Project  SALUTE of the University of Detroit Mercy (UDM) School of Law is on a unique mission: hit the highways to provide priceless legal advice to low-income veterans for free and teach students the invaluable lesson of using the law to serve. UDM students involved in Project  SALUTE see in a very real way how the law can be used to assist persons in need.  This training and experience inculcate in many students a desire to pursue lifelong pro bono service as part of their legal career.  Many students involved in Project  SALUTE are volunteering after completing the veterans benefit law class and even after they are graduated from the School of Law.

Since February 2008, students, faculty and staff of Project  SALUTE have toured Michigan and the country in a 31-foot Mobile Law Office (MLO), custom designed, built and generously donated by the General Motors Corporation.  During its first year, Project  SALUTE travelled more than 35,000 miles to 22 cities in 13 states. Along the way, Project  SALUTE's classroom-on-wheels is also developing a national network of pro bono attorneys to provide free legal services to the men and women who have served their country and now need assistance with their Federal Veterans’ Disability and Pension Benefits claim.

Many veterans came to Project  SALUTE with  similar frustrations during its first year.  It didn’t matter what part of the country, what branch of service, or even when the veteran served.  Some grievances were told over and over.  To analyze veterans’ needs, Project  SALUTE began building a database of information and stories about the veterans’ claims.  Project  SALUTE’s database holds information from more than 2,600 cases.

These cases show a definite need for legal assistance to veterans:

• 572,000 veterans eligible for disability benefits are not receiving them according to an independent media study conducted on VA claims data by Knight Ridder Newspapers (McClatchy Washington Bureau, Knight Ridder Newspapers 2004). 
• 1.8 million veterans are uninsured and not getting care from the VA (American Journal of Public Health, December 2007; Kansas City Star, November 12, 2007).
• The annual number of claims filed for compensation has increased 20 percent from 2001 to 2006 (VA Data provided to National Law Journal/law.com September 26, 2007).
• 200,000 veterans are homeless on any given night according to a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs estimate (National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, Facts and Media, www.nchv.org/background.com).
• Advocacy on behalf of veterans leads to significant increases in awards as compared to veterans without representation (Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General, May 19, 2005, p. iii).

While the data is stark, and many situations are similar, every veteran comes to Project  SALUTE with his or her own story to tell, most of them very compelling. Many of those stories are also told to the media reporting the Project  SALUTE story.  This coverage does more than publicize the services of Project  SALUTE.  It has brought substantial public attention to the plight of veterans throughout America.  This public attention recognizes the necessity of supporting all of our troops who have returned from military service.

Presentation and Length of Consultation

Each Project SALUTE visit begins with a short presentation about available federal veterans' benefits, how to apply for them and the process to appeal a denial. Veterans wanting additional assistance may request an individual consultation--interview-- with trained UDM Law students and expert faculty versed in the intricacies of federal verterans benefit law. These one-on-one sessions provide more than the basic information necessary to decide how to proceed with a case.

Project SALUTE exposes students to real people with real problems and challenges them to fine tune fact-finding and interpersonal communication skills that classrooms and textbooks simply cannot provide. Students walk away, determined to find a remedy for a veteran. Veterans frequently express their appreciation that someone is finally listening to, and caring about, their situations. The interview sessions, lasting from 15 to 30 minutes, have provided direction for many veterans.

Project SALUTE may seek remedies for Michigan veterans by accepting their cases for representation by UDM's Veterans Law Clinic. Project SALUTE may seek remedies for veterans whom they meet from other states by referring them to local free attorneys in their area.

What to Bring

The Veterans Clinic and Project SALUTE recommend that a veteran bring the Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty--DD Form 214--and any other documents pertinent to evaluating a federal veterans' benefits case.

Some veterans who interview with Project SALUTE may be referred to attorneys willing to prepresent them for free. In order to ensure the highest quality assistance for veterans represented by these attorneys, UDM School of Law offers a free full-day training session to attorneys on the basics of handling a federal veterans benefits claim. These sessions along the tour route, or now via the Web, may be eligable for continuing legal education credits in invdividual states. In addition, Project SALUTE is developing cooperative relationships with service organizations in many cities and referring cases (including initial application cases) to these service officers for assistance.

