WEBVTT 00:00:04.809 --> 00:00:08.630 All across America and around the world, this 00:00:08.630 --> 00:00:15.009 is Veterans Radio. This is Veterans Radio. And 00:00:15.009 --> 00:00:19.030 now, your host for today's program, Dale Throneberry. 00:00:21.979 --> 00:00:24.500 And good afternoon good morning wherever you're 00:00:24.500 --> 00:00:26.699 listening to veterans radio We're grateful that 00:00:26.699 --> 00:00:29.879 you have tuned us in as they say. My name is 00:00:29.879 --> 00:00:33.380 Dale Throneberry CW to helicopter pilot in Vietnam 00:00:33.380 --> 00:00:37.520 1969 came back all parts working. Thank you very 00:00:37.520 --> 00:00:40.700 much We got a kind of an interesting program 00:00:40.700 --> 00:00:43.700 today. It's our monthly benefits program and 00:00:43.700 --> 00:00:46.719 You know when the shutdown There are a few things 00:00:46.719 --> 00:00:49.039 going on there that I think are kind of interesting 00:00:49.039 --> 00:00:51.539 and we want to delve into a little bit today. 00:00:51.840 --> 00:00:55.960 So we've got a panel and we've invited a guest 00:00:55.960 --> 00:00:59.320 to join us and that is Nick. Mordewonic, I believe 00:00:59.320 --> 00:01:02.079 is how we pronounce it and he is from military 00:01:02.079 --> 00:01:06.239 .com. We've also got um carolyn falzone from 00:01:06.239 --> 00:01:09.379 legal health for veterans uh jim falzone also 00:01:09.379 --> 00:01:12.239 from legal health for veterans and we want to 00:01:12.239 --> 00:01:13.939 talk a little bit about the shutdown and how 00:01:13.939 --> 00:01:17.200 it's affecting things and um You know if you 00:01:17.200 --> 00:01:20.620 have any questions, please give us a call at 00:01:21.700 --> 00:01:26.939 734 -822 -1600 734 -822 -1600 do really like 00:01:26.939 --> 00:01:29.060 to get a you know an idea of what your opinion 00:01:29.060 --> 00:01:32.599 is of what's going on um you know with this shutdown 00:01:32.599 --> 00:01:34.920 and how can we solve it how can we fix things 00:01:34.920 --> 00:01:37.739 and so on and so forth so we want to make sure 00:01:37.739 --> 00:01:40.700 that um we get as much information as we can 00:01:40.700 --> 00:01:45.670 out to you it's been kind of uh Confoluted stories 00:01:45.670 --> 00:01:48.329 coming from both sides. So we're gonna try and 00:01:48.329 --> 00:01:50.709 straighten it out as much as we can So before 00:01:50.709 --> 00:01:53.609 I bring Nick on and the rest of the crew I just 00:01:53.609 --> 00:01:56.349 want to make sure that I thank our sponsors for 00:01:56.349 --> 00:01:58.689 veterans radio. We can't do this program without 00:01:58.689 --> 00:02:02.010 them Number one is legal help for veterans specializes 00:02:02.010 --> 00:02:04.969 in veterans disability claims Give legal help 00:02:04.969 --> 00:02:07.709 a call at eight hundred six nine three four eight 00:02:07.709 --> 00:02:10.490 zero zero or go to their website legal help for 00:02:10.490 --> 00:02:13.759 veterans comm The National Veterans Business 00:02:13.759 --> 00:02:16.819 Development Council, better known as NVBDC, is 00:02:16.819 --> 00:02:19.479 the nation's leading third -party authority for 00:02:19.479 --> 00:02:22.139 certification of veteran -owned businesses. For 00:02:22.139 --> 00:02:25.580 more information, go to their website nvbdc .org 00:02:25.580 --> 00:02:32.000 or give them a call at 888 -237 -8433. PuroClean 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:34.900 known as the paramedics of property damage each 00:02:34.900 --> 00:02:37.379 PuroClean office is independently owned and operated 00:02:37.379 --> 00:02:40.159 in fact PuroClean is one of the nation's leading 00:02:40.159 --> 00:02:43.960 restoration franchise networks and If you would 00:02:43.960 --> 00:02:46.960 like to get started in their business veterans 00:02:46.960 --> 00:02:49.639 get a 25 % off the franchise fee That's pretty 00:02:49.639 --> 00:02:52.719 good deal. So for more information go to PuroClean 00:02:52.719 --> 00:02:56.360 .com Finally, we've got the Erwin Prescorn American 00:02:56.360 --> 00:02:59.639 Legion Post 46 and the Charles S. Kettles Vietnam 00:02:59.639 --> 00:03:03.039 Veterans of America Chapter 310 both of Ann Arbor, 00:03:03.240 --> 00:03:06.180 Michigan. If you'd like to support Veterans Radio, 00:03:06.539 --> 00:03:09.680 please go to our website veteransradio .org and 00:03:09.680 --> 00:03:13.120 click on the donate button. In fact, I only have 00:03:13.120 --> 00:03:15.539 one announcement today and that is that we have 00:03:15.539 --> 00:03:19.460 kind of a... a small fundraiser coming up here 00:03:19.460 --> 00:03:23.219 on Thursday, November 13th. PF Chang's here in 00:03:23.219 --> 00:03:25.680 Ann Arbor is going to donate 10 % of all their 00:03:25.680 --> 00:03:29.740 proceeds to Veterans Radio if you just tell them 00:03:29.740 --> 00:03:31.879 that, hey, I'm here to support Veterans Radio. 00:03:32.280 --> 00:03:35.360 So again, that is Thursday, November 13th from 00:03:35.360 --> 00:03:39.000 4 p .m. till close. It's the PF Chang's in Ann 00:03:39.000 --> 00:03:41.580 Arbor, Michigan, just off of I -94 in Briarwood 00:03:41.580 --> 00:03:45.259 Mall. Just tell your server that I support veterans 00:03:45.259 --> 00:03:47.740 radio and now we get a piece of the action as 00:03:47.740 --> 00:03:50.979 they say So, um, i'm encouraging everybody go 00:03:50.979 --> 00:03:55.340 out great food great people Be there as they 00:03:55.340 --> 00:03:57.939 say, all right, so let's get into this a little 00:03:57.939 --> 00:04:01.460 bit. Um, as I said, I want to bring on the My 00:04:01.460 --> 00:04:05.319 Falzone people. So we've got Carol Ann Falzone. 00:04:05.520 --> 00:04:09.139 Carol Ann is a retired Air Force Brigadier General. 00:04:09.560 --> 00:04:13.259 She has also been a nurse forever, and she is 00:04:13.259 --> 00:04:15.319 heavily involved with Legal Health for Veterans, 00:04:15.439 --> 00:04:18.819 and she's kind of our VSO, Veterans Service Officer 00:04:18.819 --> 00:04:23.120 for the day. David Sims is not here. He's off 00:04:23.120 --> 00:04:29.079 at a memorial celebration of 22 a day, which 00:04:29.079 --> 00:04:32.300 is going on right now at the Washtenaw Memorial, 00:04:32.819 --> 00:04:35.800 Vietnam Memorial at the time. So Caroline, welcome 00:04:35.800 --> 00:04:39.779 to the program again. Thanks, Dale. I hope you're 00:04:39.779 --> 00:04:42.879 having a great day. Well, I was until the Lions 00:04:42.879 --> 00:04:46.439 lost. Well, I know, but did you see who they 00:04:46.439 --> 00:04:50.779 were up against? JJ McCarthy. Oh, you are true 00:04:50.779 --> 00:04:57.040 blue to the core. I am, I am. But I do love the 00:04:57.040 --> 00:05:01.459 Lions. Well, we tried maybe next time uh, jim 00:05:01.459 --> 00:05:04.199 jim fauçon is with one of the founders of legal 00:05:04.199 --> 00:05:06.920 health for veterans and I uh, I think my disclaimer 00:05:06.920 --> 00:05:09.279 here is that he is a partner with veterans radio 00:05:09.279 --> 00:05:14.019 and um So anything we say here, it doesn't necessarily 00:05:14.019 --> 00:05:17.939 reflect the opinions of veterans radio america 00:05:17.939 --> 00:05:21.759 Hey, dale, how are you good today? All right, 00:05:21.759 --> 00:05:24.519 and joining us on the line right now is uh, nick 00:05:24.519 --> 00:05:30.560 mortiwaniq Nick is a writer for military .com 00:05:30.560 --> 00:05:34.319 Nick, welcome to veterans radio Thanks a lot 00:05:34.319 --> 00:05:36.680 for having me dale Thank you. I'm gonna give 00:05:36.680 --> 00:05:38.939 our audience a little background on you. You 00:05:38.939 --> 00:05:41.279 can fill in if I leave stuff out here. All right 00:05:41.439 --> 00:05:44.800 So Nick was previously a national news and investigative 00:05:44.800 --> 00:05:48.259 reporter for Newsweek focusing on US and international 00:05:48.259 --> 00:05:51.779 politics, immigration, crime, social issues over 00:05:51.779 --> 00:05:53.939 a four year career with them. Other coverages 00:05:53.939 --> 00:05:56.680 included education, economics, military defense, 00:05:56.839 --> 00:06:00.300 and wars in Ukraine and Gaza. His reporting on 00:06:00.300 --> 00:06:03.300 the opioid epidemic garnered a statewide Michigan 00:06:03.300 --> 00:06:06.199 Press Association Award. And by the way, he is 00:06:06.199 --> 00:06:08.279 a graduate of Michigan State University, but 00:06:08.279 --> 00:06:12.600 we won't hold that against him. Nick, welcome 00:06:12.600 --> 00:06:16.339 to the program. Thanks a lot for having me. Thank 00:06:16.339 --> 00:06:18.740 you. Well, the reason I asked Nick to join us 00:06:18.740 --> 00:06:23.959 is that I caught your article on military .com 00:06:23.959 --> 00:06:27.019 about the shutdown, I guess you could say, and 00:06:27.019 --> 00:06:30.800 people are pointing fingers at everybody from 00:06:30.800 --> 00:06:33.040 all different directions. And I just wanted to 00:06:33.040 --> 00:06:36.279 know if you could update our audience what you 00:06:36.279 --> 