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All across America and around the world, this is Veterans Radio.

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And now your host for today's program, Dale Throneberry.

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And welcome to Veterans Radio.

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My name is Dale Throneberry.

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I was a CW-2 helicopter pilot in Vietnam in 1969.

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Welcome to our program.

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I think it's going to be pretty cool today.

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We're going to be talking benefits with Paul Lawrence, who used to be the former Undersecretary

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for Benefits.

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That's an expert.

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That's cool, right?

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And then in the second half of the program, we've got our good friend Rebecca Grant is

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going to be coming on to talk about what's going on in the world, which is a little bit

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scary right now.

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And we're going to see what we can find out about how America is involved in so many different

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things that across the globe.

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So make sure you stick around for that.

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Before we get into the program, though, I got to make sure that we always thank our

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sponsors.

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Number one is Legal Help for Veterans.

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Legal Help for Veterans specializes in Veterans disability claims.

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Give Legal Help for Veterans a call at 800-693-4800 or go to their website, legalhelpforveterans.com.

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The National Veterans Business Development Council, better known as NVBDC, is the nation's

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leading third-party authority for certification of veteran-owned businesses.

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For more information, go to their website, NVBDC.org, or give them a call at 888-237-8433.

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The Charles S. Kettle VA Medical Center here in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

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For more information, go to va.gov.

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The Vietnam Veterans of America never again will one generation of veterans abandon another.

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For more information, go to their website, vva.org.

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And locally, the Irwin Prescor and American Legion posts 46 and the Charles S. Kettle's

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Vietnam Veterans of America chapter 310 in Bolsa, Vanna Arbor, Michigan.

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If you'd like to support Veterans Radio, please go to our website, veteransradio.org, and

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click on the donate button.

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Thank you in advance.

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All right.

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So here we go.

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Into our program, my first guest coming up right now, as I mentioned, is Paul Lawrence.

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Paul Lawrence, PhD.

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His book is titled Veterans Benefits for You.

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He's a former Undersecretary for Benefits during the Trump administration.

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And I'm going to welcome him.

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So Paul, welcome to Veterans Radio.

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Hey, Dale.

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Thanks for having me on.

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Thanks for your service, and thanks for help getting the word out to our veterans about

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their benefits.

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I think it's always important.

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That's something that we really focus on here on Veterans Radio.

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So what led you to write this compendium of Veterans benefits?

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Well as you indicated, I served as the Undersecretary for Benefits in the Trump administration,

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and part of what you had to do was administer the benefits Veterans have earned.

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So I got to learn all about them, sort of what it is, what it takes.

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But I also dealt with when I was in office a lot of questions.

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I don't understand these benefits.

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Are they, how do I access them?

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Am I eligible, and what is it?

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And so when I got out, I thought certainly there must be a book out there about this.

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And I found there were some books, but they weren't about all the benefits, and they were

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written highly technical, generally by lawyers.

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And quite frankly, they're hard to understand.

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So I want to write one book, all the benefits, easy to understand.

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So I'm going to pick it up and figure out how to apply or how to help someone else apply

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for benefits.

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Okay.

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Well, as I said, the book is called Veterans Benefits for You.

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And I guess we'll start at the very beginning.

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And this is something that we constantly reinforce for our veteran listening audience and their

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families, because it's really important that the families understand what's available as

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well.

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So how do I get started?

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Let's suppose I was in Iraq or Afghanistan, and I was exposed to the burn pits.

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Where do I begin?

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That's right.

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Or doesn't that, you don't have to be there.

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It could be someone in your generation, Dale, said, Hey, I never applied for benefits.

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I served 30, 40, 50 years ago, am I still eligible?

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And the answer is yes.

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What you can do to apply for benefits, perhaps for burn pits or for Vietnam veterans, Agent

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Orange, if you're in the blue water, you finally realize something could be there.

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One way to begin is to go to va.gov, their website, and begin to look and see what benefits

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you'd be eligible for and what the process would be.

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You can buy a book like mine to try to explain it, or you can get help from a service officer.

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These are folks who help, or even one of your sponsors.

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If I understand one of your sponsors helps veterans with their disability claims.

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So that's one of the best ways to do it.

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The thing to remember is in terms of, let's say, disability compensation, right?

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There's three things you have to deal with.

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Were you in the service when this happened?

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I was exposed, or I hurt myself, or whatever.

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So in the service, not in combat, just in the service.

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Did something happen to you and do we have a record of it?

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I hurt myself, I was exposed, and now does it continue to bother you?

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Those three things are what make you eligible for disability compensation, right?

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A monthly payment, tax-free to help you with expenses, maybe because it affects your wages,

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and then if, under certain disability ratings, you'll be eligible for healthcare.

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So get started.

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It's never too late.

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Okay?

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If you had a difficult experience, go back and apply again if you think you didn't get

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what you felt you deserved.

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So do you kind of advise people to utilize a veteran service officer or VSO or something

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like the American Legion somewhere along that line, rather than applying on their own online?

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Generally, yes.

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There's exceptions to everything, but here's what I observe.

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This process is very complicated.

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Laws, court cases and the like, and oftentimes people do it themselves.

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They get denied for things they just didn't know.

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A service officer has done this literally dozens, maybe hundreds of times, and they

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sort of know the forms in the process.

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What they also are good at knowing is asking the veteran, what did you do when you were

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in service?

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And then going, oh, you know, you were a pilot.

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Here's what happens to pilots.

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Do you have any of these conditions?

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So they tend to know stuff that can really help the veteran.

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A lot of veterans are very smart.

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They do it theirself.

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They have no problem.

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A lot of veterans don't.

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It's a very frustrating process, and that can make it easier.

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Okay.

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Well, I agree with that.

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You know, as a matter of fact, you brought up a thing there.

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You know, I understand that, you know, if you are denied, that any, any denial can be

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appealed or reviewed, correct?

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That's exactly right.

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VA is a very interesting organization.

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I tried this with the IRS.

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They don't let you do this, but at the VA, you can appeal any decision on your behalf.

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I didn't.

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I was denied my benefits.

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I didn't get what I wanted.

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You can appeal.

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And there's a very easy way to appeal now.

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It's called a higher level review.

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It's kind of like in pro football, when they ask another person to look at what took place

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and see if there isn't a simple error that can be fixed or a correction that can be made.

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And in this process, the veteran gets to point out in a phone call where they think the mistake

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was made.

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So appeals used to take three to seven years.

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You had to go before a judge.

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This is done in like 90 to 120 days.

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And there are other ways, but that's about, that's the amongst the easiest to do.

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Wow.

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I think what's, what's great, what you've done here, Paul, with this book and what other,

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you know, VSOs across the country are doing is just trying to make people aware of these

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benefits that you're entitled to.

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And I think it's really important to remind those Vietnam vets, Korean vets are still

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around that, that they're still entitled to, you know, some sort of benefit possibly as

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a result of whatever occurred to them while they were in the service.

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Absolutely.

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And don't forget, as, as we talked before, the benefits can extend to your family because

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of what happened to you.

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So a lot of veterans, especially the young ones go, no, I'm good.

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I don't need this.

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Right.

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And I say, that might be true now, but in five or 10 years, how's your hearing going

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to be?

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How's your back going to be?

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What else is going on that you don't know about like exposure to toxins and the like?

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So we tell everybody, you know, it never hurts to come and apply for benefits.

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You're not taking money from anybody else.

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The money comes from a fund that Congress has to put money in regardless.

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And you know, you should think about, you know, think conditions get worse.

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So you might be fine now, but maybe later you won't be.

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Yeah.

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You hit on that right there with some people won't take the benefits because they think

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they're taking it from somebody else.

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And it's not an endless pool of money, but there's plenty there.

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So don't worry about it.

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As far as that's concerned, one of the things that I did want to just touch on briefly, as

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I mentioned before we came on the air is my daughter's father was in the National Guard

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and was called up during a Detroit riots in 1967.

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Now would he have been eligible?

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If he had been injured during that all uptime period, would he have been eligible for benefits?

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Yeah.

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So let's talk about being in the National Guard because here's where things get tricky.

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National Guard can be mobilized or activated by a couple of ways, right?

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One is the governor does that.

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And by law, that doesn't count towards your service to being a veteran or benefits.

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When you're activated by the president, that counts towards your service for being eligible

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for benefits.

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So once you're activated by the president, the experience you're describing in Detroit

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or more likely to go overseas in combat, once you're activated, just a few minutes into

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that if something happens, you've been hurt while you've been on serve, while you've been

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serving and you're eligible for benefits.

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All the benefits that are available to veterans are available to National Guard members and

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members of the reserve.

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What they have to do is carefully look at the eligibility requirement.

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How much time was I in service?

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And that's where they often get tripped up.

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So yes, an example you describe, your father had been activated by the president.

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He got hurt while he was in this hypothetical example.

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Well, he's hurt while he's active.

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He would have been eligible for benefits.

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Okay.

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I just wanted to try and clarify that because and it's also in my mind, so many of these

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National Guard units that were, you know, activated to go to Iraq and Afghanistan, they

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would have, they were covered during that time period, but if they come back and then

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they go back into regular National Guard units, that time doesn't count.

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That's correct.

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And what is counting towards is the rule of 180.

