All across America and around the world, this
is Veterans Radio. This is Veterans Radio. And
now, your host for today's program, Dale Throneberry.
Hey, welcome to veterans radio. My name is Dale
Throneberry. I get to be the host today I'm a
CW to helicopter pilot Vietnam 1969 want to welcome
you to our program. I think we've got some interesting
things going on today We're going to be talking
with a woman who runs an organization down in
Missouri called wolf for vets I think is kind
of cool and also we've got General Kellyanne
Falzone who's going to be on to talk about benefits
and what you know Maybe some questions that you
might have if you do want to give us a call and
go right ahead It's seven three four eight two
two sixteen hundred We'll answer your questions
the best that we can and then toward the end
of the program. We've got a little segment on
puro clean, which is one of our supporters of
veterans radio and Let's see what else is going
on Oh, yeah This is a good kind cool this week
veterans radio started broadcasting on wreaths
across America on their radio network So encourage
you if you you know, if you want to hear old
programs or you know You miss today's program
for whatever reason you can either go to our
archive You can go to our podcast and now you
can go to wreathsacrossamerica .org Radio and
we'll be on there two times a week every Wednesday
and Friday, so it's kind of cool. I'm really
excited to be part of their network. It's exciting
for us to get our words out even further and
further and further because every one of you
veterans that's living, you know, that's listening
out there, you have a story to tell and we would
love to help tell your story, so please let us
know. By the way, you know, if you do have that
story that you want to tell and you want to get
it out to a large audience, Let us know, we'll
bring you on the program. That's what we want
to do. Tell your stories. So before we get into
our Wolf for Vets, I need to thank our major
donors. And that includes, number one is Legal
Help for Veterans. They've been supporting Veterans
Radio, I don't know, since 2005 or so. A great
organization. What they do is that they specialize
in Veterans disability claims. Call Legal Help
for Veterans at 800 -693 -4800 or go to their
website LegalHelpForVeterans .com. The National
Veterans Business Development Council, better
known as NVBDC, is the nation's leading third
-party authority for certification of veteran
-owned businesses. For more information, go to
their website, NVBDC .org, or give them a call
at 888 - 237 -8433. PuroClean, known as the paramedics
of property damage, each PuroClean office is
independently owned. In fact, PuroClean is one
of the nation's leading restoration franchise
networks and is made up of entrepreneurs, just
like you. And veterans get 25 % off their franchise
fee. For more information, go to puroclean .com.
The Charles S. Kettles VA Medical Center in Ann
Arbor, Michigan. For more information on them,
go to va .gov slash Ann Arbor Health Care. And
finally, the Erwin Prescorn American Legion Post
46 and the Charles S. Kettles Vietnam Veterans
of America Chapter 310, both of Ann Arbor, Michigan.
If you'd like to support Veterans Radio, please
go to our website, veteransradio .org and click
on the donate button. Thank you in advance. Now
let's get into finding out about all these dogs.
So joining me on the line right now from Missouri
is Sue Swanigan and Sue is the founder of Wolf
for Vets. And Sue, welcome to Veterans Radio.
Well, good afternoon and is very happy to be
here. Well, I am happy to talk with you about
this. So Sue, how did you get started with? Well,
I guess first of all, tell us what Wolf for Vets
is. Wolf for Vets provides puppies and dogs for
our veterans free of charge. We do mostly purebreds,
but we're a little bit different. We do from
a pet to sit on your lap, a working dog if you
need to go get your cows. We do hunting dogs.
We do whatever the veteran needs. We will do
a stability dog. We will do a dog that will protect
you. We will do a service dog. Whatever that
veteran needs, we probably can do. Well, I know,
I think you can. I saw that. How long has your
organization been going? Well, I started sort
of unusual. We had a talk show in Springfield,
Missouri. uh... called uh... a cracker barrel
and i was on there one morning and they were
the gentleman on there that he had a brother
that was disabled veteran and he had lost his
miniature pincer that rode in the wheelchair
and slept with him and they were looking for
another one and at that time i raised men pins
and i thought oh my goodness and i call that
gentleman up and i give him one of my puppies
And I cried for three days after that. And I
decided I just had to do something. And it took
me about seven years to get it started. And I
met a lady named Beverly that was my partner.
And we lost her last July to cancer. But we got
our 5013C about 10 years ago. And now we are
placing about 100 to 150 dogs a year with our
veterans. Oh, that's great. Everything that we
do for veterans is free of charge. I think that's
an important thing to remember. Everything that
you do is that it's free. I got a question coming
in here from my partner today, Carol Ann Falzone.
