Rally Point 20

Episode Transcript

(00:17):
Good good morning, Rally Pointers.Welcome to the Rally Points Show. I'm
one of your hosts, Amanda Macchiatomccanue, and this is my fellow host.
It is a storage James Heavingway.Happy Friday, everybody hoping safe and
had a wonderful week. We havean outstanding show for you today. We
got a couple of guests here inour studios. And before we're going any

(00:39):
further, of course, we haveto say hello to our producer saying the
brain, how are you doing today? Folks? You can't heir today and
we gonna got two mics so yousee here he's in charge. So today
you have an awesome show for yourfolks. We have Steve Cromwell from the
CCVC was the Charlotte County Vans Council. How you doing today, Steve doing
very well? What'd you tell inAmerica? Who you are, how you

(01:02):
served and how you got here?My name is Steve Cornwell and I joined
the Air Force after I got outof high school nineteen seventy two tech school
or Basic Training Tech School Udapaw Airfield, came back to these States and spent
two years. I was weapons tech, so I was on nuclear alert for

(01:22):
my last two years while I wasin and while I was over in Thailand.
That's what I did as loaded bombs. And I joined the American Legion
many many years ago, and Ijoined strictly to help them get a new
post built, because they built aveterans cemetery near my home and I joined

(01:44):
the Legion to help that. Atthe time, I had a small business,
so I didn't have a lot oftime for the Legion. But I
retired and moved here seven years ago, and now I find myself with lots
of time. Well, I usedto have lots of time. Now I
got all involved in a lot ofveterans things, between the American Legion and
the Charlotte County Veterans Council. Isn'tit funny how retirement does that? Yeah,

(02:06):
yeah, yeah, So anyway,the Veterans Council and the Vietnam Veterans
Association and anyway. It's but it'sbeen good to keep me busy, and
I've met a lot of people becauseof it. Outstanding And for our listeners
out there who don't know what theAmerican Legion is, there's a little history

(02:27):
for you. In nineteen nineteen toseventy fifteen, a bunch of your American
soldiers went in parents France, wentto a little small bar. An individual
named Theodore Roosevelt Junior, one ofthe founding members of the American Legion,
basically created an organization for veterans afteryour time in service. Since that time,
they went to Congress. During thattime it became one of the first

(02:49):
federally chartered organizations for veterans exclusively inthe United States. Since that time,
the American Legion has spawned other organizationsbecause we were the origine veteran organization,
which includes the VFW Veteran for WarmWars and Vets, American Veterans, and
et cetera, et cetera. Butthe history of the American Legion is basically

(03:10):
to provide for the soldiers in ourfamilies, veterans in their families various causes.
Myself being ten year veteran of theAmerican Legion, I used to we
held a couple offices there. Butthe fact of the matter is is an
organization for our families and our inour troops. They have scholarships going up

(03:30):
and down. We have something calledthe oratorical whereby you have kids in high
school basically compete to give speeches andthey go to a national contest. But
I would say I defer you togo to the American Legion dot org,
which is on the website to findmore about its history. Steve, that
being the case, tell us alittle bit more about the CCVC to Charlotte

(03:51):
County Veterans Council. The Charlotte CountyVeterans Council is just it's kind of a
loose organization. What we try todo is prevent everybody from stepping on everybody
else. The different organizations are mostof the members of our organization are also

(04:11):
members of American Legion, Military Museum, different organizations that stage events, and
so we try to prevent everybody fromwalking all over each other's events and coordinate
things a little bit. So,Steve, who can be a member of

(04:34):
the Charlotte County Veterans Council? Isit individuals? Is it organizations? How
does that work? You can bea member as an individual? Not very
many people are, but there aresome. Basically, anybody that has anything
to do with either a veterans organization, be it VFW, American Legion.

(04:58):
You know, it goes on andon of those so that automatically, if
that group is a member of theVeterans Council, then you automatically are able
to attend the meetings as well.We'd also like to cater to veteran owns
businesses, and there's a lot ofthem around and some of them are a

(05:19):
little bit shy about joining us somethinglike this. But it's twenty five dollars
a year. It's not really muchas far as sanctioned events that we actually
do. That would be like everywell, the Veterans Day Parade one year
it's in Charlotte County, next yearit's in Punta Gorda, and next year
is Punta Gorda's turn. And theMemorial Day service at the Vietnam Wall,

(05:46):
and that will take place usually aroundten am on Memorial Day. Okay,
how can people kind of try beforeyou buy if you will winter your meetings.
Can people just pop in kind ofobserve the meetings to determine whether membership
is right for them or involvement isright for them if they belong to a
member organization. How does that work? Absolutely? We had three last week

(06:09):
as a matter of fact, orlast month. We have our meetings at
eleven am the last Monday of eachmonth, and they're held at the Family
Services Center. What is it twentyfive hundred. I know it's on Gibraltar.
There's two five zero zero Gibraltar,and we're on As you're entering the

