1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:15,000 All across America and around the world. This is Veterans Radio. This is Veterans Radio. 2 00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:21,000 And now your host for today's program, Dale Throneberry. 3 00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:27,280 Good afternoon and welcome to Veterans Radio. My name is Dale Throneberry. I'm a CW-2 type 4 00:00:27,280 --> 00:00:33,680 helicopter pilot back in Vietnam 100 years ago. We want to welcome you to our program today. 5 00:00:33,680 --> 00:00:39,960 It's our special benefits program, which we do monthly. We have got two experts on board so far. 6 00:00:39,960 --> 00:00:45,600 We are waiting for other people to sign in. But so if you have any questions about your benefits 7 00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:52,160 or how to apply for benefits and so forth, we think I think we can help you out today. So make 8 00:00:52,160 --> 00:00:57,160 sure that you get that number, write it down, you know, as Bob used to always say, make sure you 9 00:00:57,160 --> 00:01:07,000 have a pencil or crayon. The number is 734-822-1600. 734-822-1600. Well, for those of you that 10 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:12,720 listen to our program through syndication, obviously you can't call that number. So we do 11 00:01:12,720 --> 00:01:18,280 broadcast live every Sunday and our benefits program is always the first Sunday of the month. 12 00:01:18,280 --> 00:01:23,920 So if you do have some questions, feel free to send them off to us and we'll answer them for you 13 00:01:23,920 --> 00:01:31,640 the best that we can. So please try to do that. Before we get into meeting our guests and taking 14 00:01:31,640 --> 00:01:39,320 your questions, I've got to thank our sponsors. And without them, we wouldn't be here. So we want 15 00:01:39,320 --> 00:01:44,320 to make sure we do. Number one, of course, is legal help for veterans and legal help for veterans 16 00:01:44,320 --> 00:01:52,160 specializes in veteran disability claims. So give legal help for veterans a call at 800-6934-800 17 00:01:52,160 --> 00:01:58,520 or go to their website legalhelpforveterans.com. The National Veterans Business Development 18 00:01:58,520 --> 00:02:04,720 Council, better known as NVVDC, is the nation's leading third party authority for certification 19 00:02:04,720 --> 00:02:11,320 of veteran-owned businesses. For more information, go to their website that's NVVDC.org or give 20 00:02:11,320 --> 00:02:19,160 them a call at 888-237-8433. Remember, if you are a veteran-owned business and you want to do 21 00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:25,040 business with the federal government, you need to be certified. These are the folks that can help 22 00:02:25,040 --> 00:02:33,080 you out. So go to NVVDC.org for more information. PuroClean is known as the paramedics of property 23 00:02:33,080 --> 00:02:40,080 damage. PuroClean provides water damage remediation, flood water removal, fire and smoke, damage 24 00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:46,120 remediation, mold removal, and biohazard cleanup to commercial and residential customers. A cool 25 00:02:46,120 --> 00:02:50,760 thing about PuroClean is that they're all over the country and all you've got to do is go to 26 00:02:50,760 --> 00:02:58,120 PuroClean.com. But they also are one of the nation's leading restoration franchise networks and 27 00:02:58,120 --> 00:03:06,640 they offer a 25% off franchise fee for all veterans. So if you're interested in starting your 28 00:03:06,640 --> 00:03:11,760 own business and maybe you're an entrepreneur and this is an organization that might have something 29 00:03:11,760 --> 00:03:19,040 for you, so go to PuroClean.com and as a veteran you get 25% off that fee. That's pretty cool, 30 00:03:19,040 --> 00:03:25,440 I think. The Charles S. Kettles VA Medical Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan. For more information, 31 00:03:25,440 --> 00:03:34,440 go to va.gov. The National Vietnam Veterans of America never again will one generation of 32 00:03:34,440 --> 00:03:41,600 veterans abandon another. For more information, go to their website, vva.org. The Irwin Press Corps 33 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:49,520 and American Legion Post 46 and the Charles S. Kettles Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 310, 34 00:03:49,520 --> 00:03:55,320 both of Ann Arbor, Michigan. If you'd like to support Veterans Radio, please go to our website, 35 00:03:55,320 --> 00:04:01,560 veteransradio.org and click on the donate button. Thank you in advance for your support. Okay, 36 00:04:01,560 --> 00:04:09,120 now for today's program. Alrighty, so as I mentioned before, we've got two experts on our 37 00:04:09,120 --> 00:04:15,440 line right now. Number one is Brigadier General Caroline Faussone. She is a retired Air Force 38 00:04:15,440 --> 00:04:25,080 Brigadier General and she's a nurse for a few years and is our resident expert. I also brought 39 00:04:25,080 --> 00:04:30,320 somebody on that we talked to a couple of weeks ago and that is Dr. Paul Lawrence and Dr. Lawrence 40 00:04:30,320 --> 00:04:35,360 was the former Secretary of Benefits for the Department of Veterans Affairs under the first 41 00:04:35,360 --> 00:04:40,640 Trump administration and he was the author of Veterans Benefits for You, Get What You Deserve 42 00:04:40,640 --> 00:04:45,800 that we talked about a couple of weeks ago. So I want to welcome them both to the program. So 43 00:04:45,800 --> 00:04:53,320 General, welcome back. Paul, welcome to Veterans Radio. Hey, all of our veterans had a great 44 00:04:53,320 --> 00:05:01,160 Thanksgiving weekend. Thanks, Dale. I agree. I hope all their football teams won too. That's true. 45 00:05:01,160 --> 00:05:08,680 Yes, we hope they're all their teams won. I also want to bring on a good friend of mine here in 46 00:05:08,680 --> 00:05:15,120 Ann Arbor. He's a Marine veteran and so he's kind of here to offer their Marine perspective on 47 00:05:15,120 --> 00:05:22,160 questions for the benefit. So Brian Bayon, Brian, hey, welcome back. Brian, are you there? 48 00:05:22,160 --> 00:05:29,160 Well, he'll give you there shortly, I hope. Anyhow, he's here to kind of offset because I have the 49 00:05:29,160 --> 00:05:35,960 Army's mind and he's got a Marine mind and they're totally different from what I understand. So 50 00:05:35,960 --> 00:05:43,920 let's get right into it and see are there any things that we should be aware of? I know there's 51 00:05:43,920 --> 00:05:52,360 we're getting a raise for those people who are on disability. 2.5%. I'll take it. 52 00:05:52,360 --> 00:06:00,840 Yeah, well, as you know, Dale, every fall, right in October, the fiscal year ends, the government 53 00:06:00,840 --> 00:06:05,920 measures the rate of inflation and gives folks on things like social security and disability 54 00:06:05,920 --> 00:06:11,760 compensation and other benefits, you know, a raise is supposed to reflect inflation. So 2.5% is 55 00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:17,240 their estimate and that went into effect, I think on the checks folks got after October. So it would 56 00:06:17,240 --> 00:06:22,480 have been late October, early November. All right, and that that takes effect with our with your 57 00:06:22,480 --> 00:06:27,680 check in January, correct? Does it? Okay, I thought it was the fiscal year, but it must be January. 