Carol Ann? Oh, Susan, thank you so much for what
you're doing. So I've got a question. This sounds
spectacular. So if I'm caught, I am a veteran.
I believe I need some assistance. How does that
little puppy or dog get from Missouri to Michigan?
And how do you marry me up with the right dog?
Probably that transportation is one of our biggest
things. What we do is that we have several DAVs.
Combat Veterans Chapter 411 helps us. Sometimes
we have to pay an airline ticket. Sometimes whatever
we need to do, we will try our best to get you
that puppy. If it is in an eight -hour drive
for me, I deliver the dog personally. Oh, wow.
That's spectacular. And the way we do it, we
have got a volunteer that will call you. will
interview you, you will have a choice of whatever
kind of puppy that you want. If you don't know
what you need, we will get some more information
on what you should have. In other words, if you
need a stability dog and you weigh 300 pounds,
we're not going to get you a Chihuahua. But we
can do whatever that veteran needs. I would say
that we are about 98 % good with our veterans
and our dogs together. Once in a while, we will
get something that I just can't find. Last summer,
there was a gentleman out of Massachusetts that
wanted a dog that hunts truffles. I don't know
what a truffle was. I had to look it up. But
the only one we could find was in England. So
that there was out but we did get him a dog and
we done some a little training and I think that
dog is looking for truffles. Oh That's spectacular
Sue. So I'm a nurse and I think that assessing
that you do is really important and the organizations
that I've worked with in my past regarding You
know training dogs and the the dogs for assistance
with our veterans. They sometimes like to bring
multiple dogs out and the veteran and assess,
you know, the getting along. There's, you know,
we all have personalities. So do the dogs. And
so that was that was very interesting when, you
know, oh, he's really cute, but no, no, no, that's
not going to match your personality. You need
this dog. So that's why I was asking the question
about assessment and how does it work with that
veteran's personality? The veteran? It's always,
always, I want to do that. It's what they need
and what they want, not what I want them to have.
It's what they need and what they want. They
always, always have the last word. Right now,
I had one, in fact, she's on my board, had a
litter of, I hope I say this right, because it's
unusual, bouviers. And we have got four bouviers.
And they would be a family dog. They're short
and big. But they would be a good family dog
because they like kids and they think that they've
got to take care of those children. So they would
be a good dog for a family. A Great Dane, we
have Great Danes. We have Chihuahuas. I have
a lot of doodles. I love the doodles. Probably
the Bernie Doodles. is the smartest out of the
doodles. They are hypoallergenic. But I'm not
going to ask my veteran, well, this is what you
need. I will say, this is what this dog could
do for you. And this is the best way to train
him. Then it's up to the veteran to make a decision.
And he may have six or seven dogs to choose from
if that's what he'd like. Because our breeders
are commercial breeders, most of them. You are
welcome at their kennel. They will talk to you.
You can play with the dog and make a decision
what you'd like to have on which dog you'd like
to have So we do everything that veteran needs
I think this is this is great. The organization
is a wolf as a wolf for vets .org We're talking
with uh, sue swanigan who is the founder of the
organization and as soon as this does this cost
me anything if you provide me with a dog? The
dogs, I've got to say that our commercial breeders
are the most wonderful people in the whole world.
For many years I was a dog breeder and I raised
Dobermans and Minpens and Pomeranians and I belong
to an organization called Missouri Pet Breeders
and a couple of more. These people call me and
say, I've got dogs, what does your veteran need?
There is never a charge ever for a veteran to
get a dog from our commercial breeders. And most
of our breeders are inspected and is licensed.
And you get papers with your dogs, all of their
background. You will get their date of birth.
You will get their shot records. You will get
probably a veterinarian that has already seen
that puppy once or twice before you get it. And
so we try to get everything done. We try to have
veterans see a veterinarian across the country
at a discounted price. We would love to have
some insurance, but so far we've not found any.
The way that we raise our money is that we do
a garage sales gun shows. We go to the bikers.
We go to the state fair. We go to your local
picnic, and we will sell rapid tickets. That's
how we make our money. Our biggest expense is
transportation, whether it be driving the van,
or airline tickets, or just gasoline to get back
and forth. Our insurance, and we carry $3 million
worth of insurance, and it's expensive, but any
more, you've got to do that. And that is our
biggest expense. When my partner passed away,
she left Wolfervets a brand new minivan. This
was in July. And to date, we've got 30 ,000 miles
on that van from delivering puppies. Oh, I think
that's incredible. So where are you in Missouri?
Where are you located? We are in a little town
called Buffalo, Missouri. The veterans knows
where Branson is. We are 72 miles north of Branson.