00:06:38.699 see as what's going on with the VA right now. 00:06:39.720 --> 00:06:44.019 Sure. Well, first of all, I think what's going 00:06:44.019 --> 00:06:47.199 on in the VA is what's happening more broadly 00:06:47.199 --> 00:06:49.899 across the federal government. You're seeing 00:06:49.899 --> 00:06:54.740 it, for example, with airports, employees who 00:06:54.740 --> 00:06:58.019 are working either on back pay or have been furloughed, 00:06:58.019 --> 00:07:02.160 or those who continue working without pay. VA 00:07:02.160 --> 00:07:06.959 Secretary Doug Collins seemed to suggest that 00:07:06.959 --> 00:07:09.720 the longer this goes on, obviously, It's already 00:07:09.720 --> 00:07:12.920 the second longest shutdown in the history of 00:07:12.920 --> 00:07:16.100 our country. So, um, the longer this goes on, 00:07:16.439 --> 00:07:19.560 there's a concern of, you know, pay in terms 00:07:19.560 --> 00:07:23.060 of, uh, because, you know, benefits are still 00:07:23.060 --> 00:07:26.720 being paid out. Um, for the most part, um, you 00:07:26.720 --> 00:07:29.759 know, things, the things that veterans require 00:07:29.759 --> 00:07:33.720 are being provided, but at the, you know, simultaneously 00:07:33.720 --> 00:07:37.970 you do have about 37 ,000 VA employees who are 00:07:37.970 --> 00:07:40.449 furloughed or working without pay right now, 00:07:40.670 --> 00:07:43.410 obviously, you know, your guess is as good as 00:07:43.410 --> 00:07:47.430 mine when the shutdown will conclude. And obviously, 00:07:47.430 --> 00:07:50.949 you know, it's putting these individuals' lives 00:07:50.949 --> 00:07:55.269 and economic uncertainties, you know, making 00:07:55.269 --> 00:07:58.389 them more vivid. But for, you know, the most 00:07:58.389 --> 00:08:01.050 part, the benefits still continue to be processed 00:08:01.050 --> 00:08:04.939 and delivered, and that includes aspects Like 00:08:04.939 --> 00:08:07.959 compensation, pension, education, and housing, 00:08:08.339 --> 00:08:11.339 burials are continuing in national cemeteries. 00:08:11.800 --> 00:08:15.100 But on the flip side, and Collins pointed this 00:08:15.100 --> 00:08:18.939 out on Thursday, I believe, the shutdown of the 00:08:18.939 --> 00:08:22.060 GI Bill hotline that traditionally provides assistance 00:08:22.060 --> 00:08:28.480 to more than 900 ,000 veterans, that's been stopped 00:08:28.480 --> 00:08:32.559 for now. You have these. veteran enrollees, more 00:08:32.559 --> 00:08:36.100 than 100 ,000 of them, according to the VA, who 00:08:36.100 --> 00:08:39.799 are attempting to enroll into readiness and employment 00:08:39.799 --> 00:08:46.059 programs to further their own work situations 00:08:46.059 --> 00:08:48.700 that have been delayed due to employees being 00:08:48.700 --> 00:08:53.820 furloughed. Regional VA offices, about four, 00:08:53.820 --> 00:08:56.799 more than four dozen of them closed. And then 00:08:56.799 --> 00:08:59.659 you have transition briefings for these outgoing 00:08:59.659 --> 00:09:02.179 military members who are trying to have their 00:09:02.179 --> 00:09:04.320 paperwork accommodated. And there's just no one 00:09:04.320 --> 00:09:08.399 to process that. So obviously, as you pointed 00:09:08.399 --> 00:09:10.960 out at the outset, there's a lot of fingers being 00:09:10.960 --> 00:09:15.240 pointed back and forth. But I think while these 00:09:15.240 --> 00:09:17.740 main aspects are still being delivered to veterans, 00:09:18.360 --> 00:09:23.059 obviously these nearly 40 ,000 employees who 00:09:23.059 --> 00:09:25.240 are being furloughed or working without pay, 00:09:25.340 --> 00:09:28.240 uh... that the major concern and then on top 00:09:28.240 --> 00:09:33.279 of that there had been suggestions that the office 00:09:33.279 --> 00:09:37.179 of uh... uh... management budget that you know 00:09:37.179 --> 00:09:39.519 and i did not just in the v a but across these 00:09:39.519 --> 00:09:42.559 other sectors of the federal government uh... 00:09:42.559 --> 00:09:45.059 that you know are these individuals when the 00:09:45.059 --> 00:09:47.500 shutdown concludes are they going to get their 00:09:47.500 --> 00:09:50.340 back pay that they've rightfully worked for or 00:09:50.340 --> 00:09:53.419 will it be delays uh... so i i think there's 00:09:53.500 --> 00:09:56.039 A lot of questions still that need to be answered 00:09:56.039 --> 00:10:01.659 as this thing goes on. I'm not sure what to do. 00:10:01.820 --> 00:10:03.980 I was kind of trying to figure out what is happening. 00:10:04.639 --> 00:10:08.120 On another news source, I was looking to see 00:10:08.120 --> 00:10:11.460 that the VA was fully funded last year as far 00:10:11.460 --> 00:10:13.139 as their budget was concerned. I think it was 00:10:13.139 --> 00:10:19.720 $339 billion. I guess I don't understand exactly, 00:10:19.799 --> 00:10:22.980 and maybe somebody else can help me. Explain 00:10:22.980 --> 00:10:25.740 it to me. You know, why aren't we using those 00:10:25.740 --> 00:10:28.299 funds to continue to pay the VA staffs if the 00:10:28.299 --> 00:10:36.580 money is there? I See a lot of anybody I don't 00:10:36.580 --> 00:10:39.500 think anybody has an answer to that one Right. 00:10:39.620 --> 00:10:42.259 Yeah, I think yeah, I wasn't sure if you're asking 00:10:42.259 --> 00:10:44.659 me or not But yeah, I think there's you know, 00:10:44.659 --> 00:10:47.600 the way Appropriations occur and then you have 00:10:47.600 --> 00:10:49.860 you know different funding mechanisms for how 00:10:49.860 --> 00:10:55.110 that goes through and is allotted to go to these 00:10:55.110 --> 00:10:58.929 different agencies, I think. There is a lot of 00:10:58.929 --> 00:11:01.370 murkiness in that, and I'll let someone else 00:11:01.370 --> 00:11:04.649 chime in if they have any thoughts as well. Well, 00:11:04.950 --> 00:11:09.830 the interesting thing is it depends on the area. 00:11:10.490 --> 00:11:14.539 I loved what you said. The VA is supposedly totally 00:11:14.539 --> 00:11:17.120 open. But we do know some employees have been 00:11:17.120 --> 00:11:20.320 furloughed. Our veterans are getting their disability 00:11:20.320 --> 00:11:26.220 benefits monthly. And so some major implications 00:11:26.220 --> 00:11:30.740 still continue to happen. But as we do our work 00:11:30.740 --> 00:11:33.279 at Legal Help for Veterans, the interesting thing 00:11:33.279 --> 00:11:37.519 has been Some employees out there in the VA system 00:11:37.519 --> 00:11:41.700 have been spectacular. Some of the ROs have shut 00:11:41.700 --> 00:11:45.000 down. But if we've needed help with one of our 00:11:45.000 --> 00:11:48.600 claims, we found a way to go through the system, 00:11:48.740 --> 00:11:51.379 whether it's contacting the director, they're 00:11:51.379 --> 00:11:55.700 helping us because it's our veterans. And it 00:11:55.700 --> 00:11:59.419 might not be as quick as I like for an exam or 00:11:59.419 --> 00:12:02.509 something that's been scheduled. But they are 00:12:02.509 --> 00:12:06.129 responding and I'm really grateful for that for 00:12:06.129 --> 00:12:10.210 our veterans that that continues. So I have not 00:12:10.210 --> 00:12:13.509 heard that any of our veterans so far have not 00:12:13.509 --> 00:12:17.789 gotten their disability checks. And I think that 00:12:17.789 --> 00:12:23.250 so far continues to be honored. A question for 00:12:23.250 --> 00:12:26.309 you, Carol Anne and Jim, I guess, is if somebody 00:12:26.309 --> 00:12:28.889 were to file and can they file a new claim right 00:12:28.889 --> 00:12:33.159 now? Can you do that whole thing? Yes, they can 00:12:33.159 --> 00:12:38.149 do that and we're accepting them. But I see sometimes, 00:12:38.169 --> 00:12:40.690 you know, how you upload and you go, you send 00:12:40.690 --> 00:12:43.450 them to one source. If we're trying to get into 00:12:43.450 --> 00:12:46.909 their file and if that hasn't been uploaded on 00:12:46.909 --> 00:12:49.610 the front end, then I have to think of another 00:12:49.610 --> 00:12:53.190 way on the back end to come through and allow 00:12:53.190 --> 00:12:57.309 us to go through and access your records with 00:12:57.309 --> 00:13:00.570 power of attorney. And some of the ROs have been 00:13:00.570 --> 00:13:04.250 very good with that. I think, Nick, your reporting 00:13:04.250 --> 00:13:10.700 highlights the nibbling around the edges of things, 00:13:11.120 --> 00:13:13.539 that there are certain pockets that are slower 00:13:13.539 --> 00:13:18.460 or non -existent because of cutbacks. It's not 00:13:18.460 --> 00:13:22.820 across the board, but am I correct that what 00:13:22.820 --> 00:13:25.220 you're reporting really found was that, yeah, 00:13:25.559 --> 00:13:28.879 some of the around the edges of all of this have 00:13:28.879 --> 00:13:32.519 slowed down or shut down? Yeah, so I would agree 00:13:32.519 --> 00:13:37.740 with that. And every week, Dale, there seems 00:13:37.740 --> 00:13:40.100 to be some new attempt by the administration 00:13:40.100 --> 00:13:44.860 to, I don't know if tighten up is the right word, 00:13:44.940 --> 00:13:48.419 but a week ago or so, the secretary of the VA 00:13:48.419 --> 00:13:52.679 filed asking the court of veterans appeals to 00:13:52.679 --> 00:13:56.639 stop hearing cases and said, we're not sure that 00:13:56.639 --> 00:14:02.000 our appellate lawyers qualify. and that they 00:14:02.000 --> 00:14:05.600 should still be working through this furlough. 