All across America and around the world, this is Veterans Radio.
This is Veterans Radio.
And now your host for today's program, Dale Throneberry.
Hey, and welcome to Veterans Radio.
My name is Dale Throneberry, a CW2 type helicopter pilot in Vietnam, 1969.
I'm getting really old here.
Anyway, welcome to today's program.
It is our benefits program.
So if you have any questions about your disability claims or what's going on at the VA, you
can give us a call a little bit later on, at 734-822-1600.
And before we get to that, though, we're going to be talking with a young woman, a clinical
psychologist.
Wow, this is kind of interesting to me.
And I'm going to bring her on in just a minute.
That's Nicole French.
And she's from an organization called Veterans Bridge Home, which I just found out about.
And it sounds really awesome.
You know how here on Veterans Radio, we like to promote other veterans organizations that
are going on out there to help veterans.
And so we're going to be bringing them on in just a second.
And as I mentioned before, after that interview, we'll get into our benefits question and answer
period.
Before we do that, I have to thank our sponsors because we just can't do this program without
them.
And, you know, it's been such an honor for these folks.
They've been, some of them, sponsoring for many, many years.
For instance, Legal Health for Veterans.
Legal Health for Veterans specializes in veterans disability claims.
You can call Legal Health for Veterans at 800-693-4800 or go to their website, Legal
Health for Veterans dot com.
The National Veterans Business Development Council, better known as NVBDC, is the nation's
leading third party authority for certification of veteran owned businesses.
If you want to do business and you're a veteran owned business with the federal government
or many corporations, you need to become certified that says you actually are a real veteran
owned business.
These are the guys that can help you out.
That's the National Veterans Business Development Council.
So for more information, you can go to their website.
That's NVBDC dot org or give them a call at 888-237-8433.
The Charles S. Kettles VA Medical Center here in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
For more information, go to VA dot gov slash Ann Arbor Health Care.
The National Vietnam Veterans of America.
Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another.
For more information, go to their website.
That's VVA dot org and locally the Erwin Prescott and American Legion Post 46 and the Charles
S. Kettles Vietnam Veterans of America, Chapter 310, both of Ann Arbor, Michigan.
If you'd like to support Veterans Radio, please go to our website, Veterans Radio dot org
and click on the donate button.
And a real quick plug and I'll get into this more a little bit later on.
Coming up on Sunday, September 22nd here locally is that says save the date.
This is our annual fundraiser, Radio on the River, songs of service.
And I want to encourage you to come on out if you're in Southeast Michigan, Northwest
Ohio, anywhere within 100 miles, come on out.
You need to go to our website, Veterans Radio dot org and scroll down and it's down near
the bottom.
It says Radio on the River.
Our guests this year are going to include, excuse me, are going to include Doug Bradley
and Doug is a Vietnam veteran.
He's also historian about the music of Vietnam.
He's at the University of Wisconsin and he's written a book and of course we all know this
song titled We Got to Get Out of This Place and it's the soundtrack of the Vietnam War.
So he's going to be there with his playlist and to explain the meetings of all of those
songs so come on out and that of course we also have John Bernstein.
John is the curator of the arms and armor collection at the National Museum of the Marine
Corps and he's going to be there talking about Marine Corps music.
By the way, for those of you sports fans locally, the newest director of the Michigan Marching
Band is a retired Marine Colonel who was in charge of the Marines, the Marine Bands, all
of the Marine Bands.
So he said that he's going to come out too.
So we're excited to talk about the music and to tell stories and to raise funds and great
food, great fun.
2 to 5 p.m. on Sunday, September 22nd and we're going to do a live program from the
event at 5 p.m.
So come on out, stick around, I think you'll have a good time.
So that's Radio on the River, Sunday, 22nd of September, 2 to 5 p.m. locally.
Okay, so pause, take a break, breathe.
Joining me right now on the line is Dr. Nicole French and she is the clinical director at
the Veterans Bridge home.
She is a licensed psychologist.
She's separated from the Army after nine and a half years of active duty.
She's currently in the reserve.
She's a colonel, so I've already saluted her and to make sure that everything goes well.
But she's gotten involved with this organization.
So I'm going to bring her right on to explain to us what Veterans Bridge home is.
So Nicole, welcome to the program.
Thank you, Dale, so much for having me.
What a delight.
And it sounds like you have so much going on in Michigan and your veterans are lucky,
the ones who live there, to be able to engage.