A veteran’s case is placed with a pro bono attorney at the sole discretion of Project SALUTE. A placement determination is based on legal analysis and income eligibility for the Project SALUTE program.  Project SALUTE follows the poverty guidelines as issued each year in the Federal Register by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).  The full text of the Federal Register notice with the 2009 poverty guidelines is available at http://aspe.hhs.gov/POVERTY/09poverty.shtml.  Project SALUTE operates at the 200 percent annual income level which means that total household income for the number of persons in the family must be at or below the amount indicated on the following chart:

Please note that Project SALUTE does NOT guarantee placement with a pro bono attorney.

The law students and faculty engaged in Project SALUTE have been affected in a very real way by the veterans seeking their legal assistance. These veterans range from individuals who served during World War II to those just returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. 

• A veteran in Houston had served in Vietnam where he was exposed to Agent Orange. He now suffers from diabetes (a condition presumptively caused by Agent Orange) which led to amputation of his leg.  He had been denied benefits twice on his diabetes claims.
• A veteran from WWII, who had been at Pearl Harbor, approached Project  SALUTE.  He had injured his back during the attack, but did not receive medical attention at the time.  When he attempted to file a claim for his severe back problems he was told he had “waited too long.”      
• Project SALUTE has met with several Vietnam veterans determined either not to have served or have been in combat in Vietnam. These veterans initially were precluded from receiving disability benefits even though they received medals and decorations for their combat duty in Vietnam. 
• In Florida, a married couple came to meet with Project SALUTE.  The husband is a veteran, and recently had a number of heart attacks and a stroke.  He soon will lose his livelihood, putting both him and his wife in dire financial circumstances.  He filed a disability claim but has not had a response.  Unlike the Social Security Disability system, the VA system has no procedure for a quick decision on claims for veterans who are in dire need, so veterans like this one, who may be seriously ill and facing catastrophic financial circumstances, cannot receive an expedited decision on claims. Once a veteran dies, the claim for benefits dies too, as the family is precluded from receiving any of the disability benefits.
• Another veteran had direct exposure to Sarin gas while he was in the military. He has since suffered from some significant but unclear neurological symptoms.  His exposure to Sarin was deemed to have been “low level” and not causing a disability.  The veteran was thought to have Gulf War Syndrome, but when he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, his claim was denied. 
• Another veteran has almost lost his eyesight.  He was repeatedly sprayed in the eyes while doing hydraulic work in the Air Force.  He has developed severe glaucoma to the point where he must be led around.  He had not previously been aware of the possibility of receiving benefits and learned to apply through his Project SALUTE visit.
• A female veteran had been shot in the leg while in service. Because of various complications, the bullet was left in her leg.  She later injured the same leg because of a malfunctioning tank door.  The resulting operation on her leg left it shorter than her other one.  Nevertheless, she has been denied any benefits for her present leg condition
• A number of veterans seen by Project SALUTE have been denied benefits for their Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) condition because it has been determined not to be service connected.  The reason for the denial appears to be based on the reasoning that some event more recent in their lives caused the PTSD. 
• Denials of PTSD disability as not beingservice connected have been made even where:
• VA doctors themselves have identified a veteran’s condition and stressors as being caused by service;
• veterans have been severely wounded and suffered great trauma and pain;
• veterans saw their closest friends killed;
• Veterans repeatedly handled the dead coming back from the theater of war on a daily basis. These veterans have continuing nightmares and anxieties related to the events that took place during their service, but their claims have still been found not to be service connected.   One veteran was found to have suffered PTSD from driving a bus, rather than because of all the horrific occurrences that happened to him while in combat.

Notwithstanding these conditions and difficulties in obtaining benefits, one Project  SALUTE student described a veteran whom she had seen as being, “…one of the most positive people I have met…”  Veterans are thus inspiring the law students, at the same time the students are looking to assist the veterans.