00:14:05.840 --> 00:14:09.360 The court immediately shut down the VA's request 00:14:09.360 --> 00:14:12.460 and said, no, no, no, we're not stopping court 00:14:12.460 --> 00:14:15.740 cases and your attorneys will continue to file 00:14:15.740 --> 00:14:20.000 and brief and handle these matters. That kind 00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:22.639 of popped up out of the blue. It got shut down 00:14:22.639 --> 00:14:26.580 in less than a week by the court. But again, 00:14:26.600 --> 00:14:31.200 I think it highlights Little pockets here, little 00:14:31.200 --> 00:14:34.820 pockets there are being impacted as this goes 00:14:34.820 --> 00:14:41.240 along day by day, week by week. Right, and I'm 00:14:41.240 --> 00:14:44.990 sorry, oh, go ahead. Another good example by 00:14:44.990 --> 00:14:49.830 that is we knew of the mail problems months ago. 00:14:50.049 --> 00:14:52.889 Well, it seems like now I'm going to tell veterans 00:14:52.889 --> 00:14:54.909 whether you're dealing with a veteran service 00:14:54.909 --> 00:14:58.190 organization, county counselor, legal help for 00:14:58.190 --> 00:15:01.769 veterans, watch your mail because I just got 00:15:01.769 --> 00:15:05.149 a call today from one of our veterans who said, 00:15:05.490 --> 00:15:08.629 oh my God, I got a letter that was dated September 00:15:08.629 --> 00:15:12.899 2nd. And I was supposed to respond in 30 days 00:15:12.899 --> 00:15:16.759 so that I could continue with my claim. Now, 00:15:16.759 --> 00:15:20.659 obviously, it's 60 days later. Today's November 00:15:20.659 --> 00:15:25.179 2nd. So we'll go in tomorrow and put a claim 00:15:25.179 --> 00:15:29.279 in or just make the VA aware that that's when 00:15:29.279 --> 00:15:31.240 they got the mail. How are they going to answer 00:15:31.240 --> 00:15:35.830 the claim if The mail never was delivered. So 00:15:35.830 --> 00:15:39.129 we need to be vigilant and watch these dates 00:15:39.129 --> 00:15:43.090 and see what's happening. Well, that's for sure. 00:15:43.590 --> 00:15:46.269 Nick, you, you, you had something that you wanted 00:15:46.269 --> 00:15:50.049 to say. Yeah. I was just kind of piggybacking 00:15:50.049 --> 00:15:52.210 on the point that was made about Doug Collins 00:15:52.210 --> 00:15:55.769 and his appeal. And essentially the judges, this 00:15:55.769 --> 00:15:59.669 panel of judges, um, I believe in their response 00:15:59.669 --> 00:16:02.929 called the quote -unquote extreme they essentially 00:16:02.929 --> 00:16:07.149 cited that the existing funding gaps that already 00:16:07.149 --> 00:16:12.730 exist in the VA and veterans who in many instances 00:16:12.730 --> 00:16:16.590 have already waited years to receive some form 00:16:16.590 --> 00:16:20.210 of reimbursement, financial reimbursement. So 00:16:20.210 --> 00:16:22.950 they basically argued that you want to delay 00:16:22.950 --> 00:16:25.490 it even further and that would further impede 00:16:25.490 --> 00:16:28.799 these veterans' causes. That was essentially 00:16:28.799 --> 00:16:32.059 their explanation for why they rejected Collins's 00:16:32.059 --> 00:16:36.360 appeal last week. Well, I noticed that in the 00:16:36.360 --> 00:16:40.940 on the V .A.'s website. This is a little controversial 00:16:40.940 --> 00:16:45.100 and I apologize. No, I don't really. He's he's 00:16:45.100 --> 00:16:50.250 he's made this pretty political in the. On their 00:16:50.250 --> 00:16:53.049 own website, you know, he's totally blaming the 00:16:53.049 --> 00:16:55.549 democrats for the whole the whole deal and you 00:16:55.549 --> 00:16:57.649 know that they're not gonna I mean he even threw 00:16:57.649 --> 00:16:59.250 in there that they're not they don't want to 00:16:59.250 --> 00:17:02.129 give health care to to immigrants and everything 00:17:02.129 --> 00:17:08.029 else and I i'm i'm befuddled by some of these 00:17:08.029 --> 00:17:12.210 things when they when you know, you know granted 00:17:12.210 --> 00:17:16.009 the shutdown is is political and You know you 00:17:16.009 --> 00:17:18.349 and I none of us can really do anything about 00:17:18.349 --> 00:17:20.309 it until they decide to grow up and be adults. 00:17:21.910 --> 00:17:26.529 But I was concerned about the way that the VA 00:17:26.529 --> 00:17:30.829 itself is pushing this, you know, the political 00:17:30.829 --> 00:17:33.450 side of it. I would think that the VA would just 00:17:33.450 --> 00:17:35.430 say, you know, let's just solve this issue as 00:17:35.430 --> 00:17:40.390 best that we can without throwing stones. You 00:17:40.390 --> 00:17:43.450 know, sorry to interrupt, but, you know, if you 00:17:43.450 --> 00:17:46.549 look at all of these different government pages 00:17:46.549 --> 00:17:49.430 of all these different agencies that have been 00:17:49.430 --> 00:17:53.509 impacted by this ongoing shutdown. The language 00:17:53.509 --> 00:17:56.869 all kind of mirrors one another. If you go to 00:17:56.869 --> 00:17:58.809 Department of Transportation or Agriculture, 00:17:59.589 --> 00:18:02.410 any agency that has been impacted throughout 00:18:02.410 --> 00:18:05.190 this shutdown, it all kind of has that same language 00:18:05.190 --> 00:18:09.869 that you mentioned in terms of the political 00:18:09.869 --> 00:18:13.390 posturing of what's going on that's obviously 00:18:13.470 --> 00:18:17.730 impacting millions of people's lives. So yes, 00:18:17.890 --> 00:18:21.289 that is it's uniform in terms of the messaging 00:18:21.289 --> 00:18:23.269 that is coming out. And even if you go to the 00:18:23.269 --> 00:18:25.269 White House website, it's, you know, there's 00:18:25.269 --> 00:18:30.170 a clock that shows it continues to tick on about 00:18:30.170 --> 00:18:34.369 and essentially blaming the Democrats for what 00:18:34.369 --> 00:18:38.049 is happening to these millions of people. You 00:18:38.049 --> 00:18:43.589 know, we always say veterans are non -political 00:18:43.589 --> 00:18:47.029 if they you should never get into this and We 00:18:47.029 --> 00:18:49.329 talk about that, but it's going to be really 00:18:49.329 --> 00:18:53.029 interesting Fast forward to what happens in this 00:18:53.029 --> 00:18:57.009 country on Tuesday when our Americans go out 00:18:57.009 --> 00:19:01.150 to vote with this shutdown. And so I don't know 00:19:01.150 --> 00:19:04.730 if that's going to be telling, but I just hope 00:19:04.730 --> 00:19:09.789 this gets done. I applaud those legislators who 00:19:09.789 --> 00:19:12.450 said, no, we're not going on break. We're going 00:19:12.450 --> 00:19:14.990 to stay here and we're going to get the job done. 00:19:15.349 --> 00:19:20.529 That blew my mind also. Please just get our government 00:19:20.529 --> 00:19:25.230 back. That would be nice if we if we were able 00:19:25.230 --> 00:19:27.710 to do that, you know There's there's another 00:19:27.710 --> 00:19:31.130 story that that that Nick added in his article 00:19:31.130 --> 00:19:34.349 and he was talking about Maybe you know get off 00:19:34.349 --> 00:19:36.309 the politics of this thing a little bit, but 00:19:36.309 --> 00:19:39.529 he's talking about that. There's Talk out there 00:19:39.529 --> 00:19:42.410 of how many so many veterans are using the system 00:19:42.410 --> 00:19:45.750 And that there's a lot of VA fraud out there 00:19:45.750 --> 00:19:47.549 Nick. Would you like to address that a little 00:19:47.549 --> 00:19:52.359 bit? sure, well, essentially there was a Washington 00:19:52.359 --> 00:19:56.000 Post investigative story earlier this month that 00:19:56.000 --> 00:20:02.920 According to their reporting they used VA data 00:20:02.920 --> 00:20:07.259 to look into the approximate 6 .9 million disabled 00:20:07.259 --> 00:20:12.180 veterans who Receive collectively approximately 00:20:12.180 --> 00:20:17.160 193 billion dollars annually and compensation 00:20:17.160 --> 00:20:22.349 but the reporting suggested that A lot of these 00:20:22.349 --> 00:20:26.069 claims, or a portion of these claims, are more 00:20:26.069 --> 00:20:30.190 for innocuous reasons. They mention things in 00:20:30.190 --> 00:20:33.529 their reporting, such as hair loss, jock itch, 00:20:33.690 --> 00:20:36.950 toenail fungus, things that wouldn't necessarily 00:20:36.950 --> 00:20:41.210 cause impairment for veterans. They reported 00:20:41.210 --> 00:20:45.930 that there were 556 ,000 veterans, for example, 00:20:45.950 --> 00:20:49.329 who received disability benefits for eczema, 00:20:49.750 --> 00:20:53.490 things of that nature. uh... my in in my conversations 00:20:53.490 --> 00:20:57.069 with uh... you know the v a uh... the officials 00:20:57.069 --> 00:21:01.109 they've uh... thoroughly rejected the premise 00:21:01.109 --> 00:21:03.930 that there's rampant fraud and there is actually 00:21:03.930 --> 00:21:08.349 a hearing on capitol hill last week that uh... 00:21:08.349 --> 00:21:11.430 included uh... a lot of these officials who you 00:21:11.430 --> 00:21:14.250 know look into issues like these and uh... the 00:21:14.250 --> 00:21:19.849 conversation kind of uh... elaborating into uh... 00:21:20.299 --> 00:21:23.839 how to fix these things, even though they dispute 00:21:23.839 --> 00:21:26.960 the numbers in the piece reported by the Post, 00:21:27.440 --> 00:21:30.660 they're basically wondering whether the Veterans 00:21:30.660 --> 00:21:35.839 Health Administration, the Veterans Benefit Administration 00:21:35.839 --> 00:21:39.839 can kind of be synchronously overhauled in a 00:21:39.839 --> 00:21:43.559 way that these veterans can receive their funds 00:21:43.559 --> 00:21:46.920 while also continuing to minimize the fraud. 