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You have 180 days of federal service, you now qualify for benefits, right?

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So the challenge is to get to that 180 days and you may never have it if you're in the

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National Guard.

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The governor might activate you for emergencies.

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You might never be activated by the president.

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Therein is the challenge.

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That is a challenge for all of those people.

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That's for sure.

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Okay.

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So let me think.

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Uh, how about VA on loans?

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Absolutely.

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I think, you know, this is one of the best benefits for being a veteran.

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You really have purchased a home with no money down.

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So think about our civilian counterparts, right?

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They'll say for a long time to come up with a down payment could be as much as 10 or 20

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percent of the mortgage.

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So on a $500,000 mortgage, that could be $50,000.

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It could take years to save for that.

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And you might never get that because you're a veteran, you could purchase that same home

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with no money down.

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This is a huge benefit.

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You generally get a little bit lower interest rate and you don't pay private mortgage insurance.

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About five years ago, the amount of money you could borrow using the VA home loan was

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uncapped, which means you can borrow as much money as you are credit, credit worthy for,

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right?

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So your ability to purchase a larger and a home in a very hot market has really been expanded

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for veterans.

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There's a couple of other things there that help you adapt your house if you've been injured

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in service.

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So it's really a very powerful benefit.

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And also if you think about step back, home ownership is one of the best rate ways to

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create wealth in our country for most people owning a home is their biggest asset.

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So always encourage veteran, think hard about owning a home.

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It's really a great benefit.

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Well, it certainly is.

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And I was thinking when you were talking, excuse me, that in the hot markets, like you

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said, I mean, here in Ann Arbor, the market is exploding.

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And you know, a little 900 foot square foot house can go for $400,000 or more.

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And I think that that's that they've opened that market up to the veterans.

243
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And then cool.

244
00:13:12,640 --> 00:13:18,000
Could you check a little bit more about the ability to adapt a home to the disabled veteran?

245
00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:19,000
Right.

246
00:13:19,000 --> 00:13:21,680
There's a program called specially adapted housing.

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And what you can, what happens is you could imagine you've gone off and you come back

248
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and now you're in a wheelchair.

249
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Your home needs to be adapted to a wheelchair.

250
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Your bathroom, your stairs, things like this, right?

251
00:13:33,640 --> 00:13:36,160
And it could be other variations of it.

252
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My site got affected, right?

253
00:13:37,720 --> 00:13:41,600
So there's special mechanisms you can put in for sound and the like.

254
00:13:41,600 --> 00:13:44,840
So you could apply for what's called specially adaptive housing grant.

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And VA will give you a grant.

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It's up to, I think it's about $150,000 to have your house adapted to make it more accommodating

257
00:13:53,160 --> 00:13:54,560
for what you're going through.

258
00:13:54,560 --> 00:13:59,280
So again, for folks who are service connected and their house needs to be altered so they

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can live in it.

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This is something worth looking into.

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I think that's a great benefit.

262
00:14:04,760 --> 00:14:09,360
I know so many people that have utilized that benefit.

263
00:14:09,360 --> 00:14:13,880
And the other thing that maybe we should touch on real briefly is the dependent and independent

264
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care, I guess, for the dependents.

265
00:14:16,160 --> 00:14:20,560
So once the veteran, I'll let you explain it.

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Once you have a certain percentage and you pass away from that condition, they continue

267
00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:27,360
to receive some sort of benefit.

268
00:14:27,360 --> 00:14:28,360
Right.

269
00:14:28,360 --> 00:14:32,720
So it's called DIC because the word is dependency and dignity compensation, dependent and dignity

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compensation.

271
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So everyone just calls it DIC because that's so complicated.

272
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You describe it exactly right, Dale.

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If you are service connected and you pass relate because of something you're service

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connected to.

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So the example you made before, the person is connected for burn pits later passes because

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of some cancer or something like that.

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Your family would be eligible for a smaller benefit called DIC, a monthly payment to the

278
00:14:56,600 --> 00:15:02,720
survivors, and then it also opens up perhaps education benefits for children, perhaps,

279
00:15:02,720 --> 00:15:05,760
and also the ability to use the home loan for the survivors.

280
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So this is where you really see that applying for benefits really can help your family.

281
00:15:12,160 --> 00:15:17,400
That's another point you just brought up was, you know, correct me if I'm wrong in this.

282
00:15:17,400 --> 00:15:23,200
If you are 100% disabled as a veteran, you can get educational benefits for your children.

283
00:15:23,200 --> 00:15:24,400
Is that correct?

284
00:15:24,400 --> 00:15:26,520
That's exactly right.

285
00:15:26,520 --> 00:15:31,040
Now here's where the benefits crossover into state benefits.

286
00:15:31,040 --> 00:15:32,040
Okay.

287
00:15:32,040 --> 00:15:39,960
So states have states generally provide education benefits for 100% service connected, but it

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00:15:39,960 --> 00:15:41,400
varies by state.

289
00:15:41,400 --> 00:15:42,840
So you have to look at that.

290
00:15:42,840 --> 00:15:48,960
The other thing that varies by state is the exemption form taxes for our service connected

291
00:15:48,960 --> 00:15:49,960
veterans.

292
00:15:49,960 --> 00:15:53,080
So here in Virginia, you're 100% service connection.

293
00:15:53,080 --> 00:15:58,960
You don't pay property taxes, which is a huge way the government collects money from veterans.

294
00:15:58,960 --> 00:16:02,600
So I'd also tell people, pay attention not only to the benefits we're talking about from

295
00:16:02,600 --> 00:16:06,840
VA, but what happens once you get service connected to the benefits you can have as

296
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a veteran in your state.

297
00:16:08,640 --> 00:16:09,640
Right.

298
00:16:09,640 --> 00:16:10,680
That's the same in Michigan.

299
00:16:10,680 --> 00:16:15,680
All property taxes and everything, you're exempt from all of that.

300
00:16:15,680 --> 00:16:22,120
Let's go into actually into educational benefits because those are pretty, there are excellent

301
00:16:22,120 --> 00:16:24,560
benefits available to our veterans today.

302
00:16:24,560 --> 00:16:25,920
Can you go into those a little bit?

303
00:16:25,920 --> 00:16:26,920
Right.

304
00:16:26,920 --> 00:16:31,040
So of course, the one everybody knows is what we call the GI Bill or the education benefits.

305
00:16:31,040 --> 00:16:35,840
Serve for three years honorably and you get the equivalent of a four year education at

306
00:16:35,840 --> 00:16:39,680
a state university, a free ride to a state university.

307
00:16:39,680 --> 00:16:41,960
So this is really a good deal.

308
00:16:41,960 --> 00:16:45,880
People go to college often the first ones in their families and it really changes their

309
00:16:45,880 --> 00:16:48,960
life in terms of better job and a better career and the like.

310
00:16:48,960 --> 00:16:52,000
What's interesting about this compared to what you and I were just talking about before

311
00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:57,280
we came on is that benefit used to be available only 15 years after you served.

312
00:16:57,280 --> 00:16:58,920
Now it's available forever.

313
00:16:58,920 --> 00:17:04,160
You served after January 1st, 2014, that benefit will not expire.

314
00:17:04,160 --> 00:17:06,080
So you can come back later.

315
00:17:06,080 --> 00:17:11,960
What's also interesting about this benefit is now it can be used for things like credentials

316
00:17:11,960 --> 00:17:12,960
and certificates.

317
00:17:12,960 --> 00:17:17,280
So you go to school or training for a short period of time and you get something that

318
00:17:17,280 --> 00:17:20,280
tells everybody I am qualified to work in this field.

319
00:17:20,280 --> 00:17:25,880
The most popular right now is a certificate for cybersecurity demonstrating you know about

320
00:17:25,880 --> 00:17:28,720
this and these are six figure jobs.

321
00:17:28,720 --> 00:17:31,240
So with a little bit of that, you can do that.

322
00:17:31,240 --> 00:17:37,440
And so credentials can help you differentiate yourself in the job market.

323
00:17:37,440 --> 00:17:42,520
There's also internships and even I would tell people think about training to do what

324
00:17:42,520 --> 00:17:48,800
we now call the trades, blue collar jobs or as I say the fastest way to earn $100,000

325
00:17:48,800 --> 00:17:53,360
in America, be an electrician, be a plumber, be an HVAC person.

326
00:17:53,360 --> 00:17:56,040
All this is available through your GI bill.

327
00:17:56,040 --> 00:18:01,520
And is that a set amount of money or because I'm thinking you mentioned you know you could

328
00:18:01,520 --> 00:18:04,800
get a certificate now but what about 20 years down the road?

329
00:18:04,800 --> 00:18:09,320
Yeah, sort of it's mostly through what's called eligibility.

330
00:18:09,320 --> 00:18:11,480
How many months of education would you get?

331
00:18:11,480 --> 00:18:16,800
So you're eligible for 36 months of education, about four years at nine months a year but

332
00:18:16,800 --> 00:18:21,480
you could pull off a couple of those months to get a certificate, right?

333
00:18:21,480 --> 00:18:26,320
And again, sometimes if you're already gone to college and now you can, this GI bill can

334
00:18:26,320 --> 00:18:30,680
help you or you don't want to go to college, you can use it in piece parts in a bunch of

335
00:18:30,680 --> 00:18:31,680
different ways.