58 00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:34,240 You're right. Yes, I know I didn't get I know I didn't get a raise. Okay, then you're right. It's 59 00:06:34,240 --> 00:06:42,080 the calendar year. You're right. So Dale, another thing with benefits are veterans specifically, 60 00:06:42,080 --> 00:06:48,200 I should get the letter from the VA. This is the time of year that it indicates what percentage 61 00:06:48,200 --> 00:06:56,160 you are, what your rate of payment every month is. But it's really particular for those individuals, 62 00:06:56,160 --> 00:07:03,280 those veterans that are 100%. Because you should be taking that letter into your treasure of your 63 00:07:03,280 --> 00:07:09,600 county, wherever you are around the country for that tax abatement. So if you haven't received a 64 00:07:09,600 --> 00:07:19,600 letter, a lot of them have already been dispersed. Please call your agency, your, your office or your 65 00:07:19,600 --> 00:07:26,120 representative if you have not gotten your letter yet from the VA. This does come from the VA. Is 66 00:07:26,120 --> 00:07:32,920 that I mean, I don't is that pretty much the same around the country? Mm hmm. It's the annual letter 67 00:07:32,920 --> 00:07:37,880 that no, no, I don't mean no, I mean, I don't mean the letter. I'm meaning the relief from property 68 00:07:37,880 --> 00:07:45,720 taxes. Yes, most of the states have, I think every single one I did, I don't have it in front of me, 69 00:07:45,720 --> 00:07:53,720 but a year ago, maybe a little over a year ago, I did an analysis of every single state. And I don't 70 00:07:53,720 --> 00:08:00,000 think there was one state that didn't have 100% for tax abatement. But the interesting thing I 71 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:07,120 found is there are multiple states, I believe there was five that you could start to get benefits 72 00:08:07,120 --> 00:08:14,400 if you were 10%. And then as it went up, it could be 50% of percentage of your taxes. There was 73 00:08:14,400 --> 00:08:22,200 160. There was 170. But I thought that was really interesting. I never knew that until I started, 74 00:08:22,200 --> 00:08:28,680 you know, to get questions. Okay, how much am I from Colorado or how much from Florida? And 75 00:08:28,680 --> 00:08:36,720 Florida is one of those that will reimburse incrementally. Okay, that's interesting. I did not know that. 76 00:08:36,720 --> 00:08:43,440 Mm hmm. And we, you know, we encourage, I know we, you know, around here, I have talked to a 77 00:08:43,440 --> 00:08:49,520 couple of guys, I know that are 100%. And that's the first thing they always bring up. Hey, did you 78 00:08:49,520 --> 00:08:55,160 know I don't have to pay property taxes? I'm going, wait a minute. That's kind of, I wish I 79 00:08:55,160 --> 00:09:00,640 could get a for it. You know, what I have. Well, the interesting thing is, I did speak to a veteran 80 00:09:00,640 --> 00:09:08,280 and his wife the other day. And I felt really bad. They did not know about that at all. And he was a 81 00:09:08,280 --> 00:09:16,680 Vietnam veteran. He was 100%. He is 100%. And I discussed with him and his wife, should something 82 00:09:16,680 --> 00:09:24,920 happen to him, and she could apply for the DIC if it leads to his death because of his service. 83 00:09:24,920 --> 00:09:33,560 And they did not have a clue. And he's been 100% now for four years. Could you imagine the taxes 84 00:09:34,440 --> 00:09:41,080 and the abatement he could have had? So they told me they were going to go and try to obtain the 85 00:09:41,080 --> 00:09:47,240 letter and then get approval going on forward. They did ask, could it be reimbursed? And I said, 86 00:09:47,240 --> 00:09:54,520 no, that that you don't get back paid for. I didn't think so. I didn't think so. Paul, are you, 87 00:09:54,520 --> 00:09:59,960 were you aware of that? Oh, yeah, no. And I was going to ask the general, like, who was helping 88 00:09:59,960 --> 00:10:06,120 that veteran? Because, as you know, assistance from a representative really can make a difference, 89 00:10:06,120 --> 00:10:10,440 right? Because they would tell, I've told them of that benefit, right? And so it's 90 00:10:10,440 --> 00:10:15,080 frustrating to hear about that because we like to think everybody knows, oh, state benefits are 91 00:10:15,080 --> 00:10:19,880 available, but they don't. And so it's glad you connected with them and sent them in the right 92 00:10:19,880 --> 00:10:25,800 direction. But that's where assistance really can be invaluable. Well, Paul, you're exactly correct 93 00:10:25,800 --> 00:10:32,280 because it's ironic. And Dale knows this. I seem to get calls from all over the country. And I 94 00:10:32,280 --> 00:10:37,960 hope my number is not on a bathroom wall. But they'll say, and I always ask, how did you hear 95 00:10:37,960 --> 00:10:44,520 about me? And they said, well, another veteran talked about I was told, maybe from the SO or 96 00:10:44,520 --> 00:10:50,280 they tried to do it themselves. And that's also something I do not encourage them to do it by 97 00:10:50,280 --> 00:10:59,880 themselves. The VA is is not easy to navigate. And so this family was handled several years ago 98 00:10:59,880 --> 00:11:06,440 by a service officer. And then he's he got out of touch with them. The other thing is, I couldn't 99 00:11:06,440 --> 00:11:15,240 believe this one, he only goes to the VA for one of his conditions. And he said he's never been told 100 00:11:15,240 --> 00:11:21,880 he could come back. And at 50%, as you well know, you could get all of your health care from the VA. 101 00:11:21,880 --> 00:11:28,680 He was unaware of that. So we had a great conversation. I sent him multiple ebooks that I 102 00:11:28,680 --> 00:11:35,000 have, I've written like 26 ebooks, they're all free on legal help for veterans to help them get 103 00:11:35,000 --> 00:11:41,000 educated. And so I do ask that question. That's a great question to put him in touch. And I always 104 00:11:41,000 --> 00:11:48,440 say, call me if you have any more questions. Yeah, well, I think that I don't think that you are the 105 00:11:48,440 --> 00:11:53,560 exception. But I know that you are, you know, one of the best out there. And, you know, we have to 106 00:11:53,560 --> 00:12:01,480 make sure that we continually remind our veterans to contact a VSO and don't try to do it yourself. 107 00:12:01,480 --> 00:12:08,520 And because it can get really confusing. And I have an example of that right here in front of me 108 00:12:08,520 --> 00:12:13,720 that I talked with Caroline about this earlier this week. So I got this letter. 109 00:12:15,560 --> 00:12:21,080 And it says that the board of I'm not going to read the whole thing. It says, why are they writing? 110 00:12:21,080 --> 00:12:26,920 I have the right to select a different board review option by submitting a new VA form 111 00:12:26,920 --> 00:12:39,640 101.82 within a year. And it said if I heard it, if you receive a, if we receive a waiver from you, 112 00:12:40,360 --> 00:12:46,600 follow this language, because I did, we will decide your appeal as soon as possible. If we do not 113 00:12:46,600 --> 00:12:51,240 receive the waiver request, the board will not review your appeal until one year from now. 114 00:12:51,240 --> 00:13:03,960 I wasn't sure what the heck to do with this thing. So I called Caroline and she said to sit on it. 115 00:13:05,560 --> 00:13:11,560 Well, the interesting thing is this, this went out to the veterans before their representative 116 00:13:11,560 --> 00:13:18,600 got the letter, whether it's a VSO, legal health for veterans, a county counselor. And there are 117 00:13:18,600 --> 00:13:26,520 several clauses in here that are right now until we find out more. We didn't want you to give away 118 00:13:26,520 --> 00:13:34,040 your rights until we examined where your claim is in the process. It might be on the docket for a 119 00:13:34,040 --> 00:13:41,800 judicial judge in the next three weeks. And so why would you be waiting your rights if you're going 120 00:13:41,800 --> 00:13:49,800 to be reviewed in three weeks to wait for another 60 days? It said maybe reviewed in 60 days. What 121 00:13:49,800 --> 00:13:55,320 happens? That's another thing we're going to be trying to follow up with. What happens after 60 122 00:13:55,320 --> 00:14:03,240 days and you did the waiver and your case isn't reviewed? What happens next? That's right. And so 123 00:14:04,280 --> 00:14:10,600 we don't, we have to look at each individual, see where you're at on the docket. And we have that 124 00:14:10,600 --> 00:14:19,720 opportunity to advise you since you have a POA, whether it's veteran service officer, county 125 00:14:19,720 --> 00:14:28,360 counselor, or us or another agency to really look at your case, because every story is different. 