TITLE 38 - US CODE - SUBCHAPTER IV - ARMY, NAVY, AIR FORCE, AND COAST GUARD MEDAL OF HONOR ROLL

38 USC 1560 - Medal of Honor Roll; persons eligible

(a) There shall be in the Department of the Army, the Department of the Navy, the Department of the Air Force, and the Department of Homeland Security, respectively, a roll designated as the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard Medal of Honor Roll.
(b) Upon written application to the Secretary concerned, that Secretary shall enter and record on such roll the name of each surviving person who has served on active duty in the armed forces of the United States and who has been awarded a medal of honor for distinguishing such person conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of such persons life above and beyond the call of duty while so serving.
(c) Applications for entry on such roll shall be made in the form and under regulations prescribed by the Secretary concerned, and shall indicate whether or not the applicant desires to receive the special pension provided by section 1562 of this title. Proper blanks and instructions shall be furnished by the Secretary concerned, without charge upon the request of any person claiming the benefits of this subchapter.

38 USC 1561 - Certificate

(a) The Secretary concerned shall determine whether or not each applicant is entitled to have such persons name entered on the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard Medal of Honor Roll. If the official award of the Medal of Honor to the applicant, or the official notice to such person thereof, shows that the Medal of Honor was awarded to the applicant for an act described in section 1560 of this title, such award or notice shall be sufficient to entitle the applicant to have such persons name entered on such roll without further investigation; otherwise all official correspondence, orders, reports, recommendations, requests, and other evidence on file in any public office or department shall be considered.
(b) Each person whose name is entered on the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard Medal of Honor Roll shall be furnished a certificate of service and of the act of heroism, gallantry, bravery, or intrepidity for which the Medal of Honor was awarded, of enrollment on such roll, and, if such person has indicated such persons desire to receive the special pension provided by section 1562 of this title, of such persons right to such special pension.
(c) The Secretary concerned shall deliver to the Secretary a certified copy of each certificate issued under subsection (b) in which the right of the person named in the certificate to the special pension provided by section 1562 of this title is set forth. Such copy shall authorize the Secretary to pay such special pension to the person named in the certificate.

38 USC 1562 - Special provisions relating to pension

(a) The Secretary shall pay monthly to each person whose name has been entered on the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard Medal of Honor roll, and a copy of whose certificate has been delivered to the Secretary under subsection (c) of section 1561 of this title, a special pension at the rate of $1,000, as adjusted from time to time under subsection (e), beginning as of the date of application therefor under section 1560 of this title.
(b) The receipt of special pension shall not deprive any person of any other pension or other benefit, right, or privilege to which such person is or may hereafter be entitled under any existing or subsequent law. Special pension shall be paid in addition to all other payments under laws of the United States.
(c) Special pension shall not be subject to any attachment, execution, levy, tax lien, or detention under any process whatever.
(d) If any person has been awarded more than one medal of honor, such person shall not receive more than one special pension.
(e) Effective as of December 1 each year, the Secretary shall increase the amount of monthly special pension payable under subsection (a) as of November 30 of such year by the same percentage as the percentage by which benefit amounts payable under title II of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 401 et seq.) are increased effective December 1 of such year as a result of a determination under section 215(i) of that Act (42 U.S.C. 415 (i)).
(f) 
(1) The Secretary shall pay, in a lump sum, to each person who is in receipt of special pension payable under this section an amount equal to the total amount of special pension that the person would have received during the period beginning on the first day of the first month beginning after the date of the act for which the person was awarded the Medal of Honor and ending on the last day of the month preceding the month in which the persons special pension in fact commenced.
(2) For each month of a period referred to in paragraph (1), the amount of special pension payable to a person shall be determined using the rate of special pension that was in effect for such month, and shall be payable only if the person would have been entitled to payment of special pension for such month under laws for eligibility for special pension (with the exception of the eligibility law requiring a person to have been awarded a Medal of Honor) in effect at the beginning of such month.