336
00:18:31,680 --> 00:18:38,720
So it is finite but it's more the time, the money is more related to the institution.

337
00:18:38,720 --> 00:18:42,840
The last one that I wanted to mention about education is that monthly housing allowance.

338
00:18:42,840 --> 00:18:44,840
I thought that was pretty neat.

339
00:18:44,840 --> 00:18:50,160
Yeah, yeah, most people don't realize that if you're in getting you know on campus or

340
00:18:50,160 --> 00:18:54,520
you know in person training, you are eligible for monthly housing allowance.

341
00:18:54,520 --> 00:19:00,280
It's the equivalent of an E5 sort of you know pay rate.

342
00:19:00,280 --> 00:19:05,000
But also what's interesting about this is it depends upon where you live so it's adjusted

343
00:19:05,000 --> 00:19:11,120
for high cost areas, perhaps Ann Arbor, San Francisco, Boston and the like.

344
00:19:11,120 --> 00:19:16,120
So it can be several thousand dollars a month or more to help with expenses while you're

345
00:19:16,120 --> 00:19:18,320
getting while you're going to school.

346
00:19:18,320 --> 00:19:19,720
So that's also something.

347
00:19:19,720 --> 00:19:24,920
So you think about this, you know, three years honorable service, the tuition fees, all those

348
00:19:24,920 --> 00:19:30,960
kinds of supplies are paid for and I get a monthly housing allowance for 36 months, right?

349
00:19:30,960 --> 00:19:35,560
So it's all right there to help veterans get an education.

350
00:19:35,560 --> 00:19:40,880
You know, we've been talking with Paul Lawrence here, PhDs, former Undersecretary for Benefits.

351
00:19:40,880 --> 00:19:43,520
He's got a book titled Veterans Benefits for You.

352
00:19:43,520 --> 00:19:47,000
I know it's available on Amazon and they can get that.

353
00:19:47,000 --> 00:19:50,840
Is there anything you know as we end this up that you would like our audience to know

354
00:19:50,840 --> 00:19:51,840
about?

355
00:19:51,840 --> 00:19:55,160
I just would I just would emphasize the two quick things.

356
00:19:55,160 --> 00:19:57,440
One is don't forget your family, right?

357
00:19:57,440 --> 00:19:58,720
That's a really important thing.

358
00:19:58,720 --> 00:20:01,960
And the other thing too is maybe you have this where you all live.

359
00:20:01,960 --> 00:20:05,520
I used to drive down the street and you see the folks holding up the sign say homeless

360
00:20:05,520 --> 00:20:08,640
veterans at the stoplight and whatever you want to do.

361
00:20:08,640 --> 00:20:09,640
Let me give you this number.

362
00:20:09,640 --> 00:20:12,160
This is the VA homeless hotline.

363
00:20:12,160 --> 00:20:19,160
It's 877-424-3838 again 877-424-3838.

364
00:20:19,160 --> 00:20:22,080
If you're like me, you don't know what to do.

365
00:20:22,080 --> 00:20:23,880
You want to help, you want to do something.

366
00:20:23,880 --> 00:20:28,360
If you call that number and tell them I'm seeing a veteran at first in Maine, the location,

367
00:20:28,360 --> 00:20:32,200
they will send somebody try to figure out their veteran and get them help.

368
00:20:32,200 --> 00:20:35,120
So that number I tell people put in your speed dial.

369
00:20:35,120 --> 00:20:36,120
Yeah.

370
00:20:36,120 --> 00:20:39,880
Now just call because there's lots of resources for homeless veterans.

371
00:20:39,880 --> 00:20:42,240
We just got to connect them to those resources.

372
00:20:42,240 --> 00:20:45,200
Well, I couldn't agree with you more, Paul.

373
00:20:45,200 --> 00:20:46,200
That's really important.

374
00:20:46,200 --> 00:20:49,800
That number is 877-424-3838.

375
00:20:49,800 --> 00:20:55,520
And I know that I have, you know, we all see these these people on the side of the road

376
00:20:55,520 --> 00:20:59,360
that say that they are veterans and I hate to be cynical.

377
00:20:59,360 --> 00:21:04,240
When I see them and I'm going, don't you guys know that there's all kinds of things that

378
00:21:04,240 --> 00:21:05,640
we can give you to help you?

379
00:21:05,640 --> 00:21:09,240
And maybe just a card that says here, call this number or maybe I'll pull into a parking

380
00:21:09,240 --> 00:21:13,200
lot now and call that number and say, Hey, there's a guy on the island between the express

381
00:21:13,200 --> 00:21:14,200
ways.

382
00:21:14,200 --> 00:21:15,200
No.

383
00:21:15,200 --> 00:21:16,200
That's exactly it.

384
00:21:16,200 --> 00:21:20,080
And the most powerful thing you said is they can call, but we can call for our buddies

385
00:21:20,080 --> 00:21:21,440
and they don't have to be homeless.

386
00:21:21,440 --> 00:21:23,320
They could be on the cusp of being homeless, right?

387
00:21:23,320 --> 00:21:26,600
Someone lost their job sleeping in your couch or whatever.

388
00:21:26,600 --> 00:21:29,040
You can call this number for them and get them help.

389
00:21:29,040 --> 00:21:30,040
Absolutely do.

390
00:21:30,040 --> 00:21:31,040
Wow.

391
00:21:31,040 --> 00:21:34,800
Well, I thought, well, there's a whole lot of great stuff inside your book, Paul.

392
00:21:34,800 --> 00:21:39,280
And I really want to thank you so much for, for, uh, you know, coming on veterans radio

393
00:21:39,280 --> 00:21:45,240
and helping our audience again to find out what benefits that they're entitled to where

394
00:21:45,240 --> 00:21:48,280
they can go and all kinds of things.

395
00:21:48,280 --> 00:21:52,840
There's just an unlimited supply of things in there.

396
00:21:52,840 --> 00:21:57,960
I'm stretching here a little bit because I'm waiting for my other guests to show up, but

397
00:21:57,960 --> 00:22:03,480
I'm trying to think of, is there any hidden benefit that we need to know about?

398
00:22:03,480 --> 00:22:04,480
Sure.

399
00:22:04,480 --> 00:22:08,560
So here's something perhaps, cause you're of the Vietnam, uh, the era generation, right?

400
00:22:08,560 --> 00:22:15,600
Um, if you know elderly folks in your ecosystem, maybe in your neighborhood who are veterans,

401
00:22:15,600 --> 00:22:20,120
but maybe they're draining their resources and you're wondering how they could live.

402
00:22:20,120 --> 00:22:24,320
VA offers a benefit called the, the veterans pension.

403
00:22:24,320 --> 00:22:25,320
Okay.

404
00:22:25,320 --> 00:22:30,960
That if your assets fall below a certain level, you can get a tax free monthly payment that

405
00:22:30,960 --> 00:22:32,320
will help you survive.

406
00:22:32,320 --> 00:22:38,160
So the classic example is the old guy in your neighborhood appears to have no family, lives

407
00:22:38,160 --> 00:22:42,440
in their house and you're wondering how can he possibly continue to survive?

408
00:22:42,440 --> 00:22:47,200
Well, when they measure your assets, they don't count your house and they don't count your

409
00:22:47,200 --> 00:22:48,340
car.

410
00:22:48,340 --> 00:22:53,480
So folks who own a home may be eligible for this benefit cause the number, the cutoff

411
00:22:53,480 --> 00:22:57,200
number is like about a hundred and fifty one or $2,000.

412
00:22:57,200 --> 00:23:02,080
So you can see if you own a home, but you don't have much more, this can really help

413
00:23:02,080 --> 00:23:03,440
them survive.

414
00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:10,160
So again, this is one of those in your neighborhood, in your ecosystem, you know, are you sure

415
00:23:10,160 --> 00:23:11,480
these folks are okay?

416
00:23:11,480 --> 00:23:16,200
Check in on them because this is something I got asked by, I get asked about a lot.

417
00:23:16,200 --> 00:23:19,480
Hey, my distant uncle, I've worried about him.

418
00:23:19,480 --> 00:23:22,000
I don't know how he's doing.

419
00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:23,440
Is there anything available?

420
00:23:23,440 --> 00:23:25,680
This is one is called veterans pension.

421
00:23:25,680 --> 00:23:29,920
So I would tell, I would tell every, I would tell everybody about that.

422
00:23:29,920 --> 00:23:32,800
I'm writing this down right now.

423
00:23:32,800 --> 00:23:38,800
And of course, if that is example, the uncle in my example passed and had a wife, there's

424
00:23:38,800 --> 00:23:44,560
a, there's a similar version called the survivor pension where the veteran spouse under certain

425
00:23:44,560 --> 00:23:48,960
circumstances and that the trick on this one is the veteran had a serve during periods

426
00:23:48,960 --> 00:23:54,200
of war, so called wartime, but since 1990, we've technically been at war.

427
00:23:54,200 --> 00:23:59,520
So it's very current as well as the dates for Vietnam are clear, the dates for Korea

428
00:23:59,520 --> 00:24:00,860
clear and the like.

