Well, yes. Your grandfather was right.
Tons more disturbing to me is that you were serving in the military but received a below poverty level income. That is absolutely wrong and outrageous.
Perhaps check with the VA; haven’t heard tons of good stories, but it might be worth a shot.
This infuriates me and I’m not even in the military!
That was in the last half of the 1970's. My pay and allowances per year was just over $5,000.00 when the poverty level was just over $12,000.00. That pay disparity was in the news at the time whenever the Defense Budget was discussed but military pay for lower enlisted ranks lagged behind the poverty line for many years. they seemed to get around the disgrace by the fact that single enlisted personnel were housed in barracks and ate at the chow hall so a meager stipend was all they needed. It was my fault that I enlisted in the USAF with a wife to care for.
The VA has no authority over that sort of thing. I have a good SS benefit, a 401k, a corporate pension rolled to an annuity, and a Medicare Advantage plan to augment my Medicare, so I've never had anything to do with the VA.