So I moved to North Carolina after I separated from the military and found Veterans Bridge
home in my own transition.
So Veterans Bridge home is happy to support veterans in any kind of transitions.
If anyway, we, the Carolinas are beautiful, but a beautiful place to live.
And you're making a big sales pitch for Michigan there, but Veterans Bridge home is really
was founded by a Vietnam era veteran, Tommy Norman, and he and his wife kept getting calls
from families of post 9 11 veterans asking for connections to employment, to healthcare,
to childcare, just wraparound services.
Maybe veterans who were maybe stationed at Fort Liberty or even other parts of the country
who wanted to move to Charlotte and Patty and Tommy, you know, have like, I mean, they
are very well connected and so generous with like their many Rolodex of connections.
And so once they started actually connecting veterans, they and really using the existing
network, they realized these four families were not alone.
And so Veterans Bridge home stood up to support veterans find a new mission.
Oftentimes that's employment.
Sometimes that's volunteering to find a new community or a unit.
We're used to having a unit when we're in uniform and we know that we need community
to thrive.
And then wraparound services.
So we leverage existing employment, healthcare, education, benefits, wraparound services across
really social determinants of health and community really engagement is a key piece too.
So we have operated as a hub.
We were the second city in the nation to be a part of the America Serves pilot.
There were 17 in the nation.
And now, you know, the veterans space is dynamic.
We still have connections to many different hubs across the nation and are happy to connect
veterans and families.
But North Carolina is one of the, we were also the first really state to adopt a coordinated
care hub model using technology and community of practice to get veterans and families to
the right resource in the least amount of time without duplicating services.
So that's a little bit about Veterans Bridge home.
I mean, as a officer in uniform, I didn't really expect to need as many connections
as I did when I transitioned.
I mean, I was licensed in North Carolina.
I was excited to actually live in the state near my family.
But I really missed my military and veteran community.
And it was through that community that I really found meaningful work and friends and also
just kind of the basic connections.
Where do I, you know, go to church?
Where do I work out?
Where do I get my hair cut?
All those basic things that we all need when we transition.
And so our focus is really how do we as a community, and we do a lot of training and
community, we offer a lot of events for civilians and military to work out together, to play
together, to network together, so that we can really support that integration and really
military culture competency with less than one percent of people actually in our country
wearing the uniform.
We think that this is actually really, really important to be around each other.
So whether that's coffees, getting to hear one another's stories, volunteering, we have,
you know, park days where we're just beautifying our community together.
But this is where we expand our social capital and have the opportunity to get to know one
another and really honor, really serve us together.
So we have a lot of ways we do that through education and training.
But I've been talking a lot.
I'm curious what questions you would, you have.
All right, that's OK.
I think it sounds like it's such a good organization.
The website is veteransbridgehome.org.
And you are located where in North Carolina?
So we are located really in 45 counties.
We have people in the Charlotte, Metrolina area, the Triad, Winston-Salem area, the Triangle,
Research Triangle, Raleigh-Durham, and then Fayetteville, the Sandhills area.
So we have staff.
We do a lot of connection virtually.
But our events are probably focused in those urban centers.
We really, I mean, one of the joys of working for Veterans Bridge Home 2 is, I mean, and
other organizations is really taking a whole health approach to integration, but also health
and well-being.
So we have people that are plugged into those partner relationships and employer relationships
and communities in 45 counties in North Carolina.
It sounds like a great organization.
And as you mentioned, we're talking here with Nicole French, and she's the clinical director
there.
I was looking at your website, and I was watching some of the videos of some of the people that
have gone through the program.
And they were just so excited to spread the word of the help that you're able to provide
to these men and women as they're making this big jump.
Because the military is so different now, as you mentioned, the 1% and every one of
them is a volunteer, which is amazing to me.
And these are really, they're talented, they're well-educated, they're just, they're so beyond
what some of the things that I experienced when I was in the service.
But I think the services that you offer for that transition is what's so important.
It's a place to go.
It sounds as though you folks are very welcoming to anybody, any question, whatever you need.
I'm looking at the website right now, and right on the front page it's got request assistance.
And there's so many complicated rules.
We talk about benefits and hospital care and so on, everything else on this program.
But when you get out that door the first time and you leave the uniform behind, it's like
you go out and you look around and you go, now what?
Where do I start?
Where do I begin?
Where do I get the assistance that maybe I need or whatever it might be?
And it sounds as though the Veterans Bridge Home is the place to go, especially in North
Carolina.
I think so.
