1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:12,000 All across America and around the world, this is Veterans Radio. 2 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:20,000 And now, your host for today's program, Dale Throneberry. 3 00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:30,000 Welcome to Veterans Radio. My name is Dale Throneberry, a CW2 helicopter-type pilot, Vietnam 1969. 4 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:39,000 Welcome to our program today. It's all about benefits. So we encourage you to give us a call if you have any questions for our crew here today. 5 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:45,000 The number is 734-822-1600. 734-822-1600. 6 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:55,000 A couple of things we're going to be talking about today are upcoming events at the local VA Medical Center, Charles S. Kettles VA Healthcare Center. 7 00:00:55,000 --> 00:01:01,000 We're going to be talking about some questions that have been sent to us over the last week or so. 8 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:12,000 One was an incarcerated veteran. Another one was from elderly. And it wasn't me, but it was older veterans. I had to change that word. 9 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:27,000 And so we're going to try to address those issues for you today. So we want to make sure that you, you know, if you're, if you have any questions, the other thing we're going to be doing is constantly pounding on you to register with the VA Healthcare System. 10 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:34,000 Because anybody who has a DD 214 and honorable discharge, you can get the benefits. 11 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:46,000 So mean you qualify, obviously. And maybe there's some health care issues that you can get taken care of. And, you know, maybe you, you know, worked in business for 100 years and had health care all along the way. 12 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:53,000 And then you retired and you suddenly find out that your health insurance isn't so good anymore. Maybe we can help you out. 13 00:01:53,000 --> 00:02:05,000 So that's what we want to try and do today is to let you know what is available to you. So that number again, 734-822-1600. 14 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:12,000 Before we get into the answering those questions, I got to make sure that we thank our sponsors. We cannot do this program without their support. 15 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:17,000 And we greatly appreciate them over the years, the last 20 years. 16 00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:25,000 One sponsor has been with us pretty much for the whole 20 years. The other kind of going in and out. But this one is our favorite. And that's legal help for veterans. 17 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:35,000 And legal help for veterans specializes in veterans disability claims. So give legal help for veterans a call at 800-6934-800. 18 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:39,000 Or you can go to their website. That's legalhelpforveterans.com. 19 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:49,000 The National Veterans Business Development Council, better known as NVBDC, is the nation's leading third party authority for a certification of veteran-owned businesses. 20 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:59,000 For more information about them, go to their website. That's NVBDC.org. Or give them a call at 888-237-8433. 21 00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:05,000 If you want to do business with a federal government and you are a veteran-owned business, you got to prove it. 22 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:10,000 And these are the folks that can help you prove it. So we encourage you to do that. 23 00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:14,000 The Charles S. Kettles VA Medical Center here in Ann Arbor, Michigan. 24 00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:22,000 For more information about them, you can go to va.gov. And Arbor Health Care. 25 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:30,000 We also want to make sure that we thank our local veterans organizations for their longtime support. They're the ones that got us on the air in the first place. 26 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:40,000 They'll be the Irwin Prescott and American Legion post-46 and the Charles S. Kettles Vietnam Veterans of America, Chapter 310, both of Ann Arbor, Michigan. 27 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:47,000 If you'd like to become a sponsor or you just want to support Veterans Radio, you can go to our website. That's veteransradio.org. 28 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:53,000 Click on the donate button or click on the sponsor button and all the information that you need is there. 29 00:03:53,000 --> 00:04:02,000 If you want to ask me about it, you can send me an email to dale at veteransradio.org. 30 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:09,000 So that opens that up. So let me introduce our guests today, our regular crew members. 31 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:18,000 Number one is Brian Ayes and Brian is the Public Relations Director Extraordinaire for the Ann Arbor VA Center, Health Care Center. 32 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:23,000 That's our Charles S. Kettles VA Health Care Center. So Brian, welcome back. 33 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:25,000 Thank you. 34 00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:30,000 Your title keeps getting bigger and bigger, so I don't know what is it. 35 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:34,000 It just made me, I'm the mouthpiece of the VA. That's all I mean. 36 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:43,000 There you go. You've been there a while now, so we assume that you are an expert. 37 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:50,000 And also on the line right now is retired Brigadier General in United States Air Force. 38 00:04:50,000 --> 00:05:00,000 Our contact with the legal health for veterans and that's retired general, as I say, Carol Ann Falcone. General, welcome back. 39 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:05,000 Good afternoon, Dale and Brian. Thank you very much. 40 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:24,000 Well, it's a privilege to have both of you on the program because this is what we try to do. We really want to make sure that our veteran listening audience knows what's available to them because sometimes, I can remember going through basic training or flight school, I can't remember which one it was. 41 00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:36,000 You know, they said, you know, there's always that 10% that never gets the message. And so we're just keep, you know, pounding it in and repeating our message through, you know, sign up for the VA. 42 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:42,000 Get your health benefits. If you're qualified for some disability, you can do that as well. 43 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:48,000 So Brian, tell us what's going on at the Charles S. Kettles VA Health Care Center. 44 00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:58,000 Hey guys, it's good to be back. Mainly, you know, we have a few events coming up, focusing on our veterans. You know, we've got coming up next Saturday on the 2nd of March. 45 00:05:58,000 --> 00:06:04,000 We're going to be at our Canton Clinic, the Major General Oliver W. Dillard VA Clinic in Canton. 46 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:16,000 And in that event, we're going to be doing the Veteran Resource and Enrollment Fair. So we're going to have 20 experts there to answer benefits questions, go through anything that you need them to look at. 47 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:22,000 We're answering questions about health care. What you name it, we're going to have an expert there to talk about it. 48 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:28,000 I think we've even got NCA coming there next week, National Cemetery Administration. So they'll be along. 