Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Rally Pointers Fun.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Once again, folks, it's us at the Rally Point Show.
Your host Sergey James Hevyway, and my co host.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
I'm In and my canoe and our guest host we
have with us today. Introduce yourself.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
I'm Justin Ledford from Warrior Wellness Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Very cool, and Justin is going to be joining us
from time to time as a guest host here on
the Rally Point Show. So, now that we've introduced the gang,
everybody doing good, feeling good, hey.
Speaker 4 (00:31):
Man, living, breathing.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Oh yeah, right on, Well, let's jump right into the show.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Okay, folks in America. Here we're back again. In this
reception section of our show, we have the DAV Chapter
eighty two, that would be Disabled American Veterans Joe and Dave.
How are you doing today?
Speaker 5 (00:50):
Good morning, Dave Grant here from chapter eighty two.
Speaker 4 (00:53):
Good morning, This is Joe Rapley. I'm doing well this morning.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Well, folks, As you remember and those who don't remember,
the DAV is a huge component of US veterans here
in Charlotte County and the United States, and as you know,
I've been saying it for a year and a half.
Now you serve and you deserve, and these individuals are
the ones that make that happen. That being the case,
is going to turn over the conversation to the commander
(01:18):
of chapter eighty two, the dav here in Charlotte County,
Dave Grant.
Speaker 4 (01:23):
How you doing.
Speaker 5 (01:24):
I'm going really well. So we're here to talk to
you about benefits. You know, everybody comes in and the
first thing we meet in gree day veteran and we
asked them, do you have all your benefits? We don't
want them to think that we're there to call them disabled.
(01:48):
We're not here to talk about disabilities. We're here to
talk about benefits and help our fellow veterans obtain all
of their benefits. So that's our focus when we meet
and greet our fellow veterans. We're here to go out
in the community and spread the word about how and
(02:12):
what you are entitled to. You as a veteran, have
served your country and you are entitled to every veteran
every benefit that you earned.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
I agreed. And one of the things that when I say, Dave,
I want to say thank you for saying the benefits
that we are entitled to. I in my times and
travels and I hope you guys kind of reiterate this.
One of the things I have found in my day,
A lot of our veteran folks out there feel that
(02:48):
A and I've had this conversation a thousand times, Oh,
I didn't serve overseas, I don't think I deserve it,
or what I did, I didn't go in combat, and
I don't deserve it, or something around that kind of conversation.
And one of the things I'd liked for you guys
to kind of break down is that myth about having
(03:10):
to serve in combat in order to be qualified. And
one of the things I also want to say is
thank you for again kind of reiterating you served and
you deserved because whether our listeners notice or not, we
are the few in the prob that had the opportunity
to raise our right hand to be faithfully and loyal
to the United States Constitution, which we served in any capacity.
(03:34):
So could you kind of help us break that down.
Speaker 4 (03:36):
Well, I was going to hijack the conversation and go
a different direction, but since you asked that question, when
we're talking about combat veterans only having to apply for
benefits and most of the time you think about mental
health disorders or depression, anxiety, things of that nature, even
sleep disorders. If you was in Katrina doing the hurricanes
(04:01):
and you was a military veteran, are you entitled to
benefits because you suffer from thoughts from that process in
rescuing people in Katrina? I was in Oklahoma City during
the Mirror Building bombing and I had to go in
and retrieve and remains out of the Mirror Building. Am
I entitled to it for some thoughts that I might
(04:21):
have based on that this local area? We had three
hurricanes in the last two years. So if you a
National Guard or reserves and were called up to duty
and had some situations that were mentally draining and you
still suffering, that's not combat. So you do not have
(04:43):
to actually be in combat to have those I mean,
those things are an individual issue, and as human beings
we suffer from them differently. So the main thing if
speaking to a doctor, you get a diagnosis, then you
come to a veteran service office and ask hey, am
I qualified or does this meet the requirements for me
(05:04):
to file for that benefit?
Speaker 2 (05:07):
And for our listeners out there, and again we're of
my not my issue, but I'm finding that a lot
of our veterans who are women, they are they don't
applying for benefits. He kind of give us an idea
of what is behind that kind of mystique.
