Did my grandfather receive an Army Pension

[rp76226]

Years ago, family members now deceased, said that my grandfather, Salvatore Puma, who served in France in trench warfare in 1918 for the US Army during World War 1 was receiving a small military pension. Is there a way to verify that and especially find out the reason why he received a pension?

Here are the facts that may help in the search:

Birth – May 26, 1896 in Racalmuto, Agrigento, Sicily
Death – August 10, 1981 in Pearl River, New York
Inducted into the Army on May 28, 1918 at Camp Upton, New York
Served overseas from July 8, 1918 to May 29, 1919. Company A, 313th Infantry.
Released from the Army on June 5, 1919
SSN 063072073

[darkerhorse]

A claim for benefits was made by him or his heirs between 1917 and 1940 (see section on description below).


U.S., Veterans Administration Master Index, 1917-1940 No Image
Text-only collection

Name: Salvatore Puma
Record Type: Military Service
Birth Date: 26 May 1896
Military Date: 5 Jun 1919
Residence Place: NY, NY
Source Information

Ancestry.com. U.S., Veterans Administration Master Index, 1917-1940 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT. USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2019.

Original data: United States, Veterans Administration Master Index, 1917-1940. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2019.

Veterans Administration Master Index, 1917 - 9/16/1940. NAI 76193916. Record Group 15: Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, 1773 - 2007. National Archives at St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A.

Description

This collection contains a card index created by the Veterans Bureau (Veterans Administration) of veterans who served between World War I and earlier wars and who made (or whose heirs made) claims for benefits between 1917-1940 Learn more...

[rp76226]

Ancestry.com has no image. The National archives are complicated beyond belief and therefore useless. The national archives says it takes 25 seconds to confirm a submitted request, yet they never confirm after you click on Submit. If government was a profit and loss business dependent on customer demand, it would be out of business.

[darkerhorse]

At least you know someone filed for his pension.

I wonder if you could infer something from employment and income reported for him and/or his wife in censuses, especially if he was disabled?

Perhaps in future censuses (1960-1980?) after he's retired and/or his wife is widowed and collecting? Of course, that's a long wait.

Have you tried searching for wills, probate, and legal actions? A pension might be mentioned.

The only other source I can think of is his and./or his wife's income tax returns but I'm sure you don't have them.

[rp76226]

He died in 1981 and my grandmother died in 1974. They had little money and no will. What makes me curious is the story that my father told me about his father's service in WW1 (my grandfather never talked about it). In the trenches in France, they were ordered to charge the German line. Machine gunfire killed the soldiers immediately to the left and right of my grandfather, but missed him. After my father was deceased, his sister (my aunt) said that my grandfather was shot in the leg because she saw the ugly scar. However, his military records indicate that he was not wounded. Previously, this group has said that not recording wounds of soldiers who had recovered was not unusual during WW1. Recently, I remembered the pension story, so I'm thinking to myself that knowing the reason for the pension would confirm that he really was wounded as there has to be a military reason to collect a pension for someone who was in military service for only one year.

[Tessa78]

Could this be his WWI Army service card?

https://i.postimg.cc/PJXpzpLt/Puma.jpg

AND...
Similar question at this site with some suggested resource links
https://www.genealogybank.com/ask-the-g ... ve-pension

T.

[rp76226]

That was his service card. I have it and used it to obtain some of the information I presented here. The other link brings me to the National Archives where I tried earlier to submit a request, but never received the confirmation it said that I should get within 25 seconds of the request. So I do not know if they actually received it. Guess i just have to wait and see.