We are at Branson during Veterans Week. We're
right there. And we do put on a show at the Mansion
Theater on the 9th of November. And we usually
have a little party. And two years ago, we had
16 World War II veterans on stage with us brought
down the house. We love those. We only have one
left out of that 16. So we always have a little
show and give away some gifts and talk to our
veterans. And then we are at Veterans Village
all that week. And so we do that. I like to meet
the veterans. I am one of these that I love people
and I thought this is what I need to do. Well,
you certainly sound dedicated and you are one
of many people across this country this will
do anything to support the veteran community
and we're very grateful that there are people
out there just like you sue and I want to thank
you for being on our program and I want to remind
our audience that this is called wolf for vets
org and they've got a nice website up there and
you can contact them for more information and
You know, maybe you can make a little donation
if you would like well, we appreciate any donation
Sometimes money gets short, but it always comes
out. We always make what we need to do. That's
what you do, and that's what a lot of people
out there are doing. So, Sue Swenigan, I want
to thank you very much for being on Veterans
Radio, and I hope to be in touch with you again
in the future whenever I'm looking for a dog.
Well, you're more than welcome, and we'll get
you whatever you need, or we will try our best.
Thank you very much, Sue. God bless you, too.
All right, that was uh, sue swanigan. She is
the director of wolf for dogs wolf like woof
for vets .org Uh, boy, she sounds like a just
another one of those wonderful people That are
out there and I think when I really talked when
I talked to her originally She said that she
was really not connected with the veterans community
as far as relatives were concerned It was just
something that she felt she had to do That was
spectacular. I mean, how many times do we. Here
a veteran would like a companion their best buddy
being a dog either They had one and they lost
it or they're they're looking for one This organization
sounds wonderful I wish they were in our backyard,
but I understand, you know, we've got to share
the wealth But she would be interesting and I
hope you put her name and her number up on on
our website We will be doing that and I just
said what you know that the thing that was really
interesting that I thought that really got my
attention Was the dogs for all kinds of different
reasons, you know, they're just not service dogs,
right? You know if you need a you're looking
for a hunting dog. We'll give you a hunting dog
If you know if you're looking for a lap dog,
we got we've got those too. So that's what I
found So intriguing about the the wolf and I
love the name. I like the wolf for vets That
kind of made me smile when I saw it. So anyway,
for our listeners, if you want more information,
you can just go to their website. It's it's woof
for vets .org. So, you know, today is our benefits
program, but it's a little bit going to be a
little bit shortened because one of our participation
participants couldn't make it because of a issue
with his house. I think it's getting ready to
float away. Didn't sound good. Um, so david seems
who is our washtenaw county veteran service office
Director is not going to be here, but Our really
resident expert i'd like to say is here. That's
carolyn falzone retired air force brigadier general
uh registered nurse probably a bsn and all those
other things masters in nursing i'll bet and
uh So we're here to answer your questions. Well,
we've got a couple of uh ideas to share with
you as we go along the way. If you don't call
us, we're going to tell you some stories. Right,
Carol Ann? Oh, absolutely, Dale. I think a week
doesn't go by or maybe even a day when we get
you and I and David, county counselors, a call
as to what and where they could get assistance
whether it's to enter a nursing home or how to
get benefits but there's there's always a need
and we take calls all the time well i think that
that's what again that you know you and you and
your husband uh jim falzone is also My partner
here on veterans radio have that dedication to
the veteran community and you know It's much
appreciated wherever we go. They say oh, yeah,
I know legal help for veterans All those guys
did a great job for me and so on and so forth.
And so I think that's what's fun I wanted to
tell the story I wanted to tell occurred last
night really and I was at a fundraiser for a
local charity actually for Fisher House, Michigan
And I was talking with somebody, you know during
the cocktail hour and she told me the story of
that her um her dad had um unfortunately was
reaching the end of his life and didn't want
to stay in hospital anymore and they were going
to send him home for hospice care but he had
never filed for anything from the VA and so she
said I got a hold of his 214 and his power of
attorney and she said I went up to our local
VA hospital I think she said on a Monday And
we got him all registered into the system, got
him a primary care doctor. And we tried to figure
out that the reason that we went there was because
they were going to have to pay for 24 -hour care.
And she said by Wednesday, that same week, everything
had been taken care of. And she said the VA just
went out of their way to make sure that her dad
was comfortable and that he didn't have didn't
have any worries as far as you know expenses
regarding um, you know around the clock care
um And that's just you know, and I know you hear
those stories every day And it's uh, you know,
we are constantly Seems like we're you know,
we're talking to the choir here. Well, if you
know if we can get one more veteran to think
about using these benefits that they don't even
know that they have. And, you know, the VA does
the best job they can to get the word out. But
if you're not in the VA system, you're not going
to know about these things. So that's why we're
doing it. The story you brought up is unbelievable.