49 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:39,000 And that'll be from 10 until 2 next Saturday. So drop by, you know, if you're in the area and you live in the Canton area, or you happen to be passing through, we'd love to see you there. 50 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:43,000 Be refreshments there too. And should be a nice event. 51 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:48,000 Brian, before you jump on to the next one, where is the Canton Center? 52 00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:55,000 Well, the Canton Clinic is on 5900 North Lotz Road right behind Sam's Club in Canton. 53 00:06:55,000 --> 00:06:57,000 And that's off of Ford Road? 54 00:06:57,000 --> 00:07:03,000 Off of Ford Road. That's right. Yeah. Yeah. Right there, very close to 275. 55 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:13,000 Down the road a little ways from Ikea. But yeah, it's just across just behind, on Lotz, just behind the Sam's Club there. Very nice, very nice place. 56 00:07:13,000 --> 00:07:16,000 That's a nice clinic. It's just gorgeous. 57 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:21,000 Then we're going to be back again this year at USA Hockey for Military and Veterans Appreciation Night. 58 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:25,000 That's coming up Friday, March 15th from 5 until 9. 59 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:33,000 And that's at the USA Hockey Arena at 14900 Beck Road in Plymouth. 60 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:41,000 And that's always a big event. Veterans get in free and they're the rock stars of the evening. So join us for that. 61 00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:46,000 And then of course on March 29th, we've got Vietnam Veterans Day Breakfast and Resource Fair. 62 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:51,000 That's going on to honor our Vietnam veterans. 63 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:59,000 We're actually holding three different events that day. One at the Medical Center in Ann Arbor, one at the clinic in Canton. 64 00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:03,000 And we're doing an event in Toledo at our clinic there as well. 65 00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:09,000 And we'll be having refreshments there and come by and be some folks you can speak to about benefits as well. 66 00:08:09,000 --> 00:08:12,000 Mainly it's a celebration of our Vietnam veterans. 67 00:08:12,000 --> 00:08:15,000 And what time are those? 68 00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:20,000 Those are between 9 and 12 on March 29th. 69 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:24,000 9 and 12. Okay. 70 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:30,000 Those are kind of the big things going on. And of course, you know, we've always got a lot of construction happening. 71 00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:34,000 We're always rebuilding and building on to and improving. 72 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:42,000 So, you know, we're really going through probably the most inconvenient time right now for some folks. 73 00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:46,000 Because we're doing a complete remodel of our primary care area. 74 00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:51,000 So just letting folks know that that can be a little noisy. There's going to be some loud noises there sometimes. 75 00:08:51,000 --> 00:08:57,000 But rest assured, when that's done, our primary care clinic is going to be completely redone. 76 00:08:57,000 --> 00:09:01,000 We're redesigning the exam rooms. Those are going to be larger. 77 00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:06,000 We're going to have more of them. So it should be a pretty nice design rollout. 78 00:09:06,000 --> 00:09:08,000 We're really looking forward to that happening. 79 00:09:08,000 --> 00:09:14,000 Is that going to be in the same area that it is? I know my primary care moved across the hall. 80 00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:19,000 Yeah, it'll be in the same block. 81 00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:23,000 Yeah. We are creatures of habit. 82 00:09:23,000 --> 00:09:28,000 It was really very interesting watching some of, I can't say older anymore. 83 00:09:28,000 --> 00:09:33,000 Some of our, yeah, some of the veterans going, where's the purple team now? 84 00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:38,000 Where are they going? It's right here. No, it's not here. 85 00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:44,000 Right. Yeah. All of that stuff. But you know, it's all about improving services. 86 00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:49,000 The end of the day, improving services for our veterans and in a clean, new, modern space. 87 00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:58,000 Well, and I'm sure that, you know, there is, I'm assuming that there is reconstruction going on in many, many medical centers across the country. 88 00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:07,000 It seems like the federal government finally came up with some funds for us, you know, for you guys to improve your facilities. 89 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:12,000 Yeah. I mean, without getting into the specifics, but there are sort of different buckets of money that you can dip into, right? 90 00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:21,000 And, and, you know, well, while some areas might, you know, have a certain budget, you know, construction might have a completely different budget and that money is set aside, right? 91 00:10:21,000 --> 00:10:28,000 Even, you know, for example, during a, you know, a government shutdown or something like that, VA is what's called advanced appropriated. 92 00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:36,000 So we have our funds well into the future already appropriated, even, even if the government shuts down. 93 00:10:36,000 --> 00:10:39,000 And there's always that chance. 94 00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:41,000 That's always kind of lingering, isn't it? 95 00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:45,000 It's always seems to be out there. They keep threatening each other. 96 00:10:45,000 --> 00:10:48,000 That's my political statement for the day. 97 00:10:48,000 --> 00:11:04,000 You know, though, you know, though, Brian, when it's all done and good results and a good example is the lab, when you sit in there and people talk, do you remember when we used to be jammed in the little corner? 98 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:11,000 And, yeah, oh, yeah, it's so interesting to hear the conversations. 99 00:11:11,000 --> 00:11:24,000 And so, you know, it'll be great when the primary is all done and people aren't wondering where their team has gone, but it'll be worth waiting for. 100 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:26,000 Well, for sure. Yeah, we can't wait for it. 101 00:11:26,000 --> 00:11:48,000 I am sure of that. I think it's, you know, the facility and we're, I'm sorry for all of our audience out there that we're always kind of bragging about the Charles Escaddle healthcare system out here in Ann Albrecht mission, but we are very fortunate, I think, to have an excellent facility associated with a major university. 102 00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:56,000 And I know that there are other VAs out there that are associated with other prestigious medical schools, which is one of the advantage folks. 103 00:11:56,000 --> 00:12:03,000 This is why we keep telling you to at least go and register for your health care at the VA. 104 00:12:03,000 --> 00:12:06,000 You know, you don't have to go there. 105 00:12:06,000 --> 00:12:08,000 No, but it's there. 