(06:34):
parking lot, we're on the righthand side, and you go in and
tell the lady that you'd like togo to one of the meetings and you'll
be welcome to awesome. Yeah,we hear a lot of talk about how
Charlotte County is a purple heart county. We have one of the largest veteran
populations in the state of Florida.From what I understand, it's estimated to

(06:55):
be about thirty thousand veterans okay,thirty eight thousand thanks s living in this
community. So for that number ofveterans, hopefully that will draw more veteran
based or veteran owned businesses or veteranbased organizations to come and check this out,
because it sounds to me like thenetworking is pretty robust for people that

(07:17):
would attend the meetings and events.Oh yeah, I mean everybody gets to
know one another because we're not thatbig and so there is a lot of
networking. Those guys are the onesthat got me to go into the Vietnam
Veterans Association and different things like that, all because of my involvement with the

(07:39):
Veterans Council Outstanding. A couple ofquestions Steve so for America and myself the
reper heads around this. Basically,the ccvcs at the quarterback of organizations that
kind of coordinate how to service ourveterans in our county somewhat, but the
quarterback actually controls the other people onthe field. We don't do that.

(08:05):
We respond to what everybody else wantsto do, and we do. You
know, we try to do alot of good things. You know,
we've got some funds available for youknow, veterans in need, and you
know, we'll try to refer youto the different organizations, I mean,

(08:26):
the Veterans Services. This is thisis such a fantastic place to be a
veteran. I just never could evenimagine what it was like to be in
a place like this, being fromDes Moines, Iowa, where there isn't
really a military presence, and tocome here and this is just awesome.
It sounds like the CCVC is morethe facilitator so confession moment. I used

(08:48):
to actually be the secretary of CharlotteCounty Veterans Council, which I know you
well know because we've worked together.But it was always wonderful to see that
the VA clinic staff or the VAregional directors would come in and be able
to give real time updates on what'shappening kind of behind the curtain at the
VA. But then also it wasnice to see different fraternal organizations kind of

(09:11):
cross talking, especially if claims wereinvolved or anything involving veterans services or veterans
in need. It was always niceto see those different groups come out and
say, hey, we just helpeda veteran receive a rating for this condition,
and people would gasp and it waslike, we'll tell you how we
did it, because it might bea very rare condition that's very difficult to

(09:31):
garner benefits for veterans from the VAfor that or it was nice to see
assistance issues come up, and sometimesyou know, the CCBC does have a
small fund that is set aside forassisting veterans, but there are other groups
out there with much deeper pockets,quite frankly, like the American Legion State
Fund and things like that, anddepending on the severity and the magnitude of

(09:52):
the need, different organizations were ableto kind of throw their hats in the
ring and say we can help thisveteran and then take from there. So
it was kind of a beautiful,wonderful, harmonious thing. But it seems
like the CCVC was more facilitator thanthe quarterback I think right. And and
our fund is relatively small and theamount we're allowed to use is relatively small.

(10:13):
What we're really designed to do ispeople tend to not do anything until
they're really in trouble. And we'vegot a quick response because the people that
it takes to approve this are there'syou know, it only takes like three
of us to do it, sowe can usually put that together in a
day. Oh wow. So andwhat's the name of that fund? The

(10:35):
Ryan Fund, the Ryon Fund,and folks, they give you an idea
of the magnitude of what they're doingfor our community. And I've actually taken
the opportunity to actually shop around othercounties in other states and they don't have
the equivalent with CCVC, and theirability to do a quick response on an

(10:56):
individual is fantastic And from my understandingand folks confessional time, I'm also an
officer of the CCVC. I I'mthe sergeant at arms, but you know
what, I'm the MP watches thedoor. But anyways, to the point
is I've seen them actually do this, and it's not a handout, folks,
it's a hand up. And whatI mean by that is the expended

(11:16):
applicant has certain obligations. They mustmeet us halfway in order to participate in
that particular program and basically put anapplication. We have things like that,
and we kind of get them kindof on the path again themselves, kind
of squad away. Is that kindof sort of the con gist of it,
Steve, Yeah, that's pretty close. I mean usually we're the person
in need is referred to us bythe U, a different referring agency.

(11:41):
A lot of times, the AmericanLegion was the last guy I helped,
and so that referral. They fillout a form and they get it to
us, and then you know,we look at it. We want to
make sure they are in fact aveteran and they'll need their need D two
fourteen and things like that, andthen it's got to be a life,

(12:05):
Oh, something to support an immediateneed. We're trying to keep a person
in the house, so maybe we'llpay utility bill for them to keep them
from getting their power or their watershut off. Like I said, it's
not very big, but it's quick, yes, And so it's try to
get you out of trouble and thenget you to the people that can actually
help you long term outstanding. Andlike I said, folks, it's a

(12:28):
band aid, it's not a cure. And one of the things I actually
seen us in effect with the CCVCis basically they get them in the path
of being kind of financially stable,but at least we can stop the bleed
at that particular time, and youknow that begins the the the the path
to you know, being whole againand recovery. Well, folks, oh,