Our TAPS classes on post are improving, but it's really hard to cover everything when
you're in your own transition out of the military.
So that where do I start is a really important question.
And I think each of us goes through an identity change also when we take that uniform off
and we think about this next chapter, what does that look like?
And it's going to be different for someone who served less than three years and then
someone who served 20 years or more.
That is a different experience.
And we do know some of the recent research on transition stress signals that 46 to 72
percent of individuals who transition experience suicidal ideation, anxiety, depression symptoms.
And it makes sense, right?
Transition stress is one of those bodies of literature that we want to understand more.
When we take off that uniform and life changes overnight, how are we going to take care of
ourselves?
And I think veterans are used to having all the answers.
They're used to it's easier for them to serve and to give back and to say, I want to help
you than it is to ask for help during those periods.
And so we want to be available not only to our Carolinas veterans, Veterans Bridge Home
also as a presence in South Carolina, and we were very well connected in really the
Southeast region.
And so we want to support any veteran families in transition of any kind.
We work with partners who have eligibility criteria, but we will serve anyone who's raised
their hand and has served even one day of service.
I mean, our job is to point you in the right direction.
We want to make a contact if we have it and we will tell you if we have it or not.
Well, I think it's just a sounds like just a such a great organization.
And it's something that we all need.
And as I mentioned, when we're talking here with Nicole French, is that there are so many
wonderful organizations out there that are just there to help veterans.
And for us from the veteran community is to just keep talking about your organization,
our organizations, all these other things that are out there so that there's no excuse.
We don't want any veteran left behind.
As I like to say, we had your back when you were in service.
We've got your back now.
And we will help you no matter what you need.
We can point you in the right direction.
Dale, if you don't mind, and to that point, a lot of wonderful, well-meaning community
members want to help and want to support and just don't know how.
So sometimes they just don't know how to relate because they didn't wear the uniform or maybe
like they're even concerned and scared about, you know, hey, what might come up and am I
able to handle whatever comes up when I am relating to a military family?
Veterans Bridge Home and many of our partners are a part of the North Carolina Governor's
Challenge, which is actually a national challenge to reduce suicide amongst service members,
veterans and their families.
September actually is Mental Health Awareness Month.
So I'd be remiss to say, hey, thank you, number one, for your service and getting the word
out there on amazing resources in community at the local level, state level, national
level.
Everyone listening to this call can actually sign up for training.
It's free.
You can sign up and say, I want to be a part of my state's Governor's Challenge.
So Michigan has one.
They have a great vibrant team.
So go to psycharmor.com and say, hey, I want to be a part of the Governor's Challenge.
There's really good free like military culture training.
There's really good suicide prevention training, including SAVE, which is like 25 minutes.
The VA put that out.
Lethal means safety training, excellent training.
In fact, we've partnered with our local county Veterans Service Office that has a list of
our recommended training curriculum, Mecklenburg County Veterans Service Office.
It's a really easy guide, but psycharmor makes it easy too.
There are many different pathways, but the bottom line is how do we learn to be kind
of expert companions to ourselves and to those around us, and we need training.
We all do.
So I wanted to put a plug in for training and being a battle buddy to one another and
community.
I think that's important.
Could you give that website one more time where I can find the training here in Michigan?
Yes.
So psycharmor.com.
Psych armor?
Psych armor.
Yes.
PSYCH, psych armor.
And happy to send you the link, but psycharmor.com.
If you go to their website, there will be like a pop-up that says, do you want to join
the governor's challenges?
And so you can easily say, yes, I'm happy to send you that link too in the chat, but
then you just select your state.
And if you need any assistance getting connected to your Michigan team, I'm happy to make that
connection too, because we are part of the leadership team and I can certainly get that
information for you.
Thank you very much.
Yes.
Please have your people send me an email with the link and all those other things.
I want to thank you so very much, Nicole.
Nicole French, she is the clinical director of Veterans Bridge Home.
It's based out of North Carolina, but evidently they're working in South Carolina and they're
available to all of us, really sounds like.
So the website is veteransbridgehome.org.
So I wanted to thank you so much for giving us some time on this Labor Day weekend.
Of course.
Have a great weekend.
Thank you very much.
And thank you again.
Bye-bye.
All right.
We're going to take a real quick break and when we come back, we're going to bring on
our experts to talk a little bit about veterans disability claims and so forth.
So you're listening to Veterans Radio and we will be right back.
The Medal of Honor is the highest award for valor in combat given a member of the Armed
Forces of the United States.