106 00:12:08,000 --> 00:12:15,000 And that's, I think, is the important message that we would like to get across to you is that it's available to you. 107 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:25,000 Sometimes it can be, you know, if you're using your own private care insurance, it's, you know, it's, they take care of everything for you and sometimes you have to pay and not very big. 108 00:12:25,000 --> 00:12:27,000 I can tell you that. 109 00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:29,000 Companies are very small to VA. 110 00:12:29,000 --> 00:12:44,000 Right. Well, and, and you know, I don't think we take and talk about enough that the VA across the country is one of the leading entities for research. 111 00:12:44,000 --> 00:12:58,000 And so you might be in Michigan, but if you have a unique rare entity, but they're studying it in North Carolina, because that facility has the expert there. 112 00:12:58,000 --> 00:13:04,000 Your information will be fed there and it will be a part of a study. 113 00:13:04,000 --> 00:13:25,000 And isn't that phenomenal that, you know, you could be, you know, your information and your disease could be involved in some study that might result in some benefit to your health. 114 00:13:25,000 --> 00:13:31,000 And so I think the research component of this is phenomenal. 115 00:13:31,000 --> 00:13:35,000 We have a very big research service in Ann Arbor. 116 00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:41,000 A lot of other, you know, VAs around the country do too, especially ones that are affiliated with universities. 117 00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:43,000 Yes. 118 00:13:43,000 --> 00:13:54,000 Well, I know I keep getting, it's not that I have a very rare disease or anything like that, but I do keep getting requests to participate in research or whatever. 119 00:13:54,000 --> 00:14:09,000 The issue happens to be, and if you think about it, you know, for the men and women that are listening to the program that do have unusual diseases or conditions, you're helping the next generation of veterans. 120 00:14:09,000 --> 00:14:13,000 Yes, they can figure out how to cure whatever you have. 121 00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:17,000 What a great, you know, what a great legacy to leave. 122 00:14:17,000 --> 00:14:34,000 When you think about that, you know, and the things that they've come up with, and just to get off on a real quick tangent to remind everybody, you know, if you have had a claim, if you have had a claim for Agent Orange related disease or whatever it is, 123 00:14:34,000 --> 00:14:58,000 you need to go to think about your children and your grandchildren, because this stuff goes down through the genetic tree, and they are asking for grandchildren, especially if there's any physical condition to sign up for the registry for kids. 124 00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:00,000 Yes. 125 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:09,000 You know, if your child, I think the terms I was looking at recently was, you know, birth defects, especially. 126 00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:27,000 And you may, you know, not that you're looking for the money, but you may be qualified, you may qualify for some benefits to, you know, help that child, you know, treatment-wise and, you know, monetarily, you know, throughout their lives. 127 00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:30,000 So, it's always out there. 128 00:15:30,000 --> 00:15:52,000 It ends huge, Dale, because as we saw last year in August of 22, when they finally, Congress responded to, or 23, Camp Lejeune, and everything was blessed, and it included families from the water, and everything that was adjudicated, 129 00:15:52,000 --> 00:16:13,000 and then, you know, coming back and now offsprings, and Agent Orange is another great example that with defects and offsprings, that they could research and go into the research, and I know we've discussed this before, and with, you know, the Vietnam Day coming up again in March. 130 00:16:13,000 --> 00:16:34,000 It's so huge to take a look at, and I think it needs to be reported, it needs to be discussed, and I think it's so good that it's brought up, and, you know, you talk to your practitioners, and that you enroll in the system. 131 00:16:34,000 --> 00:16:51,000 And you don't necessarily have to go to the VA for your care, because it's, you know, you can go anywhere. As long as you notify the VA that you're in, you know, that you're seeing somebody or going to a clinic somewhere, or you have an emergency, or something like that, 132 00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:59,000 possibility of it being covered is great. I think that's the coolest thing about that. 133 00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:16,000 So, oh, the other thing I was mentioning is, you know, we had a question earlier this week from a listener, or actually it was a lawyer regarding an incarcerated person who got out and is looking for some help. 134 00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:28,000 And there are so many clinics that are attached to, you know, most of the VA's out there, isn't that the way it goes, Brian? 135 00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:29,000 Yeah, if you have a clinic. 136 00:17:29,000 --> 00:17:37,000 I mean, not just Ann Arbor, but I'm just saying, you know, that there are, you don't necessarily have to go directly to the VA hospital in your area. 137 00:17:37,000 --> 00:17:47,000 Not necessarily, it depends on the care that you need, but yeah, the clinics are attached to the medical centers. We call them, it's government speak, but we call them CBOX, Community Based Outpatient Clinics. 138 00:17:47,000 --> 00:17:57,000 They're just medical clinics, right? And they're attached to the major medical centers. For example, we have the medical center in Ann Arbor, and then we have nine other locations of care throughout. 139 00:17:57,000 --> 00:18:01,000 Michigan and into Ohio. 140 00:18:01,000 --> 00:18:14,000 I think that's really important, you know, and the idea is, you know, maybe your VA is out in the middle of, I don't want to say where, but maybe there's, you know, you can't get to it. 141 00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:21,000 And there are some of these CBOX out there that are available for you to get at least the start of your care. 142 00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:26,000 Absolutely. You get most of these. You've got your mental health, your primary care. There's usually a blood draw. 143 00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:32,000 So you can get your labs done, maybe even some physical therapy, you know, things like that. 144 00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:39,000 But also just, you know, let me just really underscore the notion that you don't have to go to a VA to enroll in VA health care. 145 00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:51,000 You can go to www.va.gov. There'll be a big button there that says register for health care, and you can just, it'll walk you right through it. It's so easy, real easy. 146 00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:58,000 Get your DD 214 ready because you'll probably need it. But if you can't find it, they'll help you find it. 147 00:18:58,000 --> 00:19:01,000 What else can we do for you, folks? 148 00:19:01,000 --> 00:19:08,000 What else do you want? What does it do? You want us to go to your house and knock on the door and say, hey, come on, come on here, sign up. 149 00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:11,000 I mean, it's all there for you. 150 00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:24,000 And I would really encourage all of our veteran community to, you know, if you have a veteran that you know that is living alone, you know, doesn't have any family any longer or something along those lines. 151 00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:39,000 If you could strike up a relationship with them, find out if they're utilizing the VA and if they're not encourage them to, you know, go online or maybe you can go online with them because there are some people that, you know, the internet is like the big fear factor of the world. 152 00:19:39,000 --> 00:19:42,000 And help them register. 