(12:52):
if I were individual for America tofind out they can't in contact the
CCVC, how to get in contactwith you, guys or well, the
easiest way is to go through amember organization, American Legion or whatever.
I'd have no problem giving my phonenumber if that's on you. And folks,
remember, if you want contact immediate, we have to go through VFW

(13:13):
American legion a post asked about theCCVC, and they'll give you a direction,
but Steve, you what you wantto do with that, that's on
you if you very interested in attendinga meeting or joining or participating in any
way. And my phone number isfive one five nine seven five nine eight
zero seven, and my name isSteve Cornwall, and just if you call

(13:37):
up, just tell them that youwant to talk about the Charlotte County Veterans
Council or CCVC. Awesome, thanksfor being on the show today, Steve.
We really appreciate your time. Folks. That was Steve Cornwall with the
Charlotte County Veterans Council here in southwestFlorida. Thanks Steve, thank you very
much. On today's In Service toour country spotlight, we have Tom's warring

(14:00):
Gin. He served for twenty yearsand nineteen days in the United States Air
Force from a maintenance background. Tom, welcome to the show. Thank you
well. So tell us about yourcareer. I mean I gave a very
brief glimpse, but you know,I spent twenty years nineteen days, like
I said, and when I firstcame in and I came in as an

(14:20):
avionics technician working on radios on wentto Keysler Air Force Base for training,
and then left there and went toDover Air Force Bace for I was there
for five years working on C five'sjust standard daily stuff, you know,
didn't do a whole lot in Dover. So I decided to cross train.

(14:43):
So when I cross trained, Ibecame a nine nine to one oh five.
And for those listening, what isthat, that's an AFSC A different
career field. I cross trained tothe Air Force's version of the Army MS
SR Brick and there you go,folks, I'm Army. So so then

(15:03):
then I went cross train and wentto school in Colorado, got stationed,
got the assignment. After school,went to Ancora, Turkey, worked up
on a on a on a mountainfor a while doing doing my thing with
with with that career field, andI spent about two years there. And

(15:24):
when I left there, I gotput back into my old career field because
it was a shortage. So Iwent back to my old career field and
went to Dyas Air Force Base.Texas was in Texas working on working on
just the radio systems at that time. Left there and UH got to go

(15:48):
to England to r A F.Woodbridge working on a ten fighters. Uh.
That was that was a lot offun because by the time I had
gotten up in the rank enough thatI was basically I was called I was
called Red one and ran basically theflight line, would put the pilots in
the airplanes, tell them what planesthey were gonna fly, what planes were

(16:11):
broke, you know what we're inmaintenance, you know, all that kind
of stuff, and would put themon into airplanes, strap them down.
And sometimes I was a crew chief. Sometimes I wasn't, you know,
I mean, I did whatever.You know. We'd have exercises over in
Germany and I'd be running from oneparking spot to another trying to park these
A tens as they're coming in andwanting to go and do things, you
know. So it was a lotof fun. Left there England and then

(16:37):
came back to Dover, Delaware againagain to finish my career kind of you
know. But you know, Iwent and got back there, you know,
and then thought I'd settle down thereforever, and it just didn't happen,
you know, the family life andthings like that. When I when

(16:57):
when the first golf War, youknow, I was I was at Dover,
and I had to go over toKuwait and spend some time there.
And when I came home, itjust wasn't the same anymore at home,
and I split up with my wifeand all this different stuff. It's a

(17:18):
long story, but that's what happensin the military a lot of times.
Yes, And so I went backto retired and went back to my home
state of Indiana. But you know, I was temporary duty in all these
different locations, you know, likeat Dyas and I worked on when thirty
h's I went to England on whatwe called rotation. It was a sixty

(17:41):
day bring your one thirties over andyou fly out of here for sixty days
and we did traded with Pope andone other will I remember what it was.
But went over there for thirty daysand then from there I went down
to Africa for into Mali, Africa. Tdife with TDY and TDY is temporary
duty, yep. Is that whatthey call an army too? Do they

(18:06):
call it TDY pretty much? Hey, I know the Navy says TAD,
so there's different jargon. We justwant to make sure that we're speaking as
ecumenically as possible for everybody. Youknow. I went down to Mally African.
We're in Mally Africa, is sittingout on the flight line one day
and it's like hotter and I'll getout of course, and the pilot says,
comes up to me and says,we can't make anybody. I said,

(18:30):
wait, why not? He says, none of our radios are working.
I said, oh, that's nice. So I actually we used to
have to. We didn't just swapa component out when I was in the
military. We pulled it apart,fixed it and put it back in the
airplane. Correct. We don't dothat these days. We go out and
get a new component. We putit in and send it went off to
a bench somewhere to some for somebodyelse to fix. But anyway, I

(18:52):
did both. So while I wasdown there, I said, well,
all right, I know, Ithink I probably know what's wrong with So
I got it, pulled the componentout on the runway on the flight line,
took it apart, fix and itdidn't melt. No, fixed it
and put it back in the airplaneand keep right up. You know,
there you go. You know,now you're in touch with Germany or whoever