And I think whether you're working with Legal
Health for Veterans or a VSO or go to a VA medical
center, it's important to talk about your story.
When we get a veteran or their spouse that calls
in to say, you know, they've been placed in hospice
and we're waiting for a disability benefit to
come through, we will reach out to that. regional
office, RO, whether it's Detroit, Oakland in
California, Waco in Texas, and say to them, text
them and get to them immediately that our veteran
where they live has entered hospice and their
terminal. And I think it's really important to
know that if there's a financial issue, if there
is a health issue and your terminal, They will
expedite and try to help you and reach out. But
if we don't know those things, we can't help
you. And in the case of this daughter, going
to the VA and then very quickly being assigned
to primary care, then they're able to assess
the needs and send out. home care, physical therapy,
speech, all in the home. So I think it's really
important to communicate whether you're working
with the VSO, county counselor, or like an attorney,
you need to verbalize your needs. Well, yeah,
that's really important because, you know, I
meet with veterans, seems like on a regular basis,
of course, And every time I, there's at least
one veteran that will surprise me because they
have not taken advantage of what's available
to them through the VA. And we wanted to talk
with our, right now the VA is not in turmoil,
but they're not really talking to the public
like they used to here. So we gotta wait till
everything calms down over there before we can
get, I think before we'll be able to get a representative.
come here to talk about what's going on at the
VA healthcare side of everything. But it looks
like... But I think the important thing is with
VHA and VBA, the critical employees, Dale, they
are not... Terminating or I'm asking them to
leave on the health care side. I know there is
an extensive amount of health care workers that
are exempt And so that's great news. The other
thing is to send out to the public Is I don't
think any benefits or claims are going to be,
you know thrown out just because of the situation
that's going on. Those claims will be taken care
of. I can't tell you the time frame. However,
nothing should happen. And the big fear, we talked
about it last time, last month. I can't believe
it's already April. In March, you heard David
and I say that they weren't going back and cutting
veterans benefits just across the board. If you're
being examined and you've gotten better, you
might have a reduced rate. But then that's a
different situation than what the rumor is that
across the board, people were going to be taken
away their benefits. Well, it's kind of the same
thing with Social Security. We know how that
goes. I don't think anybody's going to lose their
benefits. They may investigate some things out
there. It happens. A lot of stolen valor out
in the world. People are trying to utilize the
system to their advantage. As you mentioned,
I don't see anybody losing. I think there may
be a little bit more time. Patients may have
to really become a real virtue out there because
the, I don't think, I don't know where the cuts
are coming. I don't think anybody really does
know. I can't imagine that it's gonna come from
the support staff because especially on the health
side, I know I had something last week and they
just, it seemed like they were going out of their
way to make sure that the appointments were there.
The people called me, everything was, Faster
than anything I could and I could get anywhere
that I've experienced in my medical history So
I don't think that's gonna happen, you know,
and I want to encourage again I want to encourage
our listeners to check it out You know, you may
be entitled to not only your disability benefit,
you know And it doesn't have to be that you lost
a body part or anything like that. It could be
You know, it could be high blood pressure. It
could be Maybe you're diabetic or you have migraine
headaches or you bounced off a wall sometime
wherever you were deployed to and you've got
a traumatic brain injury that you don't even
know that you have. These are the people that
are experts in these treatments and stuff. So
I would, again, talk to you. If you're not gonna
do it and you've got some friends that you know
that say, well, I'm not gonna go there. Like
I can remember a guy talked to a number of years
ago He couldn't hear anything and It was kind
of sad and I and I said, I know you were a vet.
I know you were a veteran Why don't you go there?
They'll give you at the time they were giving
us these really fancy hearing aids and Says no.
No. No, I don't want to do that. Meanwhile his
wife going go It would be nice if you could hear
what I had to say and I think that's exactly
true, Dale. If you don't want to do it, and I
hear over and over, well, I don't deserve it,
save it for another veteran. You served your
country, and sometimes you don't even know what
you have. Earlier this morning, I got word that
somebody from Florida, who, when I teach the
classes when I'm down there, called to say he
thought He had a stroke and he had been taken
care of before and you know, he was working through
issues with his back and he thought it was his
disc and he was just not feeling well. Well,
he started to lose weight in December and he
said, you know, this is great. I'm losing some
weight. I'm feeling better. And then he kept
losing weight. And finally, the middle or the
beginning of February, he went in, told his doctor,
and they did a CT scan, and it's metastasis everywhere.