153 00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:58,000 It's all great health care, you know, too. And, you know, a lot of folks have opinions about, you know, VA health care, you know, maybe if they, you know, think about the VA in the 1970s, they may have had a very, very different experience than what the VA is now. 154 00:19:58,000 --> 00:20:25,000 But I can't speak for other health care systems because it's not my role. But as far as VA and Arbor health care system goes, you know, we received a five star rating from CMS, which is the agency that rates, you know, Medicare and Medicaid rates medical centers, both public and private, you know, based on their quality of care and a bunch of metrics, right, and measures. 155 00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:37,000 And, you know, we're one of the few five stars. We even beat a couple of big private hospitals around here, including the University of Michigan, Michigan Medicine, you know, we are as far as quality of care goes. 156 00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:44,000 So, so if you're thinking about quality of care and coming to the VA, the quality is good. It is really good. 157 00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:59,000 I, yeah, again, I encourage people to at least try it out. You know, some, some people have bad experiences with medical issues in civilian hospitals, just as just the same. 158 00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:00,000 And it happens. 159 00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:21,000 And I think that you'll the other thing I think you'll find in most cases is that the VA staff that least I've run into from just the people I see in the hallways, they're all friendly, they're all very helpful. And then, you know, their whole meaning of life is to help you the veteran do what what they can for you. 160 00:21:21,000 --> 00:21:28,000 I mean, you, you were willing to pay that ultimate price. And this is the least that we can do to help you out. 161 00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:35,000 Well, and remember too that the, you know, the employees that you meet at the VA, at least at Ann Arbor, about 30% of them are veterans. 162 00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:36,000 Right. 163 00:21:36,000 --> 00:21:37,000 Yeah. 164 00:21:37,000 --> 00:21:43,000 It's always cool when you go see a tech and you find out what service they were in and what they were doing and so forth. 165 00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:44,000 Yeah. 166 00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:52,000 I can't remember his name right off the hand. It was a Navy guy that was doing CAT scans. 167 00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:58,000 And, you know, I mean, he's a big burly guy, but he was, you know, enter. 168 00:21:58,000 --> 00:22:01,000 I know who you're talking about. I can't, I'm not going to say his name on it. 169 00:22:01,000 --> 00:22:02,000 No, I know. 170 00:22:02,000 --> 00:22:05,000 He had great rapport. 171 00:22:05,000 --> 00:22:06,000 Yeah. 172 00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:16,000 He was very empathetic and alleviated any of my tensions that I had or apprehensions of, you know, getting any of these chess that keeps sending me around for. 173 00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:18,000 Super nice guy and a fellow Navy vet. 174 00:22:18,000 --> 00:22:19,000 Yeah. See. 175 00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:21,000 There you go. 176 00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:27,000 So, you know, again, we're encouraging you to do that. 177 00:22:27,000 --> 00:22:39,000 I think Brian, we're going to kind of go over to the disability side and talk with General Falcone about some of the things that are going on. 178 00:22:39,000 --> 00:22:43,000 And I wish you would hang on because I don't know if this, if you are familiar with these things or not. 179 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:49,000 And I know that we've talked about older veterans care before. 180 00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:52,000 But I think it's, it's important to bring up again. 181 00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:59,000 I keep seeing what motivates me to keep, you know, repeating these stories is I keep seeing these. 182 00:22:59,000 --> 00:23:03,000 They say that they're homeless veterans out there. 183 00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:11,000 And I just want to, you know, grab them, pull them in the car and drive them off to the VA and say, OK, here you go. 184 00:23:11,000 --> 00:23:13,000 They're going to be able to help you. 185 00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:14,000 Yeah. 186 00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:17,000 VA has a robust homeless veteran program. 187 00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:22,000 We house so many veterans, help get them into apartments, safe housing. 188 00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:28,000 You know, we have an entire department that's dedicated to that at every VA medical center. 189 00:23:28,000 --> 00:23:33,000 Okay. Hold on. Is there a, is it, you don't happen to have a phone number for that, do you? 190 00:23:33,000 --> 00:23:36,000 I don't, but they're, they're on the website. 191 00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:38,000 Yeah. They're on the, they're on the website. 192 00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:41,000 It's just called the homeless veteran program. 193 00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:42,000 Yes. 194 00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:44,000 HVP. Yeah. 195 00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:49,000 Okay. Homeless veteran program. I'll look that up while we, when we take a break. 196 00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:51,000 That's a huge priority. 197 00:23:51,000 --> 00:24:04,000 I would, I would think so. And then, and just to get these people a warm meal and warm place to stay and at least for a little while to get them back on their feet, whatever their situation may be is, is again, this is what we're trying to do for you folks. 198 00:24:04,000 --> 00:24:06,000 So please. 199 00:24:06,000 --> 00:24:16,000 The thing I mentioned with the, it said elder care, so it's, you know, we're all elder. No, we're not. 200 00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:24,000 You know, whatever, however, I owe them physically, my brain is still on the 18 years old. 201 00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:35,000 But that there were benefits and it doesn't necessarily have to be family benefits. You know, we've talked about a dependent families before, but this would be just for the individual veteran. 202 00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:44,000 And it was, you know, it was the aid in attendance thing. And you can, can you talk about that either general or Brian? 203 00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:47,000 Well, well, the aid in attendance. 204 00:24:47,000 --> 00:24:55,000 It depends. Is it for the veteran Dale or is the aid in attendance for the spouse? 205 00:24:55,000 --> 00:24:57,000 It's for the veteran per se. 206 00:24:57,000 --> 00:25:17,000 Okay, so the aid in attendance is going to deal with the veteran and then there's a couple elements to this because does I would say does the veteran have a disability benefit already because then depending on what he has and I think we've talked about this before. 207 00:25:17,000 --> 00:25:39,000 Depending on the percentage, we could go after what is called pension and does he have special he or she have special monthly compensation and does he have special monthly compensation and what is the disability. 208 00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:51,000 But with aid in attendance, it's really important with daily activity needs. Could they bathe themselves? Could they feed themselves? 209 00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:54,000 Are they toileting? 210 00:25:54,000 --> 00:26:14,000 Could they, you know, do they drive? Do they do their own laundry? How much assistance do they need for those daily activities of living? And when you have three or four elements that, you know, you really need assistance with, are you homebound? 