(19:14):
you know to get your flight plantsor whatever. That's why maintainers are critical.
You can fly a plane all youwant until it breaks, but you
want that crew chief making sure it'ssafe for you to fly. It's that's
exactly right. So you know,just little stories like that. And I
was in Honduras for a time,which you know, I was sitting in

(19:34):
a hooch watching CNN and it soundsreally rough. Air Force likee for you
guys seeing it is telling us there'sno American troops in Honduras. I said,
well, okay, we're not here. You know, you didn't see
anything. You're an advisor, yes, exactly, So you know, it
was just one of those these kindsof things. And while I was down
there, you know, we planesee when thirty comes in and blows a

(19:57):
tire on the runway, us,what do we do. We go out
and we improvise. We have toget that that runway open again. So
we have we don't have all thethings we should have probably needed, but
we improvised. We got the planein the air, got a new tire
on it, we got the twoplane off the runway. We told everybody
just turn your backs and and wellwe'll make it happen, go away,

(20:18):
leave us alone for a minute.Definitely, definitely. But before I forget
with my fleeting memory, I wantto say thank you for your sacrifice and
uh from your few stories you sharedhere folks. As you know, if
you're listening, I love being inthe military. Some of the stories you
can't make up, but it comesat It takes a price to surve your

(20:41):
country, especially as long as storyas yours, and the sacrifice is both
felt from the individual soldier slash airmenslash marine slash uh CB and our families.
And nothing's free, and that's whythe show is here to make sure

(21:02):
that you're listening and you're not byyourself, and for the people in the
studio, they know and have thefull appreciation of the sacrifices that you've given
to our country. And I saythank you for paving the way for me,
even though I'm a young and notthat far behind, But thank you
for your sacrifice. You know what, Serving your country can be fun,
but it can be it can bemuch sometimes, but thank you. You're

(21:23):
welcome. Absolutely I couldn't agree moreso. What I'm kind of curious about
now, so you kind of touchedon it you went back to Indiana and
then clearly now you live in southwestFlorida, since we're having this conversation in
studio, so how did your militaryservice lead you to where you are today

(21:44):
in a professional or a volunteer capacityif you're fully retired and not working a
nine to five type of deal,how did your military service kind of lead
you to where you are in that? Well? Like I said, the
military, I was a Avionyx Radarradio navigation systems technician, which is electronic
career field after dinner for twenty years, I got out and uh, nobody

(22:07):
seemed to want to hire me fora position unless I had a degree.
I mean I was. I wasflat told that, so here you work
in a factory, dressed your life. I'm like, So I did that
for six months. I hated everysecond, I believe because I was so
used to running all over the flightline and fixing things and doing things.

(22:29):
They put me in a in afactory next to a machine and said here,
you just take this off of hereand put it over here. So
I do. It's like a hardbreak from a million miles a minute down
to nothing. Correct, So ifmy machine broke, I couldn't. I
could see the wire loose right thereand say, I know what, I
got to fix it. I couldn'ttouch it because unions and different things,
you know, so I'd just sitdown on my bench and call maintenance guy

(22:51):
and here to come, you know, the maintenance guy. But anyway,
I didn't like that. I wasused to fixing electronic things. So I
had the old GI bill from theVietnam War. So I went back to
college and got my four year degreein two years. In two years.
In two years, I went yearround. Now you know, I went
summers, summers, and falls andsprings. So but it took me two

(23:15):
years and I graduated kum Nauda inelectronics to be an electoral engineer. That
being said, folks, I don'thear any crap about military and folks not
being smart. So so you know, I did that, and that's what
my military career of twenty years waselectronics. And I went and got electoral
engineering degree in two years. Thattells you something. Wow, that yeah,

(23:37):
that's a test out of everything.And I graduated from Indiana State University.
So after that, I got gota job as a back in the
same place I worked at in thefactory, but I was in charge.
Were you the maintenance guy now andsomebody hits the button on their bench exactly,
Well, I started that way,but then I progressed up to the

(24:00):
supervisor level, and then to themanager, and then to the engineering department,
and then to the manager of theengineering department, and it just went
on up. And then it becamea field service guy to where I was
all over the country, Mexico,Canada, flew everywhere. Every week I'd
go somewhere, So it started feelingmore like the military where you were.

(24:22):
I was just gone and doing thingsbesides my wife like that at the time,
but yeah, it was that's whatkind of my military cit did for
me. It made me become electoengineer. And you know, instead of
making at the time ten dollars anhour working at a factory, my salary
quadrupled, you know, became asalary and with all kinds of different perks

(24:45):
and everything. But with that,with that single piece of paper, and
that's what you need to do ifyou're getting out today, is get that
piece of paper because that will helpyou get through life. And I will
put the plug in there now thatthese are our benefits that are afforded to
us, and if we do notuse them, Congress will look at it
like you're not using it, sowhy do you need it anymore? Can't
we just take that money and reappropriateit into some other program and the budget.

