WEBVTT 00:00:04.809 --> 00:00:08.630 All across America and around the world, this 00:00:08.630 --> 00:00:14.990 is Veterans Radio. This is Veterans Radio. And 00:00:14.990 --> 00:00:19.070 now, your host for today's program, Dale Throneberry. 00:00:21.969 --> 00:00:23.870 Hello. Good afternoon and welcome to Veterans 00:00:23.870 --> 00:00:27.010 Radio. My name is Dale Throneberry. I was a CW 00:00:27.010 --> 00:00:31.699 -2 helicopter pilot in Vietnam, 1969. centuries 00:00:31.699 --> 00:00:35.439 ago, it seems nowadays. Welcome to our benefits 00:00:35.439 --> 00:00:37.840 program. Some of you got a flyer that said that 00:00:37.840 --> 00:00:40.140 somebody else was going to be on, but they kind 00:00:40.140 --> 00:00:42.659 of messed up sending out our flyer this week. 00:00:43.079 --> 00:00:44.759 But no, we're going to have benefits, benefits 00:00:44.759 --> 00:00:47.380 and benefits. We're going to be talking about 00:00:47.380 --> 00:00:50.840 some of the news that's going on with the VA. 00:00:51.579 --> 00:00:55.479 A couple of topics might be community care. We've 00:00:55.479 --> 00:00:58.719 got a VA health hospital story to talk about. 00:00:58.920 --> 00:01:01.659 We've got lowering numbers of disabilities. I've 00:01:01.659 --> 00:01:04.480 got two experts with us here. I've got David 00:01:04.480 --> 00:01:07.859 Sames, who is the executive director of the Washtenaw 00:01:07.859 --> 00:01:10.680 County Michigan Veterans Service Office. And 00:01:10.680 --> 00:01:13.439 I've got Carol Ann Falzone, retired Air Force 00:01:13.439 --> 00:01:15.579 Brigadier General with legal help for veterans. 00:01:15.939 --> 00:01:18.579 So they are our experts here. And if you stick 00:01:18.579 --> 00:01:21.439 around through the whole program, the last quarter, 00:01:22.319 --> 00:01:24.969 Dr. Rebecca Grant is going to be on. to talk 00:01:24.969 --> 00:01:28.609 about what's going on in Iran so stick around 00:01:28.609 --> 00:01:30.269 for that for those of you have been listening 00:01:30.269 --> 00:01:33.250 to Veterans Radio over the last 20 years or so 00:01:33.640 --> 00:01:38.159 Dr. Grant is an expert in foreign policy and 00:01:38.159 --> 00:01:41.980 military apparatus and equipment and all kinds 00:01:41.980 --> 00:01:45.180 of things like that. So stick around for that. 00:01:45.500 --> 00:01:47.700 If you have a question that you'd like to ask 00:01:47.700 --> 00:01:51.859 our guests today, the local number is 734 -822 00:01:51.859 --> 00:01:59.640 -1600. That's 734 -822 -1600. Before we get into 00:01:59.640 --> 00:02:02.260 the program, I need to thank our sponsors. Cannot 00:02:02.260 --> 00:02:05.099 do this program without their support and without 00:02:05.099 --> 00:02:08.539 yours, of course. So, number one is Legal Help 00:02:08.539 --> 00:02:11.479 for Veterans and Legal Help for Veterans specializes 00:02:11.479 --> 00:02:14.159 in veteran disability claims. Call Legal Help 00:02:14.159 --> 00:02:19.099 for Veterans at 800 -693 -4800. We'll go on to 00:02:19.099 --> 00:02:22.530 their website, legalhelpforveterans .com. The 00:02:22.530 --> 00:02:24.830 National Veterans Business Development Council, 00:02:25.009 --> 00:02:28.090 better known as NVBDC, is the nation's leading 00:02:28.090 --> 00:02:31.050 third -party authority for certification of veteran 00:02:31.050 --> 00:02:33.569 -owned businesses. For more information, go to 00:02:33.569 --> 00:02:37.069 their website, that's nvbdc .org, or give them 00:02:37.069 --> 00:02:43.360 a call at 888 -237 -8433. Uh, the irwin press 00:02:43.360 --> 00:02:46.439 corps in american legion post 46 and the charles 00:02:46.439 --> 00:02:49.159 s kettles vietnam veterans of america chapter 00:02:49.159 --> 00:02:52.379 3 10 bolta van arbor michigan If you'd like to 00:02:52.379 --> 00:02:54.680 support veterans radio when we can always use 00:02:54.680 --> 00:02:58.120 your support Please go to our website veteransradio 00:02:58.120 --> 00:03:01.620 .org and click on the donate button All right, 00:03:01.639 --> 00:03:05.240 so let's get into the program here And welcome 00:03:05.240 --> 00:03:10.189 in our guests. So number one Ladies first is 00:03:10.189 --> 00:03:11.990 retired Brigadier General of the United States 00:03:11.990 --> 00:03:14.509 Air Force, Carol Ann Falzone. Carol Ann, welcome 00:03:14.509 --> 00:03:17.909 back to the program. Thanks, Dale, and welcome 00:03:17.909 --> 00:03:21.270 to David. And it should be an interesting program 00:03:21.270 --> 00:03:25.610 with the developments around our world. Absolutely, 00:03:25.830 --> 00:03:28.969 absolutely. And David Sames, as I mentioned, 00:03:29.229 --> 00:03:31.930 is the Executive Director for the Washtenaw County 00:03:31.930 --> 00:03:34.449 Michigan Veterans Service Office. David, welcome 00:03:34.449 --> 00:03:38.319 back to Veterans Radio. Thanks a lot Dale glad 00:03:38.319 --> 00:03:40.919 to be here. Well, I'm glad to have you here too. 00:03:41.659 --> 00:03:45.159 So let's talk about I guess the big news is Well, 00:03:45.159 --> 00:03:47.060 there's a lot of big news going on with the VA. 00:03:47.060 --> 00:03:50.340 It seems like on a daily basis but the one thing 00:03:50.340 --> 00:03:53.620 that was interested in was the news about the 00:03:54.120 --> 00:03:56.259 Let's see. It says that Department of Veterans 00:03:56.259 --> 00:03:58.680 Affairs has pushed its backlog of disability 00:03:58.680 --> 00:04:03.159 compensation and pension benefits claims to below 00:04:03.159 --> 00:04:06.659 $100 ,000 for the first time since 2020. Can 00:04:06.659 --> 00:04:08.340 either one of you like to comment on that? It 00:04:08.340 --> 00:04:13.979 seems like they're pushing these benefit applications 00:04:13.979 --> 00:04:18.879 through like crazy. Well, yeah. Go ahead, Carol. 00:04:19.480 --> 00:04:23.310 No, go ahead, David. Yeah, I think we're seeing 00:04:23.310 --> 00:04:27.490 it in our office where, yeah, the claims are 00:04:27.490 --> 00:04:32.069 going faster, but quality might have been being 00:04:32.069 --> 00:04:35.389 hit a little bit. You know, the presumptive ones 00:04:35.389 --> 00:04:39.050 are easy, you would think, but then they're getting 00:04:39.050 --> 00:04:44.649 gone through and they're missing some simple 00:04:44.649 --> 00:04:48.990 stuff. Right. And then you have to go back, which 00:04:48.990 --> 00:04:51.709 is not bad. You got supplemental claim lane or 00:04:51.709 --> 00:04:55.350 higher level review. I've seen both those lanes 00:04:55.350 --> 00:04:59.649 go a little slower. They have been really focusing 00:04:59.649 --> 00:05:05.209 on turning out ratings. But I think the quality 00:05:05.209 --> 00:05:10.930 has dipped a bit. David, I want to duplicate 00:05:10.930 --> 00:05:15.220 that. Comment because um, yes, I agree. They've 00:05:15.220 --> 00:05:20.459 dropped. However, um, I want to say Six out of 00:05:20.459 --> 00:05:24.459 ten maybe eight out of ten decisions that we 00:05:24.459 --> 00:05:28.120 get our letters are there's errors and we have 00:05:28.120 --> 00:05:31.660 to go back and either if they've made a decision 00:05:31.660 --> 00:05:36.750 on one piece as you said they they've overlooked 00:05:36.750 --> 00:05:40.750 three other areas for the same veteran. And so, 00:05:40.750 --> 00:05:44.050 yes, they're spitting out less than, you know, 00:05:44.350 --> 00:05:48.029 this amount, but I think the errors, and also 00:05:48.029 --> 00:05:50.790 another thing that I would like our veterans 00:05:50.790 --> 00:05:54.069 to be aware of are the breaches. When I'm calling 00:05:54.069 --> 00:05:57.889 the breaches, it's my claim, but in my claim, 00:05:58.120 --> 00:06:01.839 I have another person's decision, another veteran's 00:06:01.839 --> 00:06:05.600 decision, or a piece of something that I didn't 00:06:05.600 --> 00:06:09.439 even claim. We just had one recently where they 00:06:09.439 --> 00:06:13.120 sent one of our poor veterans literally over 00:06:13.120 --> 00:06:17.579 100 miles to get an exam for something that wasn't 00:06:17.579 --> 00:06:21.439 even on the claim, had to give up a day of work 00:06:21.439 --> 00:06:25.660 when he was told, and then when we get this results 00:06:25.660 --> 00:06:28.370 back, it's like, wait a minute. That's not even 00:06:28.370 --> 00:06:32.209 a claim for him. And so, yes, there are errors 00:06:32.209 --> 00:06:35.189 that are occurring. So you really need to read 00:06:35.189 --> 00:06:40.029 and be aware of what you ask for and carefully 00:06:40.029 --> 00:06:43.009 read the decision and what it means. You think 00:06:43.009 --> 00:06:47.569 that they're just going too fast? Well, too fast. 00:06:47.889 --> 00:06:51.069 And also keeping an eye on dates, you know, the 00:06:51.069 --> 00:06:56.959 data claim. And it's the education. You know, 00:06:56.959 --> 00:07:01.740 they had a big push to hire a lot of Raiders, 00:07:01.740 --> 00:07:05.519 you know, when the PACT Act came about and the 00:07:05.519 --> 00:07:10.459 quality has dipped. And I've heard it from when 00:07:10.459 --> 00:07:15.000 I have the higher level reviews and they, the 00:07:15.000 --> 00:07:17.740 VA has acknowledged saying, yes, the quality 00:07:17.740 --> 00:07:22.540 is not there. These things that the Raiders shouldn't 00:07:22.540 --> 00:07:26.439 miss. And then keeping an eye on those dates. 