Student name:

Ciara S
Project #: (please use the project # that youve been using for this project throughout this
process)
1
Working version of project title (try to be creative while somewhat descriptive in your
project title)
The Home of the Brave
Exploring Government Allocated Veteran Benefits-How they work and how they dont
****Rationale: In 1-2 sentences, describe why you made the decision to pursue this project
and shelve the other one.
I have decided to pursue this project because it is the one I am most passionate about. I began
reaching out to possible contacts a few weeks ago and even the few snip-its of their stories that
I was able to hear during initial encounters were very compelling and I think I should do a
project to let more people hear and learn from their experiences.

Research Proposal--FINAL draft

1.

State the essential question

How are veterans and their families of recent U.S wars affected by government-allocated
benefits, or lack thereof, that are meant to support their transition back into regular life?

2.

State the primary research question

How have Massachusetts veterans of recent U.S. wars been affected by the governmentallocated benefits, leading to their current situations?

3.

State the secondary research questions you have (make sure these are fairly
comprehensive and extensive).

How does modern warfare affect the rate of mental health issues in veterans?
How does our government support or not support veteran needs?

Why is the veteran suicide rate higher than the war casualty rate?
What is it like to be living as a veteran in this country?
What benefits are given to veterans?
What are the limitations of these benefits?
Why do so many veterans become homeless?
What happens to the families of veterans?
What benefits and/or support is given to families of deceased veterans?
Are benefits for families of veterans who commit suicide available?

4.

Description of what the final product will look like. (Be sure that you are very
thorough here. Take us through the entire process from now until the final
product. If it would be helpful to you, number the steps and proceed through
them through and including your final product. In short: you MUST describe the
process here. This is vital to the approval process on your research proposal.)

Wk Week of
#

What I am planning to accomplish during that week

11/3/14

Finish reading through Pre-Discharge forms, requirements, and

limitations.

11/10/14

Attend 2nd Veterans for Peace meeting. One interview is already

scheduled for that night and I am hoping to schedule more. Document at
least one of these interviews.

11/17/14

Document another interview. Read through Education and Training

Benefits.

11/24/14
(Thanksgiv
ing week)

Volunteer at Thanksgiving Dinner for needy, reach out to vets about

interviewing them.

12/1/14

Read through Vocational and Rehabilitation benefits.

12/8/14

Veterans for Peace meeting, do another interview and document it.

12/15/14

Read through Home Loans, Life Insurance, and Pension Benefits.

12/22/14
Dec break

Read through Special Groups and Services Benefits.

12/29/14
Dec break

Start Analysis chapters

10

1/5/15

Interview another vet, possibly a homeless or physically disabled one.

Document interview

11

1/12/15

term 2 ends on 1/16/15 Visit VA and try to find interview contacts such as
doctors, nurses, counselors, and patients.

12

1/19/15

Interview people from VA, document at least 2

13

1/26/15

Document more interviews from VA,

14

2/2/15

Contact state politicians concerning an interview about present benefits.

15

2/9/15

add in sections of the analysis chapters about how that analysis relates to
the veterans story.

16

2/16/15
Feb break

Work on analysis chapters, find one or two more possible interview

candidates, one who transitioned nicely back at home, homeless veteran
from the street.

17

2/23/15

Work on analysis chapters

18

3/2/15

Work on analysis chapters

19

3/9/15

Begin to Edit

20

3/16/15

Continue editing

21

3/23/15

Plan for presentation, create infographics and compile important quotes

from interviewees

23

3/30/15

DEADLINE FOR FINAL PROJECT

term 3 ends on 4/2/15

5.

State how this research will advance the frontiers of knowledge and/or matter
and be significant in a meaningful way.

Today, there is much controversy surrounding how the government supports veterans returning
from war with specific needs, especially health needs. Due to this, there is a lot of literature
and documentaries that look at the problems in the system without talking to veterans who are
directly affected by it. By looking at the issue through veterans personal stories, it becomes

much clearer how benefits affect them and what needs to be done to better support them.
Unlike other projects focused on this same topic, I want to promote individual needs so that the
benefit system can be restructured to fit into real life circumstances better. By hearing from the
veterans I hope that the accounts assert a much greater need for an improved and more flexible
system that can be accessed by all veterans.
6.

State anticipated potential pitfalls or problems of this research effort

People may not feel comfortable being recorded and documented.