There had been over 3,400 recipients of the nation's highest award.
This is one of them.
Captain Louis Millett was wounded by grenade fragments, but refused evacuation.
Details after this.
If you have a VA claim denied by the Board of Veterans' Appeals, contact Legal Help
for Veterans at 1-800-693-4800.
They're experts in handling cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans' Claims.
Their number again, 1-800-693-4800.
While personally leading his company in an attack against a strongly held Korean position,
Millett noted that the first platoon was pinned down by small arms, automatic, and anti-tank
fire.
Millett ordered the third platoon forward, placed himself at the head of the two platoons,
and with fixed bayonet, led the assault up the fire-swept hill.
In the fierce charge, he bayoneted two enemy soldiers and boldly continued on throwing
grenades, clubbing and bayoneting the enemy while urging his men forward by shouting encouragement.
Despite vicious opposing fire, the whirlwind hand-to-hand assault carried to the crest
of the hill.
His leadership and personal courage so inspired his men that they stormed into the hostile
position and used their bayonets with such lethal effect that the enemy fled in wild
disorder.
During this fierce onslaught, Millett was wounded by grenade fragments but refused evacuation
until the objective was taken and firmly secured.
The Medal of Honor series is a production of Veterans Radio.
Military veterans touch everyone's life.
I'm guessing right now you're thinking of a veteran, a close friend, relative, maybe
it's you.
Even the toughest of us sometimes need help but don't know where to turn for support.
You don't need special training to help a veteran in your life.
We can all help someone going through a difficult time.
Learn how you can be there for veterans.
Visit VeteransCrisisLine.net VeteransCrisisLine.net A message from the U.S. Department of Veterans
Affairs.
And we're back here on Veterans Radio for our monthly benefits program here on Veterans
Radio.
And joining me now on the line are our two favorite VSOs that I know.
Number one is retired Air Force Brigadier General Carol Ann Falzone from Legal Health
for Veterans and David Sames who is the Washtenaw County Veterans Service Officer here in Ann
Harbor.
So welcome to the program, folks.
Good afternoon, Dale, on this Labor Day weekend.
Hi, Dave.
Hello.
Good to be here.
It's great to have you both here.
So the question of the day is, is there anything that we need to know recently in the disability
claim part of the VA?
Anything new in the world?
Well, I don't know if it's new, but maybe this is a little advice.
I've been seeing, and we've had a run on this, our veterans get appointments.
And if, you know, we apply for a disability and the VA says, yes, I need to examine that
individual, they get a call and they get an appointment.
I would really urge our veterans to make sure the appointment they get meets their schedule
and they agree to the time and the place and they know what's going on.
They don't go in the wrong direction.
They don't go on the wrong day.
So jot that down because here's what's happening.
Our veterans, we've had a run on it.
We're unable to go to their appointment.
And so in the past, we'd always just call and the agency, the VA, regional office and
ask them please to reschedule.
Now we have to submit the reason why they missed the appointment.
And then VA will look at that and make a decision if they're going to reschedule.
So yes, I see your face Dale.
And this is really alarming to me because if we're not submitting the reason why you
didn't attend your appointment, obviously your claim is denied and then we've got to
reapply and go through the whole process.
And there's such a delay in that.
So we've been granted, we've submitted I guess some really good explanations for why the
veteran could not keep their appointment.
But I'm just telling you, if veteran can't make their appointment, please if you're with
the county counselors, the VSO, Legal Help for Veterans, please let us know immediately
so we could call in and tell them that you're unable to come.
Oh, yeah, my facial expression was of awe and shock.
For those of you that are listening out there, if you want, you can give us a call here on
Veterans Radio.
The number locally is 7340-226-100 mainly because some of these appointments are far
away.
You know, they're not just down the block, which is really annoying, especially I would
think to older veterans.
You're exactly right, Dale.
So that's why communication is real important because we've been able and I'm sure David
does it too for his veterans, we're able to call in right away after you get the appointment
and you find it's an hour away or an hour and a half away.
And we might have some influence to say, why are they going that far?
It's stress on them to get relocated to another location very close to their home.
So I think the idea of communication is critical.
I bring this up because, you know, we watch for patterns and things that are happening
and this has been happening quite frequently and it was like a shock and awe when it's
like put in the reason why, put in the reason why.
And so that was a little alarming to us.
So I would like to share that with our audience.
Well, I think they would appreciate it.
