743, 744-745 (1961). See also Philippine Nat’l Bank v. United States, 112 U.S. App.D.C. 126, 128, 300 F.2d 718, 720 (1962) ; United States v. Zazove, 334 U.S. 602, 68 S.Ct. 1284, 92 L.Ed. 1601 (1942) ; United States v. Vandver, 232 F.2d 398 (6th Cir. 1956).

8 . The government did not attempt to make much of this argument; but the fact that it was raised at all1 in the face of direct authority in this court to the contrary seems to indicate the same “intransigent attitude” in this area of law for which Judge Holtzoff criticized the government in Rodulfa v. United States, 295 F.Supp. 28, 30 (D.D.C.1969).

9 . We note that Viola’s attorney has asked this court for an award of fee under 38 U.S.C. § 784(g) (1970). We leave the determination of the appropriate fee to the trial court on the remand. Moran v. Veterans’ Administration, 115 F.Supp. 640, 642 (E.D.Mich.1963) ; Rodulfa v. United States, 295 F.Supp. 28 (D.D.C. 1969).