Workers at veteran organizations may be hesitant because it concerns their job and therefore
livelihood.
It may be very difficult to see the full extent of what benefits are available because they are
often not explicitly obvious.
7.

State your a tentative plan to locate and review the literature related to your
project. This includes printed/published sources and online sources. [The
research strategy, part #1]

Look at government websites concerning veteran benefits.

Get pamphlets and information from veteran organizations, especially the VA.
Read news stories about the controversy concerning veterans benefits and the VA.
Identify books based on veteran benefits and their effects.
8.

State a tentative plan for research and data collection. (Data collection can take
multiple forms--surveys, test groups, interviews, observations, etc etc. This will
differ from project to project. [The research strategy, part #2]

I plan on interviewing and researching statistics already formed such as veteran suicide rate,
average income, ect As for the interviewing, I plan on visiting organizations and speaking to
people about my project in order to find people interested in and willing to be interviewed.
9.

State a tentative plan for research and data analysis and interpretation. [The
research strategy, part #3]

I plan on using government information as my basis for examining the stories I hear through
the interview process. The information provided by the government is very cut and dry but it
does provide insight into what is available for veterans depending on their circumstances. Once
I interview people, I want to look at how more benefits could help them, how the ones they are
currently offered may lack aspects of care they need, and how more transparency about what is
available could be useful in improving what they receive now.

9.

List the tools you will need to complete this effort. Identify (with an asterisk *)
tools that might currently be unavailable to you

*Dragon Dictate for Mac

10.

Budget: what materials do you anticipate needing for your project? Please
provide a list with quantities and an approximate cost per item, along a brief
description of why you need this for your project.
Do some research and find out the actual cost of the items you need. Be as specific as you
can. Please add cells/rows if you need them. These are the budgets we will use to
determine the allocation of funds, so take time to be thorough and specific about this.

item
(please be specific-brand, if relevant,
and item #

quantity
of this
item

cost per item

retailer where you

want to purchase this
(and the source of
your price)

why you need this item for

your project

Dragon Dictate for Mac

$199.99

Nuance.com

This software can record audio

from a phone, tablet, laptop etc,
so I could record interviews and
then easily document them with
this tool.

11.

Bibliography- early draft. This bibliography must include at least 5 books, 5

scholarly journal articles, 5 websites, and least one potential source who you
might interview. Use proper bibliographic citation (MLA or APA format; your
choice). You are welcome to use EasyBib or refer to the formatting template
created by Purdue University: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/ Explain why
you anticipate (at this point) that these sources would be relevant.
Please be sure that your entire bibliography is readable in this box; some of your earlier
versions were cut off.
Interviews
Arredondo, Carlos. Personal interview.
This would be relevant to my project because Carlos lost two sons to war. One was KIA and
the other committed suicide upon his return home. He would have interesting insight into
benefits, if any, received by families of deceased veterans.
Funke, Robert. Personal Interview.
This would be relevant to my project because Bob is both a veteran and a previous employee
of a VA hospital, from which he was fired for being too nice to veterans. He would be able to
tell me about his own experience after the war and benefits he received, as well as his
experience working in the VA hospital and why being too nice to veterans is seen as a bad