126 00:14:28,360 --> 00:14:33,160 So that's why we told you to hang on and don't sign the waiver yet. 127 00:14:33,160 --> 00:14:44,360 Not yet. Okay. So, okay. Well, and sometimes, oh, the other question that you just, while you 128 00:14:44,360 --> 00:14:51,880 answered it beforehand, is that when a veteran is at 50%, yes, and Paul, I'm going to point to say, 129 00:14:51,880 --> 00:14:56,360 you know, over 50%, then you get medical care for all conditions? 130 00:14:56,360 --> 00:15:03,480 Yeah. The other thing too, about 50% is also if you are retired from the military, that's when 131 00:15:03,480 --> 00:15:10,040 the offset stops. So a lot of folks retired from the military on our 30% or 40%, right? And then 132 00:15:10,040 --> 00:15:17,720 realize their military retirement pay is reduced by the fact that they're getting disability 133 00:15:17,720 --> 00:15:23,480 compensation. So it's really, if you are retired, there's a lot of incentive to get your disability 134 00:15:23,480 --> 00:15:29,640 compensation up to 50%, right? It's just the law. And it's something veterans who are retired from 135 00:15:29,640 --> 00:15:34,920 the military will complain about regularly and the right to do so because it is, you know, 136 00:15:35,480 --> 00:15:41,720 defective thinking and how this law is applied. But it is the law. So that's something folks are 137 00:15:41,720 --> 00:15:52,440 also aware of. Okay. So if I put my 20 years in and I retire and I get 20% disability pay in addition, 138 00:15:52,440 --> 00:15:59,560 and my pension is reduced by that 20%. That's right. Okay. Wow. That doesn't seem quite fair. 139 00:16:00,120 --> 00:16:05,640 No, it's not. But it's the law. So that's, you know, I understand it. But I think it's 140 00:16:05,640 --> 00:16:12,840 important again for our audience out there to understand that the benefit side of the VA is 141 00:16:12,840 --> 00:16:18,760 extremely complicated and that it's really not something that you should attack on your own. 142 00:16:18,760 --> 00:16:22,840 Even though, you know, their website and everything is out there and you can, you know, 143 00:16:22,840 --> 00:16:29,800 upload whatever you want and so forth. I think it's really to your advantage to have someone 144 00:16:29,800 --> 00:16:35,880 looking over your shoulder and saying, okay, don't press that button just quite yet. 145 00:16:37,080 --> 00:16:41,560 And Dale, I'll even build on that. In the last, you know, the run up to Veterans Day, 146 00:16:41,560 --> 00:16:46,280 I attended some company veteran events and Veterans Day and what I'll often do is not 147 00:16:46,280 --> 00:16:52,280 unlike what we're doing here, answer questions, right? And so a veteran, a common question is like, 148 00:16:52,280 --> 00:16:57,080 gee, how do I appeal a decision I'm unhappy with? So you can explain the appeal process, 149 00:16:57,080 --> 00:17:01,720 but inevitably, if you dig a little bit deeper, what I found is say, well, how did you end up 150 00:17:01,720 --> 00:17:07,640 in this situation? Did you file your own claim? And the answer is yes. So there's a relationship 151 00:17:07,640 --> 00:17:12,440 between sort of an outcome that maybe didn't go well because your claim was incomplete or you 152 00:17:12,440 --> 00:17:17,720 didn't have folks helping you who really understood the forms and, you know, all the different things 153 00:17:17,720 --> 00:17:22,600 we were just talking about. So often that kind of explains a lot of the things. So I definitely 154 00:17:22,600 --> 00:17:29,880 am a big fan for getting help. Well, I think so. And Paul, you know, I said it a little earlier, 155 00:17:29,880 --> 00:17:36,680 that's an excellent point to review for our audience because I think I did it several years ago, 156 00:17:36,680 --> 00:17:42,360 and I might be off, but it's greater than 30% that if you do get a claim and you work maybe 157 00:17:42,360 --> 00:17:48,920 through the VA, your award could have been higher. Or if you did it by yourself, going through the 158 00:17:48,920 --> 00:17:56,280 system, it didn't go well, and it might have been denied. And so that appeal process is really 159 00:17:56,280 --> 00:18:02,680 important. And what's really, really important is if you get a denial or you don't agree with the 160 00:18:02,680 --> 00:18:12,280 decision, please get that in to whomever within a year, because then it holds your spot that 161 00:18:12,280 --> 00:18:19,560 if something else is, you get awarded that disability or that benefit, it will go back 162 00:18:19,560 --> 00:18:26,200 retro. But if you don't get that appeal in within a year, we used to call it an NOD, 163 00:18:26,200 --> 00:18:34,520 notice of disagreement, within a year, you lose that time. And I feel bad for some veterans that 164 00:18:34,520 --> 00:18:43,800 lose several years to go back and get back pay. Hey, Brian, you're here. I can't hear you, 165 00:18:43,800 --> 00:18:49,960 unfortunately. I can see you, but can't hear you. Oh, I hate to know for that reason. 166 00:18:51,880 --> 00:18:59,960 No, he's not muted. Anyway, hold on, Brian, we'll keep working on it. Just burst in if you get your 167 00:18:59,960 --> 00:19:08,680 microphone working. We'll get that going for you. My question, what was my next question going to be? 168 00:19:08,680 --> 00:19:15,720 All right. So, you know, we've done this in the past, where we have run into veterans from World 169 00:19:15,720 --> 00:19:24,360 War Two, or Korea now. And, you know, they have never talked to the VA for any reason whatsoever. 170 00:19:24,360 --> 00:19:31,240 But they've got, you know, they've got shrapnel wounds, or they've got, you know, Parkinson's now, 171 00:19:31,240 --> 00:19:38,360 and all of these other things that are coming down. And I wanted to kind of remind our audience that, 172 00:19:38,360 --> 00:19:45,800 no matter how old you are, if your condition was caused by your time in the service, 173 00:19:45,800 --> 00:19:50,840 that you should be talking to somebody, especially for your surviving spouse. 174 00:19:50,840 --> 00:19:58,040 Well, can I, I'll start with you. Well, absolutely. It's never too late. And also in this situation, 175 00:19:58,040 --> 00:20:03,160 I mean, you think about it, my father served in Korea, so were he still alive? He'd be like 94 176 00:20:03,160 --> 00:20:09,720 or something. So he's passed. But even if your spouse, you know, served in those wars, and he 177 00:20:09,720 --> 00:20:15,560 or she has passed, you know, again, the spouses should be thinking about talking to the VA too, 178 00:20:15,560 --> 00:20:20,680 because they can demonstrate my husband was in there, for example, right, just the sort of 179 00:20:20,680 --> 00:20:25,560 demographics of the time he served in these wars, something happened, I have records, 180 00:20:25,560 --> 00:20:30,840 am I entitled to benefits, the answer might very well be yes. So again, the family members should 181 00:20:30,840 --> 00:20:35,880 think about that. And that's why connecting with the VA is so important as early as possible. But 182 00:20:35,880 --> 00:20:40,840 it's never too late, you know, maybe challenges with records and things like that, but it's never 183 00:20:40,840 --> 00:20:49,880 too late. I always encourage my friends that I've that, you know, I don't need to use the VA or 184 00:20:49,880 --> 00:20:56,120 anything like that is that to me, at least register, and I'll get yourself, you know, get your ID card, 185 00:20:56,760 --> 00:21:01,320 you don't ever have to go to VA if you if you don't want to. But it does make sure that you are 186 00:21:01,320 --> 00:21:08,520 entitled to some options that, you know, maybe you weren't even aware of, especially like hearing aids 187 00:21:08,520 --> 00:21:17,000 and things like that. Right. And also, if you've been exposed to something, so for example, let's 188 00:21:17,000 --> 00:21:21,560 do a little bit of history, right, if you served in Vietnam, and you had conditions, but nobody 189 00:21:21,560 --> 00:21:26,360 understood what Agent Orange was, it took years later for people to figure out. But if you had 190 00:21:26,360 --> 00:21:30,120 gotten in sort of, you know, in there sort of talking about, hey, I've been exposed to things, 191 00:21:30,120 --> 00:21:34,600 by the time they figured it out, you know, you were identified, you could get help. And if you 192 00:21:34,600 --> 00:21:40,360 applied for benefits that you denied, then go back and like re-adjudicate it and, you know, retroactive 193 00:21:40,360 --> 00:21:45,480 to the day you first applied. So it's always good to connect, especially, you know, as our 194 00:21:45,480 --> 00:21:51,480 knowledge of the science increases. So it's there's almost no there's no consequence for not connecting. 