00:07:28.259 --> 00:07:32.920 Yep, especially when you ask for effective dates 00:07:32.920 --> 00:07:38.500 beyond going back a year and some of the, when 00:07:38.500 --> 00:07:41.339 they're going to type them out, the dates don't 00:07:41.339 --> 00:07:43.860 match either. You're right, David, right on. 00:07:44.160 --> 00:07:48.699 And so it's really a concern right now. Not that 00:07:48.699 --> 00:07:52.160 we're not being attentive, but it seems like 00:07:52.300 --> 00:07:57.660 we need to really go beyond with some of these 00:07:57.660 --> 00:08:01.300 decisions that are coming out. Do either one 00:08:01.300 --> 00:08:03.100 of you think, and I don't know enough about it, 00:08:03.180 --> 00:08:05.800 but do you think that they might be utilizing 00:08:05.800 --> 00:08:09.360 some form of AI in judging some of these claims? 00:08:11.279 --> 00:08:13.180 That they're looking for certain words or they're 00:08:13.180 --> 00:08:16.379 looking for certain terminology and if it's not 00:08:16.379 --> 00:08:18.600 there, then it either gets rejected or if it 00:08:18.600 --> 00:08:21.649 is there, gets approved. I mean, I'm not familiar 00:08:21.649 --> 00:08:24.649 with it, but it seems like some of these are 00:08:24.649 --> 00:08:27.629 becoming rather arbitrary. And some of them are 00:08:27.629 --> 00:08:29.529 there are mistakes in there, as you mentioned. 00:08:31.290 --> 00:08:35.190 No doubt about it. They're using that. And I've 00:08:35.190 --> 00:08:38.029 heard where they have an internal AI program 00:08:38.029 --> 00:08:41.509 that they're using to speed up some of these 00:08:41.509 --> 00:08:45.289 claims. But on the other side, you can also use 00:08:45.289 --> 00:08:52.990 that to put that and look at appealing it and 00:08:52.990 --> 00:08:58.309 doing the research has been tremendously helpful 00:08:58.309 --> 00:09:03.850 in helping appeal some of those acclaims. I don't 00:09:03.850 --> 00:09:06.009 know about you, Carol, if you use it at all. 00:09:07.289 --> 00:09:11.029 No, we have not been. It's been, you know, we 00:09:11.029 --> 00:09:14.149 haven't tweaked maybe to look for some research. 00:09:14.330 --> 00:09:18.789 Um, we've used AI, but not literally to file. 00:09:19.909 --> 00:09:25.230 Um, and, and so, um, no, I, you know, I will 00:09:25.230 --> 00:09:28.129 mention that, but no, we have not used that in 00:09:28.129 --> 00:09:31.570 that fashion. Okay. I wasn't referring more to 00:09:31.570 --> 00:09:34.090 what you folks are using the AI, but I was thinking 00:09:34.090 --> 00:09:37.909 about the VA is looking at some of these claims, 00:09:38.070 --> 00:09:41.629 utilizing some sort of AI program and, you know, 00:09:43.149 --> 00:09:45.669 Like I said, I don't understand exactly how it 00:09:45.669 --> 00:09:49.409 works. But you know, I know it's designed to 00:09:49.409 --> 00:09:54.629 speed up things. And maybe that's something that's 00:09:54.629 --> 00:09:56.490 occurring out there. You know, and they talk 00:09:56.490 --> 00:09:59.710 about the idea of, you know, the claims backlog 00:09:59.710 --> 00:10:05.149 is less than 100 ,000. And I guess, looking at 00:10:05.149 --> 00:10:07.570 these numbers here, it said that claims become 00:10:07.570 --> 00:10:10.669 backlogged once they've been pending more than 00:10:10.669 --> 00:10:15.940 125 days. So they've cut out so many of those 00:10:15.940 --> 00:10:20.299 Well, yeah, yes, but as David mentioned in the 00:10:20.299 --> 00:10:23.559 beginning so they make a quick decision and it's 00:10:23.559 --> 00:10:25.799 dropped less than a hundred thousand but now 00:10:25.799 --> 00:10:28.379 we're in the appeal process where it's higher 00:10:28.379 --> 00:10:32.019 level review supplemental and now we're talking 00:10:32.019 --> 00:10:36.059 the appeal to BBA and I was approaching one the 00:10:36.059 --> 00:10:39.340 other day that's going to be Three and a half 00:10:39.340 --> 00:10:42.340 years. So three and a half years. Certainly Dale 00:10:42.340 --> 00:10:44.899 is greater than a hundred and a hundred and twenty 00:10:44.899 --> 00:10:48.960 days So they they jumped it to another level 00:10:48.960 --> 00:10:52.299 when I would have loved that statement We've 00:10:52.299 --> 00:10:55.179 dropped it to less than a hundred thousand for 00:10:55.179 --> 00:10:59.899 all the areas BBA, you know higher level reviews 00:10:59.899 --> 00:11:03.899 that then for me that would be significant if 00:11:03.899 --> 00:11:07.340 the quality of care were there um even for the 00:11:07.340 --> 00:11:10.779 less than 120 days but I'm not seeing the quality 00:11:10.779 --> 00:11:14.500 so I'm a little skeptical okay well it sounds 00:11:14.500 --> 00:11:19.200 like those are uh super backlogged then you know 00:11:19.200 --> 00:11:22.120 one more level of backlogging if you're out there 00:11:22.120 --> 00:11:24.940 for three and a half years or so and I know I 00:11:24.940 --> 00:11:28.159 mean that really hasn't changed that much it 00:11:28.159 --> 00:11:30.220 seems like over the last 20 years or so that 00:11:30.220 --> 00:11:33.779 sometimes a claim gets kind of lost in you know 00:11:33.779 --> 00:11:38.580 in some vortex out there. And, you know, they 00:11:38.580 --> 00:11:41.879 keep constantly looking for information to, you 00:11:41.879 --> 00:11:46.139 know, to verify or deny. And I'm just hoping 00:11:46.139 --> 00:11:50.000 that, you know, when, as you mentioned, David, 00:11:50.159 --> 00:11:52.039 when, you know, COVID was over, they hired a 00:11:52.039 --> 00:11:56.240 number of, of raiders, I guess you could say, 00:11:56.460 --> 00:11:58.980 which didn't work out. And then when the current 00:11:58.980 --> 00:12:01.080 administration came in, they got rid of a lot 00:12:01.080 --> 00:12:03.419 of people. And now it looks like they're trying 00:12:03.419 --> 00:12:07.220 to hire people back. um because they found out 00:12:07.220 --> 00:12:09.879 that they you know that they they just need more 00:12:09.879 --> 00:12:12.840 people around and i'm hoping that they've you 00:12:12.840 --> 00:12:16.539 know that they're able to um hire good qualified 00:12:16.539 --> 00:12:19.299 people to help with these claims because it's 00:12:19.299 --> 00:12:21.480 you know it's it's well we all know how important 00:12:21.480 --> 00:12:25.659 it is and these men and women deserve these um 00:12:25.659 --> 00:12:28.360 you know these compensation for whatever that 00:12:28.360 --> 00:12:30.720 they're you know that they're applying for as 00:12:30.720 --> 00:12:33.419 long as it's a legitimate claim then they're 00:12:33.470 --> 00:12:36.889 They're entitled. It's too bad that it gets a 00:12:36.889 --> 00:12:41.250 little bit murky. Let's put it that way. Well, 00:12:41.289 --> 00:12:43.909 you know, David, I mean, and Dale, the thing 00:12:43.909 --> 00:12:47.529 that's interesting is, yes, when a lot of these 00:12:47.529 --> 00:12:51.169 individuals back in, say, August, September had 00:12:51.169 --> 00:12:55.009 the chance to leave, and a lot of them great 00:12:55.009 --> 00:12:58.710 people, I can mention at least a half a dozen 00:12:58.710 --> 00:13:02.059 names. but we're talking each of them had 20 00:13:02.059 --> 00:13:05.940 to 30 years experience. I've been only doing 00:13:05.940 --> 00:13:09.259 this 15 years and I've learned a little, but 00:13:09.259 --> 00:13:12.500 all the things that I still have to learn. David, 00:13:12.639 --> 00:13:16.080 much more experience than I, but when that amount 00:13:16.080 --> 00:13:18.779 of experience walks out the door and you're hiring 00:13:18.779 --> 00:13:23.539 these new people that are brand new, you can't 00:13:23.539 --> 00:13:27.039 make up for that experience. there's definitely 00:13:27.039 --> 00:13:29.620 going to be errors. And the learning curve, I 00:13:29.620 --> 00:13:33.659 think, is huge in this environment. Oh, I totally 00:13:33.659 --> 00:13:38.879 agree. And you talk about appeals and Yeah, you'll 00:13:38.879 --> 00:13:41.679 throw it into supplemental and then the same 00:13:41.679 --> 00:13:44.399 rating will come through with the same error 00:13:44.399 --> 00:13:46.120 So then you're like, oh well, you got a higher 00:13:46.120 --> 00:13:49.700 level review and then you go do that and The 00:13:49.700 --> 00:13:52.139 coach says yeah. Yeah, you're totally right We're 00:13:52.139 --> 00:13:54.779 gonna remand this and then it goes into