429
00:24:00,860 --> 00:24:05,960
So again, it's one of those things where you're really having a concern for older veterans

430
00:24:05,960 --> 00:24:06,960
in our life.

431
00:24:06,960 --> 00:24:12,120
Yeah, I was, I was thinking when you were talking about that, we, we have talked with

432
00:24:12,120 --> 00:24:18,600
a couple of even World War II veterans that we were, we were trying to get benefits for

433
00:24:18,600 --> 00:24:22,240
and it turned out that this veterans pension thing was the thing that we were able to get

434
00:24:22,240 --> 00:24:26,400
them some money to help them along, especially their spouse.

435
00:24:26,400 --> 00:24:27,560
Right, right.

436
00:24:27,560 --> 00:24:28,560
That's exactly, that's exactly right.

437
00:24:28,560 --> 00:24:29,560
I think it's really good.

438
00:24:29,560 --> 00:24:33,400
The other kind of thing to think about too is it's not just enough to say, tell your

439
00:24:33,400 --> 00:24:35,080
family or think about your family.

440
00:24:35,080 --> 00:24:39,800
Yasha should tell your family if you are a veteran receiving benefits, like what's going

441
00:24:39,800 --> 00:24:44,880
on with your relationship with the veterans administration, because when you pass, you

442
00:24:44,880 --> 00:24:48,880
know, your, your family will be grieving, but you don't want them to be surprised now

443
00:24:48,880 --> 00:24:51,360
to have to go and deal with a bureaucracy.

444
00:24:51,360 --> 00:24:53,960
So if you explain, these are my benefits.

445
00:24:53,960 --> 00:24:56,120
Here is the pieces of paper that explain it.

446
00:24:56,120 --> 00:24:58,840
When I pass, here's what you're eligible for.

447
00:24:58,840 --> 00:25:00,360
Here's how this will work.

448
00:25:00,360 --> 00:25:03,640
It really can help make it easier for them.

449
00:25:03,640 --> 00:25:08,800
So there's a really, there's really a best practice of explaining to them what's going

450
00:25:08,800 --> 00:25:09,800
on.

451
00:25:09,800 --> 00:25:13,560
Well, I think this has been really helpful.

452
00:25:13,560 --> 00:25:18,080
And I'm excited, excited to finish reading your book, Paul.

453
00:25:18,080 --> 00:25:19,480
So I've been talking with Paul Lawrence.

454
00:25:19,480 --> 00:25:23,400
The book is veterans benefits for you.

455
00:25:23,400 --> 00:25:27,240
Every time I sit down and talk with somebody who knows more about benefits than I do, I

456
00:25:27,240 --> 00:25:29,200
learned something new.

457
00:25:29,200 --> 00:25:34,240
And I think that's part of the advantage of having this radio audience that we can talk,

458
00:25:34,240 --> 00:25:37,640
we can talk to so that we can get this information out.

459
00:25:37,640 --> 00:25:43,040
So Paul Lawrence, veterans benefits for you available probably anywhere, but I know I

460
00:25:43,040 --> 00:25:46,480
saw it on, on Amazon.

461
00:25:46,480 --> 00:25:50,280
And I'm assuming that we can find you on Facebook, LinkedIn and the rest of them.

462
00:25:50,280 --> 00:25:52,360
LinkedIn, that's where I tend to use.

463
00:25:52,360 --> 00:25:53,360
Yes.

464
00:25:53,360 --> 00:25:54,360
Okay.

465
00:25:54,360 --> 00:25:55,920
Well, thank you, Paul, very much for being on veterans radio.

466
00:25:55,920 --> 00:25:56,920
Hey, thanks, Dale.

467
00:25:56,920 --> 00:25:57,920
Thanks so much.

468
00:25:57,920 --> 00:25:59,920
Okay, we'll be talking to you again.

469
00:25:59,920 --> 00:26:02,440
All right, we're going to take a quick break.

470
00:26:02,440 --> 00:26:05,800
And when we come back, we're going to be joined by Dr. Rebecca Grants.

471
00:26:05,800 --> 00:26:08,000
We've got two doctors on today.

472
00:26:08,000 --> 00:26:09,680
So you're listening to Veteran Radio.

473
00:26:09,680 --> 00:26:12,280
We will be right back.

474
00:26:12,280 --> 00:26:15,800
The Medal of Honor is the highest award for valor in combat given a member of the Armed

475
00:26:15,800 --> 00:26:17,560
Forces of the United States.

476
00:26:17,560 --> 00:26:22,040
There have been over 3,400 recipients of the nation's highest award.

477
00:26:22,040 --> 00:26:23,480
This is one of them.

478
00:26:23,480 --> 00:26:28,400
Captain Lewis Millett was wounded by grenade fragments, but refused evacuation.

479
00:26:28,400 --> 00:26:31,360
Details after this.

480
00:26:31,360 --> 00:26:35,240
If you have a VA claim denied by the Board of Veterans Appeals, contact legal help for

481
00:26:35,240 --> 00:26:39,480
veterans at 1-800-693-4800.

482
00:26:39,480 --> 00:26:43,480
They're experts in handling cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.

483
00:26:43,480 --> 00:26:47,600
Their number again, 1-800-693-4800.

484
00:26:47,600 --> 00:26:52,600
While personally leading his company in an attack against a strongly held Korean position,

485
00:26:52,600 --> 00:26:57,960
Millett noted that the first platoon was pinned down by small arms, automatic, and anti-tank

486
00:26:57,960 --> 00:26:59,480
fire.

487
00:26:59,480 --> 00:27:04,280
Millett ordered the third platoon forward, placed himself at the head of the two platoons,

488
00:27:04,280 --> 00:27:08,320
and with fixed bayonet led the assault up the fire-swept hill.

489
00:27:08,320 --> 00:27:13,440
In the fierce charge, he bayoneted two enemy soldiers and boldly continued on throwing

490
00:27:13,440 --> 00:27:20,400
grenades, clubbing and bayonetting the enemy while urging his men forward by shouting encouragement.

491
00:27:20,400 --> 00:27:25,160
Despite vicious opposing fire, the whirlwind hand-to-hand assault carried to the crest

492
00:27:25,160 --> 00:27:26,500
of the hill.

493
00:27:26,500 --> 00:27:31,280
His leadership and personal courage so inspired his men that they stormed into the hostile

494
00:27:31,280 --> 00:27:36,400
position and used their bayonets with such lethal effect that the enemy fled in wild

495
00:27:36,400 --> 00:27:38,080
disorder.

496
00:27:38,080 --> 00:27:43,220
During this fierce onslaught, Millett was wounded by grenade fragments but refused evacuation

497
00:27:43,220 --> 00:27:47,160
until the objective was taken and firmly secured.

498
00:27:47,160 --> 00:27:50,680
The Medal of Honor series is a production of Veterans Radio.

499
00:27:50,680 --> 00:27:53,040
Military veterans touch everyone's life.

500
00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:58,320
I'm guessing right now you're thinking of a veteran, a close friend, relative, maybe

501
00:27:58,320 --> 00:27:59,440
it's you.

502
00:27:59,440 --> 00:28:04,160
Even the toughest of us sometimes need help but don't know where to turn for support.

503
00:28:04,160 --> 00:28:06,720
You don't need special training to help a veteran in your life.

504
00:28:06,720 --> 00:28:09,600
We can all help someone going through a difficult time.

505
00:28:09,600 --> 00:28:11,960
Learn how you can be there for veterans.

506
00:28:11,960 --> 00:28:18,480
Visit VeteransCrisisLine.net VeteransCrisisLine.net A message from the U.S. Department of Veterans

507
00:28:18,480 --> 00:28:19,480
Affairs.

508
00:28:19,480 --> 00:28:29,800
We're back here on Veterans Radio and we're being joined by my favorite national security

509
00:28:29,800 --> 00:28:33,400
analyst from Washington, D.C., Dr. Rebecca Grant.

510
00:28:33,400 --> 00:28:38,040
Dr. Grant has been on Veterans Radio, I think more than anybody I can think of other than

511
00:28:38,040 --> 00:28:39,040
me.

512
00:28:39,040 --> 00:28:43,120
We're really excited to have her on to find out what's going on in the world because there's

513
00:28:43,120 --> 00:28:45,640
an awful lot of stuff that's happening out there.

514
00:28:45,640 --> 00:28:48,120
Dr. Grant, welcome back.

515
00:28:48,120 --> 00:28:52,360
I'm glad to be back with my favorite Veterans Radio host, Dale.

516
00:28:52,360 --> 00:28:56,280
It's wonderful to talk to your Veterans Radio audience again.

517
00:28:56,280 --> 00:28:57,280
Thank you very much.

518
00:28:57,280 --> 00:29:02,720
This is a way we really finally can understand what the world is going on out there.

519
00:29:02,720 --> 00:29:07,600
I suppose let's just start right in the Middle East because that seems to be the hot spot

520
00:29:07,600 --> 00:29:15,880
right now of everything that's going on with the killing of a Zinwar and just ceasefire

521
00:29:15,880 --> 00:29:21,080
talks breaking down and not even starting or anything.