(25:10):
So this is why it's important touse your benefits. You use them
to the fullest extent you possibly can, whether it's you or if you're able
to allocate it to your dependence.Do what you have to do to use
those benefits and seek them out becausethose benefits are a pathway to a successful
transition out of the military. Andfolks, let's be real here. One

(25:33):
of the benefits of being in themilitary, and we can go to advance
in advanced training we call a tyou call it in the army. Very
simply put, those skills you learnin the military do have value in the
real life. The word I had, the phrase I heard was you test
it out because you alread had toskills because the army gave it to your

(25:53):
or the military gave it to forfree. Folks, for free, and
know what you have I'm in toget say that contract? Do you bid?
Like I said, I'd never reup, but I did it twice
in my career, Sweet Jesus.But the fact that the fact of the
matter is this, folks, onceyou get that education from the military,
the sky is the limit. Andthen when you come out of the military,

(26:15):
if you so choose, you havethe ability to then take that based
understanding knowledge that cannot be taken awayfrom you and grow on it. Like
I'm hearing that you did. Andthe cool thing is is, folks,
it can only get better. It'son you a man. That hit The
big point here, folks, iscalled the benefits of our military. If
you don't use it, you'll loseit. And I hear it all the

(26:37):
time. I don't need it.I'm in good shape. Our government works
like this. If we don't usewhat we've been allocated, they reappropriate quotes
that money to somewhere else, tobuying one hundred thousand toilets. Wink wink,
nod, nod for some other purpose. Point of matter is, if
you want to help your brother orsister and back, use your benefits,

(27:00):
Serge. I think I've heard yousay it before. You say, if
you've served, you deserve so everybodyout there listening. If you're a veteran,
keep that in mind. If youserve, you deserve and so you
need to explore what benefits are outthere, what's applicable to you, and
what you need to use for makingsure that your future is secured beyond the

(27:22):
uniform. And it's never too late, honestly to go back to school or
starting to endeavor. If you stillhave those benefits available to you, absolutely,
by all means, highly recommend youuse them most definitely in folks,
here's the other thing you need toworry about. Worry about accessing your benefits.
It can be a nightmare getting accessto getting it started. So we
would advise you to find a veteranservice officer in your county, state or

(27:45):
wherever. If you can't find it, call us and we will help you
find that person in your state.One of the benefits of being with the
American Legion. I serve out aservice officer for a post and I'm going
to be credited, hopefully this yearto become legitimate VA certified a credit service
officer. So from this show therally point, we'll be able to help

(28:06):
you get your started in that rightdirection. But remember, do not let
your benefits sit there and get stale. If you don't use it, you're
going to lose out and know what, the quality of life. Come on
now, it's there for you.But don't let anyone take it away from
us. It's all I'm asking.Get what yours and don't let them take
it away from us. And withthat, Tom, we thank you for
your time on the show today.Is there any other advice that you have

(28:27):
to share with folks that are transitioningout or any other thoughts you want to
impart to our listeners. All Ican say is don't be afraid. I
know whenever I got was getting out, I know what to expect. You
know. I was twenty years militaryand this new world was opening up to
me and I was scared, youknow, like probably a lot of people

(28:51):
are. But you know what,with your retirement, as you're getting out
and transitioning, I mean, thingsget better. It's not as bad as
what you think it is in yourown mind. So just relax and breathe
deep, you know, because it'llbe okay one hundred percent, and we're
here to support you if you needhelp. A guy ask is a battle

(29:11):
buddy about about find a battle button. We'll find it and we'll help you
out in that transition because you knowwhat, no one does it alone.
Period. Well, Tom, thanksfor being on the show today. We
really appreciate your time and telling usyour story. Folks. This was Tom
Swerringen, twenty year Air Force retireThanks again, Tom, thank you.
And now today for our Benefit Beat, we're going to continue a topic that

(29:33):
we had previously discussed, which wasservice dogs and how the VA can support
veterans through that. And we're actuallyblessed and fortunate enough to have two gentlemen
in our office this morning in ourstudio to talk to us about Wolfhound's Legacy.
We have Mark Frye and Steve Copelandhere to talk to us about that
program. And Mark is the vicepresident of Wolfhound's Legacy, which is a

(29:57):
five oh one C three nonprofit organization. They're here locally in the southwest Florida
region, and then they also havean extension out in Wisconsin where they have
a chapter there as well. Soyou're to date, they've graduated two hundred
and sixty veterans and first responders,two hundred and thirty eight veterans with PTSD,

(30:18):
twenty plus first responders, and twohundred and forty seven rescued dogs.
So Mark, Steve, it's greatto have you in the studio this morning.
Thank you for joining us on theshow. Thanks for having us absolutely,
and Mark just want to thank youfor your service, both of you
as veterans having served. So thisis one of those programs where it's by
veterans for veterans, which is fantastic. Mark, could you just tell us

(30:42):
a little bit about your service andkind of how Wolfhound's legacy came to be.
Yeah, Well, I was anaval flight officer in the Navy,
served mostly during the eighties, youknow, spent a lot of time time
in the European theaters and Mediterranean doingreconnaissance and surveillance. During my time,