195 00:21:52,600 --> 00:22:01,160 Okay. And especially with just recently the PAC Act, all the hazardous environmental issues out 196 00:22:01,160 --> 00:22:10,280 there, the burn pits, you absolutely should apply. And especially, you know, applying if you were in 197 00:22:10,280 --> 00:22:18,600 one of the war eras, you're a combat veteran, that's really important also. But when you start 198 00:22:18,600 --> 00:22:24,600 talking as a widow, and I get this a lot in the classes that I'm in, widows will usually think, 199 00:22:24,600 --> 00:22:31,240 and Paul, you brought up a great point that they're not entitled to anything. But burial, 200 00:22:31,240 --> 00:22:37,720 there is the some of the benefits also aid in attendance, help if they meet the criteria for 201 00:22:37,720 --> 00:22:45,800 activities of daily living. So there are different options for every single person, but you need to 202 00:22:45,800 --> 00:22:53,080 figure out where you stand, you would need the DD 214, you would need the veteran's death certificate, 203 00:22:53,080 --> 00:23:00,120 you would need your marriage certificate. And so those are the some of the elements, 204 00:23:00,120 --> 00:23:07,080 but call somebody I think it's really important that you research your case and see if you are 205 00:23:07,080 --> 00:23:12,760 eligible for any benefits. And Dale, and I think this is where your show is so important, right, 206 00:23:12,760 --> 00:23:18,120 because the people like the general is describing, when the military member, the veteran passes, 207 00:23:18,120 --> 00:23:22,040 they may disconnect from the military community, the veteran community, right, 208 00:23:22,040 --> 00:23:26,360 they don't get the emails anymore, they're not on the newsletters and the like, because it was going 209 00:23:26,360 --> 00:23:31,880 to their veteran. So they just have no idea about some of the things you know just described. So 210 00:23:31,880 --> 00:23:37,720 it's even more important that somehow the community connect with those folks. I think that's 211 00:23:37,720 --> 00:23:42,680 that's really important because as soon as you said that, I was thinking about the organizations that 212 00:23:42,680 --> 00:23:49,320 I'm involved with, you know, and most of them are the veterans themselves, you don't necessarily 213 00:23:49,320 --> 00:23:54,040 meet the spouses and, you know, all those types of things. And if something happens, 214 00:23:54,920 --> 00:23:58,840 then that spouse, as you mentioned, does not get all that information anymore. 215 00:23:59,720 --> 00:24:06,200 Yeah. Well, they don't hold on just like I got Brian's voice here. I figured out how to turn it 216 00:24:06,200 --> 00:24:11,400 on. Yeah, thank you, Brian. I just wanted to interject a little bit on why it's so important 217 00:24:11,400 --> 00:24:17,080 to go to the BSO for stuff is why there was an example with the Marines that were in 218 00:24:17,080 --> 00:24:26,680 Jerry Noah, Camp Lejeune, the water, the water benefits. I had a bunch of, you know, everybody 219 00:24:26,680 --> 00:24:31,720 saw that stuff on TV, call our law office. Well, yeah, they're going to get a third of everything 220 00:24:31,720 --> 00:24:40,120 you get from it. And if you went to the BSO or the VA, and they did the paperwork, you got the 221 00:24:40,120 --> 00:24:46,200 whole thing from. And that's what, you know, I had family members, did you put in for that? Well, 222 00:24:46,200 --> 00:24:52,680 number one, I didn't have anything that was on that list. So I checked that with the BSO and they 223 00:24:52,680 --> 00:24:57,160 said, well, if there's nothing on the list, and all you can do is submit your name. And then I 224 00:24:57,160 --> 00:25:03,080 got a letter said, you're on the list, and you got to go to the doctor and see if you have anything 225 00:25:03,080 --> 00:25:10,040 wrong with you. I already know I didn't. So, but the fact is, if you didn't go to the BSO, 226 00:25:10,040 --> 00:25:17,480 you had to pay the lawyer to do that stuff. So, and I know a couple of guys who were a little 227 00:25:17,480 --> 00:25:21,480 shocked when they didn't get the whole amount, because they didn't take my advice and go to the 228 00:25:21,480 --> 00:25:28,280 BSO. So that was just my two cents I wanted to throw in before I figured out my microphone. 229 00:25:30,280 --> 00:25:36,040 Thank you, Brian. Brian, you were stationed all over the country, weren't you? 230 00:25:36,040 --> 00:25:40,360 Yeah, I was in Cherry Point. And then from there, I went to, I mean, 231 00:25:40,360 --> 00:25:48,120 Tampa, June, and then from there, I went to Cherry Point. So, and ironically, Cherry Point was the 232 00:25:48,120 --> 00:25:55,240 only place over there that wasn't part of the lawsuit, because the other two air bases were 233 00:25:56,120 --> 00:26:03,320 Mottford Point. And I can't think of the other one, but there was three air bases on the east 234 00:26:03,320 --> 00:26:08,600 coast there. And I just happened to be in the one that didn't have anything wrong with it. So, 235 00:26:09,160 --> 00:26:15,560 well, that was that was lucky. But the thing that I think is important about people like Brian is 236 00:26:15,560 --> 00:26:23,960 that, you know, many bases around the country have been, uh, been discovered, I guess you could say, 237 00:26:23,960 --> 00:26:29,720 that, you know, that they used Agent Orange to clear out stuff around there and that they, 238 00:26:29,720 --> 00:26:34,280 you know, they had their own little mini burn pits and so forth, and many of our military 239 00:26:34,280 --> 00:26:41,720 installations and the, you know, the, the fire retardant stuff. Yeah. Dry cleaning fluid and 240 00:26:41,720 --> 00:26:48,520 things like that. Yeah, sure. You know, all of those things are, I don't know what the word would be, 241 00:26:48,520 --> 00:26:54,680 commensurable, are possibly for a disability payment. Is that correct, Paul? 242 00:26:54,680 --> 00:26:58,680 Yeah, that's right. So a couple of kind of things about, so, um, we're just talking about the PAK 243 00:26:58,680 --> 00:27:03,480 DAC and Agent Orange, right? What's interesting about those is when the secretary of the VA 244 00:27:03,480 --> 00:27:09,160 declares, you know, what's called a presumptive, that they will no longer require the veteran to 245 00:27:09,160 --> 00:27:14,040 demonstrate that the condition is related to service, will presume it is, right? If you have 246 00:27:14,040 --> 00:27:19,480 cancer and some cancers and you are in Vietnam or in the water, will presume your service caused it, 247 00:27:19,480 --> 00:27:24,040 right? So that's really convenient for the veteran, sadly, who has these conditions, 248 00:27:24,040 --> 00:27:28,360 doesn't have to prove it. But that shouldn't limit you. So even though some of these things, 249 00:27:28,360 --> 00:27:33,640 like Brian was saying, are not on the list, right? You can still get benefits if you can 250 00:27:33,640 --> 00:27:39,800 demonstrate the conditions you had were because of your service. So prior to the PAK DAC, when I 251 00:27:39,800 --> 00:27:45,160 was still in office, people were getting benefits for burn pits because they could demonstrate 252 00:27:45,720 --> 00:27:50,680 this is what happened to me because of burn pits, right? It wasn't a presumptive. So don't 253 00:27:50,680 --> 00:27:54,840 be discouraged if you think, hey, I wasn't in Camp Lejeune, for example, but I was in 254 00:27:54,840 --> 00:28:01,160 this other place and I have these conditions, they just might not know the water is contaminated 255 00:28:01,160 --> 00:28:07,320 yet, right? So again, again, there's no penalty for applying if you think something happened to 256 00:28:07,320 --> 00:28:15,800 you because of your service. I think that's great advice. I think that's great advice, Paul, because 257 00:28:16,360 --> 00:28:22,920 you don't know what you don't know navigating the system. And if the veteran has, say, one 258 00:28:22,920 --> 00:28:31,640 disability, maybe another condition is a secondary. And we tell them always go back and reapply. If 259 00:28:31,640 --> 00:28:38,360 your condition gets worse, please notify your agent, whether it's VSO, a county counselor, 260 00:28:38,360 --> 00:28:46,200 or you are working with an attorney, please go back because you never know. Just communicate. 261 00:28:46,200 --> 00:28:54,360 And, you know, we'll try to help you with that issue. But I think that was outstanding advice 262 00:28:54,360 --> 00:29:01,320 to not think that just because I wasn't there, I don't qualify for anything. And I don't think 263 00:29:01,320 --> 00:29:06,360 that's true either. You should apply. And just to build on that, the rule of thumb we used when 264 00:29:06,360 --> 00:29:12,360 I was there was every three to five years, you should go back because sadly, conditions just 265 00:29:12,360 --> 00:29:17,800 get worse. And the thing I think most of the veterans, you know, I would encounter hearing, 266 00:29:17,800 --> 00:29:21,720 you know, they'll, oh, yeah, I had a little bit of problem. Well, guess what? A little bit of problem 267 00:29:21,720 --> 00:29:27,400 when you're 25 becomes a big problem when you're 55, right? And so soon you get that kind of registered 268 00:29:27,400 --> 00:29:34,520 and dealt with. It's just easier. Well, the other thing that a couple of things real quickly, 269 00:29:34,520 --> 00:29:43,640 a personal experience, okay, so tonight is is almost an automatic 10%. Because nobody can hear it, 270 00:29:43,640 --> 00:29:50,520 but you, all those crickets and noises and whooshes and so on and so forth. But you know, 271 00:29:50,520 --> 00:29:55,960 people, that's just what happened. Well, no, go talk to them and see what it was. Oh, you were 272 00:29:55,960 --> 00:30:02,760 in artillery. Go talk to them. Oh, you were a pilot. Go talk to them just to see what is there. 273 00:30:02,760 --> 00:30:08,200 I was thinking of my own personal experience is that when I got out of the service, or first, 274 00:30:08,200 --> 00:30:13,640 when I first went to the VA, I can't remember what even that was back in the 80s. And they hadn't 275 00:30:13,640 --> 00:30:19,960 done anything with Agent Orange, but there were the Vietnam veterans were already starting to 276 00:30:20,520 --> 00:30:26,680 get a lot of unusual, weird diseases and so forth as a result of their exposure. And the VA said, 277 00:30:26,680 --> 00:30:34,920 okay, come on in and get, you know, registered. And they asked me at the time that I had to show them, 278 00:30:34,920 --> 00:30:41,800 tell them where I was in Vietnam, and when I was there. And so I said, well, I was a helicopter 279 00:30:41,800 --> 00:30:49,640 pilot. So I was in 27 different places every day. And when were you there? And now they have the map 280 00:30:49,640 --> 00:30:55,000 that came out that shows those 27 different places where I was is covered with red. 281 00:30:55,000 --> 00:31:01,880 And so this is for, you know, the older veterans now where the older veterans, but, you know, 282 00:31:01,880 --> 00:31:07,960 the older veterans that are out there, don't walk away from this stuff. You have you, you, 283 00:31:07,960 --> 00:31:13,240 you, you know, you agreed to put your life on the line. And this is the only way that the government, 284 00:31:14,120 --> 00:31:19,640 you know, can pay you back for that. And so, and just to kind of build on, I mean, 285 00:31:19,640 --> 00:31:23,640 the general made a really good point, right? But if you have assistance from a VS, 286 00:31:23,640 --> 00:31:30,840 or a county clerk or somebody, right, they should also be able to say, what was your MOS and what 287 00:31:30,840 --> 00:31:35,960 did you do in the service? And because they've seen so many things, they should be able to say, 288 00:31:35,960 --> 00:31:42,280 Oh, you were exposed to loud, loud noises. Did you sit in unusual situations? Did you carry heavy? 289 00:31:42,280 --> 00:31:46,760 I mean, there's a whole body of knowledge they should be able to access to help the veterans. 290 00:31:46,760 --> 00:31:51,240 So it's not like them going, Oh, you know, I don't know something's wrong. They should be 291 00:31:51,240 --> 00:31:56,600 able to say, look, for what you did, this is likely to have happened. Are you aware of that? 292 00:31:56,600 --> 00:32:00,360 And often people go when I talk to them, as a matter of fact, my neck does hurt, 293 00:32:00,360 --> 00:32:04,120 says the former pilot, right? As a matter of fact, my knee to do hurts, 294 00:32:04,120 --> 00:32:08,520 says the person who was in the infantry and marched all day carrying heavy packs, right? So 295 00:32:09,640 --> 00:32:13,080 this is where you can assistance really can make a difference. 296 00:32:13,080 --> 00:32:17,560 Okay, we need to take a break here. Although all the oldest thought, we're going to take a break 297 00:32:17,560 --> 00:32:23,080 for about two minutes or so on play our Medal of Honor segment for today. We're talking about 298 00:32:23,080 --> 00:32:27,000 benefits. So please, if you do, if you have a question, just give us a call. We got experts 299 00:32:27,000 --> 00:32:33,560 here for you today, 7348221600. You're listening to Veterans Radio. We will be right back. 300 00:32:35,000 --> 00:32:39,080 The Medal of Honor is the highest award for valor and combat given a member of the armed forces 301 00:32:39,080 --> 00:32:43,960 of the United States. There had been over 3400 recipients of the nation's highest award. 302 00:32:43,960 --> 00:32:50,600 This is one of them. Submarine Commander Richard O'Kane chose to face the enemy on the service 303 00:32:50,600 --> 00:32:58,280 despite overwhelming odds. Details after this. If you have a VA claim denied by the Board of 304 00:32:58,280 --> 00:33:05,320 Veterans Appeals, contact legal help for veterans at 1-800-693-4800. They're experts in handling 305 00:33:05,320 --> 00:33:12,200 cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. Their number again, 1-800-693-4800. 306 00:33:12,200 --> 00:33:18,200 O'Kane served as the commanding officer of the USS Tang operating against two enemy Japanese convoys 307 00:33:18,200 --> 00:33:24,200 on the 23rd and 24th of October 1944 during her fifth and last war patrol. 308 00:33:25,320 --> 00:33:29,080 Boldly maneuvering on the surface into the midst of a heavily escorted convoy, 309 00:33:29,640 --> 00:33:34,680 O'Kane stood in the hail of bullets and shells from all directions to launch smashing hits on 310 00:33:34,680 --> 00:33:40,520 three tankers. Cooley swung his ship to fire at a freighter and in a split second decision, 311 00:33:40,520 --> 00:33:47,480 shot out of the path of an onrushing transport, missing it by inches. Boxed in by blazing tankers, 312 00:33:47,480 --> 00:33:52,600 a freighter, transport and several destroyers, he blasted two of the targets with his remaining 313 00:33:52,600 --> 00:33:59,240 torpedoes and with pyrotechnics bursting on all sides cleared the area. 24 hours later, 314 00:33:59,240 --> 00:34:04,680 he again made contact with a heavily escorted convoy, steaming to support the Lady Campaign 315 00:34:04,680 --> 00:34:09,880 with reinforcements and supplies and with cratered planes piled high on each unit. 316 00:34:09,880 --> 00:34:14,840 In defiance of the enemy's relentless fire, he closed on the ships and in quick succession 317 00:34:14,840 --> 00:34:20,440 sent two torpedoes each into the first and second transports and an adjacent tanker, 318 00:34:20,440 --> 00:34:26,600 finding his mark with each torpedo in a series of violent explosions at less than 1000 yard range. 