522
00:29:21,080 --> 00:29:27,440
What a situation and the first thing that I want to mention, especially to your audience,

523
00:29:27,440 --> 00:29:37,080
Dale, is that we have nearly 40,000 U.S. forces in the region under U.S. Central Command spread

524
00:29:37,080 --> 00:29:42,880
across that region and it really goes all the way from the Eastern Mediterranean, sure

525
00:29:42,880 --> 00:29:50,160
technically that's European command, but there you find the USS Wasp Amphibious Ready Group,

526
00:29:50,160 --> 00:29:54,960
which is actually with a Marine unit that is special operations capable.

527
00:29:54,960 --> 00:29:57,040
They've been there quite some time.

528
00:29:57,040 --> 00:30:03,120
From there you go all the way through to the land-based fighters across the region.

529
00:30:03,120 --> 00:30:09,680
We of course have American ground forces still in small numbers, both in Syria and in Iraq,

530
00:30:09,680 --> 00:30:13,760
helping with the anti-ISIS mission and other things.

531
00:30:13,760 --> 00:30:20,200
Every type of fighter in the United States Air Force inventory is currently deployed

532
00:30:20,200 --> 00:30:26,560
from the F-22 Raptor and the F-35 right down indeed to the A-10.

533
00:30:26,560 --> 00:30:30,320
These are at various spaces throughout the Middle East and finally wrapping up with the

534
00:30:30,320 --> 00:30:34,840
aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, which is down in the North Arabian Gulf.

535
00:30:34,840 --> 00:30:41,280
Lincoln is actually the fifth aircraft carrier that's been rotated through there since October

536
00:30:41,280 --> 00:30:45,040
7th of 2023 when the war began.

537
00:30:45,040 --> 00:30:47,960
An amazing amount of forces.

538
00:30:47,960 --> 00:30:54,120
I want to talk about the B-2s a little bit later on, but all these forces are there for

539
00:30:54,120 --> 00:30:59,760
deterrence and as Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin says they are there to try to keep

540
00:30:59,760 --> 00:31:06,200
a lid on Iran and of course to provide protection and mutual support for our US forces there.

541
00:31:06,200 --> 00:31:08,560
It is just an unbelievable situation.

542
00:31:08,560 --> 00:31:14,200
Of course as you said the big news this week, the killing by Israel of Yaya Sinwar and I

543
00:31:14,200 --> 00:31:19,200
don't know Dale did you see any of the online video or images around that?

544
00:31:19,200 --> 00:31:20,200
I did.

545
00:31:20,200 --> 00:31:21,200
I did.

546
00:31:21,200 --> 00:31:26,440
A drone kind of flew into the guy's living room of a blown out building it looked like.

547
00:31:26,440 --> 00:31:27,440
Yes.

548
00:31:27,440 --> 00:31:28,440
Just incredible.

549
00:31:28,440 --> 00:31:35,560
No surprise to the veterans listening from Afghanistan and Iraq, but I think for a lot

550
00:31:35,560 --> 00:31:42,200
of the rest of us just such a reminder of how important drones have become in all the

551
00:31:42,200 --> 00:31:44,240
sensing and urban operations.

552
00:31:44,240 --> 00:31:49,040
There's something the US had been planning and training for for well at least 20 years,

553
00:31:49,040 --> 00:31:54,240
but you see this drone fly into basically a blown out maybe a second or third floor

554
00:31:54,240 --> 00:32:00,440
apartment building Sinwar it turns out is there hiding in the corner in the dust.

555
00:32:00,440 --> 00:32:07,520
What had happened was Sinwar had been living like a rat like the rat and the murderer that

556
00:32:07,520 --> 00:32:14,640
he was down with a small team of other Hamas operatives in Gaza and a relatively young

557
00:32:14,640 --> 00:32:20,320
group of Israeli soldiers conducting operations there engaged them and killed Sinwar and it

558
00:32:20,320 --> 00:32:26,760
took Israel about a day to identify the body and figure out that they had actually hit

559
00:32:26,760 --> 00:32:29,080
Sinwar himself.

560
00:32:29,080 --> 00:32:35,880
Sinwar was born in Gaza died in Gaza and everyone from President Biden, Vice President Harris,

561
00:32:35,880 --> 00:32:40,600
Secretary of Defense on down have made it very clear that the world is better off without

562
00:32:40,600 --> 00:32:41,600
him.

563
00:32:41,600 --> 00:32:45,760
Of course now the question is, you know, the State Department kind of leapt out and said,

564
00:32:45,760 --> 00:32:53,240
Sinwar was the one the Hamas leader who would not agree to the ceasefire.

565
00:32:53,240 --> 00:32:58,520
And so I think for a moment even there with Secretary of State Blinken and National Security

566
00:32:58,520 --> 00:33:04,840
Advisor Jake Sullivan, there is this sort of flare of hope that maybe without Sinwar,

567
00:33:04,840 --> 00:33:07,720
the ceasefire talks would get going again.

568
00:33:07,720 --> 00:33:13,840
But I haven't seen that develop out Iran's Ayatollah Hamanee came out and said, Nope,

569
00:33:13,840 --> 00:33:15,880
Biden will carry on.

570
00:33:15,880 --> 00:33:20,840
And another Hamas leader who lives in Qatar, Khalid Masha'a, has said, you know, we are

571
00:33:20,840 --> 00:33:25,040
going to continue and to create more modders than Hamas will go on.

572
00:33:25,040 --> 00:33:27,920
So really not a good situation.

573
00:33:27,920 --> 00:33:32,520
The ceasefire talks had broken down pretty completely over the last couple of weeks.

574
00:33:32,520 --> 00:33:38,160
The current state of play there is Netanyahu and Israel have agreed to the terms on the

575
00:33:38,160 --> 00:33:45,320
table which are pretty much what they were in late May when Biden put the plan forward.

576
00:33:45,320 --> 00:33:50,700
But they were fairly close and that there were just some technical points to do with

577
00:33:50,700 --> 00:33:56,640
Israeli forces on the southern border and a possible corridor across Gaza to prevent

578
00:33:56,640 --> 00:33:58,720
Hamas from repositioning.

579
00:33:58,720 --> 00:34:04,600
And then also some issues about the terms of when the ceasefire would actually begin.

580
00:34:04,600 --> 00:34:09,640
It was hoped that some progress would come out of that, but at this point, you know,

581
00:34:09,640 --> 00:34:13,960
the bottom line is Hamas just won't agree to a ceasefire in Gaza.

582
00:34:13,960 --> 00:34:14,960
It's really tragic.

583
00:34:14,960 --> 00:34:20,880
It was very tragic and considering Hezbollah has gotten in on the action itself.

584
00:34:20,880 --> 00:34:26,120
Yes, Hezbollah, you know, for so many months, and I think the last time we talked, Hezbollah

585
00:34:26,120 --> 00:34:34,040
had remained relatively out of the action conducting small attacks across the border

586
00:34:34,040 --> 00:34:35,040
down into Israel.

587
00:34:35,040 --> 00:34:40,760
Of course, all that changed over the summer when Hezbollah began to conduct far larger

588
00:34:40,760 --> 00:34:41,760
attacks.

589
00:34:41,760 --> 00:34:46,800
And, you know, Dale, the situation there, it's Israel's northern border, Lebanon's southern

590
00:34:46,800 --> 00:34:47,800
border.

591
00:34:47,800 --> 00:34:52,960
The Lattani River is a UN-decreed line.

592
00:34:52,960 --> 00:34:58,800
Hezbollah is not supposed to have forces below the line, but they do.

593
00:34:58,800 --> 00:35:06,040
And so Israel had pulled about 60,000 residents back from the border area, and the two sides

594
00:35:06,040 --> 00:35:07,040
have been trading attacks.

595
00:35:07,040 --> 00:35:14,320
Now, we know Hezbollah has upwards, still upwards, of 100,000 various weapons ranging

596
00:35:14,320 --> 00:35:20,920
from old World War II-style Kattusha rockets right up through some of the most modern drones

597
00:35:20,920 --> 00:35:24,080
and scud-type ballistic missiles.

598
00:35:24,080 --> 00:35:28,560
They have enough weapons to continue to attack for a long time.

599
00:35:28,560 --> 00:35:34,600
Israel is conducting now a ground operation to try to get the kind of Hezbollah special

600
00:35:34,600 --> 00:35:40,120
forces, if you will, out of that area and also hitting other leadership targets.

601
00:35:40,120 --> 00:35:44,840
But so now we really are looking at a multi-front fight.

602
00:35:44,840 --> 00:35:51,080
Of course, behind all this is Iran, and behind all that is Iran's biggest international supporter,

603
00:35:51,080 --> 00:35:55,640
which would be China, who buys 90 percent of their oil.

604
00:35:55,640 --> 00:36:02,960
It makes me speechless to think about what is going on over there.

605
00:36:02,960 --> 00:36:09,960
And then you got Iran, what firing, how many hundreds of rockets into Israel.

606
00:36:09,960 --> 00:36:14,240
And Israel doesn't take to those kinds of things kindly.

607
00:36:14,240 --> 00:36:18,400
I am sure there's going to be some massive retaliation here.

608
00:36:18,400 --> 00:36:19,400
That's right.

609
00:36:19,400 --> 00:36:24,640
We saw the strike, a direct strike from Iran against Israel back in April.

610
00:36:24,640 --> 00:36:27,760
And then another strike carried out in October.