Now, he served in Vietnam. And in my conversation
with him, it was, oh my God, Carol Anne, I never
suspected this. He does not have a disability
rating. And we're going to try to see what we
can do to get this immediately processed because
he might only have a couple weeks to live. And
sometimes it just pops up, Dale. And I get so
discouraged sometimes when I hear from a veteran,
a widow, oh, the claim just passed a year. And
as we talk about that, you need the wife. or
the spouse needs to do a substitution and we
keep those claims alive. Or, you know, somebody
that dies and like the young lady you spoke to,
if their loved one never had a disability rating,
I never heard that before. How do we do that?
Well, once the veteran dies, you can't start
a new claim. And that's really discouraging.
I mean, we try to think that the information
is out there, but you know what? It really isn't.
I just don't know how to do it anymore or any
better, but I guess if we do it one at a time,
we're helping a veteran. Well, that's all that
we can do one at a time. And, you know, you can't
drag them in the front door of the hospital or,
you know, drag them into their into their local
VSO's office and get them to do something. But
I think if we keep reminding them. You know And
I know we we talked about this last month and
it's something we have talked about before is
that you know, even though the veteran dies There's
benefits for his family Is you know if he's already
in the system and maybe he's already gotten his
disability claim, you know approved and so forth
If something happens to him and he he or she
checks out There's stuff left there for the family.
Yep And that's the substitution within a year
of when that that. uh decision came across so
hopefully there is an appeal if there's something
you know that didn't come across say like he
got worse with his hypertension and maybe he
had a zero percent which means your service connected
that's you got your foot in the door and that's
the most important thing but you put in whoever
you're working with puts in a claim to say wait
a minute wait a minute his blood pressure is
higher than this and he meets the criteria for
say 10 percent 30 % whatever, if the widow and
the family put in a claim within a year, or if
they're doing it by themselves, get it in. And
that's what I was talking about. The claim stays
alive. But you have to touch it within a year
or after a year, it's gone. Yeah. But then the
other thing that I was referring to is the aid
and dependence types of things where, you know,
if, you know, if if your spouse had a disability
coming in that when they're gone, you may be
entitled to continue getting some of those disability
payments. Or a percentage of them. It's a different
name. I know it's a different name. How many
years he's had the the rating depending on the
circumstance but i think what you're really talking
about is eight in attendance and if the spouse
the widow now he or she needs activities of daily
care which is you know somebody to help them
base and eat and take their medications and shower.
you know just to help them doing some laundry
work and stuff like that the activities of daily
living then you apply and you're if you're under
the now this is an income benefit this is probably
one of the only ones and your income your assets
have to be lower than 159 000 you should apply
for aid and attendance if you need it but just
a just to kind of review so if if if i'm uh 50
% disabled According to the VA. Yes, and and
I die From from whatever the condition is Then
my spouse would be entitled not only to aid and
attendance or would she not be entitled to? Some
continuation it's called BIC death indemnity
compensation However, that widow he or she needs
to apply for that And then there's another term
called accrued benefits. So that goes along with
the length of time of the disability. But DIC
is pretty interesting because if the veteran
died, service connection from that, whether it's
cardiac, cancer of the stomach, cancer of the
kidney, one of the approved, cancer of the prostate,
one of those approved disabilities, then he or
she would apply for the DIC and if granted would
get you know depending on how many years or months
it took to get they would get back pay for that
and then monthly they would get um a paycheck
a check that's why i have you on the program
carolyn because you know a lot i think you're
well you really are you know i mean You really
are very qualified, obviously, to talk about
these things as well. And for those of you that
don't know, at the Legal Help for Veterans website,
that Carol Anne has a number of ebooks that you
can download that talk about pretty much every
condition that's imaginable. She talks about
the aid and attendance. She talks about the DIC,
talks about all kinds of different things that
we could spend a couple of days You know just
doing a marathon of what of what is is possible
Through the va it it really is a it's a maze
You know for the average veteran and you know,
we always encourage all of our veterans to you
know Don't try to do it on your own. I mean some
of us are really stubborn and we think well I
can figure this out, you know, it's it's pretty
easy, you know But uh, you know if you run into
a roadblock And sometimes it's just a missing
piece of paper that they want. I think you need
a professional that knows how to, you know, how
to get through the, you know, through the system.