(31:12):
I then you know, was injuredwith a traumatic brain injury and separated from
the service and started a career insales and marketing work for some companies Johnson
and Johnson Adviser did that for anotherthirty years. And during my time when

(31:37):
I was up in the New Yorkmetro area, I have always had,
you know, dogs, and Iprefer Labrador retrievers just because their nature.
And I was got involved with trainingdogs, you know, as a student

(32:00):
and then moved on to getting adog trained for therapy, and then my
dog and I would go to thelocal veterans' homes in the Greater New York
Connecticut area, just taking the dogin to see veterans. At that time,

(32:20):
there was still a considerable amount ofWorld War Two and you know,
Vietnam veterans in there. Most ofthese guys, you know, we're in
a nursing homelike situation. So tosee them light up and enjoy, you
know, just petting the dog orthrowing a tennis ball down the hall,
Yeah, really really made me feelbetter about you know, and for some

(32:46):
of those veterans that are out thereto be in those situations, it can
be a tough end of life situation. Well, fast forward, I moved
down to Florida and got involved withWolfhound's legacy, training another another two dogs

(33:07):
and another two laboratory retrievers, andthen got involved as a trainer, and
then was asked to join the boardof directors. And I've been the head
trainer for Wolfhounds for I don't knowthe last for four years or so.

(33:28):
Very cool. So, so youhave a pretty broad background with training dogs
and everything as far as down herewith Wolfhounds legacy and its mission. What
have they accomplished in the Florida andWisconsin communities beyond the statistics we shared earlier
about who they've graduated. What canyou tell us about like inroads in the

(33:49):
community and things of that nature.It's very interesting because you know, we'll
get you know, the service dogfor the veterans started with I guess a
law that was passed early in Biden'sinauguration called the Pause Act, And basically

(34:16):
that means that if a veteran isprescribed a service dog by the VA system,
then once that dog completes training,then the VA system will actually cover
the cost of that dog veterinary care, food, so on and so forth.

(34:43):
So we have some guys that comein they weren't really interested in having
a pet, but you know,they were assigned these dogs, and we
selected a dog for them. Theygo through training and about a don't know,
Steve, maybe six weeks into theprogram. Eight weeks into the program.

(35:04):
Even though they were a bit hesitant, the veterans were a bit hesitant
about, you know, training thedog, they really their personality changes.
They start looking at the dog ashey, you know, this is really
my best friend. And you know, for those people out there that are
trying to understand what a service dogdoes, it's not tricks, it's not

(35:30):
what it does for the veteran,it allows them to get back into a
more normal life. We've got alot of these young guys that have been
through and women that have been through, you know, very traumatic things,
and the service dog keeps them outof the bar, and it keeps them
from self medicating, and it allowsthe service dog, you know, is

(35:53):
trained so that it won't react toany distractions, so they can take this
you know, non judgmental, lovinganimal with them wherever they go, and
it allows them to get back intoa more normal life, whether it's going
to a restaurant, grabbing a sliceof pizza, taking the dog to publics,

(36:15):
just traveling with them wherever they wantto go. So we've seen a
lot of veterans that initially are veryclosed off, and you've seen it,
Amanda, in our class that theyopen up all of a sudden, you
know, they're talking, they've gotother veterans friends there. It's very common

(36:38):
for veterans not to want to discusstheir issues or their inabilities with lay people
or civilians. If you will.But once they get comfortable, doesn't matter
what service they were in, theywant to open up to other veterans.
So the dogs really, in myopinion, have a huge impact on the

(37:05):
life of the veterans you know thatreally need it. Absolutely. My dog
Odin is also in Wolfhound's legacy,which I know you know that before our
listeners. My dog Odin is beingtrained to be my service dog. And
so I've definitely noticed what Mark istalking about. Not only do the dogs
kind of form a pack, butthe veterans who are the handlers of these

(37:28):
dogs also kind of form a bitof a pack too, And it's it's
really great to see how on dayone, sitting and training, most of
us didn't talk to each other.We all kind of kept to ourselves,
and now when we show up attraining together, it's, you know,
hey, how's it going, Heystranger, if you haven't seen somebody in
a little while exactly I was goingto say. Sometimes it probably makes training

(37:50):
take a little bit longer than usualbecause we're all too busy dogging each other
out for lack of a better term. But we also have Noah in the
studio with us today, and Noahis is your service dog direct? Yep,
Noah is our example dog in class. If you will, we call
them a demo dog. Yeah,there you go, demo dog I show
people like you or the handler isa training technique. I know that Noah

(38:15):
already knows it. And it's easyfor people to grasp what you need to
do because you know, there's there'sten different ways to teach these animals,
different techniques and you know, yeah, and I think a lot of us
are very tactile, visual type learners. So it helps to see a handler

(38:35):
and their dog demonstrate the necessary actthat's needed for the veteran to help them,
whether it's with mobility or just socialengagement, or even just kind of
being able to go out into societyand be calm enough to do what they
need to do get back home.It kind of opens up their life again,
like you said, So with that, I would ask what can what

