'Yet to be determined'
COEUR d'ALENE - An obituary page with the green, black and brown of military camouflage reads, "Yet to be determined."
This is the state of services and cause of death for a young Army veteran who mysteriously died in his sleep Jan. 17, and his bereaved widow is now reeling in an undetermined state.
"My head is going a million miles a minute," said Jewel Montgomery, 27, of Hayden. "I can't really sleep at night."
Her husband of one year, Eddie Montgomery, was just 34 when he unexpectedly died. Jewel said they had friends over to dinner and played with their kids together the night before it happened. Then they went to bed, and the next morning she thought he was just sleeping in.
"I went to go wake him up and I found him dead," she said. "I've never experienced anything like that. I held my dead husband. It took two officers to pry me off him."
She said Eddie was injured by a detonated improvised explosive device (IED) when he was stationed in Iraq, damaging his back, knees, hips and his skull, which had to be stapled shut. He suffered from anxiety, pain and post-traumatic stress disorder and was on multiple medications, but was a loving father and husband despite his pains.
Now, Jewel and her young family are in a waiting period while Eddie's case processes. She has been a stay-at-home mom for four years and is suddenly responsible for taking care of everything on her own until the Department of Veterans Affairs can determine if Eddie's death was service-related. She said she has been told this could take at least six to 10 weeks, and even then she is not guaranteed survivor benefits.
"It's going to take at least six weeks for the toxicology screening before they can even start anything because they need the death certificate," said Jewel's concerned sister, Tamara Treantenou, of Coeur d'Alene. Treantenou contacted The Press in hopes of raising funds and support for Jewel while she waits for answers.
"I know somebody that it took them two years to start getting money just for an injury - that was somebody who was alive," Treantenou said. "I can imagine how long they would take for someone who was deceased."
Kootenai County Veteran Services Officer and director Scott Thorsness said it is not uncommon for claims to take six to 10 weeks, but "it's a very rough average basis" as times vary case to case.
"The time frame for the VA to process claims is very wide; there are no specifics," Thorsness said.
While he could not comment specifically on the Montgomery case, he said that when a legitimate or dire financial need exists within a claim, people may submit a request to expedite the process.
"It will shorten it, but I can't speak on how much it would decrease that time," he said, again because each case is different.
Treantenou said a big worry is Jewel being unable to pay rent and having to change her children's schools.
"The kids are already sad and broken up about this," she said. "To switch them in the middle of the school year would be even worse."
While Treantenou said Jewel is willing to go back to school and get a job, she would like to wait until her youngest child is old enough to attend early head start. She began a Benefit for Eddie page on Facebook in memory of her brother-in-law and with hopes to help her sister through this troubled time.
"They could say it will take weeks, and it could take months," she said. "It's a pretty slow process. I just worry for her."
Info: http://goo.gl/rp4NDh