Government sends letter informing disabled vet that he is dead

Mistaken letter informing him of his own death is a shock to vet

A disabled veteran who went to his mailbox expecting his monthly disability check instead found a letter from the federal government telling him he was dead.

For David Baruk, 33, it was quite a shock.

“I had just spent a month in the hospital. And now I was dead. It just brought tears to my eyes,” Baruk said.

Baruk, a U.S. Army veteran, received a medical discharge in 1991 after treatment for a knee injury led to a series of complications.

Eventually deemed 100 percent disabled, he gets a check for $839 each month. But instead of a check, last month he got a letter from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs informing him that he was dead….

@@START_COMMENTStartFragment @@END_COMMENTThe Feb. 9 letter was addressed to the “Representative of the Estate of David S. Baruk.”

“We are sorry to learn of the death of David S. Baruk and wish to express our sympathy,” it read. “Any checks received after the date of death or any monies that were electronically deposited in a bank account after the date of death should be returned.”

Mark Bilosz, veterans service manager for the Department of Veterans Affairs office in Newark, said the mistake might have stemmed from a computer error involving Baruk’s social security number.

“It’s rare for something like this to happen. I’ve been in this office for two years and this is the first time it’s happened here,” Bilosz said.

He said the problem was in the process of being corrected.

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