(38:58):
can listeners do to help Wolf Foundslegacy, to support the program or give
to it. I mean obviously everybodyalways says, you know, well money
helps, and it does, butwhat else can listeners do to support Wolf
Founds? Yeah, you know,we're a five oh one to three c
charity, which means nobody in theorganization gets paid. Everything we do comes

(39:22):
from donations. The hardest part forus, and the difference here is with
Wolfhounds, and I think this isan important point. If the VA system
prescribes a veteran a service dog,there's a way that the VA can contact

(39:45):
a service dog organization, and theyare usually large organizations that have a breeding
program. A good example down herein southwest Florida is Southwest Guide Dogs outside
of Tampa. They have a great, a huge facility where they raise puppies.
They know the genetic makeup of thedogs. They fostered the dog out

(40:07):
for a year, it comes back, it goes through service dog training,
and then they assign it to aveteran who comes in and learns how to
handle the dog. Whereas Wolfhounds,we rescue our dogs from shelters. We
send the dog to the veteran,make sure that it shots, that it's

(40:28):
healthy, it gets spade or neuteredif necessary, and then the veteran and
the dog are matched together based onthe veterans' needs, and then the veteran
and the dog spend four months inservice dog training with Wolfhounds. The cost
to the VA is nothing. Wegive that dog to the veteran at no

(40:52):
cost. So if you do themath, Amanda, if you think of
the math we had, I don'tknow what the number was, to hundred
and something dogs, and you know, in order for us to get the
dog ready for training, you're talkingabout between four and six thousand dollars based
on the vet bill, the spayingand neutering if necessary, shots, the

(41:13):
food. So the cost of gettinga trained service dog can be twenty five
thousand dollars, up to fifty ifit needed for seeing eye dogs or mobility.
So for the R two hundred dogs, we've saved the VA system a

(41:35):
considerable amount of money and hopefully theycan use that to hire more people,
more qualified doctors or nurses, ormaybe more equipment. So that's an important
point that separates Wolfhound's legacy, thefact that we try and rehabilitate a dog
that's been in the shelter, andwhy does the dog go to a shelter.

(41:59):
It was bought around the holidays forBilly and Sally, and then by
March it's making a mess in thehouse, It's chewing up things. Nobody
knows how to handle. It andit goes into the shelter. So the
dog went from living in a beautifulhome all of a sudden it's an eight
ten cell. I personally believe thata lot of the dogs I see have

(42:22):
more PTSD than the veterans. SoI think Wolfhound's legacy we're trying to save
two lives at a time. We'resaving the dog and hopefully we're saving the
veteran, you know, getting hima companion for the next for the length

(42:43):
of the dog's life, which canbe twelve years. I'm going to let
Steve comment on that. My pointfor the veteran dealing with PTSD, TBIs
or traumatic brain injuries, whatever thecase, the dog picks you, you

(43:09):
don't pick the dog. Wolfhounds hastrained every size and nearly every breede.
Absolutely and uh we've gone from GreatDanes down to lack of a better term,

(43:30):
Foo Foo dogs. And the hardestpart is training the handler, not
the dog. Absolutely got to kindof train the handler to maybe undo some
of our own you know, unhelpfulyeah, unhelpful training or you know,

(43:52):
for lack of a better term,bad training that the handler didn't know any
better about. Until you know,you can't fix it. But then the
process of fixing it definitely takes sometime and effort. So Amanda, I
want to answer your question more directlynow, So what can people do?
They They can donate. You cango on our website which is Wolfhounds with

(44:14):
an s legacy dot org and there'sa button there you can click for Venmo
or PayPal or put in a creditcard. Any donation we get, you
know, extra gear, food donatedall the time. All that stuff helps
out because you know, we havea lot of veterans that, for one

(44:38):
reason or another is too lengthy forthis program, are still struggling in life
because the issues that they have andthe financial shape, which I'm sure your
organization is aware of, so absolutelywe try to definitely shed light on those
organizations as well. The biggest pointis trying to just bring visit for our

(45:00):
programs here in Southwest Florida that helpveterans. So, folks, another way
that you can help Wolf Founds isthey do have some upcoming fundraiser events.
On April thirteenth, they have agolf event in support of Honor Flight and
then also on April sixteenth, theywill be at the Honor Flight Welcome Home
at the punt Acorda Airport at eightthirty in the evening, and then on

(45:21):
April twenty eighth, they'll be atHistory Park, which is at five oh
one Shreve Street in punt A Korda. So you can absolutely come out to
those events as well. Come seethe dogs, come talk to the trainers,
talk to the handlers. Especially ifyou're a veteran out there and you're
not sure if this program would bea good fit for you or not,
come out to these events and talkto us. Talk to those of us
who are still in training, talkto the trainers. Come and see how

(45:45):
the dogs behave and how well they'vebeen trained to meet the needs of their
specific veteran that they serve, andjust come out and see what the program's
about. I think a lot ofpeople would see that. It's definitely an
incredible program. It's done a lotto help me already, and I'm not
even through training yet. We're hopingto be graduated I think later on this