this 00:13:54.779 --> 00:13:57.799 vicious cycle again where you're saying the same 00:13:57.799 --> 00:14:01.220 thing and they're doing the same thing. And then 00:14:01.220 --> 00:14:03.580 so the only other choice is going to the BVA, 00:14:03.899 --> 00:14:06.620 the Board of Veteran Appeals, and you're talking 00:14:06.620 --> 00:14:09.399 three to five years and the only way it's going 00:14:09.399 --> 00:14:13.860 to go faster is if somebody's age. So it's, it 00:14:13.860 --> 00:14:18.620 is definitely frustrating. I can only imagine 00:14:18.620 --> 00:14:20.539 and knowing the two of you and knowing the other 00:14:20.539 --> 00:14:23.159 people that we have talked to from the you know 00:14:23.159 --> 00:14:27.100 from the disability side of the VA is that there 00:14:27.100 --> 00:14:32.419 are so many rules and so many off ramps that 00:14:32.419 --> 00:14:35.019 you know it's almost like you know looking at 00:14:35.019 --> 00:14:37.320 the internet and you end up down a rabbit hole 00:14:37.320 --> 00:14:40.279 somewhere and it takes a while to get back to 00:14:40.279 --> 00:14:41.860 that and you know you're trying to deal with 00:14:41.860 --> 00:14:45.820 other levels of appeals and super appeals and 00:14:45.820 --> 00:14:48.320 this court and this and everything else and I 00:14:48.320 --> 00:14:51.279 have to admire and this is what these VSOs do 00:14:51.279 --> 00:14:55.000 folks. You know they I don't I can't think of 00:14:55.000 --> 00:14:57.960 anyone I've ever talked to that gives up on a 00:14:57.960 --> 00:15:01.240 claim because of the you know the errors that 00:15:01.240 --> 00:15:04.559 are being made you know up the ladder so to speak. 00:15:04.840 --> 00:15:08.000 So you know I encourage everybody out there if 00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:10.879 you know if you if you have a claim or you haven't 00:15:10.879 --> 00:15:14.000 filed a claim go see those you know your local 00:15:14.000 --> 00:15:19.019 VSO either your county or you know your local 00:15:19.019 --> 00:15:22.399 veterans organization or your VA hospital except 00:15:22.399 --> 00:15:25.440 you know they've got counselors in there that 00:15:25.440 --> 00:15:29.039 can help you out and you know you hate to say 00:15:29.039 --> 00:15:31.159 be patient but we do have to be a little bit 00:15:31.159 --> 00:15:34.159 patient as Carol Ann pointed out many of these 00:15:34.159 --> 00:15:36.679 newer hires it's going to take a while for them 00:15:36.679 --> 00:15:40.259 to get the experience to know who to call and 00:15:40.259 --> 00:15:43.850 you know how to figure out whatever you're entitled 00:15:43.850 --> 00:15:46.509 to for whatever your condition might be. So I 00:15:46.509 --> 00:15:49.990 really encourage you to make sure that you file 00:15:49.990 --> 00:15:52.009 those claims. You know, we're still running and 00:15:52.009 --> 00:15:53.830 I'm sure that the two of you are still running 00:15:53.830 --> 00:15:57.669 into older guys and older veterans who haven't 00:15:57.669 --> 00:16:00.950 filed the claim yet. Have you had any examples 00:16:00.950 --> 00:16:04.970 of who's the oldest veteran claim that you've 00:16:04.970 --> 00:16:09.009 ever had to deal with? David, I'll ask you first. 00:16:10.350 --> 00:16:14.950 Well, I've had a 94 year old Coming in to see 00:16:14.950 --> 00:16:18.789 what their benefits are And where it comes into 00:16:18.789 --> 00:16:21.570 play is you know, it's just not the veteran. 00:16:21.570 --> 00:16:25.490 It's the spouse, right? So it's a spouse saying 00:16:25.490 --> 00:16:28.889 hey My dad's never clicked or you know, not the 00:16:28.889 --> 00:16:31.250 spouse but the daughter It's like my dad never 00:16:31.250 --> 00:16:34.190 collected any VA benefits and he's needed it. 00:16:34.190 --> 00:16:38.049 It's needed now and they're need assisted living 00:16:38.049 --> 00:16:45.629 so It gets difficult because then their memory 00:16:45.629 --> 00:16:49.590 might be a little bit less or they have dementia 00:16:49.590 --> 00:16:56.450 and it's tough because they can't remember. So 00:16:56.450 --> 00:16:59.710 yeah, it happens and it's a lot of Korean War 00:16:59.710 --> 00:17:02.870 vets and even Vietnam vets. I mean with them 00:17:02.870 --> 00:17:09.890 coming down with dementia and Then you're just 00:17:09.890 --> 00:17:13.369 trying to piece the puzzle and get all the records, 00:17:13.869 --> 00:17:15.710 and sometimes it's not there, and it's sometimes 00:17:15.710 --> 00:17:21.390 difficult. Well, David, you dropped me a little 00:17:21.390 --> 00:17:27.930 bit. My number was 92. but it's still the same 00:17:27.930 --> 00:17:32.430 situation and it's a daughter calling me and 00:17:32.430 --> 00:17:35.829 oh my god, my god, my dad's bad and he's going 00:17:35.829 --> 00:17:38.630 into assisted living and he needs activities 00:17:38.630 --> 00:17:42.630 of daily living and there's other issues and 00:17:42.630 --> 00:17:46.609 it's gonna cost us $10 ,000 a month for his care. 00:17:47.000 --> 00:17:50.500 and he doesn't have much. Will you help me with 00:17:50.500 --> 00:17:55.339 aid and attendance or, you know, non -service 00:17:55.339 --> 00:18:00.680 pension? And then, oh, by the way, I had another 00:18:00.680 --> 00:18:07.299 one, which the push again, get your DD 214. A 00:18:07.299 --> 00:18:11.279 friend of a friend's dad died and he deserved 00:18:11.279 --> 00:18:14.099 to be buried with military honors, but guess 00:18:14.099 --> 00:18:18.519 what? The girls could not find the DD -214. And 00:18:18.519 --> 00:18:21.380 so she called me in a panic. They called other 00:18:21.380 --> 00:18:24.880 people, nothing, nothing, nothing. And I said, 00:18:25.019 --> 00:18:27.599 look, have you tried the state of Michigan? Luckily, 00:18:27.640 --> 00:18:30.259 he was a Michigan vet, but it would be my same 00:18:30.259 --> 00:18:34.759 advice. Call 1 -800 -MISHVET. She called me back 00:18:34.759 --> 00:18:38.099 in an hour, and she was crying on the phone. 00:18:38.779 --> 00:18:42.140 There were four daughters. They found the department, 00:18:42.460 --> 00:18:46.829 which I was in. few years ago. They had his DD 00:18:46.829 --> 00:18:51.390 214. She sent over the information, and they 00:18:51.390 --> 00:18:54.109 were going to be able to bury their dad with 00:18:54.109 --> 00:18:58.089 honors. Now, that just happened three, four days 00:18:58.089 --> 00:19:02.470 ago. So, Dale, your question, unbelievable, but 00:19:02.470 --> 00:19:06.230 we keep preaching. Get your DD214. Let your family 00:19:06.230 --> 00:19:11.349 know where it's at. And just get enrolled. Go 00:19:11.349 --> 00:19:14.910 and talk to the people at your local VA to see 00:19:14.910 --> 00:19:19.809 what you're eligible for. He was a Vietnam veteran 00:19:19.809 --> 00:19:24.869 many years ago, obviously, and he could have 00:19:24.869 --> 00:19:27.769 gotten benefits. It's really sad talking to the 00:19:27.769 --> 00:19:31.490 girls, the Agent Orange, the whole shooting match. 00:19:32.190 --> 00:19:36.769 They never thought to apply. I mean, that's rather 00:19:36.769 --> 00:19:38.269 interesting, though. I thought what you said 00:19:38.269 --> 00:19:43.109 is that if the vet hadn't applied for anything 00:19:43.109 --> 00:19:47.710 and was in his eight 90s, I was going to say 00:19:47.710 --> 00:19:52.269 80s, I'm already getting there myself. But that 00:19:52.269 --> 00:19:55.430 you were still able to help him, at least with 00:19:55.430 --> 00:19:59.460 the funeral arrangements and so forth. That DD214 00:19:59.460 --> 00:20:02.279 is obviously is a really important document. 