00:21:47.470 --> 00:21:49.549 If you talk to the VA, they say, you know, these 00:21:49.549 --> 00:21:52.730 cases are few and far between. And then I talked 00:21:52.730 --> 00:21:58.509 to the AFGE, one of the largest unions, union 00:21:58.509 --> 00:22:01.809 memberships in the country. And they wrote a 00:22:01.809 --> 00:22:05.269 letter that went into record as testimony during 00:22:05.269 --> 00:22:08.690 this hearing late last week, essentially saying, 00:22:08.849 --> 00:22:10.950 we represent a lot of these people and we're 00:22:10.950 --> 00:22:13.950 concerned that there are reports out there. So 00:22:13.950 --> 00:22:16.450 obviously when you have especially, you know, 00:22:16.490 --> 00:22:19.769 in situations like this with a shutdown ongoing, 00:22:21.049 --> 00:22:23.910 there are, you know, I think generally people 00:22:23.910 --> 00:22:28.190 will ask and ponder what, you know, where is 00:22:28.190 --> 00:22:30.430 the money going? How much money do we have? Are 00:22:30.430 --> 00:22:32.430 people, you know, using the money in the right 00:22:32.430 --> 00:22:35.200 way kind of the same conversations that we had, 00:22:35.200 --> 00:22:37.519 you know, during and in the aftermath of the, 00:22:37.519 --> 00:22:40.099 you know, COVID pandemic. So I think situations 00:22:40.099 --> 00:22:42.319 like these just kind of, you know, bring more 00:22:42.319 --> 00:22:46.640 broader issues to light. I think some people 00:22:46.640 --> 00:22:50.319 have too much time in their hands. Yes, possibly. 00:22:51.339 --> 00:22:53.440 I guess I want to jump in on this, Nick, because 00:22:53.440 --> 00:22:56.440 I think your reporting was well done as compared 00:22:56.440 --> 00:22:59.299 to what I think of the Washington Post report. 00:22:59.960 --> 00:23:03.140 And anything, any bureaucracy, I don't care if 00:23:03.140 --> 00:23:06.819 it's corporate government of this size, you will 00:23:06.819 --> 00:23:10.420 be able to find examples of, yeah, that didn't 00:23:10.420 --> 00:23:12.799 go right now. You can call it fraud if you want, 00:23:12.980 --> 00:23:17.400 abuse if you want, just human nature screw -ups. 00:23:18.480 --> 00:23:23.579 And I don't know, for the percentages we're talking 00:23:23.579 --> 00:23:27.259 about, yeah, you'd like to get it down to 0 .000, 00:23:27.259 --> 00:23:30.970 but it is human nature. Could they do a better 00:23:30.970 --> 00:23:33.849 job policing? Probably. But to paint it with 00:23:33.849 --> 00:23:36.529 a brush that the whole system needs to be redone. 00:23:36.910 --> 00:23:38.950 And there is talk, there are congressmen and 00:23:38.950 --> 00:23:41.910 women talking about, yeah, we've got to redo 00:23:41.910 --> 00:23:45.829 the whole thing. This is just a big scam. That 00:23:45.829 --> 00:23:50.730 is totally missing the point. And not looking 00:23:50.730 --> 00:23:55.809 at the 99 .99 % of the men and women who get 00:23:55.809 --> 00:23:59.730 this compensation. because their lives were negatively 00:23:59.730 --> 00:24:02.970 impacted by service to the country. It's always 00:24:02.970 --> 00:24:06.309 easy to talk about the bad stuff. And I think 00:24:06.309 --> 00:24:08.450 that's all Washington Post really did here. They 00:24:08.450 --> 00:24:11.150 really did a disservice to veterans. I was going 00:24:11.150 --> 00:24:13.089 to ask you, Jim and Carol Anne, I mean, this 00:24:13.089 --> 00:24:17.730 is part of your business of legal help for veterans. 00:24:17.970 --> 00:24:21.250 Have you ever, have you run into people trying 00:24:21.250 --> 00:24:25.220 to file false claims? Well, I don't know if they're 00:24:25.220 --> 00:24:28.700 trying to file false claims, but I think our 00:24:28.700 --> 00:24:34.160 system is very good and very fair. We don't accept 00:24:34.160 --> 00:24:37.599 everybody that comes in and asks us. I mean, 00:24:37.720 --> 00:24:40.940 for what Nick was talking about, you know, we're 00:24:40.940 --> 00:24:43.579 as a nurse, you've got secondary issues, you 00:24:43.579 --> 00:24:46.920 got primary issues. I wanted to talk about Camp 00:24:46.920 --> 00:24:50.140 Lejeune in a little bit, but it's interesting 00:24:50.140 --> 00:24:55.710 how when we look at a claim, and try before our 00:24:55.710 --> 00:24:59.670 attorneys accept a case, they look back at the 00:24:59.670 --> 00:25:03.009 nexus, the period of time. Could have this happened? 00:25:03.390 --> 00:25:07.890 Is it service -connected before they even take 00:25:07.890 --> 00:25:13.849 a case? And so I applaud what we're doing and 00:25:13.849 --> 00:25:17.930 have been doing probably for 28 years. Is everybody 00:25:17.930 --> 00:25:23.839 doing that? I don't know. But could people come 00:25:23.839 --> 00:25:27.660 to us and say, hey, we should get this? The thing 00:25:27.660 --> 00:25:31.759 I hear a lot is, well, I was next to this guy 00:25:31.759 --> 00:25:36.839 in Vietnam. And he got 100%. And why aren't you 00:25:36.839 --> 00:25:40.980 getting me 100 %? It doesn't work that way. Every 00:25:40.980 --> 00:25:44.660 case is different. And so let me jump in because 00:25:44.660 --> 00:25:49.980 I would push against the idea that any accredited 00:25:49.980 --> 00:25:53.940 veteran service officer, county counselor, attorney, 00:25:54.220 --> 00:25:58.940 advocate would file a false claim. You can file 00:25:58.940 --> 00:26:01.079 claims without any of those people. So we can't 00:26:01.079 --> 00:26:03.019 talk about that percentage of people who file 00:26:03.019 --> 00:26:07.019 their own claims or use disreputable organizations 00:26:07.019 --> 00:26:10.220 of which there are a number of claim sharks out 00:26:10.220 --> 00:26:14.700 there who might file such claims. I also think 00:26:14.700 --> 00:26:17.539 most veterans get themselves pretty confused 00:26:17.539 --> 00:26:22.839 over what is an appropriate claim and what is 00:26:22.839 --> 00:26:25.500 not, in part because they hear the stories at 00:26:25.500 --> 00:26:29.220 the bar or at work or at church. Oh, so -and 00:26:29.220 --> 00:26:31.880 -so got such -and -such, and they immediately 00:26:31.880 --> 00:26:34.119 compare it to themselves and think, well, they 00:26:34.119 --> 00:26:40.000 must have a similar claim. The complexity of 00:26:40.000 --> 00:26:42.259 having both a service connection and a medical 00:26:42.259 --> 00:26:45.940 nexus, I think can lead at least some veterans 00:26:45.940 --> 00:26:49.240 to thinking of entitlement when they're not entitled. 00:26:49.400 --> 00:26:51.339 But that's what the system weeds out. Hey, there 00:26:51.339 --> 00:26:53.359 isn't a service connection. There isn't a real 00:26:53.359 --> 00:26:56.259 medical nexus here. So again, does it happen? 