319 00:34:26,600 --> 00:34:30,920 With ships bearing down from all sides, he charged the enemy at high speed, 320 00:34:30,920 --> 00:34:35,400 exploding the tanker in a burst of flame, smashing the transport dead in the water 321 00:34:35,400 --> 00:34:39,720 and blasting the destroyer with a mighty roar which rocked the tank from stem to stern. 322 00:34:40,520 --> 00:34:45,240 Okane expended his last two torpedoes into the remnants of a once powerful convoy 323 00:34:45,240 --> 00:34:49,880 before his own ship went down. The Medal of Honor series is a production of Veterans Radio. 324 00:34:51,560 --> 00:34:55,480 You know you don't have to wear your PT gear anymore, right? It's comfortable. 325 00:34:55,480 --> 00:35:01,560 Is there a civilian life treating you? It's fine. When I got out, I didn't want to admit that there 326 00:35:01,560 --> 00:35:06,600 was anything wrong because I felt like a failure. And then I realized like there's nothing to be 327 00:35:06,600 --> 00:35:12,840 ashamed of. So I started talking to someone. Maybe you are fine. But if you're not, it's okay. 328 00:35:13,480 --> 00:35:18,120 Thank you. If you or a veteran you know needs support, don't wait. Reach out. 329 00:35:18,120 --> 00:35:20,520 Find resources at va.gov.se. 330 00:35:24,920 --> 00:35:30,200 And we're back here on Veterans Radio for our monthly benefits program. Our guests 331 00:35:30,200 --> 00:35:36,760 are Carolyn Phouson, retired Brigadier General of the United States Air Force. And she is a 332 00:35:37,720 --> 00:35:44,200 certified VSO with legal help for veterans. And also we've got Dr. Paul R. Lawrence. He's the 333 00:35:44,200 --> 00:35:49,560 former Undersecretary of Benefits from the Veterans Department of Veterans Affairs. And 334 00:35:49,560 --> 00:35:55,160 he's the author of a book, Veterans Benefits for You, Get What You Deserve. And also is our 335 00:35:55,160 --> 00:36:01,800 good local friend Brian Baye, United States Marine. I brought him here to answer any questions that 336 00:36:01,800 --> 00:36:07,880 Marines might have regarding benefits. So if you want to get in on the conversation, here's the 337 00:36:07,880 --> 00:36:15,560 number 734-822-1600. General Phouson, you had a comment you wanted to make before we took a break. 338 00:36:16,680 --> 00:36:23,160 Well, you know, going back and being educated on everything, no matter who your agent is, 339 00:36:23,160 --> 00:36:29,000 what we have tended to do, and Paul brought it up, the presumptives, say for Agent Orange, 340 00:36:29,000 --> 00:36:37,000 there are more coming out under the PAC Act. They went back and approved different presumptives. 341 00:36:37,000 --> 00:36:43,480 They had radiation there. They had different ships that were allowed to get, to give you the 342 00:36:43,480 --> 00:36:50,760 presumptive that, okay, now this has been proven. So what we tend to do is you know your clients, 343 00:36:50,760 --> 00:36:57,000 you know your veterans. And so we'd call you up, Dale, and say, did you know? And most of the time, 344 00:36:57,000 --> 00:37:02,360 it's, oh my God, when did this come out? You know, you get a letter and you're not understanding 345 00:37:02,360 --> 00:37:09,400 sometimes what the letter means. But I think good follow up or call your VSO, county counselor, 346 00:37:10,440 --> 00:37:16,440 whoever is representing you. But please, once again, don't try to do it by yourself. There's 347 00:37:16,440 --> 00:37:23,800 too many moving parts and pieces. And apply for it. You never know what's going to happen. 348 00:37:25,800 --> 00:37:34,120 Agreed. I had a question for you guys. You know, with the PAC Act, and you just mentioned it, 349 00:37:34,120 --> 00:37:39,640 that there are so many additional conditions that are being added to the list over time. 350 00:37:40,280 --> 00:37:45,720 What happens if, and this is going to go back to the spouse thing again, what happens if my 351 00:37:45,720 --> 00:37:51,160 spouse died of a condition that is now on the list, but we didn't know about it? 352 00:37:52,760 --> 00:37:59,080 Is there any, any way that I can go back and find out if I am entitled to anything? 353 00:38:00,760 --> 00:38:06,120 So the non, what you're asking about is a non veteran spouse who died of conditions 354 00:38:06,120 --> 00:38:13,240 that the veteran would be covered by, right? If he, if using the he sorry, but if, yes, 355 00:38:13,240 --> 00:38:21,560 if he had been exposed 20 years ago, died 10 years ago, she never knew anything about it. 356 00:38:21,560 --> 00:38:27,960 And now she says, somebody who listened to this radio program and they said, oh, if you died of 357 00:38:27,960 --> 00:38:34,280 leukemia, let's say, and I know there are a variety of types, I should apply for something. 358 00:38:35,400 --> 00:38:41,480 Well, I'd be interested in general spouse answer, but I mean, generally benefits are for the veteran. 359 00:38:41,480 --> 00:38:46,680 So in this case, the person would not be covered. So it would be sad to hear about, 360 00:38:46,680 --> 00:38:51,080 about the only exception I can tell you about, and again, here's where I'd ask the general way, 361 00:38:51,080 --> 00:38:58,520 and is for spina bifida for a dependents whose father was a service member in Vietnam. They 362 00:38:58,520 --> 00:39:03,800 could have gotten some Agent Orange passed through the biological birth. So again, but that's not 363 00:39:03,800 --> 00:39:10,280 kind of what you're describing, right? So. But what my response would be, and I'd be interested 364 00:39:10,280 --> 00:39:17,720 in hearing what Brian says is the follow up is if you look at all the provisions under Camp Lejeune 365 00:39:17,720 --> 00:39:27,000 and the water, they do have a piece in there very well written about dependents, spouses, 366 00:39:27,560 --> 00:39:33,480 family members that they could go back and look at if they're, if they're alive today, 367 00:39:33,480 --> 00:39:40,920 you should look into this if the spouse has, let's say a good example is a miscarriage. 368 00:39:41,480 --> 00:39:48,200 They've had miscarriages or they have the leukemia, the cancers, and they could trace it back to when 369 00:39:48,200 --> 00:39:53,560 you were at Camp Lejeune. That should have been in potentially your argument, 370 00:39:54,760 --> 00:40:00,600 whoever you're dealing with. So you're right, Paul, the spina bifida, the dependency issue, 371 00:40:00,600 --> 00:40:06,040 but the Camp Lejeune has just come up under the PACT Act recently. 372 00:40:07,320 --> 00:40:13,960 Well, I know that under the Agent Orange thing is that they were asking to make sure that we, 373 00:40:14,760 --> 00:40:18,760 anybody who's been exposed to Agent Orange, is that we should make sure that we tell our children 374 00:40:19,560 --> 00:40:26,120 and our grandchildren, right, that there may be, you know, some issues down the road, even though, 375 00:40:26,120 --> 00:40:28,920 you know, I'm hoping that it's, you know, it's minuscule, but you never know. 376 00:40:28,920 --> 00:40:30,680 Oh, right. That's right. 377 00:40:30,680 --> 00:40:38,600 Yeah, Dale, there's, you know, Sandy Wilson in our Vietnam vets unit there in the local Ann Arbor one. 378 00:40:39,800 --> 00:40:51,160 She's part of the national push for spouses, but even more so the children that you have 379 00:40:51,800 --> 00:40:57,320 when you pass this stuff on and there's a major pushes on that. She would, she would definitely 380 00:40:57,320 --> 00:41:01,880 be the right person to talk to you about that because she's part of the board. 