00:20:02.660 --> 00:20:07.079 Make many copies of it. You know, have them all 00:20:07.079 --> 00:20:11.940 over the house if you need to. But I think that 00:20:11.940 --> 00:20:15.500 that's really important what you just said that 00:20:15.500 --> 00:20:18.519 some of these people because I've been doing 00:20:18.519 --> 00:20:20.619 this program for 20 years and every once in a 00:20:20.619 --> 00:20:23.839 while we get a call from somebody that says, 00:20:24.539 --> 00:20:26.299 you know, like the calls that you folks get. 00:20:26.720 --> 00:20:30.900 that so -and -so has never applied for anything, 00:20:31.039 --> 00:20:34.920 never even registered with the VA. And we harp 00:20:34.920 --> 00:20:37.920 on this every month on this program. Even if 00:20:37.920 --> 00:20:39.880 you don't want any of the benefits, even if you 00:20:39.880 --> 00:20:42.619 don't want the health care, just register, get 00:20:42.619 --> 00:20:48.839 yourself into the VA system so that someday you 00:20:48.839 --> 00:20:52.400 might need that help. And it's there for you. 00:20:52.400 --> 00:20:54.740 There's so many benefits that you know, we've 00:20:54.740 --> 00:20:57.539 touched on all so many of them over the years 00:20:57.539 --> 00:21:01.119 and I'm constantly surprised by what's available 00:21:01.119 --> 00:21:05.380 through the VA Health side and also on the disability 00:21:05.380 --> 00:21:11.160 side so speaking of You talked about the caregivers 00:21:11.160 --> 00:21:15.839 thing Carol Anne can could you just Briefly cover 00:21:15.839 --> 00:21:20.779 that again. So if I need help or I'm incapacitated, 00:21:22.240 --> 00:21:27.079 can somebody get through me my benefits to help 00:21:27.079 --> 00:21:31.279 take care of me? Okay, so that, Dale, is sort 00:21:31.279 --> 00:21:34.200 of a loaded question with a lot of different 00:21:34.200 --> 00:21:37.180 lanes you could go down. You could go down the 00:21:37.180 --> 00:21:40.420 caregiver's lane, you could go down the aid and 00:21:40.420 --> 00:21:46.670 attention aid and attendance lane with non -commissioned 00:21:46.670 --> 00:21:50.589 if you have a disability benefit or you don't, 00:21:50.690 --> 00:21:53.690 which becomes pension. So there's many questions 00:21:53.690 --> 00:21:58.309 you have to weed out. where, what the situation 00:21:58.309 --> 00:22:02.289 is, what is the story. If you are a veteran that 00:22:02.289 --> 00:22:07.970 is at home, say housebound, you need care and 00:22:07.970 --> 00:22:11.910 your wife or a child or an individual living 00:22:11.910 --> 00:22:15.589 with you is providing that care, that could be 00:22:15.589 --> 00:22:19.029 paid for if you apply for the Caregivers Program. 00:22:19.430 --> 00:22:22.289 Okay, so that's through the VA and social work. 00:22:23.279 --> 00:22:26.779 And so then there's aid in attendance, which 00:22:26.779 --> 00:22:32.519 could also be funds available. Now, aid in attendance 00:22:32.519 --> 00:22:40.240 for non... non -compensated, no service connection. 00:22:40.640 --> 00:22:44.980 That is an income -based benefit. And that benefit, 00:22:45.799 --> 00:22:50.480 right now, the amount in assets, I believe, is 00:22:50.480 --> 00:22:55.279 159 ,000. So you need less than that to apply. 00:22:55.460 --> 00:22:59.759 And I had one the other day, and it was a daughter 00:22:59.759 --> 00:23:03.660 again. Seems like it's the daughters that go 00:23:03.660 --> 00:23:08.759 after these things for their dads. And she was 00:23:08.759 --> 00:23:11.019 pretty upset when I, because I come out with 00:23:11.019 --> 00:23:15.220 that right away. There's no sense going through 00:23:15.220 --> 00:23:18.130 all of this. But then we talked about how much 00:23:18.130 --> 00:23:21.990 that amount is. So if it's like 200 ,000 and 00:23:21.990 --> 00:23:25.549 you could do what is called spin down, he is 00:23:25.549 --> 00:23:30.150 in a nursing home and the care is $10 ,000 a 00:23:30.150 --> 00:23:32.269 month. It's only gonna take you a couple months. 00:23:32.509 --> 00:23:35.130 And in the meantime, we're helping them pull 00:23:35.130 --> 00:23:38.829 all the documentation together to apply for the 00:23:38.829 --> 00:23:42.309 aid and attendance. And so there's a whole bunch 00:23:42.309 --> 00:23:45.630 of variables, Dale, but you just have to... I 00:23:45.630 --> 00:23:50.690 guess, tweak out and get to know the variables 00:23:50.690 --> 00:23:54.890 of each veteran's story. Well, and I know that 00:23:54.890 --> 00:23:57.609 this is a little plug for Legal Health for Veterans 00:23:57.609 --> 00:24:00.809 is that I know that you have e -books out there 00:24:00.809 --> 00:24:03.910 on the website at legalhealthforveterans .com 00:24:03.910 --> 00:24:06.910 that explains many, many of these issues that 00:24:06.910 --> 00:24:10.180 we talk about here on the program. Oh, yes. The 00:24:10.180 --> 00:24:13.900 e -books are out there that have been composed 00:24:13.900 --> 00:24:18.140 of. They're free. I think from every topic, I'd 00:24:18.140 --> 00:24:21.539 be real surprised. I think I have 32 or 33 out 00:24:21.539 --> 00:24:25.160 there. But there's always another topic you can 00:24:25.160 --> 00:24:29.079 talk about that I'm sure. But please, review 00:24:29.079 --> 00:24:33.480 those. This tends to be a really big one now 00:24:33.480 --> 00:24:37.660 with the cost of health care. But once again, 00:24:37.900 --> 00:24:41.359 if you have a disability rating and you're a 00:24:41.359 --> 00:24:46.599 veteran and you're 70 to 100%, the VA will pick 00:24:46.599 --> 00:24:51.599 up that care in a home. So it's really important 00:24:51.599 --> 00:24:55.799 from the get -go to look at what you're eligible 00:24:55.799 --> 00:25:00.400 for. And if you've served, particularly the Vietnam 00:25:00.400 --> 00:25:06.700 era, now the Iraq, Afghanistan, and you know 00:25:06.700 --> 00:25:10.059 you need to see what your what your benefits 00:25:10.059 --> 00:25:14.920 are so you know you could help your family. Yeah 00:25:14.920 --> 00:25:17.519 absolutely and I think it's again it's so important 00:25:17.519 --> 00:25:19.839 for everybody that's listening out there is to 00:25:19.839 --> 00:25:22.980 you know check online or your local paper and 00:25:22.980 --> 00:25:25.259 whatever it is and if you find one of those veterans 00:25:25.259 --> 00:25:30.819 health clinics or veterans you know organization 00:25:30.819 --> 00:25:33.299 is holding an affair where they're going to have 00:25:33.299 --> 00:25:36.019 people there representing the VA and other things. 00:25:36.119 --> 00:25:38.920 Not a bad idea for you to go down there and check 00:25:38.920 --> 00:25:41.559 it out. See what you may be entitled to. At least, 00:25:41.559 --> 00:25:44.240 you know, try to get a plan put together in case 00:25:44.240 --> 00:25:47.200 something happens to you. Yeah, and just like 00:25:47.200 --> 00:25:49.220 Kara was saying, I mean, there's so many rules 00:25:49.220 --> 00:25:51.900 for, you know, non -service connected pension 00:25:51.900 --> 00:25:53.980 with aid and attendance. You've got to have one 00:25:53.980 --> 00:25:58.960 day of wartime. And the assets, there are 160 00:25:58.960 --> 00:26:04.019 and 162 and below, not including the house. But 00:26:04.019 --> 00:26:08.759 I've gone to assisted living to talk about communities, 00:26:09.019 --> 00:26:12.109 to talk about benefits. And we're at it. age 00:26:12.109 --> 00:26:16.009 right now that when I used to go we would talk 00:26:16.009 --> 00:26:18.170 about the non -service connected pension but 00:26:18.170 --> 00:26:20.849 now when I go there's a lot of Vietnam veterans 00:26:20.849 --> 00:26:24.130 so there's so many different presumptive conditions 00:26:24.130 --> 00:26:26.990 and if you have that and like Carol touched upon 00:26:26.990 --> 00:26:30.430 if you have 70 percent or more service connection 00:26:30.430 --> 00:26:33.829 then they'll pay for some assisted living or 00:26:33.829 --> 00:26:39.009 even in -home care so 700 so there's a lot of 00:26:39.009 --> 00:26:42.140 benefits out there and But the rules you have 00:26:42.140 --> 00:26:44.559 to weed through the rules because I mean we have 00:26:44.559 --> 00:26:47.240 a lot of peacetime, you know from Korea to Vietnam 00:26:47.240 --> 00:26:51.579 and then Vietnam to you know, Persian Gulf so 00:26:51.579 --> 00:26:56.539 there's gonna be people that are missing in that 00:26:56.539 --> 00:27:01.079 Pension and and that's kind of upsetting but 00:27:01.079 --> 00:27:04.519 it's it's the rules that we have to follow Yeah, 00:27:04.519 --> 00:27:09.650 I can't imagine what's your book of rules looks 00:27:09.650 --> 00:27:12.990 like Or how many you know how many gigabytes 00:27:12.990 --> 00:27:15.630 does it take up on your computer? While you're 00:27:15.630 --> 00:27:17.529 trying to figure those things out one of the 00:27:17.529 --> 00:27:21.990 things that I that I did want to talk about When 00:27:21.990 --> 00:27:24.170 we get halfway through okay, I wanted to talk 00:27:24.170 --> 00:27:29.069 about this community care Today if we can as 00:27:29.069 --> 00:27:32.650 it I'm personally going through a community care 00:27:32.650 --> 00:27:38.309 program this week actually so if David, could 00:27:38.309 --> 00:27:42.289 you tell us what community care is? Well, are 00:27:42.289 --> 00:27:45.390 you talking about where you go on the marketplace 00:27:45.390 --> 00:27:48.930 for care? Right. Yes, because the VA is too busy. 00:27:49.630 --> 00:27:56.029 Yeah. So if a VA is not within 50 miles, then 00:27:56.029 --> 00:27:59.430 you can ask for community care. Or if the VA 00:27:59.430 --> 00:28:03.869 doesn't provide it in your area, you can. asked 00:28:03.869 --> 00:28:07.809 to see a doctor outside the VA and the VA will 00:28:07.809 --> 00:28:14.430 pay it. Another rule is if you go to a specialty 00:28:14.430 --> 00:28:19.269 and this is really cool because this rule has 00:28:19.269 --> 00:28:22.109 changed. Let's say for instance dermatology, 00:28:22.430 --> 00:28:27.640 endocrinology and they are so busy at the VA, 00:28:27.980 --> 00:28:30.799 they do have those specialties, but they are 00:28:30.799 --> 00:28:33.859 so busy, they cannot get you in within a period 00:28:33.859 --> 00:28:36.940 of time. They will look at you and say, I can't 00:28:36.940 --> 00:28:39.599 schedule an appointment 30 days, 60 days out. 00:28:39.920 --> 00:28:43.259 So I am going to send you, let's talk about ICE. 00:28:43.359 --> 00:28:47.900 I'm going to send you over to the Kellogg. And 00:28:47.900 --> 00:28:51.799 so they arrange an appointment. You could go 00:28:51.799 --> 00:28:55.329 over there, get your care. The other thing I 00:28:55.329 --> 00:28:59.690 would caution everyone is every piece of paper 00:28:59.690 --> 00:29:02.990 and every authorization you get from community 00:29:02.990 --> 00:29:07.549 care, keep it. Keep it in a certain area because 00:29:07.549 --> 00:29:11.170 once the VA grants that, that means that they 00:29:11.170 --> 00:29:16.930 will pay for those bills. So if somebody calls... 