211 00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:38,000 You know, you can't leave your house. Some of our young veterans, and that's where I was having discussions pre, when you've got severe PTSD and you've got that anxiety and the fear, and you're 30 and 40 years old, and you can't even leave your house and you're homebound, you know, you sort of fit in this category. 212 00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:58,000 And so you just have to break down all of the elements and look at each veteran and each case as a separate element and break it down, Dale. So that's why sometimes it's really hard to give a direct answer. 213 00:26:58,000 --> 00:27:24,000 But then with aid in attendance, there is a form and an application and you go back through the VA and we could help with that. And it's a combination of looking at the disability benefits and then how could the veteran get some care and looking at the whole pieces. 214 00:27:24,000 --> 00:27:50,000 Well, yeah, and that's the whole thing that we want to do. We mentioned before we went on the air that we were asked that the next item was going to be talking about incarcerated veterans and joining me on the line right now is we have a phone in from attorney Laura Sutton who sent us an email regarding an incarcerated veteran who just got out and we're trying to figure out how to help him. 215 00:27:50,000 --> 00:27:54,000 So Laura, welcome to Veterans Radio. 216 00:27:54,000 --> 00:28:09,000 Thank you. I do have to correct that he's not out. We're trying to get him out. And we are filing a commutation request for this man. He's in Dwayne Waters Hospital right now. He's totally blind and bedridden. 217 00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:25,000 But he does have a honorable service record. He was a Marine. He served a tour in Vietnam and has medals and we're trying to get him really he's 75 almost 76 years old and he has spent 50 years in prison. 218 00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:43,000 He needs all kinds of help once he gets out. But is there any way we can start the because all this stuff takes time and including our commutation process. But I know that the Michigan Department of Corrections would not want to even if they were inclined to release him, 219 00:28:43,000 --> 00:29:00,000 put him out with no prospects and nowhere to be. He does have a family member, a daughter, which could provide him maybe some very short term temporary care but he needs care, being blind and unable to walk. He needs care. 220 00:29:00,000 --> 00:29:24,000 But see Laura, this is Carolian. So the VSO who's not on our line today and legal help for veterans we already talked before this and we were going to give you a call, say tomorrow to start to put the pieces together but this would be a great team effort because as Brian is I'm sure 221 00:29:24,000 --> 00:29:41,000 still on the phone. If we could get him placed. He would be a great candidate for one of the programs with the VHA on the hospital side, along with the VBA side, which is called the family caregivers program. 222 00:29:41,000 --> 00:30:06,000 And if we get him even in there, and if there wasn't even a family member, we could get him into the general caregivers program where we could get somebody to give him care, because if he's blind, he might, you know, he might be out there already extremely eligible for a very high level disability. 223 00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:11,000 But we have to apply for those issues and get him out of prison first. 224 00:30:11,000 --> 00:30:24,000 I know that that's our problem. And, you know, it's sort of the fact that we're trying to get him out, but we have to have some kind of a network for him to, if they do release him to go to because he does need care. 225 00:30:24,000 --> 00:30:36,000 And we thought of the VA right away because he is a veteran. He does have an honorable discharge. He has a very good service record and he needs, like I said, he needs care. 226 00:30:36,000 --> 00:30:48,000 And he would be a very easy patient to work with because he knows who he is and where he is. He just can't see. So it would be, he would be easy to work with. 227 00:30:48,000 --> 00:30:54,000 If you plan to call me tomorrow, I would really appreciate it. And I can give you more specific details. 228 00:30:54,000 --> 00:31:03,000 Yes. And I want to tie up the whole radio program, but I would really appreciate a call and I will be here. 229 00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:11,000 Yeah. David and I from the Washtenaw community, our VSO. 230 00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:12,000 Yes. 231 00:31:12,000 --> 00:31:17,000 I already had discussed that, that you would be receiving a call tomorrow. 232 00:31:17,000 --> 00:31:24,000 Wonderful. I will be here. Are you going to call me on my cell phone or my office phone? I gave you both numbers. 233 00:31:24,000 --> 00:31:27,000 We'll make sure it happens. 234 00:31:27,000 --> 00:31:30,000 Okay. I will be here. I will be here. 235 00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:32,000 See, it works. 236 00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:34,000 Yay. 237 00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:46,000 Yay. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it because not having had a veteran in my, well, I did have a veteran in my family, but one that was not eligible for VA care in a long time. 238 00:31:46,000 --> 00:31:55,000 This was all new to me. So thank you so much. I appreciate it. And I'll share the information that I have with my co-counsel. Thank you so much. 239 00:31:55,000 --> 00:32:06,000 Well, God bless you for helping this veteran. We really appreciate that because that's what it also takes. 240 00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:13,000 People out there like you, your time and your energy to help a veteran. So thank you, Laura. 241 00:32:13,000 --> 00:32:21,000 Well, you're welcome. I'm more than willing to do it because he's very deserving. So thank you. Thank you very, very much. 242 00:32:21,000 --> 00:32:33,000 Thank you very much, Laura, for calling us. And as you know, you're going to be hearing from some experts tomorrow. And I think they might be able to help you out. 243 00:32:33,000 --> 00:32:38,000 I think she's gone. Okay. 244 00:32:38,000 --> 00:32:44,000 Again, this is what we try to do here on Veterans Radio. We'll do anything we can to help our fellow veterans. 245 00:32:44,000 --> 00:32:56,000 And so if you know of somebody who is having a problem, even a problem with a disability or a problem with a hospitalization, you know, we know who to contact. 246 00:32:56,000 --> 00:33:08,000 We have, you know, people that can help out. And so that's what we wanted to remind you about. So if you have a question yourself, you could give us a call 734-822-1600. 247 00:33:08,000 --> 00:33:24,000 I need to take a quick break. And when we come back, I wanted to talk a little bit about a little bit more about that incarcerated thing, because there's a lot of things that are available to people who have been incarcerated 248 00:33:24,000 --> 00:33:34,000 who think for whatever reason they might have lost. I mean, I'll go into details when we come back. So when you're listening to Veterans Radio, we will be right back. 249 00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:46,000 The Medal of Honor is the highest award for valor and combat, given a member of the Armed Forces of the United States. There have been over 3,400 recipients of the nation's highest award. This is one of them. 250 00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:55,000 Staff Sergeant Drew Dix was working on a CIA project near Cambodia when the Tet Offensive began. Details after this. 251 00:33:55,000 --> 00:34:03,000 If you have a VA claim denied by the Board of Veterans Appeals, contact Legal Help for Veterans at 1-800-693-4800. 252 00:34:03,000 --> 00:34:11,000 They're experts in handling cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. Their number again, 1-800-693-4800. 253 00:34:11,000 --> 00:34:19,000 Dix's mission was to coordinate intelligence gathering with a unit made up mainly of indigenous Vietnamese, Cambodians, and Chinese Nungs. 254 00:34:19,000 --> 00:34:26,000 In late January, Dix and his men were operating with part of a SEAL platoon to get information about a rumored Viet Cong offensive. 255 00:34:26,000 --> 00:34:34,000 On January 31st, Dix's unit returned to base to find the Tet Offensive had begun and the city had been overrun. 