Fill out this form to email this article to a friend
ID theft not top focus for many veterans
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published May 28, 2006
WASHINGTON - Veterans visiting the nation's capital for Memorial Day weekend said Saturday they were more interested in honoring the sacrifice of U.S. service members than fretting about the theft of personal information. "Me, I'll recover if my Social Security number's gone, but at least I have my health," said John Norton, 37, who served in the Navy from 1988-96. Norton, of Grand Rapids, Mich., said he's not overly concerned whether his data may have been on a laptop stolen from a Veterans Affairs Department employee's home on May 3. The VA on Monday revealed that the computer contained the names, birth dates and Social Security numbers of 26.5-million veterans who were discharged since 1975. In some cases, spouses' information and data of veterans discharged before 1975 who submitted claims to the agency may have been included. People running veterans information tents on the Mall said fewer veterans than they expected had approached them with questions and concerns about the theft. Nancy Verespy, international executive director of Veterans of the Vietnam War Inc. and the Veterans Coalition, said her top concern was that money needed to fix the fallout from the theft doesn't come from the VA budget. VA Secretary James Nicholson has pledged a thorough investigation and ordered employees to attend classes on privacy and cyber security. Sam Elizalde, 60, a veteran of Vietnam and Desert Storm, said that while he's upset about the incident and wants someone held accountable, he would rather "put a lid on it" than obsess over it.
[Last modified May 28, 2006, 05:27:22]
Share your thoughts on this story
|
News
Fifty years ago, they were screwed-up kids sent to the Florida School for Boys to be straightened out. But now they are screwed-up men, scarred by the whippings they endured. Read the story and see a video and portrait gallery.
Print
Email story
Comment
Email editor