00:29:16.920 --> 00:29:22.400 and says, OK, you know, you owe $1 ,500 right 00:29:22.400 --> 00:29:25.660 up front as a deductible. No, no, no, no, no. 00:29:25.920 --> 00:29:28.880 I'm in the VA. This is community care. Pull out 00:29:28.880 --> 00:29:32.220 that piece of paper with the number, and they 00:29:32.220 --> 00:29:36.519 will pick it up. I can't tell you how many times 00:29:36.519 --> 00:29:40.779 I have had to go back and fight for our veterans, 00:29:40.819 --> 00:29:45.410 and it gets really hard to recruit. 14 ,000, 00:29:45.630 --> 00:29:49.349 18 ,000 for surgery that you knew you weren't 00:29:49.349 --> 00:29:53.849 supposed to pay for. Right. That is definitely 00:29:53.849 --> 00:29:56.869 the key to keep those because the veterans are 00:29:56.869 --> 00:29:59.710 getting bills, even though they've been approved. 00:30:00.250 --> 00:30:03.829 And then it's just more fighting that we have 00:30:03.829 --> 00:30:08.619 to do. Yes. And I'll tell you, Pretty good. I 00:30:08.619 --> 00:30:11.339 have my little folder on community care and I 00:30:11.339 --> 00:30:14.160 know specific names. I won't mention you on the 00:30:14.160 --> 00:30:19.240 air at the different levels when you know the 00:30:19.240 --> 00:30:22.660 VA is you can't get the medication and they say 00:30:22.660 --> 00:30:27.319 okay go to your local CVS or go someplace. Take 00:30:27.319 --> 00:30:30.299 that piece of paper because that number on there 00:30:30.299 --> 00:30:34.529 will pay for your CVS prescription. it came out 00:30:34.529 --> 00:30:37.549 of community care because then now to go back 00:30:37.549 --> 00:30:42.049 and fight um because i'm like i need that medicine 00:30:42.049 --> 00:30:47.170 and you know it has to start but it will be taken 00:30:47.170 --> 00:30:49.910 care of by i've talked to this person for other 00:30:49.910 --> 00:30:53.109 veterans and um the bills have been all wiped 00:30:53.109 --> 00:30:57.549 away so please do not pay get your medications, 00:30:58.130 --> 00:31:01.289 get your surgery, but keep going back to community 00:31:01.289 --> 00:31:05.670 care and don't lose that piece of paper. Okay 00:31:05.670 --> 00:31:07.930 well that's something that I as I say is kind 00:31:07.930 --> 00:31:11.069 of a personal experience because I do need to 00:31:11.069 --> 00:31:14.390 go see a dermatologist and I was told that here 00:31:14.390 --> 00:31:16.490 at our local VA that the earliest appointment 00:31:16.490 --> 00:31:19.529 they could get for me was at the end of August. 00:31:21.480 --> 00:31:25.359 And so they referred me to community care here 00:31:25.359 --> 00:31:29.259 locally. And the next thing I knew, I was talking 00:31:29.259 --> 00:31:32.400 to this wonderful woman who walked me through 00:31:32.400 --> 00:31:34.960 the whole program. And the next thing I know 00:31:34.960 --> 00:31:37.839 is I got an appointment with my outside dermatologist, 00:31:38.339 --> 00:31:41.279 because they were on the list of approved providers. 00:31:42.019 --> 00:31:46.700 And so I'll report back on that couple of weeks 00:31:46.700 --> 00:31:50.150 to let you know how things are going. But I think 00:31:50.150 --> 00:31:53.750 that I thought this was a, I'd heard about it 00:31:53.750 --> 00:31:56.150 before. And, you know, we had talked about it, 00:31:56.150 --> 00:31:58.990 I know, in the past, but I'd never known exactly 00:31:58.990 --> 00:32:04.450 how, at least here at RVA, how efficient it was. 00:32:04.809 --> 00:32:07.250 And I'm hoping that as you say, you know, that 00:32:07.250 --> 00:32:10.890 the bills won't come to me that they'll go down 00:32:10.890 --> 00:32:14.470 the street a little ways. Well, another big decision, 00:32:14.589 --> 00:32:18.029 you talk about a rule. Another big decision that 00:32:18.029 --> 00:32:21.930 came through, I want to say October, is certain 00:32:21.930 --> 00:32:25.410 specialties, if you got a referral to go to community 00:32:25.410 --> 00:32:28.569 care, let's say it was your dermatologist, an 00:32:28.569 --> 00:32:34.029 endocrinologist, an ENT otolaryngologist, it 00:32:34.029 --> 00:32:37.650 would only remain for three months. So you would 00:32:37.650 --> 00:32:40.539 get an appointment. And they would say, OK, follow 00:32:40.539 --> 00:32:43.920 up. And you'd have to go back to your primary 00:32:43.920 --> 00:32:46.240 at the VA and say, could I please get another 00:32:46.240 --> 00:32:49.980 referral for another three months? Now, back 00:32:49.980 --> 00:32:53.799 in October, there are certain specialties, dermatology, 00:32:54.000 --> 00:32:57.180 podiatry. I could go down the list. I think there's 00:32:57.180 --> 00:33:01.180 13 that they've said, once you get a referral 00:33:01.180 --> 00:33:05.099 to community care, it is now good for one year. 00:33:06.160 --> 00:33:09.380 If you go look at that piece of paper again, 00:33:09.559 --> 00:33:12.900 Dale, so if you need follow -up trips back to 00:33:12.900 --> 00:33:16.700 your derm, then it will be good for one year 00:33:16.700 --> 00:33:20.940 from the day that you had that appointment. And 00:33:20.940 --> 00:33:23.900 so I think that's really critical and a great 00:33:23.900 --> 00:33:29.500 rule that has stopped a lot of angst with our... 00:33:29.630 --> 00:33:32.730 Veterans getting their medications and being 00:33:32.730 --> 00:33:36.250 seen for follow -up. So that also just happened 00:33:36.250 --> 00:33:38.890 Well, I just think it's a great program that 00:33:38.890 --> 00:33:42.089 they offer and You know, I think many of us are 00:33:42.089 --> 00:33:45.369 not aware of it or we we had heard about it But 00:33:45.369 --> 00:33:47.990 say well, it doesn't apply to me and the next 00:33:47.990 --> 00:33:50.910 thing, you know, you find out that you're You 00:33:50.910 --> 00:33:53.069 know that you need to use it. Otherwise, you're 00:33:53.069 --> 00:33:56.369 not going to get seen for months and months I 00:33:56.369 --> 00:34:00.369 had I had a good story here You know, we're talking 00:34:00.369 --> 00:34:05.809 about the care that many, many of us get at the 00:34:05.809 --> 00:34:09.199 local VA. wherever you happen to be in the country. 00:34:09.820 --> 00:34:13.519 And this was an article I found on the VA's website. 00:34:14.380 --> 00:34:18.019 They've got a great source of information on 00:34:18.019 --> 00:34:21.059 your VA .gov website as far as news is concerned 00:34:21.059 --> 00:34:23.360 and all of these things that we've talked about, 00:34:23.860 --> 00:34:26.800 you can find them. But this gentleman was in 00:34:26.800 --> 00:34:28.940 the Marine Corps and it says every time I got 00:34:28.940 --> 00:34:30.860 off the table I was weaker and weaker but there 00:34:30.860 --> 00:34:33.440 was always another set of hands right there, 00:34:33.599 --> 00:34:36.900 which I thought was a neat headline. I'm not 00:34:36.900 --> 00:34:38.619 going to give his name, but he was a Marine in 00:34:38.619 --> 00:34:43.000 1965, served until 1972, spent three tours in 00:34:43.000 --> 00:34:46.199 Vietnam in the demilitarized zone near Dong Ha, 00:34:46.260 --> 00:34:49.800 Khe Sanh, and Can Thien and Camp Carroll. Later, 00:34:49.920 --> 00:34:52.780 he developed cancer, was diagnosed with cancer 00:34:52.780 --> 00:34:55.920 decades later. He chose the Oklahoma City VA 00:34:55.920 --> 00:35:01.260 Center for his cancer care, and he felt that 00:35:01.260 --> 00:35:06.510 it had improved so much from the 1970s. Yeah, 00:35:06.570 --> 00:35:11.469 things weren't so good in 1970 with the VA. But 00:35:11.469 --> 00:35:14.369 since September of 2022, they have treated him 00:35:14.369 --> 00:35:18.650 twice for cancer, once for arthritis pain. And 00:35:18.650 --> 00:35:22.130 he just goes on and on about the care that he 00:35:22.130 --> 00:35:28.170 received, the specialized care. He had neck and 00:35:28.170 --> 00:35:31.920 head and neck