Yeah, and also making sure when you talk to your vets or the dependents that they have
their schedule open.
You know, we can file an intent so then that has a year because we'll run up into the area
where okay, I got a vacation in August or I'm going to Europe or I'm going here.
So having a good rapport with the vet and your service officer about, okay, are you
doing anything in the next, you know, two, three months?
And snowbirds are okay too because if they go down to Florida, then when they call say,
okay, so I'm down here and this is the zip code and I want my C&P exam down there.
So it's just really educating the veterans saying, you know, if that time doesn't work
or that place doesn't work and you tell them or if you have ride challenges, so you got
to communicate that.
I mean, just don't take whatever they say.
You have to have a conversation with them.
Okay, I hadn't thought about it that way because, you know, sometimes I get carried away with
being a rule follower and, you know, I get the letter and says, okay, your appointment's
on this day at this time and I'm, I can't do that.
Now what do I do?
So I'll just call the number on the sheet, right?
Not the way I can fix that.
That's a good way to start to call them or call your representative.
Like I said, if it's VSO, county counselor who is assisting you with your claim, Legal
Help for Veterans and let us know you called in, we could do something on hopefully on
the back end, you know, that the reason is and sometimes they do, they don't call you
and they'll just send the piece of paper.
You're right, Dale.
And that's like a shock because, oh, it's tomorrow.
With mail delays, we've gotten some of those too and we were able to help.
So I think the communication is really important.
We're out there.
If you do, like Dave said, have the opportunity to speak to whoever is scheduling, let them
know where you're going to be, what's going on with you.
I think so.
I think that sounds like a great idea.
It's very interesting because, you know, even though we've been doing this benefits program
for a number of years now, there are still people out there that just don't know what's
available to them and they don't know how to get into the system.
And I keep telling them, you know, sign up with the VA.
Can they sign up online with the VA or do they have to go there?
You can, VA.gov, you can do everything on there.
They have links to My HealtheVet and also the claim process and it's a portal for the
claimant to get in there and they can see their ratings and their awards in there and
it's a one-stop shop.
Now, it's sometimes challenging to get in there because you have to know all your financial
questions but once you get in there, it tells a lot of information.
It doesn't tell you all the information.
That's why you would want to have a VSO or Legal Health for Veterans so then they can
see.
We can see a bit more than they can see but at least they can say, oh, well, they're waiting
for some medical documents or they're waiting for this and some can say, okay, it's nothing
on your end but it's the VA reaching out to, you know, either NPRC to get some records
or the medical center to get records.
But then they can be more into their claims so they can see more.
Well, I just want to make sure that our audience knows that there are ways to get into the
VA system without having to go to your local VA hospital.
I mean, I'm sure you can go into any of these CBOTs that are around and probably sign up.
It's not that you're, you know, you may not even use the VA.
This is another thing that I keep telling people.
You may not even use the benefits that are available to you but at least you can get
into the system and maybe someday you're going to want to use it or maybe you're going to,
you know, get your drugs and stuff through the VA because it certainly is a lot less
expensive than it is out in the civilian world.
Oh, yeah, definitely.
And like I talked about that, my health event, you can see if you're enrolled at either the
Ann Arbor VA or any VA, you can also go in there if you need more medication.
You can go to your prescriptions.
You can manage them there.
You can talk to your, you can send a note to your doctor.
It's really helpful, my health event.
I use it all the time.
I found it to be very helpful because one of my prescriptions was down to one tablet
and so I was able to call.
I mean, I sent a message to my primary care and the next thing I know I got a call from
the pharmacist because my primary care, somebody there had contacted them and I was able to
go in and pick up a week's supply of this particular medication.
And I think it's important that we continue to remind people to do that.
I was also thinking after we were talking with Nicole about this transitioning out and,
you know, I don't remember transitioning.
Oh, I remember transitioning, but we didn't call it that.
We just went from in the service to out.
In today's world, there are lots of opportunities to get help in transitioning.
And I know that I'm thinking, I wish that Brian was here today, but the idea of making
that initial contact, would either of you like to come, you know, jump on that and say,
okay, from all you people that are just getting out of the service, let's make that initial
contact.
Do it.
Oh, yeah, definitely.
I mean, we're seeing some people, they have a program now where you get out, especially
the Air Force, you can, when you're transitioning to get out, you can be home six months earlier
and then they'll have, it's almost like an internship with a job that you're interested
in, so you work for them, but you get paid by the Air Force.
And then during that time, you see a service officer.