381 00:41:01,880 --> 00:41:04,680 Oh, I know. She's really passionate about that. 382 00:41:04,680 --> 00:41:07,640 Yeah, I think she's been on your show a number of times, hasn't she? 383 00:41:07,640 --> 00:41:08,120 Yeah. 384 00:41:08,120 --> 00:41:15,400 Yep, she's been here and she has also encouraged all of us in our local organizations to register our 385 00:41:18,040 --> 00:41:25,960 grandchildren with, what was it called now? I have to find out. It was a registry for any, 386 00:41:25,960 --> 00:41:30,920 you know, issues that might be passed along. And it's just to get them on a thing because 387 00:41:30,920 --> 00:41:36,760 there's a lot of research going on now, not only with the Camp Lejeune, but also with the Agent 388 00:41:36,760 --> 00:41:42,760 Orange, with the burn pits and all these other things that, you know, we are inadvertently exposed 389 00:41:42,760 --> 00:41:51,160 to during our time in the service. We got about 10 minutes left. And I wanted to make sure that 390 00:41:51,160 --> 00:41:58,760 it'd be that one of you had something specific that you wanted to talk to us about. So, Paul? 391 00:41:58,760 --> 00:42:04,040 I have one example and again, General Fasten, please jump in here, right? You might have seen 392 00:42:04,040 --> 00:42:09,480 this and I'm not the only person who sees stuff like this, right? You know, an older veteran 393 00:42:09,480 --> 00:42:15,480 generally will do an ago fund me page and say, I'm really struggling. I can't pay my rent or my 394 00:42:15,480 --> 00:42:20,440 mortgage or whatever. And so when you see stuff like that, you know, you want to remind them about 395 00:42:20,440 --> 00:42:27,320 help that exists from the VA, right? The Veterans Pension is a good example of a benefit that's 396 00:42:27,320 --> 00:42:35,080 needs tested for folks who are, you know, struggling, you know, assets below a certain limit and it 397 00:42:35,080 --> 00:42:40,040 doesn't include cars and houses and stuff like that. So while they turn to the go fund me page, 398 00:42:40,040 --> 00:42:46,760 they should be aware of the Veterans Pension, which is a benefit most likely to cover by that. 399 00:42:46,760 --> 00:42:53,320 And also the lot of organizations, VSOs, some states have sort of a cash, you know, 400 00:42:53,320 --> 00:42:58,040 fund, they can just pay people to help with a mortgage or an electric payment. And like, 401 00:42:58,040 --> 00:43:02,680 I know some of the major VSOs have this. So if you see a veteran struggling like that, 402 00:43:02,680 --> 00:43:06,920 be aware there are other things they can do besides the go fund me page. 403 00:43:07,800 --> 00:43:13,880 Well, excellent advice because we are very fortunate in the state of Michigan, 404 00:43:13,880 --> 00:43:20,760 we have the trust fund, the Michigan Trust Fund, and it's way over 50 some million dollars. And you 405 00:43:20,760 --> 00:43:28,920 could apply to your local county and get mortgage and rent. And if you're, you know, your car is 406 00:43:28,920 --> 00:43:40,600 failing. And the number of assets it has just gone up for the pension is $155,000 in some change. 407 00:43:40,600 --> 00:43:48,120 So if you're less than that, you should look and consult with someone, the county counselors 408 00:43:48,120 --> 00:43:55,400 are awesome, the VSOs are great. The other thing that I think we forget about sometimes, 409 00:43:55,400 --> 00:44:01,800 and I try to help the veterans on what you just described, Paul, if somebody is 100% and they 410 00:44:01,800 --> 00:44:07,720 are struggling with those activities of daily living, something else they could apply for if 411 00:44:07,720 --> 00:44:14,280 they are struggling like that is the special monthly compensation. And that goes back to your 412 00:44:14,280 --> 00:44:23,000 injuries. But you have to apply for it and, you know, go and ask for help. But that's good advice. 413 00:44:23,000 --> 00:44:25,720 That pension is out there to help them. 414 00:44:27,720 --> 00:44:32,920 Yes, you can hear paper shuffling here. I apologize for that. But Paul, when you were on the program 415 00:44:32,920 --> 00:44:41,080 a couple of weeks ago, you gave me a number and I can't find it right now, that if we find a 416 00:44:41,080 --> 00:44:48,280 homeless veteran around the street, and unfortunately, right now in our local area, we're seeing 417 00:44:48,280 --> 00:44:53,080 no one seem like on every corner, there's a disabled veteran and you're going, wait a minute, 418 00:44:53,080 --> 00:44:57,400 you know, here's a number. Do you happen to have that in front of you? 419 00:44:57,400 --> 00:45:09,640 Sure, yeah, it's 877-424-3838. Again, 877-424-3838. Veterans homeless hotline, you call it. What's 420 00:45:09,640 --> 00:45:14,200 supposed to happen is you identify the location of this individual and VA is supposed to come and 421 00:45:14,200 --> 00:45:19,240 figure out are they a veteran or if they are, perhaps get them assistance. Okay. The other 422 00:45:19,240 --> 00:45:23,560 thing too is you don't have to wait until they're on the street. If you know somebody's struggling, 423 00:45:23,560 --> 00:45:28,440 there's also an element of prevention. A classic example is a buddy's living on your couch. 424 00:45:30,760 --> 00:45:36,200 He or she's lost the job. They're en route to being homeless. You can call for them and say, 425 00:45:36,200 --> 00:45:42,280 they need help before that moment. So again, 877-424-3838 is a good resource. 426 00:45:43,000 --> 00:45:45,960 I think that we all should write that on our palm of our hand. 427 00:45:47,560 --> 00:45:49,640 Or speak dial in your phone, right? Yeah. 428 00:45:49,640 --> 00:45:54,200 And you see them at the traffic light like you're talking about, Dale. Yeah. And you mentioned this 429 00:45:54,200 --> 00:45:59,560 also the other day, the last time was that we don't even have to talk to the veteran that's, 430 00:45:59,560 --> 00:46:05,400 you know, in distress. We can just call that number and say, here's a guy on a corner of, 431 00:46:05,400 --> 00:46:10,680 you know, this and this. And he says that he's a veteran and we need to help him or her. 432 00:46:12,680 --> 00:46:17,000 It's awkward moment when you see those peaks with the cardboard sign. You don't know whether 433 00:46:17,000 --> 00:46:22,120 they are. You want to help. You don't know what to do. This is one thing you can do, you know, 434 00:46:22,120 --> 00:46:25,720 without personally getting invested just because you just don't know, you know, but 435 00:46:25,720 --> 00:46:29,080 that's what they're supposed to do. They're supposed to go figure it out and get them things 436 00:46:29,080 --> 00:46:33,320 like the pension. That's where, you know, that's one of the things that gets them out, gets folks 437 00:46:33,320 --> 00:46:37,640 like that out of homelessness. And so there's a, there's a connect to the theme of the story, 438 00:46:37,640 --> 00:46:42,120 the theme of the show. I'm glad we got it. Carolyn? 439 00:46:42,120 --> 00:46:49,720 The other thing that was mentioned is the vouchers. The vouchers are really important. And so if you 440 00:46:49,720 --> 00:46:55,720 are struggling through the social work department at the VA medical center, if you have, you know, 441 00:46:55,720 --> 00:47:04,440 on your team as you're going in the 26, the 2068 to prove to have the veteran say, yes, 442 00:47:04,440 --> 00:47:11,080 this veteran needs help. We just helped one get the voucher. So you go through the process, 443 00:47:11,080 --> 00:47:18,200 but it's identifying who needs this assistance. And the social work at the Ann Arbor VA medical 444 00:47:18,200 --> 00:47:24,600 center helped this family to get a voucher. And now they are being placed. 445 00:47:25,240 --> 00:47:30,200 So is the voucher money or is the voucher something? What is the voucher? 