radiation because, oh, wow. I had, 00:35:31.920 --> 00:35:34.360 you know, it was of the larynx, the cancer of 00:35:34.360 --> 00:35:38.320 the larynx. But they took him back, and then 00:35:38.320 --> 00:35:41.960 he developed prostate cancer, and he's still 00:35:41.960 --> 00:35:46.199 around. He's in remission right now, but I think 00:35:46.199 --> 00:35:50.719 it's a great story. He just says, where is his 00:35:50.719 --> 00:35:52.760 comment? He says, don't be afraid to go to the 00:35:52.760 --> 00:35:55.380 VA. I mean, no matter what you've heard, just 00:35:55.380 --> 00:35:59.380 do it. Just do it and don't worry about it. So 00:35:59.380 --> 00:36:03.670 there. I thought that was a great comment by 00:36:03.670 --> 00:36:09.989 a Marine veteran getting care outside of your 00:36:09.989 --> 00:36:14.670 primary care. I like that story. I thought it 00:36:14.670 --> 00:36:17.889 was good. I mean, my experience with our local 00:36:17.889 --> 00:36:24.860 VA has only been positive. my treatment by the 00:36:24.860 --> 00:36:27.820 disability side of it not so good all the time 00:36:27.820 --> 00:36:30.219 but it's you know you just keep plugging away 00:36:30.219 --> 00:36:33.440 and keep trying so you encourage everybody to 00:36:33.440 --> 00:36:38.280 do that all right that's what we do hold on here 00:36:38.280 --> 00:36:42.500 okay so is there anything else that that that 00:36:42.500 --> 00:36:45.880 anybody has noticed that is occurring you know 00:36:45.880 --> 00:36:48.480 through the VA benefits especially the benefits 00:36:48.480 --> 00:36:51.119 side of it I know that's what you two guys specialize 00:36:51.119 --> 00:36:56.179 in Well, I mentioned you talk about a rule I 00:36:56.179 --> 00:36:59.940 saw a document the middle of February that they 00:36:59.940 --> 00:37:06.039 are going to try to expedite DIC survivors benefits 00:37:06.039 --> 00:37:10.219 now you talk about a great benefit for the spouse 00:37:10.219 --> 00:37:16.420 or a child and what this means is and you know, 00:37:16.539 --> 00:37:20.429 we hear the horror stories that once a veteran 00:37:20.429 --> 00:37:23.289 dies, the claim dies. Well, that's not true. 00:37:23.929 --> 00:37:26.329 Because if a claim is active, you should go in 00:37:26.329 --> 00:37:29.309 and get the substitute. But let's say the veteran 00:37:29.309 --> 00:37:32.730 does pass, he does have a disability rating. 00:37:33.179 --> 00:37:37.360 You want to go in and go to somebody that knows 00:37:37.360 --> 00:37:39.659 what they're doing, a VSO, county counselor, 00:37:39.920 --> 00:37:44.679 come to us and go for DIC or survivor's benefits 00:37:44.679 --> 00:37:48.519 because then if the death was because of the 00:37:48.519 --> 00:37:51.639 service, a service -related disability that you 00:37:51.639 --> 00:37:56.119 did get service connection for, the spouse, the 00:37:56.119 --> 00:38:00.340 widow now will get um once approved will get 00:38:00.340 --> 00:38:05.840 a payment um every single month until her her 00:38:05.840 --> 00:38:10.739 end and so um I think that's a huge benefit that 00:38:10.739 --> 00:38:14.159 we preach to our veterans and once a veteran 00:38:14.159 --> 00:38:19.239 passes if we know that he or she has a spouse 00:38:19.239 --> 00:38:22.440 we will contact them immediately we just had 00:38:22.440 --> 00:38:26.880 one a very good friend um And the wife is coming 00:38:26.880 --> 00:38:32.360 back to us upon her spouse's death. So I think 00:38:32.360 --> 00:38:35.159 that's really important. And they're hoping to 00:38:35.159 --> 00:38:39.320 expedite that so that when those come in, they 00:38:39.320 --> 00:38:42.659 will go down that lane. And I'm forgetting which 00:38:42.659 --> 00:38:48.519 RO, Regional Office, has been assigned to take 00:38:48.519 --> 00:38:52.369 a look at DIC. So let's say if you're in Michigan 00:38:52.369 --> 00:38:56.929 and this claim comes in it will go to another 00:38:56.929 --> 00:39:01.030 regional office and I'm sorry I forget I will 00:39:01.030 --> 00:39:05.429 find out for the next benefits which RO it is 00:39:05.429 --> 00:39:08.250 but it doesn't matter we could still follow it 00:39:08.250 --> 00:39:10.530 and find out what's happening with that claim. 00:39:11.449 --> 00:39:14.070 Okay we got a call from someone here we got from 00:39:14.070 --> 00:39:17.309 Ed from Ypsilanti Michigan. Ed go ahead with 00:39:17.309 --> 00:39:21.860 your question for David or Carol Ann. Hi, well, 00:39:22.000 --> 00:39:25.380 you know, I'm a veteran and I are forced but 00:39:25.380 --> 00:39:30.019 you know and I believe I'm in the time slot where 00:39:30.019 --> 00:39:34.000 I'm eligible for VA benefits. I've never really 00:39:34.000 --> 00:39:37.320 worried about VA benefits up to the last year. 00:39:37.380 --> 00:39:39.179 I had private health care through my employer, 00:39:39.179 --> 00:39:42.760 which frankly I hope to get reemployed in the 00:39:42.760 --> 00:39:46.800 next month, but I had a bout of cancer last June 00:39:46.800 --> 00:39:53.570 and so I Lost my primary my private insurance 00:39:53.570 --> 00:39:57.309 to the company and then I signed up for Medicare 00:39:57.309 --> 00:40:03.809 What do I gain by? Going with the VA And how 00:40:03.809 --> 00:40:10.110 does that work or does it? David So yeah, you're 00:40:10.110 --> 00:40:14.510 from Ypsilanti. That's right in my county Yeah, 00:40:14.769 --> 00:40:18.130 what I would suggest you do you can call our 00:40:18.130 --> 00:40:22.090 office and we can sit you down with a veteran 00:40:22.090 --> 00:40:24.690 service officer. What we like to do is we like 00:40:24.690 --> 00:40:28.610 to look at your discharge, your DD -4214, where 00:40:28.610 --> 00:40:31.349 you served, when you served, to see if there's 00:40:31.349 --> 00:40:33.949 any presumptive conditions, if there's anything 00:40:33.949 --> 00:40:38.849 available on the service connected side. I doubt 00:40:38.849 --> 00:40:41.489 that. I wasn't like, well, I was at Lejeune for 00:40:41.489 --> 00:40:43.409 a whole month, you know, but I wasn't burned 00:40:43.409 --> 00:40:46.269 fires or anything. But go ahead, I'm sorry. Yeah, 00:40:46.329 --> 00:40:48.750 yeah, I mean, but we can look at all that because 00:40:48.750 --> 00:40:52.250 there might be something in there that you wouldn't 00:40:52.250 --> 00:40:57.269 know and our service officers would. Yes, okay. 00:40:58.530 --> 00:41:01.889 And so, yes, you're Medicare, but that doesn't 00:41:01.889 --> 00:41:05.429 mean you can't still get a disability rating 00:41:05.429 --> 00:41:09.949 and then other services down the line if you're 00:41:09.949 --> 00:41:13.349 hospitalized and if you have other issues that 00:41:13.349 --> 00:41:17.250 come up. So I would really highly encourage you, 00:41:17.929 --> 00:41:23.030 David and the Washtenaw County County Councilors 00:41:23.030 --> 00:41:25.550 are probably one of the best in the state of 00:41:25.550 --> 00:41:29.150 Michigan. He's not paying me to say that, but 00:41:29.150 --> 00:41:33.690 I would really encourage you to go in and talk 00:41:33.690 --> 00:41:36.070 with them. You would be amazed what you might 00:41:36.070 --> 00:41:40.019 be entitled to. And add the phone number if you 00:41:40.019 --> 00:41:41.800 have a pen. Oh, thank you. Please. I'm waiting. 00:41:42.000 --> 00:41:46.400 Thank you. Appreciate it. 734. It's 734 -973 00:41:46.400 --> 00:41:51.420 -4540. And our front desk guy, Dwayne, will set 00:41:51.420 --> 00:41:55.820 you up with an appointment. All right. I appreciate 00:41:55.820 --> 00:41:58.179 that very much. And please mention that you talked 00:41:58.179 --> 00:42:02.840 to David on Veterans Radio. Yeah. I will do that. 00:42:02.840 --> 00:42:05.239 Thank you. WAM is a great station to broadcast 00:42:05.239 --> 00:42:10.860 on, isn't it? Yep, it is. And thank you for your 00:42:10.860 --> 00:42:13.860 service. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. 00:42:14.280 --> 00:42:16.300 Thank you, Ed, very much. All right, we're going 00:42:16.300 --> 00:42:19.099 to take a real quick break here and see if we 00:42:19.099 --> 00:42:21.800 can get a hold of Rebecca Grant. And we're going 00:42:21.800 --> 00:42:23.760 to play our Medal of Honor segment this week. 00:42:25.360 --> 00:42:29.280 It's Jack Jacobs. And he was an Army at, actually, 00:42:29.380 --> 00:42:32.659 he was at way during the Tet Offensive in 1968. 00:42:33.119 --> 00:42:35.579 So we'll be right back after the Medal of Honor. 