256 00:34:34,000 --> 00:34:42,000 When they tried to land, they encountered heavy fire. One SEAL was killed, the others pulled out, leaving Dix with only a handful of indigenous soldiers. 257 00:34:42,000 --> 00:34:49,000 He moved through the city, picking up pockets of friendly soldiers. His first mission was to rescue an American nurse. 258 00:34:49,000 --> 00:34:56,000 Then he brought several CIA employees to safety. Dix and his men moved through the city in an effort to liberate it. 259 00:34:56,000 --> 00:35:03,000 He assaulted a building alone in the face of heavy fire to rescue two Filipinos. He killed six Viet Cong and brought out the men. 260 00:35:03,000 --> 00:35:09,000 Dix and his men fought through the night, taking back the hotel, theater, embassy house, and other buildings. 261 00:35:09,000 --> 00:35:17,000 On February 2nd, after 56 hours of battle, the city was freed. Dix's men had killed an estimated 200 V.C. 262 00:35:17,000 --> 00:35:23,000 He was presented the Medal of Honor by President Johnson on January 16th, 1969. 263 00:35:23,000 --> 00:35:26,000 The Medal of Honor series is a production of Veterans Radio. 264 00:35:26,000 --> 00:35:32,000 Military veterans touch everyone's life. I'm guessing right now you're thinking of a veteran, a close friend, 265 00:35:32,000 --> 00:35:39,000 relative. Maybe it's you. Even the toughest of us sometimes need help, but don't know where to turn for support. 266 00:35:39,000 --> 00:35:45,000 You don't need special training to help a veteran in your life. We can all help someone going through a difficult time. 267 00:35:45,000 --> 00:35:52,000 Learn how you can be there for veterans. Visit VeteransCrisisLine.net. VeteransCrisisLine.net. 268 00:35:52,000 --> 00:35:56,000 A message from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. 269 00:35:56,000 --> 00:36:09,000 We're back here on Veterans Radio here to answer any of your questions regarding the VA, hospital side, and disability side, if we can. 270 00:36:09,000 --> 00:36:13,000 Or at least we can point you in the right direction where you can get the information that you need. 271 00:36:13,000 --> 00:36:21,000 Our guests are Brian Hayes from the Ann Arbor VA and General Retired General Caroline Fauston for legal help for veterans. 272 00:36:21,000 --> 00:36:34,000 Brian, I just wanted to let you know that we did receive your other PSAs from the VA and we will be attaching those to our Medal of Honor things as we go along. 273 00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:37,000 Great. Thank you. 274 00:36:37,000 --> 00:36:47,000 Here we go. All right. And speaking of upcoming events, we've got Leroy Prages on the phone calling in from Belleville with an upcoming Veterans Benefits Event, 275 00:36:47,000 --> 00:36:52,000 I think in the next week or so. So Leroy, welcome to Veterans Radio. 276 00:36:52,000 --> 00:37:02,000 Thank you, Dale. First of all, I'd like to say thank you in general for your service in the military. 277 00:37:02,000 --> 00:37:06,000 And I also am a veteran. I served in Vietnam. 278 00:37:06,000 --> 00:37:17,000 But most importantly is this Veterans Resource Event going on Thursday, February 29th from 10 o'clock in the morning till 2. 279 00:37:17,000 --> 00:37:24,000 And first I thought when you were announcing it earlier that you had got the fire that I sent in. 280 00:37:24,000 --> 00:37:31,000 So I said, well, I'm just going to hang in there and see if you're able to announce it. 281 00:37:31,000 --> 00:37:45,000 And I said, well, let me, I have something else I'd like to share with you about my, you might say lack of being able to get benefits through the VA. 282 00:37:45,000 --> 00:37:52,000 But anyway, I still wanted to make sure that we announced this Veterans Resource Event. 283 00:37:52,000 --> 00:38:00,000 Okay. Leroy, can you tell us, you said it's on Thursday the 29th from 10 to 2 and where is this being held? 284 00:38:00,000 --> 00:38:14,000 This is at the River of Life Assembly of God Church, 16650, Sumpter Road, about 2 miles south of Belleville on Sumpter Road. 285 00:38:14,000 --> 00:38:21,000 Okay. And those that are familiar, you head south out of Belleville and hit Sumpter Road and... 286 00:38:21,000 --> 00:38:26,000 Right. Before you get to Beeman's Road, there will be a church on the right-hand side. 287 00:38:26,000 --> 00:38:35,000 We, you know, normally you'll be able to tell that we were there with all the flags that we have flying on the flypoles. 288 00:38:35,000 --> 00:38:39,000 But right now, because of the winter, they're not there. 289 00:38:39,000 --> 00:38:46,000 But anyhow, it's right on the right-hand side as you go south on Sumpter Road. You really can't miss it. 290 00:38:46,000 --> 00:38:51,000 Okay. We will do that. Thank you very much, Leroy. And best wishes. 291 00:38:51,000 --> 00:38:55,000 I know you're going to have some resources there to help out Veterans again as well. 292 00:38:55,000 --> 00:39:00,000 There are resources going on all over the country, folks. 293 00:39:00,000 --> 00:39:08,000 And if you try to pay attention and try to see if you can find them, I think you're going to help yourself out or help out a friend. 294 00:39:08,000 --> 00:39:13,000 You know, the American Legion has this buddy check in it. I think it's called Buddy Check. 295 00:39:13,000 --> 00:39:22,000 And it's really kind of neat. I thought it was cool because they call every once a month they call and just see if you're still here. 296 00:39:22,000 --> 00:39:26,000 And I think that that's really neat of them to do that. 297 00:39:26,000 --> 00:39:35,000 So again, thank you, Leroy, for that. If you have any events that you want to promote, you know, especially in our local area or even out in, you know, we are affiliates in California, 298 00:39:35,000 --> 00:39:49,000 PayMET out there. We've got affiliates in Detroit, WDTK, and, oh, I just got an email today that WDTK is replaying our program on Saturdays at noon. 299 00:39:49,000 --> 00:39:55,000 I don't know how long that's going to go on, but we want to thank them for doing that. 300 00:39:55,000 --> 00:40:01,000 And we're also at KFOW outside of Minnesota. So you can always, you know, if you miss something, you can go there. 301 00:40:01,000 --> 00:40:10,000 Today's program will be uploaded probably by about 7 o'clock Eastern time and you'll be able to listen to what we talked about today. 302 00:40:10,000 --> 00:40:24,000 Right. I want to make an announcement. I don't know if Brian was going to do this, but coming up shortly, and the VA's already started it. 303 00:40:24,000 --> 00:40:35,000 The VA will no longer send any veteran benefits to multiple bank accounts. And I really think this is huge. 304 00:40:35,000 --> 00:40:50,000 And they hope to have this all completed by April 20th. So if you're out there and you're receiving benefits from to multiple bank accounts. 305 00:40:50,000 --> 00:40:58,000 And the reason one of the big reasons they're doing this is to try to decrease some of the fraud that's going on with checks. 306 00:40:58,000 --> 00:41:08,000 And we just recently had several of that, those checks occur with some of our own veterans. 307 00:41:08,000 --> 00:41:16,000 And we had to track it down. And now we're dealing with applying to debt management to work through the system. 308 00:41:16,000 --> 00:41:24,000 So our veteran doesn't have to repay those benefits for the second check that was issued. 309 00:41:24,000 --> 00:41:38,000 The veteran never got those benefits. And so when they issued the second check, it was because, you know, he should have got the check in Michigan, but it was cashed in Texas. 310 00:41:38,000 --> 00:41:51,000 So they are really trying to do away and to, and, you know, reduce the fraud. I never thought about that happening. 311 00:41:51,000 --> 00:42:01,000 When I saw this, and then don't you think this has happened two or three times in the last couple months with these fraudulent checks. 312 00:42:01,000 --> 00:42:09,000 And I was surprised, but the multiple bank accounts, this is probably going to be affecting across the country. 313 00:42:09,000 --> 00:42:17,000 50,000 veterans that this is happening to. So they hope to notify you. 314 00:42:17,000 --> 00:42:26,000 And the big group that this is really affecting that they're trying to contact directly are the student veterans. 