Army Vet Tries to Prove to VA He Is Not Dead

The ordeal has cost Marco Hernandez thousands in missed veterans benefits. He says calls to his bank, creditors and the VA have led to nowhere.

U.S. Army veteran Marco Hernandez is on a mission: to prove he's not dead.

The predicament has gone on now for more than 2 years.

"I pulled my credit report, and I was laughing when I saw it because it said, 'items affecting your credit: deceased, deceased, deceased,'" Hernandez said.

It all began in October 2011, after he called the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Hernandez, who served two tours of duty in Iraq, had begun caring for his ill father back in Guatemala, who later died.

The call was to suspend his dad's health insurance payments.

"I called the VA to report that he was dead, and someone at the VA did all the paperwork correctly," Hernandez said. "Unfortunately, somebody made a mistake and about three weeks after my father passed away. My relatives received some paperwork saying I was the one who passed away."

Instead, Hernandez learned the VA pulled the plug on him, causing what he describes as a terrible "trickle-down" effect.

Hernandez says his bank account was frozen and credit cards were canceled. The ordeal has cost him thousands in missed veterans benefits. He says calls to his bank, creditors and the VA led to nowhere.

"Everytime I try to do something people come up with different things that I'm supposed to be doing," Hernandez said.

Team 6 reached out to the VA, and they tell us they're open to working with Hernandez to resolve his case.

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