00:42:36.599 --> 00:42:38.940 The Medal of Honor is the highest award for valor 00:42:38.940 --> 00:42:40.900 in combat given a member of the Armed Forces 00:42:40.900 --> 00:42:43.880 of the United States. There had been over 3 ,400 00:42:43.880 --> 00:42:46.940 recipients of the nation's highest award. This 00:42:46.940 --> 00:42:49.559 is one of them. First Lieutenant Jack Jacobs, 00:42:49.760 --> 00:42:52.099 although seriously wounded, made repeated trips 00:42:52.099 --> 00:42:54.320 across an open rice paddy, evacuating wounded 00:42:54.320 --> 00:42:59.019 and their weapons. Details after this. If you 00:42:59.019 --> 00:43:01.099 have a VA claim denied by the Board of Veterans' 00:43:01.280 --> 00:43:03.440 Appeals, contact Legal Help for Veterans at 1 00:43:03.440 --> 00:43:07.780 -800 -693. 4 -8 -0 -0. They're experts in handling 00:43:07.780 --> 00:43:10.079 cases before the U .S. Court of Appeals for Veterans 00:43:10.079 --> 00:43:13.780 Claims. Their number again, 1 -800 -693 -4 -8 00:43:13.780 --> 00:43:16.719 -0 -0. Jacob served as an assistant battalion 00:43:16.719 --> 00:43:20.019 advisor in Kien Phong province, Republic of Vietnam. 00:43:20.840 --> 00:43:22.719 The battalion was advancing when it came under 00:43:22.719 --> 00:43:25.800 intense heavy machine gun and mortar fire. Jacob's 00:43:25.800 --> 00:43:28.059 called for and directed airstrikes on the enemy 00:43:28.059 --> 00:43:31.119 positions. Due to the intensity of the enemy 00:43:31.119 --> 00:43:33.360 fire and heavy casualties to the command group, 00:43:33.559 --> 00:43:36.579 including the company commander, the attack stopped 00:43:36.579 --> 00:43:39.780 and the friendly troops became disorganized. 00:43:40.300 --> 00:43:43.019 Wounded by mortar fragments, Jacobs assumed command 00:43:43.019 --> 00:43:45.179 of the company, ordered to withdraw from the 00:43:45.179 --> 00:43:47.579 exposed position, and established a defensive 00:43:47.579 --> 00:43:50.400 perimeter. Despite heavy bleeding from head wounds 00:43:50.400 --> 00:43:53.119 that impaired his vision, Jacobs returned under 00:43:53.119 --> 00:43:55.300 intense fire to evacuate a seriously wounded 00:43:55.300 --> 00:43:57.980 advisor to safety, where he administered life 00:43:57.980 --> 00:44:01.449 -saving first aid. He then returned through heavy 00:44:01.449 --> 00:44:03.809 automatic weapons fire to evacuate the wounded 00:44:03.809 --> 00:44:07.030 company commander. Jacobs made repeated trips 00:44:07.030 --> 00:44:10.289 across the fire swept open rice paddies, evacuating 00:44:10.289 --> 00:44:13.230 wounded and their weapons. On three separate 00:44:13.230 --> 00:44:16.190 occasions, Jacobs drove off Viet Cong squads 00:44:16.190 --> 00:44:18.289 who were searching for allied wounded and weapons, 00:44:18.670 --> 00:44:21.230 single -handedly killing three and wounding several 00:44:21.230 --> 00:44:24.369 others. His actions saved the lives of a U .S. 00:44:24.630 --> 00:44:28.159 advisor and 13 allied soldiers. The Medal of 00:44:28.159 --> 00:44:30.559 Honor series is a production of Veterans Radio. 00:44:31.619 --> 00:44:34.179 Military veterans touch everyone's life. I'm 00:44:34.179 --> 00:44:36.019 guessing right now you're thinking of a veteran, 00:44:36.599 --> 00:44:40.400 a close friend, relative. Maybe it's you. Even 00:44:40.400 --> 00:44:43.159 the toughest of us sometimes need help but don't 00:44:43.159 --> 00:44:45.440 know where to turn for support. You don't need 00:44:45.440 --> 00:44:47.320 special training to help a veteran in your life. 00:44:47.539 --> 00:44:49.579 We can all help someone going through a difficult 00:44:49.579 --> 00:44:52.360 time. Learn how you can be there for veterans. 00:44:52.760 --> 00:44:56.440 Visit veteranscrisisline .net veteranscrisisline 00:44:56.440 --> 00:45:05.900 .net Now we're back here on Veterans Radio. We're 00:45:05.900 --> 00:45:07.920 going to kind of do a little segue now to find 00:45:07.920 --> 00:45:10.639 out what's going on in the world for a minute. 00:45:11.340 --> 00:45:13.199 Joining me on the line now is our good friend 00:45:13.199 --> 00:45:16.840 Dr. Rebecca Grant. Dr. Grant is a national security 00:45:16.840 --> 00:45:19.739 analyst based in Washington, DC. She is vice 00:45:19.739 --> 00:45:22.599 president of the Lexington Institute, which is 00:45:22.599 --> 00:45:25.619 a center -right think tank. that focuses mainly 00:45:25.619 --> 00:45:28.980 on defense and security policy. And Dr. Grant 00:45:28.980 --> 00:45:31.280 has been running all over the place today, probably 00:45:31.280 --> 00:45:34.059 on TV, to be on our show, and she's taking time 00:45:34.059 --> 00:45:37.260 to talk to us. So Dr. Grant, welcome to Veterans 00:45:37.260 --> 00:45:41.559 Radio. It's fantastic to talk with you. And while 00:45:41.559 --> 00:45:45.500 I am thinking about our nearly 40 ,000 US forces 00:45:45.500 --> 00:45:49.559 in the Middle East engaged in Operation Epic 00:45:49.559 --> 00:45:51.909 Fury, They're playing offense. They're playing 00:45:51.909 --> 00:45:54.389 defense and my thoughts are with them and I know 00:45:54.389 --> 00:45:57.590 yours are too. Absolutely. So can you tell us 00:45:57.590 --> 00:46:00.590 how how we got into this? What's what's been 00:46:00.590 --> 00:46:03.510 going on that you've heard? Well, last week, 00:46:03.670 --> 00:46:07.690 Iran decided they would not agree to ship out 00:46:07.690 --> 00:46:11.050 their illegal, highly enriched uranium. They 00:46:11.050 --> 00:46:13.630 were very intransigent. They've been negotiating 00:46:13.630 --> 00:46:17.090 with Ambassador Rikoff and Jared Kushner and 00:46:17.090 --> 00:46:20.559 others. with Oman media for many, many, many 00:46:20.559 --> 00:46:22.980 weeks. President Trump decided that they were 00:46:22.980 --> 00:46:25.239 not negotiating in good faith and has decided 00:46:25.239 --> 00:46:28.679 on a very, very large air campaign. The objective 00:46:28.679 --> 00:46:33.059 is to destroy, really is to destroy Iran's military 00:46:33.059 --> 00:46:36.360 capability. And as we know, on night one of the 00:46:36.360 --> 00:46:39.780 campaign, which hit, I believe, about 900 aim 00:46:39.780 --> 00:46:42.400 points, really an astonishing display of force. 00:46:42.420 --> 00:46:45.219 And that included attacks on leadership targets 00:46:45.219 --> 00:46:51.260 and the historic death of Ayatollah Khamenei. 00:46:53.179 --> 00:46:57.719 Have you heard anything about what's next or 00:46:57.719 --> 00:47:01.900 what the plans are for tomorrow or the next day? 00:47:03.159 --> 00:47:05.679 Yeah, the what's next is kind of in two categories. 00:47:05.940 --> 00:47:08.960 One is actually continuing the air strikes. We 00:47:08.960 --> 00:47:11.320 just learned that the B -2 bombers were back 00:47:11.320 --> 00:47:14.809 in action. They hit uh... target within you know 00:47:14.809 --> 00:47:17.230 what's really kind of the rate determining target 00:47:17.230 --> 00:47:21.710 set and that is iran really large ballistic missile 00:47:21.710 --> 00:47:24.670 complex which is that multiple played all across 00:47:24.670 --> 00:47:28.210 the country the beat you hit some hardened target 00:47:28.210 --> 00:47:30.309 there and i expect will be there back in action 00:47:30.309 --> 00:47:33.010 it looks like the the number one thing is to 00:47:33.010 --> 00:47:35.769 go ahead continue a president of today he feels 00:47:35.769 --> 00:47:38.230 that the target that is on track or maybe a little 00:47:38.230 --> 00:47:41.739 ahead of schedule but As we know, the commander 00:47:41.739 --> 00:47:44.559 of Central Command, Admiral Cooper, and our Chairman 00:47:44.559 --> 00:47:46.860 of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Kaine, 00:47:46.960 --> 00:47:48.960 will be looking very hard at the bomb damage 00:47:48.960 --> 00:47:52.719 assessments and deciding what needs restrikes. 00:47:53.199 --> 00:47:56.719 Also, we've, of course, seen Iran firing ballistic 00:47:56.719 --> 00:48:00.139 missiles and drones. Sadly, so far with the loss 00:48:00.139 --> 00:48:04.079 confirmed of three Americans due to one of those 00:48:04.079 --> 00:48:06.590 attacks. And as your listeners know, when the 00:48:06.590 --> 00:48:09.269 shooting starts, often the target set expands 00:48:09.269 --> 00:48:12.750 as other targets appear or an Iranian missile 00:48:12.750 --> 00:48:15.730 launcher comes up on the net, et cetera. So the 00:48:15.730 --> 00:48:17.969 indication is that the strikes will continue 00:48:17.969 --> 00:48:21.710 for a while. Iran's president, President Pashishkin, 00:48:21.769 --> 00:48:24.809 is still alive. Iran has also said that they 00:48:24.809 --> 00:48:27.829 are going to select a new supreme leader. I think 00:48:27.829 --> 00:48:30.610 it's much less clear what happens with the politics 00:48:30.610 --> 00:48:34.079 and the economy of Iran. Of course, we all remember 00:48:34.079 --> 00:48:38.039 that this regime not only killed Americans, but 00:48:38.039 --> 00:48:41.300 they've killed upwards of 32 ,000 of their own 00:48:41.300 --> 00:48:44.760 people just in the last several weeks. But to 00:48:44.760 --> 00:48:47.239 me, this is first and foremost a military campaign. 