Speaker 4 (05:26):
Uh, my wife, who you've been trying to get up
here for for months has several disabilities, and I think
it's too For one thing, I always say, the military
is in doctrination. Uh, they make you think that we
are American fighting men and fighting women, and we will
(05:47):
not be defeated, and we're the badest mothers on earth,
and we're not able to get injured. We're going to
fight through it. In a lot of instances, especially I
would say for my marine and army brethren and sister
and who never went to the doctors because of some
of the stigmas that are attached to them going to
(06:09):
the doctors. They don't have a lot of documentation. One
of the great thing about a lot of lady and
female veterans, they do go to the doctors a little
bit more, but they're not really educated in what they
might be entitled to do to some of the problems
that they have. Women have specific issues, and a lot
of those specific issues they're able to get compensating for
(06:33):
a hysterectomy a voluntary HYS direct to me, while you're
in the military. Service is a service connected disability. So
they are a lot of things that women don't understand
about the process, and that's why we're there to help them.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
Dave, what your thoughts on that?
Speaker 5 (06:48):
Okay, Well, I'm going to segue off of that into
a slightly different area because there's another significant challenge that
exists here and it's one that our female service officers
are reaching out trying to address, and even though we
don't specifically recognize it as a solely veteran issue, it
(07:16):
is one that our service officers are working with our
fellow sister organizations over in Arcadia at the American Legion.
It's called period poverty. This sounds like something that most
of the males wouldn't like to talk about, but it's
(07:40):
one that's important specifically because of the number of school
age and homeless female veterans that suffer from this challenge.
So I have four service officers that are currently working
on obtaining female products to address this for school age
(08:08):
and older females to ensure that there isn't the issue
of period poverty going unnoticed, and I encourage those out
(08:28):
here in the audience to provide assistance through monetary donations.
You can contact our service officers and ask them how
you can contribute to addressing this challenge. DAV has been
(08:55):
very active in addressing women veteran issues, and this is
again another women veterans issue that needs to be addressed.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Most definitely so and as I think I've sat on
our conversations in the past, I feel that over in
the beginning or back in the day, women representation in
the military and as veterans wasn't so much pronounced as
we're now trying to present it now in present day.
(09:27):
And I'm thankful that you guys are kind of taking
the ball and just stick to kind of promote that
and let them know that they are inclusive to our
veteran family, and that their efforts and energies are definitely
appreciated in the perpetuation of our nation's goal without goal
of being a successful and free country, that their participation
(09:51):
is just as important as everyone else's. But I wanted
to ask you guys again just to re educate America
about the DAVING. Yourselves can kind of explain what the
DAV does on a local and then on a national.
If they're the same, that's not a problem.
Speaker 4 (10:06):
But this was going to be the direction that I
was hijacked in the first place. I was a service
officer in the state of North Carolina for sixteen years
before I relocated here to this area. And although I
had been a member of the VFW American Legion and
the DAV prior to me get here, I was never
(10:28):
really involved. It was basically in name only. I didn't
want to go to any of the meetings because I
thought it had more of an elderly old boy of
you know, good old boys. Yeah, it was a good
old boy community. And then I moved here and I
talked to a couple of people and I walked into
(10:49):
our DAV chapter, and as a service officer, they had
nineteen other service officers. It wasn't a bar, don't serve drinks.
The only thing our chapter does is do claims to veterans,
and there's families with benefits. Recently. One of the things
(11:11):
that we've noticed, and over the years many other people
have noticed because of that good old boy network was
that it was a lot of elderly veterans in it,
and it seemed like they just wanted to hold onto power. Recently,
we have started to attract younger veterans. There's a lot
(11:32):
of volunteer opportunities. Dave, our commander here, is glad to
give up brains on different duties, so there's plenty to
do in the community, as well as making a nationwide
push for some of the things that's been put on
the agenda as far as veterans benefits and submitting letters.