As, as Carol Anne pointed out, she's got a, well,
it used to be a Rolodex. Now it's in our phone,
but she's got the numbers of these people that,
that you can help out. Or maybe she can, you
know, call down to the local, whatever, you know,
whatever the levels are out there and find out
where your where your claim is Yep. Yep. They'll
thank you for the the pitch of the ebooks and
they're all free and there's over 30 the different
topics, whether it's tax, tax exemption, when
you're a hundred percent, you know, the aid and
attendance. And matter of fact, soon to be out
there as a podcast on Friday with one of our
attorneys at the firm, we did a podcast specifically
on aid and attendance because it's a call for,
okay, you need a guardian, you're a state, the
whole shooting match. In that aid and attendance
book, there's a tree. I call it a tree, you know,
the diagram where are you a veteran? Yes. Are
you service connected? Yes. Then you go down
that lane. Are you a veteran? Yes. Are you service
connected? No. Then you go down another tree
and we tell you the forms, everything, how to
do and address that entity, whether it's tax
exemption, hearing, sleep apnea. it's out there.
So take a look and then we get, I get calls for
follow up. I want to do this. How long will it
take? And that's the answer. I can't tell you
how long an appeal, but please don't try to do
it by yourself. You know, there's many great
resources out there. Go to a VA medical center,
go to eligibility. There's county counselors
in almost every state. There's VSOs across the
board. So, and there's us and there's others.
So try to get your DE214, get the necessary paperwork,
and every e -book has exactly what you need to
get to start the process. Have you have you heard
anything? anything recently on any New claims
that are coming in through you that you hadn't
heard of before or anything unusual recently
Well, no, but I think there's an increase because
of the pack deck on a lot of the near and dear
to your heart, the burn pits and the environmental
issues that are coming up basically more and
more. And a lot of veterans are calling in regarding
the hypertension. I mean, that was a huge presumptive
that's just been added. And that's huge. And
we had Mike Cox on a real expert Marine, prior
attorney general, who talked about, you know,
what he is seeing out there with the Camp Lejeune.
Yes, Camp Lejeune. And so if we get a veteran
that we're helping, let's say a Marine or another
branch that was located there, we will refer
those to Mike. um right away as we get your disability
benefits um and try to get those so um there's
a dual connection sometime with different resources
well you know and the thing the reminder audience
what mike said is that the camp lejeune is is
a separate benefit it's not run through the va
or anything like that there's a fund that's been
set up for people who were at camp lejeune if
you were a marine or a civilian You know that
lived there for a while or ever went through
camp lejeune during a particular time period.
I can't remember exactly when that is but um
Yeah, the money's out there for you. You just
may need help to get it and uh again, you know,
it's it's You know, it's it's it's easier to
use an expert than to try to figure out, you
know become an expert on your own So, you know
again You know, that's why we have these these
people on veterans radio to answer your questions
to hopefully anticipate some of your questions
And uh, you know, I know we repeat ourselves
quite often But you know, and sometimes you got
to get that slap in the head to just say oh,
I didn't think I forgot all about that Oh, I
forgot that I wasn't I was over there and then
this and then you know, oh, you know This arm
is killing me and I don't know what it is and
it turns out, you know that you've got some injury
that, you know, if you fell off of a bunker or
something like that and you didn't even remember
that you did. Well, Camp Lejeune, Dale, as you
know, is pretty unique because not only is it
the veteran, but there are monies and there are
claims for the family and children of the Camp
Lejeune veteran. And so that one, when that came
out, that was unbelievable. the monies they put
aside to take care of literally the whole family
if they were consumed during that time of Camp
Lejeune. Well, there's there's an I mean, there's
an awful lot out there that we want to try and
continue to keep our audiences and our veteran
community aware of. And, you know, there are
lots of different resources for you folks. Just
want to keep reminding you that to reach out.
