WWII veteran dies 10 days after benefits reinstated

The family of a World War II veteran is fighting the Department of Veteran Affairs over their father's benefits.
 
The VA cut Joseph Desario's, 91, benefits because they found him "fit for employment."
 
Desario was receiving disability benefits for decades before the VA said his condition had improved to the point where he could go out and work.
 
"He was always very proud of the United States," Desario's daughter Barbara Bruce said.
 
Bruce said Desario fought severe hearing loss after 36 missions in a bomber over Europe.
 
Desario had applied for an increase in his disability and a letter arrived soon after from the VA saying his hearing had improved and his disability was cut by $600.
 
"My sister and I couldn't believe it because we knew for 40 years he had this hearing loss and it's been difficult for him to function," Bruce said.
 
Desario fought the change for two years and a follow-up test found him legally deaf. He won his appeal and the VA reinstated his benefits with $25,000 in back payments.
 
"He said that's good news, very good news, best news I've had in a while," Bruce said.
 
Desario died 10 days later.
 
"It's a sign of a deeply flawed system," Kelly Sullivan of Community Legal Services of Mid-Florida said.
 
Sullivan is fighting for Desario's money to go to his daughters.
 
"His daughters are now responsible for picking up the pieces. They're the ones covering his medical bills, the last expenses and the burial expenses," Sullivan said.
 
Current regulations prohibit Desario's daughters from getting anything beyond funeral expenses and medical bills.
 
Desario's daughters said it's not about the money, but about making sure the VA knows their father deserved better.