And so if you were ever injured, you go ahead and file your claim, your BDD claim before
that.
And then I don't think you can enroll before you get out.
So you'd have to wait until you, even though you have a DD form 214, but it's not until
six months.
So you can't enroll until then, but you can get your claim started beforehand.
And they're supposed to try and have everything done by your ETS date, but it's looking a
little slow on that.
They're a little bit backed up.
But if you can get it started, that's very helpful.
We are seeing, Dave, that's outstanding.
We are seeing an increase in those individuals as you spoke about.
We'll get some calls from the Army.
We got a call a couple of weeks ago.
He was overseas and coming home and he wanted to make sure that his process has started,
but they're not allowed to enroll in the VA until their separation with DOD.
And even those that go to the Wounded Warrior Program were not allowed to enroll in the
VA.
They have a transition period and the exam will pass over, but they really need, if it's
medically disqualifying, they need to make sure that's number one on their DD 214 and
then also make sure they get that rating or whatever from DOD because a lot of people
think DOD and VA is all one and it's not.
You have to cross the street and get into the VA once you're discharged from DOD.
But we're seeing more of that as a transition.
And the program I was listening in sounds wonderful because when we were leaving, Dale,
you're right.
There was none of these programs out there.
And we sort of did it ourselves, reached out for whatever the need was.
So a program like this, they started many years ago in the National Guard, at least
Michigan, the Buddy to Buddy program where you could go in and get a buddy and that could
help you with your transition.
But they sound really complete in all aspects.
So I think that's a wonderful service to have.
I think it would have been such a great idea what Nicole French, what she was talking about
from that organization is that they get you just as you come out of the gate almost and
sit down and talk with you and help you figure out where did you want to go to school?
What did you want to do when you get out?
Are you married?
And one of the videos that they had talked about this guy was saying, he says, I didn't
even know where I was supposed to get a toothbrush, because it had all been provided.
Everything was provided to us.
And you walk outside the gate and suddenly you're responsible for everything.
And that's what I really was interested in, in finding out more about the Veterans Bridge
home is the steps that you took.
Once you contact them, they're going to help you find everything that you need.
I didn't get into all of it with her.
Maybe I should have, but about housing and school and jobs and the Air Force.
I didn't know the Air Force.
She figured it would be the Air Force.
You get six months to figure out what to do before you get out.
That was just one person.
So I actually had a couple.
And he was a drone operator and in over just a little bit west side, there was a company
that made the drone.
So it was a great transition.
So yeah, been in six months with them.
And then he'd be out and then go further on.
Right.
So I think it's great that all of these programs are out there.
And I've definitely got to see what I can find out about what's going on in Michigan
with this government's, the governor's program.
I think it's really cool.
I did get it.
I got an email from a woman, not a particular issue, except I know we've talked about this
before is to try and release some stress in your family with letting your spouse or family
know what benefits that you do have.
Because many times the spouses just don't know.
And so if the veteran dies, they're stuck.
And so she was talking about example that she gave that I thought was interesting.
It says a veteran had not told his spouse about his monthly benefits.
The veteran died suddenly.
His spouse grieves and plans a funeral, which she pays out of pocket.
The $2,500 tax free payment from the VA for her husband's disability compensation has
stopped.
Now she struggles to meet her expenses and is afraid she'll have to sell her home.
What advice can we give out there to our veteran community, especially to the families?
Well, with that, so there might be an opportunity for if he passed away of a service connected
condition.
He was receiving money.
So at least you have the non-service connected burial amount and that's good for two years.
Right.
So you have to apply within that timeframe.
So and then if it's in the, if you're in Michigan, then there is a state law of $300, but there
is an asset limitation of 40,000.
But again, you would want to go to your county counselor to see about that information.
I know my office, when a veteran passes away in Washtenaw County, we sent out a letter
to the informant on the death certificate because the death certificate will say if
they were in the armed forces and we get all that from our county clerk and we sent out
a letter saying there might be benefits.
Please contact our office and that's where we get some of the, you know, the dependents
or even sons or, you know, daughters or a relative that had to pay for the funeral out
of pocket.
So then in Washtenaw County, we can help and we raised that $300 limit to a thousand.
So we give a thousand and then the asset limitation, we went up to 90,000.
But that's just in Washtenaw County.
There's some other counties that have raised it, but the state law is still $300 and that's
only for war time and Washtenaw County expanded to peacetime too.
It's a good place to live.