446 00:47:31,080 --> 00:47:37,960 Well, the voucher is a place to live. And so in this, in this family's position, 447 00:47:37,960 --> 00:47:45,800 they were able to find them, I believe, an apartment to go into first, and they take care of 448 00:47:46,440 --> 00:47:53,480 the rent and help them until they get over the hump. Well, you know, I think so many of us are 449 00:47:53,480 --> 00:48:01,560 just not aware that the VA does provide these things for us. And in our, we're afraid to ask, 450 00:48:01,560 --> 00:48:08,520 oh, you know, we don't want to take the money from another veteran who needs it more. And we just 451 00:48:08,520 --> 00:48:13,400 have to continually, you know, get out in front of people and encourage them to tell their friends, 452 00:48:13,400 --> 00:48:18,360 tell their veteran friends, tell their veterans family friends that these things are available 453 00:48:18,360 --> 00:48:24,360 to them. And, you know, don't be embarrassed to just, all you got to do is call and somebody 454 00:48:24,360 --> 00:48:30,120 can give you an answer, I think, you know, so as we're coming up toward the end, is there any 455 00:48:30,120 --> 00:48:32,920 thing specific that either one of you would like to talk about? 456 00:48:35,000 --> 00:48:41,080 Um, no, I think I would probably double click on the advice of getting some assistance, right, 457 00:48:41,080 --> 00:48:46,040 not just with your disability compensation, but the agents, whether they're, you know, no cost or 458 00:48:46,040 --> 00:48:50,280 you pay them really should understand the wide range of services. Dale, it's kind of like you 459 00:48:50,280 --> 00:48:55,000 pointed out, you know, that there's there's so many things out there that just nobody can know 460 00:48:55,000 --> 00:49:00,840 them all. Um, and so it's pretty unreasonable to expect a veteran to know them all and the communication 461 00:49:00,840 --> 00:49:05,880 can be overwhelming or so technical, it's impossible to understand, but I don't think it hurts to ask. 462 00:49:05,880 --> 00:49:10,200 And I think the last thing I would point out, Dale, is you pointed out like the veterans benefits, 463 00:49:10,200 --> 00:49:15,400 you know, your benefits don't come at the expense of somebody else. Congress has to provide these 464 00:49:15,400 --> 00:49:19,560 funds. It's just the way the budget works. It's kind of scary as a taxpayer, but it's great as a 465 00:49:19,560 --> 00:49:24,120 veteran. And so you're, you know, it doesn't come at somebody else's expense. So please, 466 00:49:24,120 --> 00:49:27,880 you know, look into some look into benefits that, you know, you've earned. These are not 467 00:49:27,880 --> 00:49:33,400 entitlements. They're available to anybody who generally serves honorably. So they're not, 468 00:49:33,400 --> 00:49:39,480 they're something people have earned. Absolutely. And I think, you know, if you're taking a walk 469 00:49:39,480 --> 00:49:43,320 through your neighborhood and you find out that there's an older veteran in the area, 470 00:49:44,200 --> 00:49:49,160 you know, see if you can strike up a conversation and maybe, maybe you'll be able to help them out. 471 00:49:49,160 --> 00:49:56,680 Absolutely. Absolutely. Caroline, anything else? Well, it's a, you know, we keep, we keep saying 472 00:49:56,680 --> 00:50:03,240 this over and over, but if there's a certain age of the veteran, you could ask for an exemption 473 00:50:03,240 --> 00:50:09,400 to be, if they're, have cancer and they, they're terminal, you know, they're in hospice, 474 00:50:10,360 --> 00:50:16,840 financial issues, sending the documentation and the VA, if you got a claim out there, 475 00:50:16,840 --> 00:50:23,080 they will do everything they can in all the ROs across the country. They have been awesome 476 00:50:23,080 --> 00:50:30,200 to expedite. When you have the info to say this veteran has cancer and they're terminal, 477 00:50:31,080 --> 00:50:37,720 we have gotten many claims back within weeks. And I think that's really important. 478 00:50:38,760 --> 00:50:44,200 Well, I think they, the thing that we're, you know, we keep harping on telling people about 479 00:50:44,200 --> 00:50:48,280 these things. And this is what we've got to do. It's sometimes, you know, it takes one time to 480 00:50:48,280 --> 00:50:55,160 remember. And then some of us, it takes 20 times to actually, you know, do what is suggested. 481 00:50:55,160 --> 00:51:00,520 So I want to thank both of you so much for being on the program, retired general Caroline 482 00:51:00,520 --> 00:51:11,400 Toson from legal help for veterans. Locally, let me give you her number just in case that's 800-693-4800. 483 00:51:11,400 --> 00:51:19,720 Just ask for the boss and they will send you on to Caroline and her staff out there is excellent. 484 00:51:19,720 --> 00:51:24,600 So I wanted to make sure I got that plug in there. And also I wanted to thank Dr. Lawrence 485 00:51:24,600 --> 00:51:31,720 for coming on the program again. He is the author of a really helpful book called Veterans 486 00:51:31,720 --> 00:51:37,560 Benefits for You. You can't see it, but it's a really cool book. And it's got a lot of answers 487 00:51:37,560 --> 00:51:42,840 in there. The other thing, going back to Caroline, she's got a whole bunch of ebooks covering many 488 00:51:42,840 --> 00:51:48,840 of these things as well. So there's no excuse men and women out there, where you're not to find out 489 00:51:48,840 --> 00:51:54,040 this information. Brian, thank you very much for, you know, jumping in with your comments. I think 490 00:51:54,040 --> 00:51:59,000 that's really important for all of us to know that we're, you know, I'm always looking for a sidekick 491 00:51:59,000 --> 00:52:04,200 to come on and join me on the program who, you know, has the same passion that I do for helping 492 00:52:04,200 --> 00:52:09,560 veterans. So Brian, I want to appreciate your dropping in today. I got a minute to go. So I want 493 00:52:09,560 --> 00:52:14,840 to promote next week's program. My partner, Jim Falzone, is going to be doing the program next 494 00:52:14,840 --> 00:52:21,800 week. And he's going to be talking with Marine Corps retired Colonel Jason Fedek. He's the 28th 495 00:52:21,800 --> 00:52:27,720 director of the President's own United States Marine Corps band. And he is also right now, 496 00:52:27,720 --> 00:52:35,000 I believe he is the new director of the Michigan marching band. Not a bad band. Also, he's going 497 00:52:35,000 --> 00:52:40,840 to be talking with Navy veterans, Kotlin Green, about the USS Stennis, which has been named for 498 00:52:40,840 --> 00:52:47,160 the former Senator John Stennis. And there's some issues going on with it being named after 499 00:52:47,160 --> 00:52:52,520 and a vowed segregationist. So tune in next week. I think you're going to really enjoy 500 00:52:52,520 --> 00:52:59,560 Jim's program. Also, we got 10 seconds. So that's it. So thanks for listening very much. Until 501 00:52:59,560 --> 00:53:04,600 next week, this is Dale Throneberry for all of us here at Veterans Radio, and you are dismissed. 502 00:53:12,520 --> 00:53:16,360 God bless America. 503 00:53:16,360 --> 00:53:32,680 America, land that I love, stand beside her and guide her through the night with a light from 504 00:53:32,680 --> 00:53:51,480 above, from the mountains to the prairies to the oceans, white with foam. God bless America, 505 00:53:51,480 --> 00:54:08,280 my home sweet home. God bless America, my home sweet home. 506 00:54:08,280 --> 00:54:30,760 God bless America, land that I love, stand beside her and guide her through the night with a light 507 00:54:30,760 --> 00:54:50,360 from above, from the mountains to the prairies to the oceans, white with foam. God bless America, 508 00:54:50,360 --> 00:55:11,160 my home sweet home. God bless America, my home sweet home. 509 00:55:11,160 --> 00:55:24,760 Oh, beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of gray, 510 00:55:24,760 --> 00:55:43,400 for purple mountain majesties above the brood at play. America, America, 511 00:55:43,400 --> 00:56:00,200 God shed His grace on thee and crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea. 512 00:56:00,200 --> 00:56:17,800 And crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea. 513 00:56:17,800 --> 00:56:31,400 America.