00:26:56.319 --> 00:27:04.119 Of course. Would we say $193 billion, 6 .9 million 00:27:04.119 --> 00:27:10.079 veterans? Take take any take 1 % take 3 % Still 00:27:10.079 --> 00:27:13.859 a big number. We recognize that Yeah, and you 00:27:13.859 --> 00:27:16.619 know the VA inspector general Cheryl Mason she 00:27:16.619 --> 00:27:19.240 said during that hearing that it was the number 00:27:19.240 --> 00:27:22.160 was hovering around three point seven percent 00:27:22.160 --> 00:27:25.019 of active investigations that actually led to 00:27:25.019 --> 00:27:27.619 fraud being discovered, but I think you know 00:27:27.619 --> 00:27:31.460 moving forward Obviously a lot of talk nowadays 00:27:31.460 --> 00:27:33.980 is you know about artificial intelligence, and 00:27:33.980 --> 00:27:36.880 you know I spoke with, you know, an expert for 00:27:36.880 --> 00:27:40.019 one of my stories and that's kind of the next, 00:27:40.019 --> 00:27:43.559 you know, hoop to kind of jump through in terms 00:27:43.559 --> 00:27:46.119 of, you know, what we look at when we think of 00:27:46.119 --> 00:27:51.240 traditional fraud because obviously as AI accelerates 00:27:51.240 --> 00:27:54.200 and, you know, technology in general, there'll 00:27:54.200 --> 00:27:58.460 be, I assume, countless incidents of individuals 00:27:58.460 --> 00:28:01.200 posing as, you know, veterans and, you know, 00:28:01.259 --> 00:28:04.390 it won't just be in the VA obviously. health 00:28:04.390 --> 00:28:06.670 care especially but uh... you know people who 00:28:06.670 --> 00:28:09.069 are trying to impersonate other people false 00:28:09.069 --> 00:28:12.690 identity things of that nature uh... so uh... 00:28:12.690 --> 00:28:17.529 i think that hearing last week was uh... important 00:28:17.529 --> 00:28:21.170 uh... will be obviously what happened uh... legislatively 00:28:21.170 --> 00:28:24.890 but you know these things need to kind of be 00:28:24.890 --> 00:28:28.430 tuned uh... tuned out now before they you know 00:28:28.430 --> 00:28:30.470 accelerate and then get really bad and there 00:28:30.470 --> 00:28:36.599 are no uh... guardrails to prevent them Obviously, 00:28:37.599 --> 00:28:40.819 we are not going to solve all the problems today 00:28:40.819 --> 00:28:45.880 of what is happening in Washington. You know, 00:28:45.920 --> 00:28:47.500 you got the Senate that keeps trying to work 00:28:47.500 --> 00:28:50.279 on stuff. The House of Representatives hasn't 00:28:50.279 --> 00:28:52.539 been in Washington for almost a month now, it 00:28:52.539 --> 00:28:57.400 seems. So we've got to figure out a way to. Think 00:28:57.400 --> 00:28:59.380 what we got to do is we got to contact whoever 00:28:59.380 --> 00:29:02.319 our representatives are and tell them just solve 00:29:02.319 --> 00:29:04.740 this thing You know make a little compromise 00:29:04.740 --> 00:29:07.220 here I I came up with this bright idea which 00:29:07.220 --> 00:29:08.960 I thought was a bright idea and then I heard 00:29:08.960 --> 00:29:11.400 someone else had done it is you know if you want 00:29:11.400 --> 00:29:17.579 if the Democrats want to protect You know Obamacare, 00:29:18.099 --> 00:29:20.880 you know have a you know, write a letter Okay, 00:29:21.380 --> 00:29:24.339 if I vote, you know to pass this thing and open 00:29:24.339 --> 00:29:30.769 up the Congress again We will sit down and discuss 00:29:30.769 --> 00:29:34.029 this in the next week or two after we open up 00:29:34.029 --> 00:29:36.670 the government and have some Republican guys 00:29:36.670 --> 00:29:41.349 sign this thing. But that didn't work either. 00:29:42.430 --> 00:29:44.730 They're just not talking to each other and we 00:29:44.730 --> 00:29:48.940 can't solve the problem without talking. And 00:29:48.940 --> 00:29:50.980 like Nick's view on this, I think one of the 00:29:50.980 --> 00:29:55.180 problems here for the VA is the way we pick secretaries 00:29:55.180 --> 00:29:59.660 of the VA. It kind of filters back into their 00:29:59.660 --> 00:30:02.259 statements on their website, which reflect what 00:30:02.259 --> 00:30:06.460 everybody else is doing. We have turned the VA 00:30:06.460 --> 00:30:09.420 into a political organization, and this is true 00:30:09.420 --> 00:30:12.039 with every president, and you can kind of go 00:30:12.039 --> 00:30:16.900 back secretary by secretary. We just have a little... 00:30:17.039 --> 00:30:19.819 These are political appointments and, and, oh 00:30:19.819 --> 00:30:22.039 my gosh, we're surprised there's politics involved. 00:30:22.420 --> 00:30:26.420 Just a little, little bit of this is of our own 00:30:26.420 --> 00:30:31.319 creation and starts right at the top. Well, hopefully 00:30:31.319 --> 00:30:35.829 we won't. Hopefully we can get this fixed. So 00:30:35.829 --> 00:30:38.009 that when we come back, uh, you know for december's 00:30:38.009 --> 00:30:39.890 benefits program, we're still not talking about 00:30:39.890 --> 00:30:42.470 this whole thing I mean, that's that's the point. 00:30:42.809 --> 00:30:45.769 Um nick. I wanted to thank you so much for uh, 00:30:45.769 --> 00:30:47.529 Joining us here on veterans radio. We've been 00:30:47.529 --> 00:30:50.470 talking with nick Mortowonic am I pronouncing 00:30:50.470 --> 00:30:52.829 that correctly? That's perfect. I appreciate 00:30:52.829 --> 00:30:58.799 that I know, I can relate. Anyway, thank you 00:30:58.799 --> 00:31:01.240 so much, and we keep an eye out for any of your 00:31:01.240 --> 00:31:02.839 other articles. If you've got some information 00:31:02.839 --> 00:31:04.880 you'd like to share with us, I would love to 00:31:04.880 --> 00:31:07.579 have you join us again. That would be great. 00:31:07.680 --> 00:31:10.079 Really appreciate the time and the invitation. 00:31:10.220 --> 00:31:13.079 Thanks a lot, Dale. Thank you very much. All 00:31:13.079 --> 00:31:16.460 right. Thank you very much. All right. We're 00:31:16.460 --> 00:31:18.220 going to take a quick break when we come back. 00:31:18.440 --> 00:31:20.440 Carol Ann has got some Camp Lejeune information, 00:31:20.579 --> 00:31:23.549 evidently. So you are listening to Veterans Radio 00:31:23.549 --> 00:31:27.529 and we'll be back in a moment. The Medal of Honor 00:31:27.529 --> 00:31:29.890 is the highest award for valor in combat given 00:31:29.890 --> 00:31:32.230 a member of the Armed Forces of the United States. 00:31:32.609 --> 00:31:35.369 There have been over 3 ,400 recipients of the 00:31:35.369 --> 00:31:38.549 nation's highest award. This is one of them. 00:31:38.730 --> 00:31:41.190 Sergeant First Class Paul Smith gave his life 00:31:41.190 --> 00:31:46.500 to protect his troops. Details after this. If 00:31:46.500 --> 00:31:48.819 you have a VA claim denied by the Board of Veterans' 00:31:49.059 --> 00:31:51.140 Appeals, contact Legal Help for Veterans at 1 00:31:51.140 --> 00:31:55.460 -800 -693 -4800. They're experts in handling 00:31:55.460 --> 00:31:57.779 cases before the U .S. Court of Appeals for Veterans' 00:31:58.000 --> 00:32:01.940 claims. Their number again, 1 -800 -693 -4800. 00:32:02.220 --> 00:32:05.700 On April 4, 2003, a call went out for a place 00:32:05.700 --> 00:32:08.740 to put some Iraqi prisoners. Sergeant First Class 00:32:08.740 --> 00:32:11.740 Paul Smith volunteered to create a holding pen 00:32:11.740 --> 00:32:15.420 inside a walled courtyard. Soon, Iraqi soldiers 00:32:15.599 --> 00:32:18.920 numbering perhaps 100, opened fire on Smith's 00:32:18.920 --> 00:32:23.099 position. Smith was accompanied by 16 men. Smith 00:32:23.099 --> 00:32:25.440 called for a Bradley, a tank -like vehicle with 00:32:25.440 --> 00:32:28.559 a rapid -fire cannon. It arrived and opened up 00:32:28.559 --> 00:32:31.380 on the Iraqis. The enemy could not advance so 00:32:31.380 --> 00:32:33.960 long as the Bradley was in position, but then, 00:32:34.119 --> 00:32:36.480 in a move that baffled and angered Smith's men, 00:32:36.819 --> 00:32:40.319 the Bradley left. Smith's men, some of whom were 00:32:40.319 --> 00:32:43.140 wounded, were suddenly vulnerable. Smith could 00:32:43.140 --> 00:32:45.539 have justifiably ordered his men to withdraw. 00:32:46.279 --> 00:32:48.700 Smith rejected that option, thinking that abandoning 00:32:48.700 --> 00:32:51.539 the courtyard would jeopardize about 100 GIs 00:32:51.539 --> 00:32:53.779 outside, including medics at an aid station. 00:32:54.720 --> 00:32:57.339 He manned a .50 caliber machine gun atop an abandoned 00:32:57.339 --> 00:32:59.799 armored personnel carrier and fought off the 00:32:59.799 --> 00:33:02.420 Iraqis going through several boxes of ammunition. 00:33:03.160 --> 00:33:05.880 As the battle wound down, Smith was hit in the 00:33:05.880 --> 00:33:08.980 head. He died before he could be evacuated from 00:33:08.980 --> 00:33:11.380 the scene. The Medal of Honor series is a production 00:33:11.380 --> 00:33:15.160 of Veterans Radio. Military veterans touch everyone's 00:33:15.160 --> 00:33:17.119 life. I'm guessing right now you're thinking 00:33:17.119 --> 00:33:20.940 of a veteran, a close friend, relative. Maybe 00:33:20.940 --> 00:33:23.700 it's you. Even the toughest of us sometimes need 00:33:23.700 --> 00:33:26.160 help but don't know where to turn for support. 00:33:26.700 --> 00:33:28.420 You don't need special training to help a veteran 00:33:28.420 --> 00:33:30.799 in your life. We can all help someone going through 00:33:30.799 --> 00:33:33.440 a difficult time. Learn how you can be there 00:33:33.440 --> 00:33:38.140 for veterans. Visit VeteransCrisisLine .net VeteransCrisisLine 00:33:38.140 --> 00:33:41.140 .net A message from the U .S. Department of Veterans 00:33:41.140 --> 00:33:45.900 Affairs. Every warrior needs support. I did. 00:33:46.599 --> 00:33:48.920 After my time in the military, I struggled with 00:33:48.920 --> 00:33:53.039 mental health and some substance abuse. That's 00:33:53.039 --> 00:33:55.720 when James called the Veteran Navigator Program 00:33:55.720 --> 00:33:58.380 and was matched with me. Our navigators help 00:33:58.380 --> 00:34:00.960 any veteran who served in the military, Coast 00:34:00.960 --> 00:34:03.619 Guard or National Guard, regardless of discharge 00:34:03.619 --> 00:34:06.160 status or how long they've served. James and 00:34:06.160 --> 00:34:08.219 I talked on the phone and set up face -to -face 00:34:08.219 --> 00:34:11.210 meetings. He shared his story and struggles. 