315 00:42:26,000 --> 00:42:33,000 I guess the ones that are in school that are getting their benefits, maybe they're going to a different account. 316 00:42:33,000 --> 00:42:42,000 If they're getting student benefits, books and tuition and things like that, and then they're getting maybe a VA benefit. 317 00:42:42,000 --> 00:42:54,000 So I was thinking about that. Holy moly, you know, that that could really create a problem. So I just wanted to make that announcement to make people aware. 318 00:42:54,000 --> 00:43:01,000 That's okay. I had it here. Seems to me somebody from legal help sent me an email earlier in the week about this. 319 00:43:01,000 --> 00:43:19,000 Here's I have the sheet in front of me. It says instead, if veterans do not consolidate their distributions into one account by August by April 20, it says the department processes will begin to send all of the benefits to a single account, but it doesn't say which one. 320 00:43:19,000 --> 00:43:38,000 So you've got to let them know or you know, you've got to keep an eye out as to where all these these checks might end up. And they know that they're they're apologetic that such a move could cause some financial problems for individuals expecting to find the money in bank a and it turns up to be in credit union C. 321 00:43:38,000 --> 00:43:50,000 Yeah, so you got to start looking for that and they're going to be doing that over the next two months. Read your mail. Folks, right, going to be sending you notifications that this is going to be occurring. 322 00:43:50,000 --> 00:43:57,000 And I'm sure that there'll probably be some online site that you can go to to consolidate where the money is going to go. 323 00:43:57,000 --> 00:44:16,000 You don't even think about it Dale but you know when I started to peel back that onion. If you do have multiple accounts. Think about this. What if you have bills, electric bills, gas bills, all of these bills being paying by this account, and then other bills and things being 324 00:44:16,000 --> 00:44:30,000 paid by this account. And if you don't take care of it, and the VA decides, okay, we're going to go to this account, you're going to be late. What if it's a mortgage or another payment, then you're going to be in big time trouble. 325 00:44:30,000 --> 00:44:42,000 It's going to be a mess. It's going to be a mess. So make sure that you know, read your mail. As I said, read your mail. They're not going to call you. 326 00:44:42,000 --> 00:44:56,000 They don't call you and ask you questions and things, but make sure that you do this. I just wanted to talk briefly about this incarcerated veterans thing because I hadn't even thought about it. 327 00:44:56,000 --> 00:45:11,000 And I was reading online on the VA website about this and you know, if you happen to be a veteran and you happen to be incarcerated or incarcerated, especially for in a federal prison, you lose your benefits. 328 00:45:11,000 --> 00:45:30,000 And the vast majority of them, it's that and sometimes you have to work with somebody, let's suppose that you have dependents, you have to work with a veteran service officer or somebody within that spectrum of how you can keep some of them. 329 00:45:30,000 --> 00:45:42,000 You are not entitled to them while you're in prison, but you may be able to get some of them sent to your families. At least that's what it says here. And then there are re re entry programs, of course. 330 00:45:42,000 --> 00:45:59,000 And we touched on this earlier in the program if you have been incarcerated. And, you know, once you get out, which is what we're going to have to, you're going to be having to deal with with the attorney we were talking to, you're going to have to reapply. 331 00:45:59,000 --> 00:46:12,000 Unfortunately, for all of that. So get the help that you need. Ask for help. Don't be afraid. Don't be stubborn. And I'll figure this out. 332 00:46:12,000 --> 00:46:28,000 Don't try to do it on your own. It's much too complicated. And I encourage you to, you know, get the help that you need, whether it's medical care, or it's, you know, if you were on disability before you got in trouble, 333 00:46:28,000 --> 00:46:38,000 you could still get it back. So don't, you know, don't think that just because you were, you know, sent away for a while, that you've lost everything. 334 00:46:38,000 --> 00:46:44,000 There are people out there that will do everything they can to make you as whole as possible. 335 00:46:44,000 --> 00:46:59,000 Caroline, you had, you wanted to, I know you wanted to comment on that. I think the important thing is, you know, in any situation, it's filling out the right paperwork, understanding the system. 336 00:46:59,000 --> 00:47:11,000 You know, if you need an open heart surgery, you're not going to go to a cardiologist who's done it for the first time, you're going to want to go to somebody that's done it 1000 times. 337 00:47:11,000 --> 00:47:22,000 And so, you know, in, in talking to Dave earlier and knowing that, you know, he was, we were talking about Colin Laura tomorrow. 338 00:47:22,000 --> 00:47:35,000 It's getting the paperwork right, assisting where we could to help this veteran with this incarceration, or any item that it could be aid in attendance, 339 00:47:35,000 --> 00:47:48,000 incarceration, getting a veteran's benefit, helping with a dependency, a death to get a widow on DIC. It doesn't matter. 340 00:47:48,000 --> 00:48:00,000 Contact somebody, don't try to do it by yourself. You know, reach out and ask one of the experts to help you. 341 00:48:00,000 --> 00:48:10,000 Brian, I don't know if you're the expert on this or not, but, you know, you mentioned the homeless programs that the VA does have. You know, it sounds like this. 342 00:48:10,000 --> 00:48:15,000 Marine, when he gets out, he's going to have nowhere to go. 343 00:48:15,000 --> 00:48:30,000 Well, you know, I'm not sure if the homeless program is going to be exactly what's right for him. We have, you know, programs that will, you know, help veterans find, you know, living situations where they need, you know, special care. 344 00:48:30,000 --> 00:48:35,000 And we can, they can, you know, definitely have infrastructure to help set that up. 345 00:48:35,000 --> 00:48:50,000 VA also has a very good blind rehab program to specialize in it. So there are ways that we can get in and help them, you know, get what they need, you know, you know, considering their disability, right. 346 00:48:50,000 --> 00:48:58,000 So, you know, it's, you know, the, I guess the top line message is, you know, there's so many services that VA offers. 347 00:48:58,000 --> 00:49:07,000 You really just got to poke around and look and ask questions because chances are, if there's something that you need and you're a veteran, we have it for you. 348 00:49:07,000 --> 00:49:18,000 And I think that that that's the message that we want to get out because as the lawyer that was on the program a little bit earlier pointed out that she was not familiar with how the VA works. 349 00:49:18,000 --> 00:49:26,000 And, you know, she's just her goal right now is to get this, you know, Marine out of jail. He's been there for 50 years for Pete's sake. 350 00:49:26,000 --> 00:49:30,000 And he's totally, you know, pretty much it sounds like he's totally disabled. 351 00:49:30,000 --> 00:49:43,000 Yeah, it's a shame really, just, you know, just got to ask the questions and look and, and, you know, VA is not a big mysterious monolith, you know, just go to va.gov and poke around and you'll find so many things that can be helpful. 352 00:49:43,000 --> 00:49:51,000 And that's for all the veterans listening, not just the veteran that we're talking about, but for everybody. It's a comprehensive website, very easy to navigate. 353 00:49:51,000 --> 00:50:01,000 It was designed specifically to be an easy to navigate website. So hit va.gov. It'll take you to every place you need to go to find out what you need. 354 00:50:01,000 --> 00:50:03,000 That's where I got all my information from. 355 00:50:03,000 --> 00:50:04,000 Uh huh. 356 00:50:04,000 --> 00:50:05,000 Yeah. 357 00:50:05,000 --> 00:50:06,000 Well, it's there. 358 00:50:06,000 --> 00:50:13,000 Medical Center. Yeah. And each medical center has their own website to ours is Ann Arbor dot va.gov. 359 00:50:13,000 --> 00:50:15,000 So that's easy to remember, right? 360 00:50:15,000 --> 00:50:16,000 Right. 361 00:50:16,000 --> 00:50:17,000 Right. 