(11:55):
I'm sure he'll talk to you about the Command Is
Action Network, which is very important, and having veterans voices
heard in some of the things and approving some of
the items that we put before our law makers. So
I would say get involved and do something, especially as
(12:16):
fellow veterans are involved.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
Well, I'll tell you that all sounds wonderful because there
is a younger generation of veterans that are coming out
of the military, and sadly, for the longest time, it
seemed like a lot of them wanted nothing to do
with BSOS and that has to change because a VSO
isn't just four walls where people go to drink and
commiserate and whatever the case might be. It's also advocacy
(12:40):
in the halls of Congress, and a lot of people
lose sight of that. So hopefully with these younger veterans
coming in, they're recognizing that need and the importance and
they're eager to jump in. I'll also say that we
have a County Women's Veterans group that meets more so
for you know, camaraderie, mutual support, networking and such. But
(13:03):
definitely I will put to them that you know, these
opportunities exist, because I wholeheartedly agree. When I was with
the Charlotte County Veterans Council, I said all the time
to people, please go back to your posts, go back
to your you know, your groups, and go find people
who are looking for an opportunity, because we had opportunities
with Charlotte County Veterans Council that thankfully have since been filled,
(13:24):
but we were trying to get those those positions filled
and trying to get a little bit more engagement, a
little more involvement. So it's wonderful that you have an
avenue for that with the DAV through the Commander's Action Network.
That's wonderful.
Speaker 5 (13:38):
Yeah, let me talk about a couple of things that
have come out through the dav's Commander's Action Network. And
you know, the DAV Commander's Action Network isn't solely for
members of the disabled American veterans. It's also for anyone
that wants to join. The only requirement is that you
(14:00):
go to our website DAV dot org and put in
Quorum dot us and put your name and sign up,
and then it helps you just do the rest of
it as far as putting your name and address, etc.
In there. And then when some legislative information comes out
(14:26):
that we're trying to get in front of Congress, whether
it's our House of Representatives or senators, you are informed
and then we ask you to respond and send a
note to your congressman or senator supporting it. One such
(14:49):
thing is retiring the Pay Restoration Act, which used to
be that if you were forty or less disabled as
a veteran, they took that money out of your military
retirement and then allegedly, I say that allegedly gave it
(15:11):
to you as part of your va A disability.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
Pay, kind of like they made you choose one or
the other. I think we heard something about that at
some point, like an offset of sorts.
Speaker 5 (15:24):
Yeah, the other one dental. They're talking about providing dental
care for.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
All veterans as it should be.
Speaker 5 (15:35):
As it should be, yes, because part.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
Of the whole free health care for life promise that
was made and justly kept. To say the least, Congress,
I'm looking at you.
Speaker 5 (15:46):
Well, we still get free health care for life, you
just have to pay for I was.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
Going to say free free isn't free, that's for sure.
Speaker 5 (15:57):
And then improving menopause care for veterans. Act hey out there,
yes again focusing on our women veterans.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
Which is wonderful and appreciated for sure. And all these
these letters that you guys provide, they're pre written correct,
so like somebody can go online, yes, type their name,
I think their address. Usually you have to give so
that way they get it to the right member of Congress.
Speaker 5 (16:20):
It's not even that.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
And then you just push send.
Speaker 5 (16:22):
Oh nice, it's not that hard. It comes all pre
done for you. All you have to do is push
a button and it goes directly to the right representative
or senator. It's that easy. It comes in an email
ready for you.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
Nice. Well, very cool. Yeah, those are super helpful because
I think a lot of people get very intimidated surrounding
contacting their congressmen. And the thing that people forget is
these people in DC, they work for us. It is
not the other way around. We do not bow to
them like they work for us. They're elected, so we
(16:59):
shouldn't be afraid to send the messages let them know
what we think about things. Tactfully, of course, But at
the same time, that's our civic duty as citizens. If
we're going to send people to Congress to represent us,
then we are bound by civic duty to make sure
that we are communicating with them, to tell them what
we think about certain things and things we want to see.
Speaker 5 (17:20):
Yes, attacking diplomacy goes.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
A long way, agreed, so hopefully they listen. That's that's
kind of a horse of a different color. But I mean,
I think hopefully we'll get more veterans in Congress. I
know our representative in our area, Representative Stuby, he's an
Army veteran and he does a lot to advocate for
us as veterans. So hopefully we'll get more veterans who
(17:45):
are willing to answer that call to go serve in
Congress and definitely make sure that we're not forgotten about.
Speaker 4 (17:52):
I think within the last three months. I've probably hit
command as network four times and send let us mister Stewby.