thing.
Websites
"Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs." Federal Benefits for Veterans,
Dependents and Survivors -. U.S Department of Veterans Affairs, 26 Mar. 2014. Web.
18 Oct. 2014. <http://www.va.gov/opa/publications/benefits_book.asp>.
This is relevant because it details the benefits available through the federal government. They
are benefits available to anyone who meets the criteria because they are federal and not state
issued.
Labriola, Laura. "Benefits." Massachusetts State Veteran's. N.p., 7 Oct. 2014. Web. 18
Oct. 2014. <http://www.military.com/benefits/veteran-state-benefits/massachusettsstate-veterans-benefits.html>.
This is relevant because it details the benefits available through the Massachusetts state
government. These are benefits available in the state of Massachusetts which may not be
available in other states. They are limited to Massachusetts veterans only, but these veterans
would also receive federal benefits that they are eligible for.
Shane, Leo, III. "Report: Suicide Rate Spikes among Young Veterans." Most Read.
Stars and Stripes, 9 Jan. 2014. Web. 15 Oct. 2014. <http://www.stripes.com/reportsuicide-rate-spikes-among-young-veterans-1.261283>.
This website is relevant because this particular article provides the statistics on veteran suicide
rates and how they have increased or decreased for certain age populations. However, this
website is also a website with all military news, blogs, fundraisers, etc.. so it has a lot of
information concerning veteran lifestyles, activities, and more.
Hicks, Josh. "A Guide to the VA Health Care Controversy." Washington Post. The
Washington Post, 15 May 2014. Web. 18 Oct. 2014.
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/wp/2014/05/15/a-guide-to-the-vahealth-care-controversy/>.
This source would be relevant because it details the controversy surrounding VA health care. It
talks about Eric Shinseki, who would eventually step down, how the white house feels about
the controversy, the wait lines at VA hospitals, and alleged cover ups.
"House Committee on Veterans' Affairs." House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2014.
<http://veterans.house.gov/>.
This website would be relevant because it is about the government committee which deals with
veteran affairs. This includes legislature concerning veterans, press releases, information of
subcommittees dealing with health, economic, and abuse concerns, and more. This website
would allow me to access information on the latest updates concerning veterans affairs.
Books
Kelly, Diann Cameron., Sydney Howe-Barksdale, and David Gitelson.Treating Young
Veterans: Promoting Resilience through Practice and Advocacy. New York, NY:
Springer Pub., 2011. Print.
This book is about helping veterans transition back into life by educating mental health
professionals about care and treatment options. Although this book is not centered around
veteran benefits it provides valuable insight into the mental health issues that veterans
experience. With this information I could better evaluate the current benefits to see if they fully

support the need for health benefits, both physical and metal.
Rubin, Allen, Eugenia L. Weiss, and Jose E. Coll. Handbook of Military Social Work.
Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2013. Print.
This book is also not about benefits but it goes into categories such as military culture and
diversity, women in the military, posttraumatic stress disorder in veterans, traumatic brain
injury in the military, suicide in the military, homelessness among veterans, cycles of
deployment and family well-being, grief, loss, and bereavement in military families,
interventions for military children and youth. By reading this book I could better connect with
the people I interview and better understand their situation based on the many factors that
contribute to it.
Budahn, P. J. Veteran's Guide to Benefits. 4th ed. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole, 2005.
Print.
This book would be a useful tool because it is a guide that tells you how to receive benefits and
what benefits you are eligible for. This would be a good supplement to the information on the
government websites because it better explains how to find and register for benefits rather than
just explaining what is available.
2014 Benefits for Veterans and Dependents. Kansas City, MO: Military Hand, 2014.
Print.
This unique handbook, written for veterans, gives you everything you need to know about:
how to apply, veterans service centers, choosing a facility, changing a facility, second
opinions, prescriptions, dental care, chiropractic care, non-VA care, travel, POW benefits,
appeals, grievances, confidentiality, financial issues, means testing, hardship determinations,
waivers, medication co-payments, health insurance and a complete listing of VA facilities.
Which would be helpful to see the deeper financials of the benefits system and how it affects
not only the veteran but the veterans family.
Donnelly, Michael, and Denise Donnelly. Falcon's Cry: A Desert Storm Memoir a
memoir written by a veteran of Desert Storm who got ALS at the young age of 35,
while many other veterans of Desert Storm were also becoming sick with cancers and
neurological diseases. However, the government denied that the exposure to nerve
agents and chemical weapons during the war had anything to do with this. Its a story
of how the government failed toHunt, Albert R. "Doing More for U.S. Veterans." New
York Times 27 May 2013: NA(L). The New York Times. Web. 19 Oct. 2014.
This article recognizes how the U.S military is at its strongest and most costly time, however
that doesnt provide enough care for veterans of recent wars with soaring suicide and PTSD
rates. This article would be useful in assessing the budget for veterans in comparison to the
budget for the war, and how that affects the care veterans receive at home.
Lunney, Kellie. "New Guidance Aims to Help Vietnam-Era Vets Who Are Denied
Benefits." Govexec.com 12 Sept. 2014. General Reference Center GOLD. Web. 19
Oct. 2014.
This article would be extremely useful because it is about veterans of the Vietnam war who are
denied benefits despite the necessity for them in treating PTSD and other health concerns. This
would be good information to supplement the information I will find from interviews of the
oldest veterans I am planning on working with from the Vietnam era.