Dale, I think what I'm troubled with is the way the individual wrote the email.
If the veteran doesn't communicate in the family, I don't see that too often where,
and we try to educate those that are coming in, the spouse, we make sure that they're
aware, you know, to contact us if something happens.
And so I feel really bad that that happened, but that's why we do this program.
I mean, if somebody, somebody, and you know, we get many calls, I'm sure all the county
counselors do, hey, I've got a relative, you know, can you help my mother?
Could you help my sister?
Are there benefits for me?
And as Dave said, if it's service connected and the spouse might be able to get DIC, which
is the deft indemnity.
And so you know, you just need to reach out.
And even if you don't know, if you are a spouse of a veteran, pick up the phone and make a
call.
I mean, call your county counselor, call a VSO.
And like Dave said, I think it's really important if you get that letter as a spouse, read it
and see and call the number at the bottom.
We also do that as soon as we are notified and we find out that one of our veterans have
passed.
We also notify if there is a spouse right away or dependent so that they could get,
they have a year, but we want to make it and get things going.
If they're entitled to burial benefits, we did, I did one the other day, burial benefits
lying for DIC and just helping them during their process of grieving to know that there's
something out there.
I just, as you pointed this out, is that we do this program just so people know that there
are people out there looking out for them.
And I think that's really the important message that I keep making sure that we spread the
word and that there's no, can't say there's no excuse, but there really is no good reason
for any veteran not to know what they are entitled to or what or where to go to ask
the question.
And even if, whether they're getting out of the service at 22 years old or 93 years old
and they suddenly say, you know, I still got this piece of shrapnel in my shoulder from
D-Day and it's really starting to bother, you know, starting to bother me.
Well, that guy's eligible probably for something just as though, you know, the poor kid that
was in Iraq or Afghanistan with the burn pits is entitled to something.
And so we have to keep, we just have to keep on keeping on with getting the word out.
Yeah, that's the key.
And then that's why we're doing outreach.
We have the VetFest, there's other VetFests around here.
And then also if they just call the VA, I've had many VA employees reach out to our office,
especially if they're Washington County and they don't know where to go.
So they'll do a three-way call and call my front desk and say, okay, they're looking
for help or even with me being accredited, they can, I have five different accreditations.
And if they look up those accreditations, they'll get my phone number because they've
personally called me because they looked it up.
Speaking of outreach, Dave, you just hit the nail on the head.
I'd like to say that we're going to have, there's going to be the 14th Annual Veterans
Summit sponsored by Canton Foundation Legal Hub for Veterans.
And it's going to be at Westland on September 18th.
And I believe it starts at 12 o'clock.
You need to register, go to the Canton Foundation site.
And it's Veterans Summit and it's all free and they will provide a lunch.
And so please come on in.
It's about an hour and a half.
Christina Darrow from Legal Hub for Veterans will be there.
I will be there answering some questions, a couple other individuals.
And so please, it's free.
Just sign up.
And it's the 14th year we have done Veterans Summit.
So please come out because it's all outreach.
You could ask any questions.
If you have, you know, am I eligible?
Bring your DD214.
Bring some of your paperwork and we could address your issue on the spot.
I want to remind our audiences that don't listen to this program in the Ann Arbor area
that we're talking about Canton, Michigan right now.
And that's local.
So don't come running around looking for something on the 22nd of September.
The 18th.
I'm sorry.
Our fundraiser is on the 22nd.
Yours is on the 18th.
And where did you say it was?
It's at Westland.
Yeah.
Westland where?
Westland, Michigan.
Oh, at the, I'm sorry, at the, I would say at the center.
We'll post it.
I'll get you the directions.
Yeah, the information and I'll get that out.
While I'm talking to you, maybe I'll try to see if I can multitask and look it up.
Yeah.
And it needs all these vet vets.
I was looking at the VA website.
And again, for those of you that like this kind of stuff, you can go to the VA website
and ask for current news and they will upgrade you or inform you of what is going on at the
VA.
One of the things was that the PACDAC date either passed or is coming up very shortly.
Am I correct on that?
It passed.
Yeah.
Okay.
But that doesn't mean if you have one of those conditions you can't apply for.
Okay.
But that's an important message.
It is.
I think to make sure, you know, if you missed the deadline, quote unquote, and you, you
know, you have a disability as a result of all of the things that are listed there, you
can still apply.
Yes, definitely.
Or you come down, you get diagnosed in a couple of years, right?
So those are still covered.
