Eleanor Miles Kershner v. United States

Floyd Lewis Kershner was a World War II veteran. Eleanor Miles Kersh-ner, plaintiff and appellant, is his surviving mother and the designated beneficiary under her son’s National Service Life Insurance Policy in the amount of $10,000.

It is agreed that Kershner was honorably discharged from the Navy on March 14, 1946; that premiums were paid on the policy to April 10, 1946; and that by March 10, 1946, the veteran had become totally disabled in that it was impossible from that time forward for him to follow continuously any substantial gainful occupation up to the time of his death on November 16, 1949, three years and seven months later.

The record further shows that from the time of his discharge to his death Kershner was in and' out of Veterans’ Administration hospitals in various parts of the country. He must have known that his physical condition was not good. He was suffering from chronic myelogenous leukemia, from which he eventually died. The record seems to confirm the mother’s contention that the government doctors at all times after the discharge considered the veteran’s case almost hopeless but, probably wisely from a medical standpoint, chose to encourage him to…