Whether it's to your local veteran service organization
or if it's off, you know to a legal help for
veterans type of organization There you know,
that's what they're here for. They're here to
help you they're dedicated to helping you and
You know, you might as well as I say utilize
the experts Excuse me And I think that it's incumbent
upon us to keep reminding our audience of what's
going on out there and what's new what's You
know, what's the same what's, you know, what
claims are we are you seeing that are, you know,
a little unusual, or maybe it's actually something
that you really do have that you didn't even
you didn't even think about. Well, you know,
the beautiful thing is With us and like when
I was talking to Dave earlier in this week about
a couple issues, if something is granted, let's
say hypertension or sleep apnea, you know, we
we know what our argument was. Maybe there might
be a law that was set up like. or one of the
attorneys, one of the secretaries that there
was a ruling on. And so if you have similar symptoms
and issues, we sometimes, not sometimes, we will
pull up that decision for the same area and see
if we could apply. rules or a ruling that might
help the next veteran. But I don't think if you
do it on your own, you're going to find all those
case laws that now have been established. No,
that's true. And that's what we're trying to
do. Again, just reminding people, contact your
folks. If you have issues, call legal help. If
you have issues, call your county. So there are
every single state. out there has a veteran service
department, our office, pretty much every county
has a veteran service office. There are numerous
law firms out there that are designed to help
you with your claim. And of course, there are
all the VA medical centers that are out there
to help with your health conditions and everything
along those lines. There's a lot of things that
are available to you. and I really would encourage
you to take advantage of them because it's You
know, it's you know, everybody's worried about
health care costs and you know, we don't know
what's gonna happen again right now, it's a Little
shaky. We don't know what's gonna happen with
our health care system But we do know that if
if you know, we're eligible to utilize the VA
health care It's pretty much the best care out
there Many many of the VA centers are affiliated
with major major universities major hospitals
out there and You're gonna I think you'll find
if you receive really great care. So that's not
a paid political announcement We're not you know,
nobody paid us to say that but I think it's important
And I think it's really important to, even if
you get a 10 % for hearing, you go to the VA
for that disability. You get a 30%, say heart
and heart medications, eight to $1 ,000 a month.
If you get that disability awarded, then you
go and you get your medications from the VA.
50 % or greater, you get all of your healthcare
taken care of. by the VA. So and even if you're,
I can't say this word, Dale, so come in with
me. Rural, rural, rural, rural out in the country.
Yes. You could get if there's a specialty that
you need, you could go through community care,
you have to apply for it. If they approve it,
that will help you also. So just knowing those
numbers 70 to 100%. If you need a nursing home,
long term care, That with applying will be picked
up by the VA if approved in accredited accredited
facility. So I think these numbers are in percentages
are really important at 30%. You add a dependent
and if you have children less than 18, if you're
a really young man, you could add those children
and your spouse to your claim and you will get.
I say extra money, but it's the way it is. You
will get money because of your service for your
family. Well, that's what they're trying to do.
They're trying to, I'm not going to say it's
a reward, but they promise that they would take
care of you. And this is a continuing promise
that they're, you know, hopefully that they're
making. So Carol Anne, thank you so very much
for bringing your expertise as usual. to our
program. Remember, reminding our audience that
we have a benefits program on the first Sunday
of every month. And so we'll be back in May.
May already. May 4th. Is that what it is? May
4th. It's already on our calendar. Yeah. So please
make sure that you come back for that. We're
going to take a quick break and then when we
come back I'm going to introduce a little segment
that my partner Jim Falzone did. So you are listening
to Veterans Radio. We will be right back. The
Medal of Honor is the highest award for valor
in combat given a member of the Armed Forces
of the United States. There had been over 3 ,400
recipients of the nation's highest award. This
is one of them. Private Dale Hanson killed 12
Japanese soldiers in a one -man attack on their
positions. Details after this. If you have a
VA claim denied by the Board of Veterans Appeals,
contact Legal Help for Veterans at 1 -800 -693
-4800. They're experts in handling cases before
the U .S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.
Their number again 1 -800 -693 -4800. Hanson
unhesitatingly took the initiative during a critical
stage of the action and armed with a rocket launcher
crawled to an exposed position where he attacked
and destroyed a strategically located hostile
pillbox. With his weapon subsequently destroyed
by enemy fire he seized a rifle and continued
his one -man assault. Reaching the crest of a
ridge he opened fire on six Japanese and killed
four before his rifle jammed. Attacked by the
two remaining Japanese he beat them off with
the butt of his rifle and then climbed back to
cover. Returning with another weapon and supply
of grenades, he fearlessly advanced and destroyed
a strong mortar position and annihilated eight
more of the enemy. The Medal of Honor series
is a production of Veterans Radio. Military veterans
touch everyone's life. I'm guessing right now
you're thinking of a veteran, a close friend,
relative, maybe it's you. Even the toughest of
us sometimes need help but don't know where to
turn for support. You don't need special training
to help a veteran in your life. We can all help
someone going through a difficult time. Learn
how you can be there for veterans. Visit Veterans
Crisis Line dot net Veterans Crisis Line dot
net. A message from the U .S. Department of Veterans
Affairs. We're back here on Veterans Radio. You
know, if you know of a veteran in crisis, you
can also refer him to the number 988. So. Remember
that also if you have a veteran in crisis to
get a hold of your local VA there There are people
that will come out and help them get them off
the street or wherever they are Here locally
in the Ann Arbor area the emergency help for
veterans or vet or it's called excuse me the
Emergency help for homeless veterans if the number
is eight seven seven four two four Three eight
three eight if you see a veteran that is homeless
out there and is legit, then call the VA and
they will come out and get them. So remember
that. So we're gonna play a quick interview that
my partner, Jim Fasone, did with Steve and Adam
Feldman. And Steve and Adam Feldman are Puro
Clean franchisees out in Iowa. And so this take
about five, six minutes, I think it is. And when
we come back, we'll end the program for today.