It just won't go back to the date, but once you get diagnosed, that's when you'd want
to bring that into your counselor or the VSO to go ahead and apply for those.
Okay.
That explains it to me.
So the PACDAC was I would take everybody back to 2023 or something.
Whenever you filed your claim, that would be your start date.
Yeah.
Now it would just be when you filed.
If you have an intent from last year, then it would go back to last year.
It just won't go back to the signing of the law.
Okay.
And it looks like the summit is in at Westland City Hall.
Yes.
At 36300 Warren Road.
Thank you, Dave.
I was just looking up the address too.
Gotcha.
Okay.
So that's Westland City Hall.
Yes.
All right.
Please register.
Go to the Canton Foundation where it's listed and free lunch and come on down.
Is that CantonFoundation.org?
Yes.
Okay.
So there you go.
People again in Southeast Michigan.
It's an opportunity to get help, to get your questions answered, get some free food and
get to meet the infamous General Carol Ann Falzone.
I think that's really important.
Thank you, Dale.
To my resident experts.
I appreciate your time when you do all these things for us and tell us and keep us all
informed as to what is really happening out there.
It can just get so confusing.
Well, you know what?
I'm so glad my buddy's on.
I'll tell you, we go back since we've been doing this and there's been a county counselor
from Washtenaw and I will give them a pitch.
I think they're one of the best.
And Dave knows when I'm calling him going, hey, I got somebody on the line, you know,
and he's a great buddy to have.
And I think you pull out all your resources when you're trying to help these veterans.
And that's what I think is most important.
We're all out there to help.
I think so.
We don't want to see people fall through the crack, right?
No.
You know, you'll have the veteran with the hat on and you go up to them and are you aware
about your benefits?
And my family laughs at me if I go into a restaurant and they're like, you're going
to go talk to them, aren't you?
I'm like, no, not going to.
But then I might say a couple words.
But it's just, you know, it's a passion when you do it and you can change people's lives
and get benefits for, you know, the veteran or dependent and that's what's rewarding.
I think that's the magic word, Dave, is that passion and the passion to help your fellow
veteran.
You know, when I was talking to Nicole off the line, I think I mentioned you, I said,
you know, we all had, we were all taught to have each other's back when we were in the
service and now we have your back now as well.
And I think that's what's important for people to know that the VA there is really, even
though you may have been frustrated and you've run into roadblocks here or there, the VA
is there to help you.
And especially if you can get somebody like Carol Ann or Dave Sames with a county office
here to help you.
So the question is, if you have a question, don't try to do it on your own.
Look for help.
There are so many people out there that want to help you.
Definitely.
If we don't know the answer, I mean, I don't know all the answers and that's why we've
got great resources.
We've got individuals.
I pick up the phone and bounce ideas off of.
And so I love that, you know, that we could be there and the VA system, like some others,
it's not easy to navigate and you don't want to send in paperwork and then find out you
didn't fill it out correctly or you didn't fill out the right form and you've been waiting
eight months and now you reach out and we have to give you the news that nothing has
happened.
So please reach out.
Yeah, I want to make sure I want to thank you both very, very much for being on our
Veterans Radio benefits program as usual.
That's a retired Air Force Brigadier General Carol Ann Faustone from Legal Help for Veterans
and David Sames, who is the director of the Washtenaw County Veterans Service Office.
And I know that you've got veterans service offices all over the country.
Use them.
They're there for.
So I want to thank you both very much for being on the program.
Thank you, Dale.
Thank you.
Happy Labor Day.
Happy Labor Day to you.
OK, I got about a minute to go, so I'm going to do one last plug here for Radio on the
River.
So I want you to go to our website, veteransradio.org, scroll on down and there you can buy tickets
or you can make a donation and come on out.
It's always a fun time.
We've got great gifts for the auction.
We've got music.
We've got food.
We've got everything for you.
So Radio on the River, Sunday, September 22nd.
Save the date, as they say, and go on down, as I say, at the bottom of the thing and get
your tickets.
I think you're going to enjoy it.
It's fun.
And we're going to do a live program after the fundraiser.
So that's always an adventure, especially when we're outdoors doing those things.
So I want to thank everybody for listening today.
Come on back next week, Jim Fasones, the host.
I will be getting ready to say goodbye.
So until next time, you are dismissed.
God bless America, land that I love.
Stand beside her and guide her through the night with the light from above.
From the mountains, through the prairies, to the oceans, white with foam.
God bless America, my home sweet home.