611
00:36:27,760 --> 00:36:39,120
And the thing is, Israel just has to conduct the type of strike that will reestablish deterrence

612
00:36:39,120 --> 00:36:40,120
with Iran.

613
00:36:40,120 --> 00:36:46,280
I mean, Dale, the alternative is Israel looking at a barrage of incoming Iranian missiles every

614
00:36:46,280 --> 00:36:47,480
five or six months.

615
00:36:47,480 --> 00:36:50,520
I mean, that is just not a way forward.

616
00:36:50,520 --> 00:36:54,480
And so when Israel retaliated back in April, it was a very, very, very long-term strike.

617
00:36:54,480 --> 00:37:02,640
It was a very technologically impressive, but very small and precise strike, mainly against

618
00:37:02,640 --> 00:37:08,480
an Iranian military base and some nuclear sites that the nuclear target set in Iran

619
00:37:08,480 --> 00:37:10,800
is sprawling and huge and very different.

620
00:37:10,800 --> 00:37:16,800
But Israel conducted a very precise and restrained strike.

621
00:37:16,800 --> 00:37:20,960
Now Iran having attacked again in October.

622
00:37:20,960 --> 00:37:27,840
The question is, for Israel, I think, what type of strike will really get the Ayatollah's

623
00:37:27,840 --> 00:37:28,840
attention?

624
00:37:28,840 --> 00:37:34,040
And to my mind, this time Israel does have the initiative and they'll have to go smash

625
00:37:34,040 --> 00:37:37,520
more of Iran's military capability.

626
00:37:37,520 --> 00:37:43,840
I expect them to still really prioritize legitimate military targets like missile production,

627
00:37:43,840 --> 00:37:48,000
drone production sites, Iranian military bases.

628
00:37:48,000 --> 00:37:56,640
But I wouldn't rule out seeing some attacks on various portions of Iran's nuclear enterprise

629
00:37:56,640 --> 00:38:01,360
and possibly even their new oil terminal, which is down in the south at JASC that's

630
00:38:01,360 --> 00:38:03,680
been running for a couple of years.

631
00:38:03,680 --> 00:38:07,920
But the question is, what can Israel do that will really reestablish deterrence?

632
00:38:07,920 --> 00:38:14,000
Reports are that the Israelis have actually talked with the U.S. a little bit about the

633
00:38:14,000 --> 00:38:17,240
target set and that they have targets ready to go.

634
00:38:17,240 --> 00:38:20,920
Now the question around Washington is, what is everybody waiting for?

635
00:38:20,920 --> 00:38:27,120
And I think one issue here, of course, is the deployment of FAD, our very elite missile

636
00:38:27,120 --> 00:38:28,120
battery.

637
00:38:28,120 --> 00:38:32,000
That's getting involved actually 100 U.S. Army soldiers on the ground in Israel manning

638
00:38:32,000 --> 00:38:36,760
the FAD battery to help make sure that we have really good air defense coverage, partly

639
00:38:36,760 --> 00:38:41,160
for Israel but also for our U.S. forces in that region.

640
00:38:41,160 --> 00:38:47,120
Yeah, we certainly don't want to have another repeat of what happened at a hotel with a

641
00:38:47,120 --> 00:38:52,120
Marines were back in the 80s.

642
00:38:52,120 --> 00:38:57,520
It's just amazing to me that all of these things are continuing to go on.

643
00:38:57,520 --> 00:39:02,440
You mentioned that you wanted to talk about the B-2s on the Houttuys.

644
00:39:02,440 --> 00:39:04,440
Oh, on those guys.

645
00:39:04,440 --> 00:39:05,440
Okay.

646
00:39:05,440 --> 00:39:07,040
That's right.

647
00:39:07,040 --> 00:39:11,080
The B-2 are elite stealth bomber.

648
00:39:11,080 --> 00:39:17,880
You know, the Houtties, as you remember again, another Iran client and they are the rebels

649
00:39:17,880 --> 00:39:23,680
in Yemen, not recognized by the UN, but they control a lot of Yemen and they have been

650
00:39:23,680 --> 00:39:29,960
holding up Red Sea shipping by attacking and they attack with all kinds of things.

651
00:39:29,960 --> 00:39:36,120
Sometimes it's a drone, sometimes it is a missile, sometimes it's an unmanned surface

652
00:39:36,120 --> 00:39:38,040
vessel.

653
00:39:38,040 --> 00:39:43,480
And the U.S. Navy there has been doing an amazing job, the destroyers particularly,

654
00:39:43,480 --> 00:39:46,800
and then an aircraft carrier that has kept an air wing pretty much in place.

655
00:39:46,800 --> 00:39:55,560
There was an incredible incident back in the spring of a hoodie attack on an oil tanker

656
00:39:55,560 --> 00:40:01,760
that set this ship on fire and a U.S. Navy helicopter came in with the smoke and the

657
00:40:01,760 --> 00:40:07,160
flames and picked up some of the sailors off this burning ship.

658
00:40:07,160 --> 00:40:09,520
So that's the situation in the Red Sea.

659
00:40:09,520 --> 00:40:14,440
Most of the major shippers have routed around and are not using the Red Sea anymore.

660
00:40:14,440 --> 00:40:21,440
The U.S. Navy is sort of playing its own defense against the Houtties, helped by several allies,

661
00:40:21,440 --> 00:40:27,000
Britain, South Korea, Germany, several allies have ships there as well.

662
00:40:27,000 --> 00:40:33,840
But periodically, Central Command has conducted strikes against Houtti ground targets in Yemen.

663
00:40:33,840 --> 00:40:40,720
There was a big strike carried out by Navy planes along with Air Force land-based fighters

664
00:40:40,720 --> 00:40:42,680
back in the wintertime.

665
00:40:42,680 --> 00:40:47,960
But now they have used the B-2 bomber which is based at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri,

666
00:40:47,960 --> 00:40:50,880
probably a pair of B-2 bombers.

667
00:40:50,880 --> 00:40:57,360
And they were used to attack underground targets where the Houtties had an underground

668
00:40:57,360 --> 00:41:00,120
weapons, cash, or other type of military target.

669
00:41:00,120 --> 00:41:05,560
So the fact that they had to use the B-2, partly because it's stealthy and long range,

670
00:41:05,560 --> 00:41:10,560
but mostly because it can carry things like the massive ordinance penetrator and some

671
00:41:10,560 --> 00:41:14,240
of the biggest air dot bombs that we have in the U.S. inventory.

672
00:41:14,240 --> 00:41:15,240
Those are the B-2 specialty.

673
00:41:15,240 --> 00:41:19,960
The B-2 hadn't been used in a strike since 2017 when it hit some terrorist targets in

674
00:41:19,960 --> 00:41:20,960
Libya.

675
00:41:20,960 --> 00:41:25,800
So it's quite dramatic that the situation in the Red Sea has gotten to the point where

676
00:41:25,800 --> 00:41:28,360
the B-2 bomber has been called in.

677
00:41:28,360 --> 00:41:31,160
Where do you see this going?

678
00:41:31,160 --> 00:41:37,520
I mean, there was an article today in the paper, George Will wrote a column, and I don't

679
00:41:37,520 --> 00:41:40,360
know if you had a chance to see it or not, but he's just saying that World War III is

680
00:41:40,360 --> 00:41:45,800
already underway and neither of our presidential candidates have seen to notice what's happening

681
00:41:45,800 --> 00:41:46,800
over there.

682
00:41:46,800 --> 00:41:51,240
And he talks about many of the things we have talked on the program about, you know, we've

683
00:41:51,240 --> 00:41:54,920
got, you know, we've just been spending, you know, 10 minutes on the Middle East.

684
00:41:54,920 --> 00:41:59,240
We haven't even gotten to Ukraine yet, and then we have China, you know, doing their

685
00:41:59,240 --> 00:42:00,240
stuff again.

686
00:42:00,240 --> 00:42:05,200
And, oh, God, I don't know what, what would you do?

687
00:42:05,200 --> 00:42:06,640
My wife thinks you should be president.

688
00:42:06,640 --> 00:42:11,600
So let's imagine, what would you do if you were in that situation?

689
00:42:11,600 --> 00:42:17,920
I tell you, that is a very tough question because unfortunately, the situation has really

690
00:42:17,920 --> 00:42:20,240
drifted.

691
00:42:20,240 --> 00:42:25,040
In the case of our relationship with Iran, it's been decades and of course, over the

692
00:42:25,040 --> 00:42:30,080
past few years, we released, took off a lot of sanctions, done a lot of things that have

693
00:42:30,080 --> 00:42:34,560
allowed Iran to build up its terrorist network around the world.

694
00:42:34,560 --> 00:42:39,080
And the fact, you know, Iran is the one that trains and supplies Hamas, trains and supplies

695
00:42:39,080 --> 00:42:42,800
Hezbollah and Lebanon, trains and supplies the Houdis in Yemen.

696
00:42:42,800 --> 00:42:48,680
And it barely even gets any notice, but we do still carry out occasional strikes up in

697
00:42:48,680 --> 00:42:53,040
Syria or within Iraq against resurgent ISIS forces.

698
00:42:53,040 --> 00:42:54,040
So what would we do?