362 00:50:17,000 --> 00:50:31,000 And it is, and it is very user friendly. And again, we, you know, I hate to keep repeating it, but we just encouraging you, if you're not in the system, in this case, get in the system. 363 00:50:31,000 --> 00:50:36,000 That's all we want you to do because you don't know whether you're going to need it or not. 364 00:50:36,000 --> 00:50:37,000 Right. 365 00:50:37,000 --> 00:50:44,000 Yeah, that really is the first step. You really, really got to enroll. And if you've tried to enroll before, and you weren't successful, your circumstances may have changed. 366 00:50:44,000 --> 00:50:49,000 Oftentimes the laws change. Do it again, you know, enroll again. 367 00:50:49,000 --> 00:50:54,000 Um, you know, if you're, if you're rolling for healthcare, that's fine. 368 00:50:54,000 --> 00:51:03,000 Also, I want to remind folks too, you know, if you're having, if there's a veteran that's having a mental health crisis, the nature of their discharge doesn't matter. 369 00:51:03,000 --> 00:51:09,000 They can get that mental health care through VA by reporting to a VA to get the care they need if they're in crisis. 370 00:51:09,000 --> 00:51:18,000 So when we, you know, I just want to kind of just highlight that because oftentimes when we talk about VA care, we talk about, you know, honorably discharged, general discharge, that kind of thing. 371 00:51:18,000 --> 00:51:29,000 But we often forget about, you know, folks who, you know, may, may have a mental health crisis. It doesn't matter what the nature of your discharge was, you will get the care you need for your mental health at VA. 372 00:51:29,000 --> 00:51:32,000 I think that's a really important message there. 373 00:51:32,000 --> 00:51:39,000 And, um, there are so many people that think that they don't have anything available to them. 374 00:51:39,000 --> 00:51:45,000 Yeah. And this is, you know, that I was not aware of that. That's, that's cool. 375 00:51:45,000 --> 00:51:53,000 Yeah, that was a deal that was signed into law, I believe last year or maybe late, late 2022 is called the compact act. 376 00:51:53,000 --> 00:52:04,000 There are so many changes that have occurred over the last 10, 20 years. You know, I talked to veterans and say, oh, I tried to be a back in the 70s. It was terrible. 377 00:52:04,000 --> 00:52:07,000 Yeah, it's it's it's not that VA anymore. 378 00:52:07,000 --> 00:52:09,000 No, it's not your father's Buick. 379 00:52:09,000 --> 00:52:11,000 It's no. 380 00:52:11,000 --> 00:52:18,000 It's a new entity, and it is much more user, much more user friendly. 381 00:52:18,000 --> 00:52:21,000 And again, we encourage you to do that. 382 00:52:21,000 --> 00:52:25,000 We're coming up on two minutes to go. 383 00:52:25,000 --> 00:52:28,000 It's really fast, doesn't it sometimes? 384 00:52:28,000 --> 00:52:34,000 There is there any other thing that you want to touch on either one of you? 385 00:52:34,000 --> 00:52:43,000 I just think if you have any doubts about benefits or if there's anything out there, just reach out and ask the questions. 386 00:52:43,000 --> 00:52:48,000 There's enough great people out there that are willing to help you. 387 00:52:48,000 --> 00:52:57,000 And that also goes for family members, because I think we overlook our family members sometimes. 388 00:52:57,000 --> 00:53:02,000 Yeah, we don't we don't talk to them enough. 389 00:53:02,000 --> 00:53:07,000 Tell them what's available to them and they know to to us at same one. 390 00:53:07,000 --> 00:53:14,000 Yeah, yeah, you can always just just wanted to just remind you, you know, go to va.gov, get your questions answered. 391 00:53:14,000 --> 00:53:21,000 If you'd like if you'd rather speak to somebody in person, you can always report to a local medical center or clinic and there'll be somebody there that can help you to. 392 00:53:21,000 --> 00:53:24,000 But also show up at some of the big events that we have. 393 00:53:24,000 --> 00:53:25,000 We do events all year long. 394 00:53:25,000 --> 00:53:32,000 Last year we did 173 outreach events just in the Ann Arbor area, just reaching out to veterans to tell them about their benefits. 395 00:53:32,000 --> 00:53:39,000 Remember next Saturday, 10 o'clock to two o'clock at the Canton Seabock right behind the Sam's Club on Lotz Road. 396 00:53:39,000 --> 00:53:44,000 Okay, and I have another announcement from March real quick that I want to remind everybody. 397 00:53:44,000 --> 00:53:50,000 Hey, we're getting a section of I 94 named Vietnam Veterans Memorial Highway. 398 00:53:50,000 --> 00:53:55,000 There's going to be a there's going to be a ceremony on that on the 29th of March. 399 00:53:55,000 --> 00:54:04,000 And it's going to be at the VA Memorial here, not the VA, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial here in Washtenaw County. 400 00:54:04,000 --> 00:54:06,000 I know that we're running out of time. 401 00:54:06,000 --> 00:54:08,000 Thank you both very much for being on our program. 402 00:54:08,000 --> 00:54:13,000 We encourage everybody to come back at the end of next month because we're going to be doing our benefits program again. 403 00:54:13,000 --> 00:54:17,000 So if any questions come along, let us know about that. 404 00:54:17,000 --> 00:54:20,000 Thank you very much for being on our program today. 405 00:54:20,000 --> 00:54:22,000 He's very helpful, I think. 406 00:54:22,000 --> 00:54:23,000 Thank you. 407 00:54:23,000 --> 00:54:24,000 Okay, thank you, Brian. 408 00:54:24,000 --> 00:54:25,000 Thank you, Caroline. 409 00:54:25,000 --> 00:54:27,000 Appreciate it very much. 410 00:54:27,000 --> 00:54:30,000 So this is Reba McIntyre going to be doing God bless America today. 411 00:54:30,000 --> 00:54:32,000 So until next week, this is Dale Throne. 412 00:54:32,000 --> 00:54:34,000 Mary for all of us here at Veterans Radio. 413 00:54:34,000 --> 00:54:36,000 You are dismissed. 414 00:54:36,000 --> 00:54:41,000 God bless America. 415 00:54:41,000 --> 00:54:47,000 The land that I love. 416 00:54:47,000 --> 00:54:53,000 Stand beside her and guide her 417 00:54:53,000 --> 00:54:59,000 Through the night with the light from above 418 00:54:59,000 --> 00:55:05,000 From the mountains to the breeze 419 00:55:05,000 --> 00:55:12,000 To the oceans quiet with full moon 420 00:55:12,000 --> 00:55:24,000 God bless America, my home sweet home 421 00:55:24,000 --> 00:55:26,000 Everybody stand in their seats 422 00:55:26,000 --> 00:55:38,000 God bless America, the land that I love 423 00:55:38,000 --> 00:55:44,000 Stand beside her and guide her 424 00:55:44,000 --> 00:55:50,000 Through the night with the light from above 425 00:55:50,000 --> 00:55:56,000 From the mountains to the breeze 426 00:55:56,000 --> 00:56:03,000 To the oceans quiet with full moon 427 00:56:03,000 --> 00:56:15,000 God bless America, my home sweet home 428 00:56:15,000 --> 00:56:30,000 God bless America, my home sweet home 429 00:56:30,000 --> 00:56:45,000 America, my home sweet home 430 00:57:00,000 --> 00:57:02,000 It's really affordable too. 431 00:57:02,000 --> 00:57:06,000 All Loudoun County transit buses can accommodate accessibility needs. 432 00:57:06,000 --> 00:57:10,000 And if you have an emergency, you might qualify for the guaranteed ride home program. 433 00:57:10,000 --> 00:57:12,000 Want to know more? 434 00:57:12,000 --> 00:57:15,000 Go to Loudoun.gov slash Ryder information. 435 00:57:15,000 --> 00:57:19,000 With Lucky Land slots, you can get lucky just about anywhere. 436 00:57:19,000 --> 00:57:22,000 Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to... 437 00:57:22,000 --> 00:57:24,000 Has anyone seen the bride and groom? 438 00:57:24,000 --> 00:57:26,000 Sorry, sorry, we're here. 439 00:57:26,000 --> 00:57:29,000 We were getting lucky in the limo when we lost track of time. 440 00:57:29,000 --> 00:57:33,000 We're at the limo Lucky Land casino with cash prizes that add up quicker than a guest registry. 441 00:57:33,000 --> 00:57:36,000 In that case, I pronounce you lucky. 442 00:57:36,000 --> 00:57:38,000 Play for free at LuckyLand Slots dot com. 443 00:57:38,000 --> 00:57:40,000 Daily bonuses are waiting. 444 00:57:40,000 --> 00:57:41,000 No purchase necessary. 445 00:57:41,000 --> 00:57:42,000 Boyd were prohibited by law. 446 00:57:42,000 --> 00:57:44,000 18 plus terms and conditions apply. 447 00:57:44,000 --> 00:58:00,000 We'll be back with a new website for details.