00:34:11.630 --> 00:34:14.150 And because all navigators are veterans or family 00:34:14.150 --> 00:34:17.110 members of veterans, I could relate. From the 00:34:17.110 --> 00:34:20.449 first call, James knew I was there for him anytime. 00:34:20.889 --> 00:34:23.150 We helped connect him to the mental health and 00:34:23.150 --> 00:34:25.829 substance abuse care he needed. I'm proud to 00:34:25.829 --> 00:34:28.389 be a United States veteran. And I'm proud to 00:34:28.389 --> 00:34:30.869 serve veterans like James and their families 00:34:30.869 --> 00:34:34.250 with compassion and care. Get connected to a 00:34:34.250 --> 00:34:37.650 veteran navigator at michigan .gov slash walking 00:34:37.650 --> 00:34:40.670 with warriors. A message from the Michigan Department 00:34:40.670 --> 00:34:46.250 of Health and Human Services. We're back here 00:34:46.250 --> 00:34:50.269 on Veterans Radio and we've got Carol Ann Falzone 00:34:50.269 --> 00:34:54.849 and Jim Falzone joining us. And Carol Ann wanted 00:34:54.849 --> 00:34:57.150 to talk about something about Camp Lejeune. What's 00:34:57.150 --> 00:35:01.929 going on? Well, you know how the VA does outstanding 00:35:01.929 --> 00:35:06.889 research. So Let me just refresh everybody's 00:35:06.889 --> 00:35:10.690 memory. VA adopted the presumptive for Camp Lejeune 00:35:10.690 --> 00:35:15.690 to be adult leukemia, aplastic anemia, the bladder 00:35:15.690 --> 00:35:19.590 cancer, kidney cancer, liver cancer, multiple 00:35:19.590 --> 00:35:23.409 myelomas, non -Hodgkin disease, and Parkinson's 00:35:23.409 --> 00:35:28.219 disease. Well, through a lot of additional research, 00:35:28.639 --> 00:35:31.900 it came out in an article, it's called MedConnect 00:35:31.900 --> 00:35:36.539 from the VA, that they've been researching extensively 00:35:36.539 --> 00:35:41.000 type two diabetes, and they're looking at the 00:35:41.000 --> 00:35:44.800 diabetes in connection with the water, the contamination 00:35:44.800 --> 00:35:48.500 at Camp Lejeune, and they're trying to link. 00:35:49.599 --> 00:35:53.099 It's going in the right direction. Not only if 00:35:53.099 --> 00:35:56.880 you end up with type 2 diabetes and they declare 00:35:56.880 --> 00:36:00.579 it, service connection, the other things that 00:36:00.579 --> 00:36:03.400 you need to look for that they're indicating 00:36:03.400 --> 00:36:06.179 this to a veteran, and this is Dale, what is 00:36:06.179 --> 00:36:08.940 the secondary issues that could be occurring, 00:36:09.420 --> 00:36:14.400 relates to hypertension, heart disease, peripheral 00:36:14.400 --> 00:36:19.780 neuropathy, kidney disease, cataracts, and glaucoma, 00:36:19.980 --> 00:36:24.320 and even sleep apnea. So if this diabetes, yes, 00:36:24.460 --> 00:36:28.460 I agree. It's a whole litany, but I give them 00:36:28.460 --> 00:36:33.679 credit for looking at this next layer of a potential 00:36:33.679 --> 00:36:37.599 presumptive with type 2 diabetes. Because as 00:36:37.599 --> 00:36:41.610 we all know, out of the Vietnam era, the diabetes 00:36:41.610 --> 00:36:44.809 has produced heart disease and neuropathy and 00:36:44.809 --> 00:36:48.630 the hypertension, which was approved. But it 00:36:48.630 --> 00:36:52.469 takes a long time to have some of these presumptives 00:36:52.469 --> 00:36:57.610 be identified. So I really give them a lot of 00:36:57.610 --> 00:37:00.829 credit for continuing to do the outstanding research 00:37:00.829 --> 00:37:04.230 on some of these chemicals that have been so 00:37:04.230 --> 00:37:07.989 disruptive in our veterans' lives. Think that's 00:37:07.989 --> 00:37:11.250 great information to know I mean that They're 00:37:11.250 --> 00:37:13.010 always seeming to find out and this is you know 00:37:13.010 --> 00:37:14.730 one thing we have to you know We have to give 00:37:14.730 --> 00:37:17.010 credit to the VA for all the research that they 00:37:17.010 --> 00:37:19.510 do Because not only do whatever they come up 00:37:19.510 --> 00:37:22.090 with it that helps veterans it also helps the 00:37:22.090 --> 00:37:25.030 civilian community as well and I think that's 00:37:25.030 --> 00:37:28.449 what's important Jim you you had a Quick story 00:37:28.449 --> 00:37:33.650 about pain management Yeah, I wanted to highlight 00:37:33.650 --> 00:37:36.070 this for folks because and I almost brought it 00:37:36.070 --> 00:37:38.750 up when Nick was on because he wrote about opioid 00:37:38.750 --> 00:37:42.949 addiction and but Yeah, you know we get our guests 00:37:42.949 --> 00:37:45.329 on and we kind of promise them. We'll respect 00:37:45.329 --> 00:37:49.929 their time commitment on a Sunday. So But but 00:37:49.929 --> 00:37:53.949 as the VA has dialed back the use of opioids 00:37:53.949 --> 00:37:58.469 it's really moved to a more integrated approach 00:37:58.469 --> 00:38:04.650 to pain management This started a number of years 00:38:04.650 --> 00:38:08.610 ago, and I want to bring this up. It's the lead 00:38:08.610 --> 00:38:12.269 article in DAV's magazine for September and October, 00:38:12.590 --> 00:38:15.429 and you'd sort of think that, well isn't this 00:38:15.429 --> 00:38:18.989 all over with changing the script, getting opioids 00:38:18.989 --> 00:38:22.489 out? But I think what's happened is as they have 00:38:22.489 --> 00:38:25.889 dialed back the use of drugs, which is a good 00:38:25.889 --> 00:38:29.489 thing, opioids in particular, you still have 00:38:29.489 --> 00:38:33.219 veterans out there Pain is a real problem. It's 00:38:33.219 --> 00:38:38.039 recognized as a real separate issue for veterans. 00:38:40.360 --> 00:38:44.019 So if you've given up, if you have sort of said, 00:38:44.260 --> 00:38:46.000 well, VA can't help me anymore on this pain. 00:38:46.159 --> 00:38:49.639 I just got to live with this stuff. pass out 00:38:49.639 --> 00:38:52.599 to folks that they're really prioritizing an 00:38:52.599 --> 00:38:55.619 interdisciplinary medicine approach that includes 00:38:55.619 --> 00:38:58.300 everything from behavioral therapy and medication 00:38:58.300 --> 00:39:01.840 to acupuncture and chiropractic care. And then 00:39:01.840 --> 00:39:03.619 we've talked about each of these at different 00:39:03.619 --> 00:39:06.500 times, I think on Veterans Radio, including acupuncture 00:39:06.500 --> 00:39:11.159 and chiropractic care. But if you're living with 00:39:11.159 --> 00:39:14.619 that kind of chronic pain and you're no longer 00:39:14.619 --> 00:39:17.719 getting the pills, which helped a little, don't 00:39:17.719 --> 00:39:20.679 give up. Get back into the VA healthcare system 00:39:20.679 --> 00:39:25.760 and ask them if they're doing anything new or 00:39:25.760 --> 00:39:29.940 have a new integrated approach that has not been 00:39:29.940 --> 00:39:32.880 tried for you yet. and maybe you're going to 00:39:32.880 --> 00:39:35.659 find one that works. So just because they've 00:39:35.659 --> 00:39:38.119 dialed back the use of opioids doesn't mean they've 00:39:38.119 --> 00:39:45.219 dialed back their ongoing efforts to help veterans 00:39:45.219 --> 00:39:48.260 deal with chronic pain. Yeah, I think a lot of 00:39:48.260 --> 00:39:52.119 them are going toward the holistic route to try 00:39:52.119 --> 00:39:54.679 and find what they can do without all those really 00:39:54.679 --> 00:39:57.340 powerful drugs that they were using for so long 00:39:57.340 --> 00:40:00.030 on there. Well, this is the kind of thing that 00:40:00.030 --> 00:40:02.690 you get when you listen to Veterans Radio. I 00:40:02.690 --> 00:40:05.110 think that's been very helpful. Jim has one more 00:40:05.110 --> 00:40:07.110 thing that I want him to talk about briefly, 00:40:07.150 --> 00:40:10.849 and that is that there's a big deal ceremony 00:40:10.849 --> 00:40:13.630 coming up in Detroit next year. And we've got 00:40:13.630 --> 00:40:15.250 a segment that we're going to play here in just 00:40:15.250 --> 00:40:19.119 a minute. Yeah, timing on this is good because 00:40:19.119 --> 00:40:21.739 it's about a year from now actually it'll be 00:40:21.739 --> 00:40:25.320 over by this point, but the Congressional Medal 00:40:25.320 --> 00:40:28.980 of Honor Society, which is a separate group, 00:40:29.519 --> 00:40:33.059 there are currently 61 living Medal of Honor 00:40:33.059 --> 00:40:37.420 recipients, they get together annually to talk, 00:40:37.739 --> 00:40:40.960 compare notes, talk to the communities, do educational 00:40:40.960 --> 00:40:46.780 programs with the kids. And that convention is 00:40:46.780 --> 00:40:51.880 coming to Detroit at the end of September 2026 00:40:51.880 --> 00:40:55.900 and October 1st, 2026. Hard to think that far 00:40:55.900 --> 00:40:59.320 ahead, but that's coming. Maybe you've seen some 00:40:59.320 --> 00:41:03.619 of the press that is now being garnered to let 00:41:03.619 --> 00:41:06.179 people know. I think it's gonna be a great educational 00:41:06.179 --> 00:41:10.690 