699
00:42:54,040 --> 00:42:59,080
I think the one thing that has to happen is we have to see Israel really reestablish its

700
00:42:59,080 --> 00:43:00,920
security without a secure Israel.

701
00:43:00,920 --> 00:43:03,720
We don't have much chance for anything in the Middle East.

702
00:43:03,720 --> 00:43:11,840
I think actually what both, from President Trump and Vice President Harris want to see

703
00:43:11,840 --> 00:43:18,720
is to get back to President Trump's Abraham Accords that had normalized relations between

704
00:43:18,720 --> 00:43:20,720
Israel and some of the regional partners.

705
00:43:20,720 --> 00:43:27,160
The big one that yet to come was improved relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel.

706
00:43:27,160 --> 00:43:32,720
They were very close to a rapprochement back last fall.

707
00:43:32,720 --> 00:43:36,720
And I believe that is part of the reason that Iran and Hamas instigated the attack into

708
00:43:36,720 --> 00:43:39,000
Israel was to throw that off.

709
00:43:39,000 --> 00:43:43,880
So we need to see Hamas's military capability ended.

710
00:43:43,880 --> 00:43:46,400
They are pretty decimated.

711
00:43:46,400 --> 00:43:48,840
I think finish that.

712
00:43:48,840 --> 00:43:53,520
The Lebanese has one need to get back north of the Lulutani River.

713
00:43:53,520 --> 00:43:59,040
In the Red Sea, you know, we cannot keep this big of a chunk of our Navy there forever.

714
00:43:59,040 --> 00:44:03,560
I think there either has to be a more coherent operation to knock out some of that Yemeni

715
00:44:03,560 --> 00:44:07,400
capability or something else to be arranged.

716
00:44:07,400 --> 00:44:12,080
And then as I said, I think what anybody who's really touched this diplomatic situation

717
00:44:12,080 --> 00:44:20,360
wants is to get Israel and Saudi Arabia back on track to normalized relations.

718
00:44:20,360 --> 00:44:23,080
That will help a lot of the other regional partners fall into place.

719
00:44:23,080 --> 00:44:26,960
Unfortunately, this is also going to mean, I think, an international authority of some

720
00:44:26,960 --> 00:44:31,120
kind in Gaza because clearly Gaza cannot be left to Hamas.

721
00:44:31,120 --> 00:44:37,800
I think one of the real tragedies of Sinwar and his type is that he's had, he cared not

722
00:44:37,800 --> 00:44:43,480
at all for the people of Gaza to look what they have been subjected to in the 17 years

723
00:44:43,480 --> 00:44:46,120
that Hamas has run that place.

724
00:44:46,120 --> 00:44:50,560
And you know, when you start hearing people talking about, well, you know, we can't support

725
00:44:50,560 --> 00:44:52,680
Israel and so on and so forth.

726
00:44:52,680 --> 00:44:55,480
I think as you just pointed out, we have no choice.

727
00:44:55,480 --> 00:44:58,960
Well, and I'll tell you the support for Israel.

728
00:44:58,960 --> 00:45:04,320
The Biden administration used the words iron clad, President Trump's position is no different.

729
00:45:04,320 --> 00:45:11,360
And more importantly, perhaps the United States Senate is 100% behind Israel.

730
00:45:11,360 --> 00:45:16,160
So that support is very strong and it does include weapons as it always has.

731
00:45:16,160 --> 00:45:21,840
And I think also some operational advice and intelligence that said, you know, there's

732
00:45:21,840 --> 00:45:31,360
now time for Israel to look at wrapping up that campaign and to start to move in the

733
00:45:31,360 --> 00:45:36,360
humanitarian aid that is poised to go into Gaza, but very, very tough until they can

734
00:45:36,360 --> 00:45:41,040
find somebody to sign on the dotted line for the Hamas part of the deal.

735
00:45:41,040 --> 00:45:47,280
The only other option is really to just completely eliminate Hamas and essentially occupy Gaza.

736
00:45:47,280 --> 00:45:49,800
No one wants to see that happen.

737
00:45:49,800 --> 00:45:57,040
But Israel believes that they must maintain firm military pressure on Hamas in order to

738
00:45:57,040 --> 00:45:58,600
get any resolution whatsoever.

739
00:45:58,600 --> 00:46:00,960
And they seem to be right about that.

740
00:46:00,960 --> 00:46:02,960
All right.

741
00:46:02,960 --> 00:46:08,920
Well, let's let's know the world is a mess.

742
00:46:08,920 --> 00:46:13,240
Moving along, you know, we were talking about Iran earlier and, you know, and that they

743
00:46:13,240 --> 00:46:18,720
are supported by the Chinese because the Chinese are buying all the Iranian oil and the Chinese

744
00:46:18,720 --> 00:46:20,960
are just kind of acting like the puppet master back there.

745
00:46:20,960 --> 00:46:24,160
I don't know how involved is Putin in any of this?

746
00:46:24,160 --> 00:46:26,320
I mean, he's busy with Ukraine.

747
00:46:26,320 --> 00:46:33,840
Well, and don't forget, Putin is buying Iran's drones to use against Ukraine.

748
00:46:33,840 --> 00:46:39,720
Not only does Russia purchase drones from Iran, but apparently Russia has set up a factory

749
00:46:39,720 --> 00:46:46,040
to do a co-production of a lot of these Shahid and other drone types inside Russia.

750
00:46:46,040 --> 00:46:53,960
So it really is at this point an alliance between Russia and Iran and China, you know,

751
00:46:53,960 --> 00:46:55,840
backing all of this.

752
00:46:55,840 --> 00:47:00,200
And if you if you took any one piece of it out, but particularly the Chinese piece, because

753
00:47:00,200 --> 00:47:04,120
there are a number of international sanctions on Iran, I mean, the stack would be three

754
00:47:04,120 --> 00:47:06,160
feet high if you looked at them.

755
00:47:06,160 --> 00:47:07,640
There could be more.

756
00:47:07,640 --> 00:47:12,280
But the fact is the sanctions aren't effective as long as China is there to provide a secondary

757
00:47:12,280 --> 00:47:13,480
market.

758
00:47:13,480 --> 00:47:20,320
So and then, of course, China as say every day, they will tell you that they support Russia's

759
00:47:20,320 --> 00:47:22,000
war in Ukraine.

760
00:47:22,000 --> 00:47:28,160
So we are in fact dealing with this terrible alliance and latest reports that there may

761
00:47:28,160 --> 00:47:33,840
be North Korean soldiers fighting with the Russians against Ukraine.

762
00:47:33,840 --> 00:47:35,840
Oh, man.

763
00:47:35,840 --> 00:47:36,840
Holy.

764
00:47:36,840 --> 00:47:39,400
How did all this happen?

765
00:47:39,400 --> 00:47:40,400
I don't know.

766
00:47:40,400 --> 00:47:41,400
I don't know.

767
00:47:41,400 --> 00:47:46,960
I mean, you think we would have learned our lesson 80 years ago, but I guess we haven't.

768
00:47:46,960 --> 00:47:53,680
And which is what the Will article talks about, you know, back in the late 1930s, everybody

769
00:47:53,680 --> 00:47:56,520
could see it was coming, but nobody really did anything about it.

770
00:47:56,520 --> 00:48:01,200
But I think by having you on to talk about it is really important so that, you know,

771
00:48:01,200 --> 00:48:06,880
at least we can be an educated audience that knows what is going on and maybe what could

772
00:48:06,880 --> 00:48:07,880
be looking at.

773
00:48:07,880 --> 00:48:12,600
And I wanted to talk about China, you know, again, being active, you know, around Taiwan

774
00:48:12,600 --> 00:48:13,600
and the Philippines.

775
00:48:13,600 --> 00:48:20,680
And I know that's another, another potential hotspot in the world.

776
00:48:20,680 --> 00:48:21,680
Very much so.

777
00:48:21,680 --> 00:48:22,680
And you're right, Dale.

778
00:48:22,680 --> 00:48:27,560
You know, China enjoys being the puppet master and having US horses racing hither and yawn

779
00:48:27,560 --> 00:48:29,280
is just benefits them.

780
00:48:29,280 --> 00:48:33,760
It took us so long to see that China was not our friend economically.

781
00:48:33,760 --> 00:48:37,240
And then Xi Jinping is really ramped up his military pressure.

782
00:48:37,240 --> 00:48:42,080
So specifically with Taiwan, this happens every so often there have been some, again,

783
00:48:42,080 --> 00:48:45,920
some big exercises of air and naval forces around Taiwan.

784
00:48:45,920 --> 00:48:51,360
Kinmen Island, which you may dimly remember what used to be called Kimoy and Matsu, and

785
00:48:51,360 --> 00:48:54,600
there were big crises over these two little islands.

786
00:48:54,600 --> 00:48:58,520
They're very close to the Chinese mainland, but they actually belonged to Taiwan.

787
00:48:58,520 --> 00:49:01,560
And there was a big crisis back in the Eisenhower administration over these.

788
00:49:01,560 --> 00:49:03,960
Well, China's been added again.

789
00:49:03,960 --> 00:49:09,280
Now what they like to do is use their so-called Coast Guard ships to harass, you know, the

790
00:49:09,280 --> 00:49:12,680
ferry going back and forth from Kinmen to the mainland.