00:48:47.440 --> 00:48:50.000 The part that matters for America and for our 00:48:50.000 --> 00:48:53.619 security is to complete this destruction of Iran's 00:48:53.619 --> 00:48:56.579 military capacity. And I tell you, if we had 00:48:56.579 --> 00:49:00.260 any doubt about the dangers of Iran's enrichment 00:49:00.260 --> 00:49:03.570 program, or the dangers of their missiles and 00:49:03.570 --> 00:49:05.869 grow you know we've really seen it you don't 00:49:05.869 --> 00:49:09.230 forget the drone we felt around hitting in uh... 00:49:09.230 --> 00:49:12.409 the u a e uh... in the gulf uh... last night 00:49:12.409 --> 00:49:14.989 hitting civilian target of the exact same grown 00:49:14.989 --> 00:49:19.869 that are used by russia in ukraine and as for 00:49:19.869 --> 00:49:22.070 the nuclear enrichment that became such a subject 00:49:22.070 --> 00:49:25.150 of discussion here and have one nuclear power 00:49:25.150 --> 00:49:28.320 plant Everybody else in the world buys their 00:49:28.320 --> 00:49:31.960 nuclear power plant fuel on an open market. Mostly 00:49:31.960 --> 00:49:35.280 comes from Canada and Kazakhstan and a few other 00:49:35.280 --> 00:49:38.280 places. It's not enriched enough for a weapon. 00:49:39.019 --> 00:49:42.900 So Iran could have done that, but they arrogantly 00:49:42.900 --> 00:49:45.460 and with a lot of defiance, chose another path. 00:49:46.059 --> 00:49:48.800 And their military capability is going to be 00:49:48.800 --> 00:49:52.159 severely degraded. I think that is going to be 00:49:52.159 --> 00:49:54.659 very positive for the future of the Middle East. 00:49:56.320 --> 00:49:59.900 I mean, I was watching some of these, you know, 00:50:00.440 --> 00:50:03.300 the news and so forth, and, you know, how Iran 00:50:03.300 --> 00:50:06.539 is, as you mentioned, just kind of firing off 00:50:06.539 --> 00:50:09.800 these rockets willy -nilly. I know that's not 00:50:09.800 --> 00:50:13.139 the official military term, but it seems that 00:50:13.139 --> 00:50:17.219 way, that they're trying to retaliate wherever 00:50:17.219 --> 00:50:21.960 they can. Is Israel participating in the airstrikes? 00:50:23.210 --> 00:50:29.690 Oh, very actively. Israel says they flew 200 00:50:29.690 --> 00:50:32.630 aircraft on the first night. That's got to be 00:50:32.630 --> 00:50:35.070 just about the entire Israeli Air Force. They 00:50:35.070 --> 00:50:37.829 have, of course, our U .S.-made F -35s, F -15s, 00:50:37.869 --> 00:50:40.889 F -16s, and other aircraft as well. So they're 00:50:40.889 --> 00:50:42.789 participating very actively. And you're right 00:50:42.789 --> 00:50:46.030 about the Iranian missile and drone shots being 00:50:46.030 --> 00:50:49.110 kind of launch without effect. You know, our 00:50:49.110 --> 00:50:53.780 U .S. Space Force does a lot to affect the electromagnetic 00:50:53.780 --> 00:50:57.019 environment there and really scramble up any 00:50:57.019 --> 00:51:00.519 of Iran's attempts at guidance. One incident 00:51:00.519 --> 00:51:03.380 that occurred early on was Iran claimed to have 00:51:03.380 --> 00:51:06.179 targeted the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, 00:51:06.320 --> 00:51:08.579 which is there, of course, 5 ,000 sailors and 00:51:08.579 --> 00:51:11.119 airmen aboard. She was there in the North Arabian 00:51:11.119 --> 00:51:13.219 Gulf. And U .S. Central Command has been pretty 00:51:13.219 --> 00:51:16.739 quiet up until this afternoon, came out immediately 00:51:16.739 --> 00:51:19.019 and said, this is a lie, those missiles didn't 00:51:19.019 --> 00:51:22.750 go anywhere near. the abraham lincoln uh... it's 00:51:22.750 --> 00:51:25.269 a reminder though that this is a combat zone 00:51:25.269 --> 00:51:28.550 we know president trump was briefed that there 00:51:28.550 --> 00:51:31.829 could be american casualties and you know we 00:51:31.829 --> 00:51:34.170 know so well that uh... that all of our service 00:51:34.170 --> 00:51:37.329 members there are at risk and while the attacks 00:51:37.329 --> 00:51:39.929 uh... the drone and missile attacks from iran 00:51:39.929 --> 00:51:42.889 are are kind of unguided they're not highly accurate 00:51:42.889 --> 00:51:45.769 but they can certainly be lethal in the case 00:51:45.769 --> 00:51:48.230 of the carrier of course you know we know aircraft 00:51:48.230 --> 00:51:51.639 carriers Maneuver pretty quickly they sail pretty 00:51:51.639 --> 00:51:54.340 quickly and they were of course surrounded by 00:51:54.340 --> 00:51:56.800 their own destroyer squadron a guided missile 00:51:56.800 --> 00:51:59.920 cruiser with the ability to do both the mid -course 00:51:59.920 --> 00:52:02.880 intercepts up at 65 ,000 feet and to do terminal 00:52:02.880 --> 00:52:06.260 intercepts as well So USS Abraham Lincoln continues 00:52:06.260 --> 00:52:13.050 to launch strike sorties at this point Wow Thank 00:52:13.050 --> 00:52:15.369 you so much for taking time out of your very, 00:52:15.369 --> 00:52:18.690 very busy day for just joining us here on Veterans 00:52:18.690 --> 00:52:21.150 Radio for a short time. You know, let us know 00:52:21.150 --> 00:52:23.889 what's going on. And again, I appreciate it so 00:52:23.889 --> 00:52:27.130 much, Dr. Grant. It's great to talk with you 00:52:27.130 --> 00:52:29.329 all. And I know your listeners and you and me 00:52:29.329 --> 00:52:31.050 as well are really thinking about our American 00:52:31.050 --> 00:52:33.469 servicemen playing offense and playing defense 00:52:33.469 --> 00:52:35.309 and trying to make the world a better place tonight. 00:52:36.130 --> 00:52:39.809 Absolutely. Thank you very much. Thank you. Bye 00:52:39.809 --> 00:52:45.760 bye. All right. So, update on what's going on 00:52:45.760 --> 00:52:48.099 in Iran and update on what's going on with the 00:52:48.099 --> 00:52:50.480 VA. This is what happens when you listen to Veterans 00:52:50.480 --> 00:52:53.760 Radio. I appreciate all of you doing that. So, 00:52:54.360 --> 00:52:56.880 David Simms, the Washtenaw County, Michigan, 00:52:57.139 --> 00:53:00.139 Executive Director of Veterans Affairs. Thank 00:53:00.139 --> 00:53:02.460 you very much for being on our program today. 00:53:02.880 --> 00:53:04.960 Same with you, Carol Anne Faustone from Legal 00:53:04.960 --> 00:53:08.920 Help for Veterans. And we are... going to be 00:53:08.920 --> 00:53:11.099 watching all of these things that are going on, 00:53:11.300 --> 00:53:14.480 not only across the world, but also here locally 00:53:14.480 --> 00:53:18.639 at home with our local VAs. They're doing the 00:53:18.639 --> 00:53:22.739 best they can, folks, I think. And that's for 00:53:22.739 --> 00:53:26.659 you, you out there. If you're a veteran, they're 00:53:26.659 --> 00:53:28.780 doing it for you. They're doing it for you. They're 00:53:28.780 --> 00:53:31.800 doing it for your family. And you've heard some 00:53:31.800 --> 00:53:34.360 of the things that we talked about today. And 00:53:34.360 --> 00:53:37.670 they are So many benefits that we are leaving 00:53:37.670 --> 00:53:41.130 on the table, ladies and gentlemen, we are doing 00:53:41.130 --> 00:53:46.690 that. So please talk to a VSO talk to somebody 00:53:46.690 --> 00:53:50.409 about what you may be entitled to. And we're 00:53:50.409 --> 00:53:53.269 hoping that we you know by next month. When we 00:53:53.269 --> 00:53:55.849 come back on, you know, the first Sunday in April, 00:53:56.190 --> 00:53:58.510 maybe you've got a question and our experts can 00:53:58.510 --> 00:54:01.329 answer that question for you. So we want to make 00:54:01.329 --> 00:54:04.250 sure that you do that, please. We're trying to 00:54:04.250 --> 00:54:07.309 look out for each other. Remember when you were 00:54:07.309 --> 00:54:09.489 in the service, somebody had your back? Well, 00:54:09.590 --> 00:54:12.050 we've got your back now and we want to make sure 00:54:12.050 --> 00:54:15.409 that you get what you're entitled to. We are 00:54:15.409 --> 00:54:18.309 coming up on the end of the program. And again, 00:54:18.309 --> 00:54:20.349 I want to thank our guests for being here to 00:54:20.349 --> 00:54:23.670 talk about benefits and so forth. Today, God 00:54:23.670 --> 00:54:25.969 Bless America is our song of the day, of course, 00:54:26.090 --> 00:54:28.929 here on Veterans Radio. And it's going to be 00:54:28.929 --> 00:54:31.969 Johnny Fortune and Sonya Isaacs Yearly. Till 00:54:31.969 --> 00:54:33.809 next week, this is Dale Thromery. For all of 00:54:33.809 --> 00:54:37.150 us here at Veterans Radio, you are dismissed. 00:54:47.400 --> 00:54:58.960 America, land that I love Stand beside her and 00:54:58.960 --> 00:55:04.659 guide her Through the night with a light from 00:55:04.659 --> 00:55:13.960 above From the mountains to the prairies to the 00:55:13.960 --> 00:55:26.809 oceans White with foam God bless America My home 00:55:26.809 --> 00:55:35.030 sweet home God bless America