A friend posted a meme on Facebook that said that Confederate Veterans are the same as other US military veterans and there were some commenters that disputed that, using Snopes.com as their reference. Since I have found Snopes to be agenda-driven at times, I decided to find out. Interestingly, when you use a search engine like Google, the first page consists of all these goofy opinion sites like blogs and Snopes. In fact, Snopes says it isn't true. Snopes is wrong, sort of. They are commenting on the wrong section. The controversy was over Public Law 85-425 passed in 1958, specifically section 410. I wanted to read the actual text of the law. I finally found it on the House of Representatives site. The first thing that is amazing is that the entire law is less than one page. Take that.... Affordable Healthcare Act.
So, to answer the question, as we say, In God We Trust..... all others bring real data. First of all, Section 410 is the wrong section to refer to for this discussion. So... here is the real deal.
Public Law 85-425 amended the Veterans Benefits Act of 1957 (Public Law 85-56). Most of the changes were changes in rates of pensions paid. However, this is the ACTUAL text of the law that added subsection (e) of Section 432 (not 410, the one people always mistakenly refer to).
"3) Section 432 is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new subsection: e) For the purpose of this section, and section 433, the term “veteran” includes a person who served in the military or naval forces of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War, and the term “active, military or naval service” includes active service in such forces.”
That could NOT be clearer despite what any biased observer might think.
So..moving on....what is Section 410? Item 9 of the 85-425 law added a new Section 410 which made pensions equal for Confederate and US veterans. The ACTUAL text of that is this:
9) Immediately above Section 411, insert the following: “Confederate Forces Veterans” “Section 410. The Administrator shall pay to each person who served in the military or naval forces of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War a monthly pension in the same amounts and subject to the same conditions as would have been applicable to such person under the laws in effect on December 31, 1957, if his service in such forces had been service in the military or naval service of the United States.”
I will also point out another mistake that Snopes is making. The web site describes the law as a "feel good" measure because there may not have been any Confederate veterans alive at the time of its passage. There may or may not have been any Union Veterans alive at the time, either. That doesn't matter. The law does have actual consequences, not the least of which is that unmarked graves of Confederate veterans can have government-funded tombstones placed, to honor them, by the Veterans Administration, That is true, to this day. Additionally, older veterans who had married markedly younger women still had their widows protected by pensions.
So, in summary, Confederate Veterans are, by law, considered the same as other US veterans and had equal benefits under the law. Don't believe it??? Don't rely on opinion sites. Read it yourself.
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