There's a couple of things, especially for veterans. One of
them is that HR six's eighty they're Caring for Survivors Act,
And what that does is if a veteran is one
hundred percent disabled for ten years, his wife is entitled
(18:16):
to forty one percent of that disability. That's about sixteen
hundred dollars a month. So right now on the table
is they're going to decrease that ten years to five
years and also increase the amount to fifty five percent.
So it used to be about sixteen hundred dollars a
month for a widow, and that would increase the amount
to twenty two hundred dollars a month, which is a
(18:38):
significant amount for a widow that's living off of that page.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
Absolutely, I mean it's still not enough, but it's something
for sure. In this economy, twenty two hundred bucks doesn't
do as much as it eases.
Speaker 4 (18:49):
Then HR sixty four to fifty two, which is the
Veterans Scam and Prevention Act, which is to get rid
of some of these pirates that are paying asking you.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
To pay for Oh, the pension poachers.
Speaker 4 (19:02):
Yes, so there's an acting now to get rid of
some of these pension poaches and taking veterans for their money.
Speaker 5 (19:11):
Good.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
That's as it should be. You should never ever ever
pay for somebody to do what There are so many
organizations out there who exist to do this for free,
and they have all the same qualifications. In most cases
the vso who's free frie best four letter F word
out there, I don't care what you want to say.
They are the ones. They have better training in most
(19:33):
cases than the pension poachers.
Speaker 5 (19:35):
So quite often they come to our DAV training and
then go off and try to charge you for the
same things that we give you for free. Come see
your local DAV in our chapter it's a first come,
first served basis. Not all chapters are that way, but
(19:58):
chapter eighty two Port Charlotte Town Center Mall, it's first come,
first served, and we're there to serve you.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
So you're saying you just do walkins, you don't schedule appointments.
Speaker 5 (20:09):
No appointment ness, Okay.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
Great, Yeah, because you're right, A lot of veteran service
organizations do require appointments to be made, and sometimes they're
booked out. Gosh when I worked in airmin in family Readiness.
We had the BFW in our center doing claims for
people when they were at their like six month out
or so point of transitioning from the military, and they
would sometimes be booked like months out.
Speaker 5 (20:32):
We understand that frustration factor, and that's what I think
fed into some of those sharks being able to make money.
We do not operate in that manner, and that's why
we try to. I mean, there are times when our
waiting area is full. We have, you know, just jam
(20:58):
packed with folks. We've got stale donuts and coffee or
not stale.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
They're day old, day old. Sounds a little more humane.
Hey Hey, but they're free, right, They're free every there
you go. So I have a question for you, And
this might be kind of rumor mill kind of you know,
I understand a lot of things have kind of been
put on pause, But has there been any update, Like
(21:25):
we were seeing reports that we're saying you can no
longer go to a private doctor to get a nexus
letter for a condition that is believed to be service connected.
Has there been any change on that, because from what
we've heard, and like I said, I stress, this is
all conjecture. This is all hearsay kind of stuff. I've
(21:46):
been told that the only people right now who can
write a nexus letter are VA doctors, and VA doctors
are disinclined to do so because they see it as
a conflict of interest. So most of them absolutely will
not write a nexus letter for any veteran. So kind
of what is the status there? Where do folks go
if they're trying to file a claim or maybe appeal
(22:06):
something where they need a nexus letter?
Speaker 4 (22:08):
All right, so first let's talk about that it's not
in their best interests. A veteran goes to the VA
to receive care, correct, to get well, there's not a
much there's not much incentive to write something that says
that this is what's caused it that you're getting worse,
(22:30):
because that's a conflict of interest. Somebody's not doing that job. Then, However,
as far as getting a nexus from a civilian doctor
is still available, is still encouraged, is still going to
help you the problem. In some instances, sometimes you have
to have an initial diagnosis from a VA doctor prior
(22:52):
to getting that nexus letter. But a nexus letter is
just as good as a buddy statement. One of the
things We have all that that happened in office. All
the time VA's come in and they assume that a
condition is caused by military service, or they presume that
they have a certain disability or diagnosis, and we always
(23:13):
tell them what we aren't doctors, and you aren't doctors.