experience. I would hope our... grade school 00:41:10.690 --> 00:41:14.809 and junior high and high school teachers build 00:41:14.809 --> 00:41:17.309 this into their curriculum. Dale, you and I've 00:41:17.309 --> 00:41:19.409 had a chance to talk to a number of Medal of 00:41:19.409 --> 00:41:22.550 Honor recipients over the two decades of doing 00:41:22.550 --> 00:41:27.309 this. And these are all great people. Humble, 00:41:29.070 --> 00:41:33.090 inspiring, and so getting involved or going to, 00:41:33.090 --> 00:41:38.440 you can go to the Detroit Medal of Honor. society, 00:41:38.460 --> 00:41:42.019 if you put that in, it'll pop up to who's helping 00:41:42.019 --> 00:41:44.440 with that. I think our next segment will give 00:41:44.440 --> 00:41:46.639 a little more information on that. And actually, 00:41:47.079 --> 00:41:50.820 it's just being announced now, yesterday at the 00:41:50.820 --> 00:41:53.500 University of Michigan football game. Medal of 00:41:53.500 --> 00:41:56.960 Honor recipient Will Svensson was there. He did 00:41:56.960 --> 00:42:01.820 two tours in Iraq, two in Afghanistan. And they 00:42:01.820 --> 00:42:04.849 announced during the game and did a you know, 00:42:04.969 --> 00:42:07.269 big light board ceremony on the Medal of Honor 00:42:07.269 --> 00:42:11.789 and the Detroit Society bringing it in. Will's 00:42:11.789 --> 00:42:14.909 story is really interesting in that when his 00:42:14.909 --> 00:42:18.269 unit was surrounded by Taliban and it looked 00:42:18.269 --> 00:42:22.429 hopeless, the Taliban offered them the opportunity 00:42:22.429 --> 00:42:25.510 to surrender. His answer to that was to throw 00:42:25.510 --> 00:42:29.920 grenades into them. It was pretty clear he wasn't 00:42:29.920 --> 00:42:33.400 surrendering. But look for this information and 00:42:33.400 --> 00:42:36.159 we got a chance to talk to a couple of the organizers. 00:42:36.639 --> 00:42:39.239 And that's the segment I think you're going to 00:42:39.239 --> 00:42:42.500 play, Dale. But real interesting stuff. A great 00:42:42.500 --> 00:42:45.800 opportunity for the Michigan area to learn about 00:42:45.800 --> 00:42:48.900 these incredible men. Yep. And so we're going 00:42:48.900 --> 00:42:50.579 to go right to that. Otherwise, we're going to 00:42:50.579 --> 00:42:55.349 run out of time today. So Derek, hit it. We want 00:42:55.349 --> 00:42:58.949 to welcome to Veterans Radio today two gentlemen 00:42:58.949 --> 00:43:03.989 who are deeply involved in Detroit's efforts, 00:43:04.510 --> 00:43:07.610 successful efforts, to bring the Medal of Honor 00:43:07.610 --> 00:43:11.809 Society Convention to Detroit in October of 2026. 00:43:12.289 --> 00:43:14.010 One of the things you know if you listen to Veterans 00:43:14.010 --> 00:43:16.670 Radio is we kind of get the information before 00:43:16.670 --> 00:43:19.070 other people do and we get to pass it on to you 00:43:19.070 --> 00:43:21.750 so that you're in the know. So we're really happy 00:43:21.750 --> 00:43:25.989 to talk about What's coming a year from now when 00:43:25.989 --> 00:43:29.690 the living Medal of Honor recipients gather in 00:43:29.690 --> 00:43:33.510 Detroit for their annual convention? First up, 00:43:34.190 --> 00:43:37.469 we have Russell Schaumburger, who is the chair 00:43:37.469 --> 00:43:39.610 of the committee. Russ, welcome to Veterans Radio. 00:43:39.989 --> 00:43:41.909 Well, thank you, Jim, very much. Appreciate it 00:43:41.909 --> 00:43:43.670 and looking forward to sharing more about the 00:43:43.670 --> 00:43:46.769 conference to the audience. We want to welcome 00:43:46.769 --> 00:43:52.250 to Veterans Radio Adrian Kozikov, who is a committee 00:43:52.250 --> 00:43:55.750 member. that's working on this huge effort to 00:43:55.750 --> 00:44:00.030 bring the Congressional Medal of Honor Recipients 00:44:00.030 --> 00:44:03.650 Convention to Detroit in 2026. Adrian, welcome 00:44:03.650 --> 00:44:06.510 to Veterans Radio. Thank you for having me, Jim. 00:44:06.769 --> 00:44:10.269 Very excited to share about the convention. Well, 00:44:10.269 --> 00:44:15.969 Russ, let's start with you. How did you get yourself 00:44:15.969 --> 00:44:20.570 involved in this, you know, big task of pulling 00:44:20.570 --> 00:44:23.750 off the national convention? Well, I don't know 00:44:23.750 --> 00:44:28.030 how much time you have, but to make it simple, 00:44:28.030 --> 00:44:31.530 um, I am also on the board of the Detroit public 00:44:31.530 --> 00:44:35.730 safety foundation. And I've been supporting first 00:44:35.730 --> 00:44:39.829 responders for some time. And I just, I met some 00:44:39.829 --> 00:44:43.630 folks that are involved with the recipient community 00:44:43.630 --> 00:44:46.090 and said, you know, we've never had this in the 00:44:46.090 --> 00:44:49.429 city of Detroit. It would be cool to have. So 00:44:49.429 --> 00:44:52.050 I started working with Detroit Public Safety 00:44:52.050 --> 00:44:56.969 Foundation and the society to win the award or 00:44:56.969 --> 00:44:59.570 to bring it to Detroit, which we were successful 00:44:59.570 --> 00:45:03.250 on doing. And now I find myself having the Tiger 00:45:03.250 --> 00:45:07.630 by the Tail, which is a labor of love. I'm very 00:45:07.630 --> 00:45:09.769 fortunate in my position to be able to give back 00:45:09.769 --> 00:45:12.110 to the community. I've been doing so for about 00:45:12.110 --> 00:45:14.949 seven years for Detroit Public Safety Foundation. 00:45:15.429 --> 00:45:18.780 And it's just all about Detroit. the veteran 00:45:18.780 --> 00:45:22.300 community and giving back. Well why don't you 00:45:22.300 --> 00:45:25.420 expand a little bit more on the Detroit Public 00:45:25.420 --> 00:45:30.280 Safety Organization because folks can go there 00:45:30.280 --> 00:45:34.199 and donate for this particular Congressional 00:45:34.199 --> 00:45:38.860 Medal of Honor convention and really I don't 00:45:38.860 --> 00:45:40.699 think most folks would go I don't know what the 00:45:40.699 --> 00:45:43.090 Detroit Public Safety Organization is. Well, 00:45:43.289 --> 00:45:47.210 the Detroit Public Safety Foundation is a 501C3. 00:45:47.210 --> 00:45:49.789 It is the charity of record for this conference. 00:45:50.469 --> 00:45:55.070 And what we do is we take care of fallen first 00:45:55.070 --> 00:45:57.909 responders, their families and things of that 00:45:57.909 --> 00:46:00.210 nature. We do things for youth groups within 00:46:00.210 --> 00:46:06.130 the city. And we provide things to the first 00:46:06.130 --> 00:46:09.380 responders. It's just simple little things, creature 00:46:09.380 --> 00:46:12.340 comforts for the fire department, you know, their 00:46:12.340 --> 00:46:15.079 housing, things of that nature. But our main 00:46:15.079 --> 00:46:17.239 focus is giving back to the community and taking 00:46:17.239 --> 00:46:21.860 care of youth programs and first responders who 00:46:21.860 --> 00:46:24.320 are injured or fallen in line of duty. Well, 00:46:24.320 --> 00:46:26.460 clearly the Detroit Public Safety Foundation 00:46:26.460 --> 00:46:30.980 is a very worthy cause and is sort of the base 00:46:30.980 --> 00:46:35.199 here around which this Medal of Honor Convention 00:46:35.199 --> 00:46:38.940 is building. And as you say, it's the financial 00:46:38.940 --> 00:46:43.000 arm of it as well. It's the risk. You can make 00:46:43.000 --> 00:46:47.800 final one, see three charitable deductions, contributions 00:46:47.800 --> 00:46:51.780 to the Detroit Public Safety Foundation for the 00:46:51.780 --> 00:46:55.739 purposes of supporting the Medal of Honor Convention, 00:46:55.739 --> 00:46:57.920 if I understand it right. Exactly. That's perfect. 00:46:58.119 --> 00:47:01.949 It's perfectly stated. Well, Adrian is. fairly 00:47:01.949 --> 00:47:03.969 clear that Russ just stumbled into this, you 00:47:03.969 --> 00:47:06.849 know, the guy with a good idea always finds himself 00:47:06.849 --> 00:47:10.590 being voluntold. Oh good, you're gonna lead it. 00:47:11.269 --> 00:47:15.409 Jim, I say no good deed goes unpunished. Absolutely, 00:47:15.809 --> 00:47:17.909 absolutely. Adrian, how did you get involved? 