791
00:49:12,680 --> 00:49:19,080
And the same thing is happening in the Philippines, where China claims certain shoals and terrain

792
00:49:19,080 --> 00:49:20,080
features.

793
00:49:20,080 --> 00:49:26,960
The UN, the Hague, every international body says, nope, those belong to the Philippines,

794
00:49:26,960 --> 00:49:28,920
but China continues to press.

795
00:49:28,920 --> 00:49:36,440
And so frequently we see really scraping of paint between a Chinese, quote unquote, Coast

796
00:49:36,440 --> 00:49:38,720
Guard vessel and the Philippine Navy.

797
00:49:38,720 --> 00:49:43,240
We've seen the Chinese use high pressure water hoses or water cannons against the Philippine

798
00:49:43,240 --> 00:49:44,240
sailors.

799
00:49:44,240 --> 00:49:45,640
And why is this a problem?

800
00:49:45,640 --> 00:49:49,880
Well, the United States has a mutual defense treaty with the Philippines.

801
00:49:49,880 --> 00:49:55,640
We are obligated by treaty to go to the defense of the Philippines if they ask us.

802
00:49:55,640 --> 00:50:01,200
And President Marcos, for Nen Marcos Jr. there is the one who will make that decision.

803
00:50:01,200 --> 00:50:06,720
And he has said that if these incidents with China cost the life of a Filipino serviceman,

804
00:50:06,720 --> 00:50:09,680
that he will invoke that mutual defense treaty.

805
00:50:09,680 --> 00:50:15,240
Now, guarantee you we have our Navy P-8 surveillance planes and some other ships out in the Western

806
00:50:15,240 --> 00:50:19,360
Pacific that are keeping a very close eye on what's going on.

807
00:50:19,360 --> 00:50:25,800
But we really are just a little incident away from having a miniature fight with China over

808
00:50:25,800 --> 00:50:26,800
the Philippines.

809
00:50:26,800 --> 00:50:28,480
And it's going to be something that we have to do.

810
00:50:28,480 --> 00:50:34,120
We dare not let China have their way if it comes to a set two with the Philippines.

811
00:50:34,120 --> 00:50:37,680
And maybe you listeners don't know, but we've really rebuilt a lot of our basing with the

812
00:50:37,680 --> 00:50:38,880
Philippines.

813
00:50:38,880 --> 00:50:41,600
There was a time when the Filipinos were more pro-China.

814
00:50:41,600 --> 00:50:43,100
That has all changed.

815
00:50:43,100 --> 00:50:44,800
And that U.S. alliance has been rebuilt.

816
00:50:44,800 --> 00:50:50,280
And we have a lot of American contractors there making sure all the runways are ready

817
00:50:50,280 --> 00:50:54,080
and that we have the ability to get back and use the Philippines as a base if we need to

818
00:50:54,080 --> 00:50:55,080
to help defend the Philippines.

819
00:50:55,080 --> 00:50:57,520
We've only got about two minutes left.

820
00:50:57,520 --> 00:51:01,800
This has been an amazing topic to talk about.

821
00:51:01,800 --> 00:51:08,440
The one last thing in those two minutes is you mentioned that the U.S. shipbuilding,

822
00:51:08,440 --> 00:51:13,040
everything seems to be delayed and that the China's Navy is bigger than ours.

823
00:51:13,040 --> 00:51:17,400
This Navy is bigger than ours and set to grow soon to over 400 ships.

824
00:51:17,400 --> 00:51:19,760
We have about 290.

825
00:51:19,760 --> 00:51:21,440
So let's make some more.

826
00:51:21,440 --> 00:51:26,680
Well, unfortunately, the Navy budget slipped the next aircraft carrier, which was to be

827
00:51:26,680 --> 00:51:27,680
a CVN-82.

828
00:51:27,680 --> 00:51:29,560
It doesn't have a name.

829
00:51:29,560 --> 00:51:35,800
The couple new carriers are being built down at Newport News, CVN-79.

830
00:51:35,800 --> 00:51:37,560
The Kennedy is ready to go.

831
00:51:37,560 --> 00:51:43,680
But the next one, CVN-80, is sort of just a shape at the pier.

832
00:51:43,680 --> 00:51:46,160
And the one after that hasn't even been started yet.

833
00:51:46,160 --> 00:51:51,840
The COVID workforce shortages, delays with a lot of the suppliers have really hurt the

834
00:51:51,840 --> 00:51:55,400
aircraft carriers and the submarine industrial base.

835
00:51:55,400 --> 00:52:01,440
And so the Senate has some plans to try to really put some money into this and get it

836
00:52:01,440 --> 00:52:03,840
going, but it's a major problem in shipbuilding.

837
00:52:03,840 --> 00:52:08,040
It's been building over the years and over the decades, but we've got to fix it.

838
00:52:08,040 --> 00:52:14,320
We can see how important our Navy is and they have to use the contracting flexibility,

839
00:52:14,320 --> 00:52:19,000
the extra dollars, recruit and pay that workforce and get them building our new carriers and

840
00:52:19,000 --> 00:52:20,000
submarines.

841
00:52:20,000 --> 00:52:21,000
No, absolutely.

842
00:52:21,000 --> 00:52:26,040
Dr. Grant, thank you so much for being on the program again today.

843
00:52:26,040 --> 00:52:27,160
We just touched the service.

844
00:52:27,160 --> 00:52:32,560
I would love to talk to you again after the election to see where we're going from there.

845
00:52:32,560 --> 00:52:33,560
All right?

846
00:52:33,560 --> 00:52:34,560
Great to have you.

847
00:52:34,560 --> 00:52:35,640
Always a pleasure to talk to Veterans Radio.

848
00:52:35,640 --> 00:52:36,640
Thank you so much.

849
00:52:36,640 --> 00:52:37,640
Thank you.

850
00:52:37,640 --> 00:52:38,640
Thank you.

851
00:52:38,640 --> 00:52:39,640
All right.

852
00:52:39,640 --> 00:52:40,640
So that was Dr. Rebecca Grant.

853
00:52:40,640 --> 00:52:45,240
As everybody knows, that's our resident foreign affairs expert and I was really pleased to

854
00:52:45,240 --> 00:52:47,680
have her on at this time.

855
00:52:47,680 --> 00:52:52,760
Also don't forget we talked with our expert on VA benefits, so we want to make sure that

856
00:52:52,760 --> 00:52:56,040
you check those out.

857
00:52:56,040 --> 00:52:57,040
Contact your local VSO.

858
00:52:57,040 --> 00:53:00,040
Find out what your benefits and what you're entitled to.

859
00:53:00,040 --> 00:53:07,400
We will be back next week with another, hopefully, a live program that things should work out

860
00:53:07,400 --> 00:53:09,120
pretty well for that.

861
00:53:09,120 --> 00:53:14,160
The song that we're going out on today is a kind of a combination of God bless America

862
00:53:14,160 --> 00:53:15,800
and America the beautiful.

863
00:53:15,800 --> 00:53:19,640
It's going to be performed by the brothers of the heart.

864
00:53:19,640 --> 00:53:23,880
So until next week, this is Dale Throneberry for all of us here at Veterans Radio.

865
00:53:23,880 --> 00:53:25,480
Thank you so much for listening.

866
00:53:25,480 --> 00:53:32,480
You are dismissed.

867
00:53:32,480 --> 00:53:41,480
God bless America.

868
00:53:41,480 --> 00:53:46,480
Land that I love.

869
00:53:46,480 --> 00:53:52,480
Stand beside her and guide her.

870
00:53:52,480 --> 00:53:58,480
Through the night with the light from above.

871
00:53:58,480 --> 00:54:08,480
From the mountain to the prairie to the ocean.

872
00:54:08,480 --> 00:54:12,480
White with foam.

873
00:54:12,480 --> 00:54:17,480
God bless America.

874
00:54:17,480 --> 00:54:24,480
My home sweet home.

875
00:54:24,480 --> 00:54:29,480
God bless America.

876
00:54:29,480 --> 00:54:39,480
My home sweet home.

877
00:54:39,480 --> 00:54:45,480
Oh beautiful for spacious skies.

878
00:54:45,480 --> 00:54:51,480
For amber waves of green.

879
00:54:51,480 --> 00:54:57,480
For purple mountains majesty.

880
00:54:57,480 --> 00:55:03,480
Above the fruited plains.

881
00:55:03,480 --> 00:55:10,480
America, America.

882
00:55:10,480 --> 00:55:16,480
God shed his grace on thee.

883
00:55:16,480 --> 00:55:22,480
And crown thy good with brotherhood.

884
00:55:22,480 --> 00:55:28,480
From sea to shining sea.

885
00:55:28,480 --> 00:55:35,480
And crown thy good with brotherhood.

886
00:55:35,480 --> 00:55:47,480
From sea to shining sea.

887
00:55:47,480 --> 00:55:57,480
From the mountains to the prairies to the oceans.

888
00:55:57,480 --> 00:56:01,480
White with foam.

889
00:56:01,480 --> 00:56:06,480
God bless America.

890
00:56:06,480 --> 00:56:13,480
My home sweet home.

891
00:56:13,480 --> 00:56:18,480
God bless America.

892
00:56:18,480 --> 00:56:39,480
My home sweet home.