So here's Jim with his guests. Veterans Radio
is spotlighting PuroClean franchisees. I'm Jim
Fossone, one of the Veteran Radio hosts. PuroClean
is a leader in property emergency services helping
families and businesses overcome the devastating
setbacks caused by water, fire, mold, and other
conditions resulting in property damage. These
are independently owned franchisees who do whatever
it takes to respond, restore, and rescue properties
all in their own communities. PuroClean, known
as the paramedics of property damage, provides
water damage remediation, flood water removal,
fire and smoke damage remediation, mode removal,
and biohazard cleanup to commercial and residential
customers. Today we're going to talk to a father
and son team that own a couple of PuroClean franchisees.
Let's start. Steve Feldman, welcome to Veterans
Radio. Thank you, Jim. I'm glad to be here. And
Adam Feldman, welcome to Veterans Radio. We're
catching you while you're driving away from a
job. Yep. Thanks, Jim. I appreciate you having
us. Well, it's a great opportunity to talk to
a couple of veterans who are now in this business
as a father and son team. Steve retired as a
brigadier general from the US Army Reserves.
He's got an interesting history we'll get to.
Adam spent, I believe, nine years in the US Army
National Guard. You guys have a franchise in
Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Who first came up with this
crazy idea of hey, let's have a family business
in This area of property damage remediation Yeah,
that would be me Jim Yeah, the son comes up with
the crazy idea. How'd you talk your dad into
it? So we my dad and I we started a properties
company about five years ago We bought warehouses
and lease them out and then I own a moving company
In 2020, we had an inland hurricane in Iowa.
It's called a derecho. Basically, it was like
80 plus mile per hour winds for over an hour
and took out about 70 percent of our trees in
Cedar Rapids. Anyways, during that time, my moving
company, we started getting a bunch of calls
from restoration companies needing general labor.
And that's kind of how the ball got rolling from
there. So a lot of times businesses respond to
the need, right? Here was a need. You needed
a business to respond. Steve or Adam, who did
the due diligence and how did you settle on PuroClean?
Well, my moving company, we went down to Hurricane
Ian in 2022. One of my managers at the time had
a friend that started a Puro Clean in Chicago,
a suburb of Chicago. That's how we got interested
in it and saw their trucks all over Florida and
really liked the name, really liked the logo.
The paramedics, the property damage was awesome
as their slogan. called their corporate and kind
of just got the ball rolling from there. And
one of the things I would point out to our veteran
radio listeners is that PuroClean, which you
can find at puroclean .com, has a veteran's discount
for the franchise fee, the initial fee, and something
like one in seven owners are veterans. So did
you guys find it a veteran friendly company to
work with? Yes. Oh yeah, absolutely. And as you
went through this, you both had military careers,
you said you have a moving company, we had some
property issues, but you didn't have any expertise
in remediation. How did Puro Clean Corporate
educate you in that regards? We got the ball
rolling with Puro Clean Corporate. We had, I
think it was what dad, a week and a half, two
weeks? Two weeks. Of initial like basically in
processing, going through all the administrative
side of things. And then we actually had a water
training class for a week at Puro Clean Corporate
headquarters. So they took us through, hey, this
house flooded. These are the steps you have to
take to get it dried out. all the moisture readings,
everything that it takes to get a trucker dried
out. So they really set you up for success if
you are trying to, if you don't know a lot about
the industry. Right, I mean you gotta get educated
somehow and then gain the experience. Now this
is a silly question because I just learned what
you closed on today. I see that you're gonna
have to go to our website to hear the conclusion
of that interview with Jim Falzone running up
against the end of the clock today. So our, excuse
me, our God bless America today is by a group
called the Singing Contractors. And these guys
are really cool. It's Josh Arnett and Aaron Gray.
And I think you're really going to enjoy. This
version of god bless america, as you know, I
think it's such a beautiful song and it's something
that we all need to think about every single
day Keep it going. So until next week dale thrumery
for all of us at veterans radio. You are dismissed
Through the night with the light from above.
From the mountains, through the prairies, to
the oceans, white with foam. God bless America.