(46:05):
spring or early summer. But it'sbeen a very rewarding and fulfilling process to
go through, you know, knowingthat I will have a companion who can
help me with you know, whatevermy situation is that warrants my need for
a service dog, and that's that'struly important. I think that gives hope
to the veterans that have this kindof you know, blessing in their life

(46:29):
with a service dog. So ifyou're one of those who needs a service
dog, or you know, justwants to learn more about the program and
how to help, you can alsowe also on the website you can volunteer
to be a foster. You canhelp in training, you can help administrative
skills. We need people, youknow that can do computer work. So

(46:52):
we have a new office in PontaGorda where we're going to do indoor training
and we are a man going toopen up our program to civilians. There
will be it'll be a little bitdifferent, but we will do a puppy
class, we'll do basic training andadvanced training. So the program is really

(47:14):
expanding. So that's what we want. Thank you for having us here.
I appreciate it absolutely. Thanks forbeing on the show today. Mark and
Steve. Thank you so much bothof you for your service, for your
sacrifice, and thank you for whatyou're doing to continue giving back to veterans.
First responders, healthcare workers through thegift of training a service dog.

(47:35):
Thank you so much. Thank you. Okay, folks, just to kind
of wrap up the show, asyou've probably heard, it has been kind
of a sub theme here about gettingassistance and being able to get access to
information and resources to take care ofyourself. As my co host Aman I
can probably attribute to getting assistance gettingwhen you're getting out, even when you're

(48:00):
out, getting initiating a claim canbe kind of a task, especially when
we don't know where to start.Pointing is as with the rally point was
we first started twenty weeks ago.We're gonna we want to be that resource
to kind of congregate all those resourcesso that you can have a starting point
at the rally point. Rather yougoing looking for the resources, We're gonna

(48:22):
bring the resources to you so thatyou can get start on the right foot.
That's not about right dere Amanda.I think. So our website's coming
along. It's one rallypoint dot org. So the number one rallypoint dot org.
You'll notice right now it's a littleprimitive. We're working on it.
It's in construction, but there isinformation on there. And Jay's absolutely right

(48:45):
as far as assistance goes, thebiggest thing with that, and I think
I probably speak for a good bitof veterans when I say this. We
don't like asking for help, wedon't like looking for assistance. A lot
of us feel like for so longthings were kind of to us, there
was a lot of responsibility on ourshoulders. So once we transition out,
taking help can be extremely difficult.But I would advise you with assistants,

(49:09):
don't look at it like a badword. It's not make sure that we're
taking advantage of our benefits. Thatand not taking advantage in a bad way
either, really just utilizing the toolsthat are being given to us to make
sure that we can have productive andprosperous lives beyond the uniform. That's just
so important. Whether it's making surethat you look into your educational opportunities or

(49:32):
whether it's filing a claim. Alot of people are very hesitant to do
that, but please know there areso many groups out there who have certified
professionals that that is what they do. So please and I'm sure you've heard
the Sarage talk about it. Beforeyou can talk to the VFW, you
can talk to the DAV you cantalk to amvet's American Legion. There are

(49:55):
so many veteran service organizations out therethat want to help you. You and
it might the claim might just bethe starting point. There might be other
aspects of veterans' benefits that you weren'teven aware of. They send us off
with a little guidebook nowadays, orthey mail it to us, and usually
kind of in the hubbub and thechaos of trying to transition out of the

(50:15):
military, you don't really take timeto look at it. Let's be real.
I know I didn't. I justkind of tossed it aside. But
there's a lot of good information inthere. So I would definitely try to
encourage you and impart to all youout there listening. If you're a veteran,
if you love a veteran, makesure that they're aware of their benefits,
be aware of what's available to youfor you for your success, one

(50:38):
hundred percent on that. And remember, folks, the sarrogers now talking,
do not accept. Don't interempret it, and accept us. Yes, folks,
I got tongue tied. Do notinterpret this as a sign of weakness.
Very simply put folks to ask fora hand up is not a handout.
There's no weakness in asking for help. And if you don't, I

(51:00):
will put my boot on your backsidebecause right now we are stronger with you
having a higher quality of life thannot. In point blank, folks,
we don't have all the right answers. That's why we have smemes that do
have the answers for us. We'rehere for you and do not take on
this tax by yourself if you can, God bless me. You want to
know something, there's not one missionI've ever been on that I did it
all by myself. I was partof a bigger machine. And right now

(51:22):
our purpose is at the end ofthis microphone touch you to make a phone
call to get your benefits. Becausewhen you get your benefits, the batlot's
still serving in service his benefits tobe guaranteed because you're utilizing what's been put
aside for you. So it allworks together. Folks, don't think it
as weakness. You're the best thingthat ever happened to this country. And

(51:43):
I believe that to the day Idie. And on behalf of the rally
point you have your co hosts JamesHemingway and Amanda Macchiato mccanue saying, have
a good time. God bless you, God bless your families, and most
specifically, God bless the United Statesof America. Take care, and God bless