00:47:18.789 --> 00:47:21.489 You know, I, similar, in a similar fashion, I 00:47:21.489 --> 00:47:26.449 was voluntold to get involved in this and thought 00:47:26.449 --> 00:47:30.329 one of the employees and directors at the Medal 00:47:30.329 --> 00:47:33.190 of Honor Society said, hey, Adrian, you'd be 00:47:33.190 --> 00:47:37.389 a good fit for this, and talked with Russ. And 00:47:37.389 --> 00:47:39.690 Russ said, yes, we could use the help. Let's 00:47:39.690 --> 00:47:42.829 figure out a way to get involved. And from there, 00:47:43.230 --> 00:47:45.369 I started getting more involved and seeing how 00:47:45.369 --> 00:47:48.630 I could help. Well, your committee has a number 00:47:48.630 --> 00:47:53.710 of influential people on it. We have a mutual 00:47:53.710 --> 00:47:58.780 friend in Voli Garcia. with the NDIA, with the 00:47:58.780 --> 00:48:02.260 Michigan Military and Veterans Hall of Honor, 00:48:02.699 --> 00:48:05.619 former state senator, and I know he's really 00:48:05.619 --> 00:48:08.119 excited about this as well. Are there other committee 00:48:08.119 --> 00:48:11.300 members you'd like to mention? There's none at 00:48:11.300 --> 00:48:13.860 this time, and we have some feelers out what 00:48:13.860 --> 00:48:18.860 we're doing. We have this year's conference coming 00:48:18.860 --> 00:48:22.210 on next week. So that's in Chattanooga. And what 00:48:22.210 --> 00:48:24.969 we wanted to do is go sit down, go through the 00:48:24.969 --> 00:48:26.909 whole thing. We'll be there all week. We're going 00:48:26.909 --> 00:48:29.789 to set A to Z and talk to everybody and say, 00:48:30.070 --> 00:48:33.670 let's learn from lessons learned. What went well? 00:48:33.769 --> 00:48:36.250 What didn't? How should we restructure? Now we 00:48:36.250 --> 00:48:40.760 have a straw person. We have roles identified. 00:48:40.760 --> 00:48:44.539 We have task and duties identified We have some 00:48:44.539 --> 00:48:47.559 names penciled in but before we pull the trigger 00:48:47.559 --> 00:48:49.559 in that what we wanted to do is just go make 00:48:49.559 --> 00:48:52.460 sure that we've done all of our due diligence 00:48:52.460 --> 00:48:56.760 before we go asking people for You know time 00:48:56.760 --> 00:49:00.280 energy and effort the congressional metal of 00:49:00.280 --> 00:49:03.960 honor society is a sort of standalone organization 00:49:03.960 --> 00:49:08.639 itself and It's a way in which people can connect 00:49:08.639 --> 00:49:12.800 with living Medal of Honor recipients and learn 00:49:12.800 --> 00:49:16.699 more about those who have deceased. But do they 00:49:16.699 --> 00:49:20.639 have conventions every year? Yes, they do have 00:49:20.639 --> 00:49:23.139 conventions every year. And they pick a city. 00:49:23.739 --> 00:49:27.260 You go and make a pitch, if you will. And so 00:49:27.260 --> 00:49:31.820 Valdé and some others went down last year in 00:49:31.820 --> 00:49:35.539 San Antonio to do the pitch. And there's really 00:49:35.539 --> 00:49:40.260 three purposes for this. And I'm non -military. 00:49:40.480 --> 00:49:43.960 So I'm just a Detroit fellow that's trying to 00:49:43.960 --> 00:49:48.139 do a good job for the city of Detroit and veterans 00:49:48.139 --> 00:49:53.980 causes, right? I'm often flabbergasted by the 00:49:53.980 --> 00:49:57.139 fact that very few people know anything about 00:49:57.139 --> 00:50:01.440 the society. They know very little about recipients. 00:50:02.159 --> 00:50:05.079 When I booked the venue and it's going to be 00:50:05.079 --> 00:50:09.780 at the Motor City Casino Hotel next year, some 00:50:09.780 --> 00:50:11.179 of the people there were saying, well, tell me 00:50:11.179 --> 00:50:13.920 more about what the society is, even visit Detroit. 00:50:14.659 --> 00:50:17.760 And so the main purpose of this is to go and 00:50:17.760 --> 00:50:22.460 communicate all about the medal, all about service, 00:50:23.159 --> 00:50:27.739 all about what this stands for. The second thing 00:50:27.739 --> 00:50:33.880 is really to educate the national audience about 00:50:33.880 --> 00:50:37.380 Detroit. And then finally, what we come along 00:50:37.380 --> 00:50:42.480 with is to raise funds for the society itself 00:50:42.480 --> 00:50:45.980 and for veterans and youth programs within the 00:50:45.980 --> 00:50:49.280 city. So those, I would say in general, are the 00:50:49.280 --> 00:50:52.500 three legs of the stool. Adrian, did I forget 00:50:52.500 --> 00:50:55.739 anything? I often get carried away and get excited 00:50:55.739 --> 00:50:59.440 in my exuberance and so. Yeah, I think that covers 00:50:59.440 --> 00:51:03.719 it very well. item I would like to add more to 00:51:03.719 --> 00:51:06.400 was especially the youth programs. It's to help 00:51:06.400 --> 00:51:09.460 inspire our youth to live by not only youth but 00:51:09.460 --> 00:51:11.300 the people of Detroit, the people of Michigan, 00:51:11.440 --> 00:51:14.360 to live by the values that the medal instills 00:51:14.360 --> 00:51:19.880 in people. Yeah, you know, it's really interesting. 00:51:20.000 --> 00:51:23.460 I think it's one of the things that you're going 00:51:23.460 --> 00:51:27.239 to be able to do is remind the nation of the 00:51:27.239 --> 00:51:29.900 contributions that have been made in Southeast 00:51:29.900 --> 00:51:33.679 Michigan, and really Michigan as a whole, to 00:51:33.679 --> 00:51:39.260 national defense. The arsenal of democracy, right? 00:51:40.860 --> 00:51:45.480 World War II was largely successful because of 00:51:45.480 --> 00:51:50.579 our industrial production and what companies 00:51:50.579 --> 00:51:56.800 like Ford were able to do in turning out necessary 00:51:56.800 --> 00:52:00.719 defense equipment, planes, tanks, the famous 00:52:00.719 --> 00:52:04.239 Jeep, right? So it kind of goes both ways. We're 00:52:04.239 --> 00:52:07.579 going to learn what their lives were, what their 00:52:07.579 --> 00:52:10.519 sacrifices were, but hopefully we're also being 00:52:10.519 --> 00:52:13.079 able to pass on that message about what Detroit 00:52:13.079 --> 00:52:16.579 and the area has done for the nation. Yep. It's 00:52:16.579 --> 00:52:20.400 all about education and expanding the reach, 00:52:21.039 --> 00:52:24.480 the knowledge base of who knows. about this stuff, 00:52:24.599 --> 00:52:26.800 right? I mean, there's really just a small group 00:52:26.800 --> 00:52:29.840 that's, I would hate to say fading, but it is 00:52:29.840 --> 00:52:33.139 in some ways, right? And so we're the champions, 00:52:33.340 --> 00:52:37.079 you know, if you don't remember history, it will 00:52:37.079 --> 00:52:40.679 repeat itself in the future, right? And so learning 00:52:40.679 --> 00:52:43.360 those things, sharing those things, and at the 00:52:43.360 --> 00:52:46.800 end, it's really about, you know, youth programs 00:52:46.800 --> 00:52:49.639 and veterans programs as well. So it's just a 00:52:49.639 --> 00:52:55.469 very worthy cause. And like you said, we do have 00:52:55.469 --> 00:52:59.550 lots of needs coming up over the next year. So, 00:52:59.829 --> 00:53:03.349 you know, you can mention our website or put 00:53:03.349 --> 00:53:06.150 that in part of your, you know, announcements. 00:53:06.389 --> 00:53:10.190 It is the Medal of Honor Detroit .com. It'll 00:53:10.190 --> 00:53:12.269 be, that's where you find all of your information 00:53:12.269 --> 00:53:15.170 about what, what's coming up, coming up events. 00:53:16.730 --> 00:53:18.789 And we're back here we're coming up to the end 00:53:18.789 --> 00:53:21.449 of the program and that was Jim Falzone talking 00:53:21.449 --> 00:53:23.710 with the folks in Detroit that are going to be 00:53:23.710 --> 00:53:26.869 sponsoring the Medal of Honor Society's 2026 00:53:26.869 --> 00:53:31.150 convention From September 30th to October 3rd 00:53:31.150 --> 00:53:34.289 next year. So mark your calendars now and get 00:53:34.289 --> 00:53:39.389 ready to go How much time have I got Derek I 00:53:39.389 --> 00:53:43.139 got one minute, okay, so Anyway, I want to thank 00:53:43.139 --> 00:53:45.219 everybody for tuning in next month. We will be 00:53:45.219 --> 00:53:48.320 having another benefits program And we wanted 00:53:48.320 --> 00:53:50.519 you know, we want to try and answer your questions. 00:53:50.559 --> 00:53:54.000 Hopefully this Shut down will be you know, i've 00:53:54.000 --> 00:53:57.679 gone away and we can get back to business So, 00:53:57.679 --> 00:54:00.340 um, yeah send us emails whatever it takes to 00:54:00.340 --> 00:54:02.059 you know with your questions about what your 00:54:02.059 --> 00:54:04.260 benefit is if you have problems questions concerns 00:54:04.260 --> 00:54:07.099 so forth carolyn, thank you so much for joining 00:54:07.099 --> 00:54:12.039 us again today and And we're going to go out 00:54:12.039 --> 00:54:14.739 again with one of our favorite, God bless America 00:54:14.739 --> 00:54:18.099 tunes. This is Jimmy Fountain and Nicole. No, 00:54:18.099 --> 00:54:21.940 not Nicole. And anyway, it's a great one. So 00:54:21.940 --> 00:54:24.480 I hope you enjoy this. It's very important to 00:54:24.480 --> 00:54:27.340 us that we stand up and we, you know, continually 00:54:27.340 --> 00:54:30.260 believe in what America stands for. So until 00:54:30.260 --> 00:54:31.980 next week, this is Dale Thromberg. If you're 00:54:31.980 --> 00:54:37.619 always here at Veterans Radio, you are dismissed. 00:54:38.599 --> 00:54:55.360 Happy Veterans Day. God bless America Land that 00:54:55.360 --> 00:55:04.619 I love Stand beside her and guide her Through 00:55:04.619 --> 00:55:12.139 the night with a light from above From the mountains 00:55:12.139 --> 00:55:22.219 to the prairies To the oceans white with foam 00:55:22.219 --> 00:55:36.320 God bless America, my home sweet home God bless 00:55:36.320 --> 00:55:42.059 America, my home sweet