Lawrence Gray, Administrator of the Estate of Mildred Reed Wood v. United States

Lawrence C. Reed, now deceased, was for almost twenty-three years a member of the armed forces of the. United States. ■He retired from active service in the Army on December 31,1947. From June 1, 1943, until December 31, 1947, the date of his retirement, there was deducted, pursuant to his authorization, from his Army pay premiums due on a National Service Life Insurance policy.

Upon his retirement Reed indicated on his retirement certificate that he desired to continue his National Service Life Insurance allotment from his retirement *627 pay. 1 However, until his death thirteen months later, Reed received his retirement pay without an allotment for the premiums. This was due to the apparent neglect of the Army paymaster in the Canal Zone at which place he had retired from the active service.

Subsequent to the death of Lawrence Reed, Mildred Reed Wood, the beneficiary named in the policy, made a claim for the proceeds of the insurance. The claim was disallowed by the Veterans’ Administration on the ground that the said insurance policy had lapsed. An appeal was dismissed by the Board of Veterans’ Appeals. Thereafter Mrs. Wood filed suit for recovery of the proceeds under the…

(concurring).

I have no figures, but I think we can take judicial notice of what I am sure is true here. Broadly, persons holding, since World War II, National Service Life Insurance would fall into four classes:

1. Those continuing in active service and paid by an army finance officer. (This would be a huge number.)

2. Those who have left the service and receive nothing from the government. (This would be a huge number.)

3. Those who have left the service and are receiving from the Veterans Administration some regular payments for disability. (This is a great number, as any bank teller can testify.)

4. Those like Lawrence Reed who left the service on a retirement permitted by reason of length of service and received retirement pay from an army finance officer. (This would be a large group numerically, but a very, very small group compared to those in groups one, two and three.)

We are not concerned with group 2 above for the reason that a member of it would have nothing coming to him from which the government could deduct.

Groups 1 and 3 under the government regulations were taken care of thoughtfully and expressly. The soldier in active service, group 1, could make an…

241 F.2d 626 Lawrence GRAY, Administrator of the Estate of Mildred Reed Wood, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee. No. 15118. United States Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit. Feb. 14, 1957. Charles Elwyn Karpinski and David S. Casey, San Diego Cal., for appellant. Laughlin E. Waters, U.S. Atty. and Max F. Deutz, Hiram W. Kwan, Asst. U.S. Attys., Los Angeles, Cal., for appellee. Before ORR, FEE and CHAMBERS, Circuit Judges. ORR, Circuit Judge. 1 Lawrence C. Reed, now deceased, was for almost twenty-three years a member of the armed forces of the United States. He retired from active service in the Army on December 31, 1947. From June 1, 1943, until December 31, 1947, the date of his retirement, there was deducted, pursuant to his authorization, from his Army pay premiums due on a National Service Life Insurance policy. 2 Upon his retirement Reed indicated on his retirement certificate that he desired to continue his National Service Life Insurance allotment from his retirement pay. 1 However, until his death thirteen months later, Reed received his retirement pay without an allotment for the premiums. This was due to the apparent neglect of the Army paymaster in the Canal…