What you need to get is a nexus letter from
a provider, a diagnosis from a provider. So it's still
highly encourage and acceptable.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
Maybe you can provide some clarity because I'll use myself
as a guinea pig. I did a lot of research
and I got a nexus letter. I was also told
to write a letter byself to explain, like I'm writing
a letter not to the doctor, I'm writing a letter
to the radar explaining my military career and how that
may collaborate with the nexus letter. Would you concurred that
(23:48):
would that be helpful? Do you think one is better
than the other? What do you think about that?
Speaker 4 (23:52):
Well, I would say in a perfect nexus letter, what
a doctor is going to do is he's going to
review your military background, what you did, He's gonna look
at your current condition, and he is going to make
a statement linking the two of them. What you do
is just help clarify because when it goes to a
VA raider who might be a military veteran. I was
(24:13):
air for US. I never jumped down the airplanes. I
can't see why people jump out of perfectly good airplanes,
but there are people that jump, and for me to
understand what happens on an eighty mile rock march and
jumping out of an airplane into trees and having injuries
(24:35):
from that sometimes need to be explained. If I was
rating a claim, and that's a good instance that a
veteran can write something exactly what happened, exactly what their
circumstances are and what they went through to help give
a clearer picture exactly what it is that they're claiming.
Thank you, very cool.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
So what I was going to say, what else is
coming down the pipe for the.
Speaker 4 (24:59):
V We're kind of at a standstill now, Okay, we
really don't know what's going to happen. One of the
things that we're all hearing in the news about the
cuts that they're firing so many veterans and workers. They're
not saying where these workers are coming from, So we
(25:22):
don't know how it's going to impact or if that's
actually going to be fired or not.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
Yeah, we've heard that too. I have a friend whose
husband is a home healthcare via employee, so he does
a lot with the home health program in their state.
And the thing I don't know, The thing I hate
about the VA in some ways is it's a lot
like pcsing. If you're in one region, they might do
things completely different than another region of America. There might
(25:48):
be services you can get, Like my sister where she
lives in Colorado, she can get services over there that
I can't get here through the VA. And so with
the positions being cut, the concern is are these home
health position's going to be cut? And the sad part
is most people I know in America who have a
need for this, who are veterans, they can't get home
health in their state where they live. And so I'm
(26:11):
hoping they're not going to cut that. A lot of
people are. Everybody's kind of want some wishes at this
point because we really don't know how that's going to
shake out with those cuts that Secretary Collins talked about.
But it's like people are kind of hoping like maybe
these will be like groundskeepers or like executive level positions
or you know, little kind of more menial, less impactful
(26:33):
positions if they have to cut something. But I think
it's kind of too soon for anybody to really know.
Speaker 5 (26:39):
Yeah, about two weeks ago, I was up to DC.
I had to put a suit on and tie.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
Again, Florida. That's torture, Like if my husband puts pants on,
somebody passed away. That's just how it rolls like. It
was a feel for you, that's u.
Speaker 5 (26:57):
It was cold. Oh man, it was cold up there,
twenty degrees.
Speaker 1 (27:03):
Yeah, anyway, still coming off the Potomac.
Speaker 5 (27:07):
So I was up there for the Commanders and Adjutants
Conference for the dav and he was part of the
Legislative Affairs and Commander or Secretary Collins opened up our
conference and his first statement that he made to us
(27:31):
was that his his his, I'm trying to figure out
how to say this properly, but his. When he got
(27:52):
his appointment from President Trump and was speaking to the
employees at the department, he addressed them and said that
from here on out it was imperative that they put
(28:13):
veterans first, which he felt was something that had been
sorely missing in the Department of Veteran Affairs, and they
feel that part of what they're doing right now is
(28:34):
right sizing the department, and we're going to feel some
of these frustrations as they right size the department. It's
going to hurt.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
All change hurts. I mean I kind of have to
say that, like a lot of people are kind of
freaking out about stuff, but on some level, change hurts
because that's an adjustment you gotta if you go back
to your like PM day's a whole unfreezing making the
change and trying to refreeze. It never comes without bumps
or hiccups. And this is definitely going to be no different.
(29:16):
I just hope that they adopt the whole slowest smooth
and smooth as fast rather than you know, let's ramrod
this through and just make a quick change thinking it
will change quickly. Because change is true, change is never quick.
Speaker 4 (29:28):
Well, And I'm just afraid, and I think as most
veterans are, because right now, we have burn pits that
have increased the amount of claims correct, we have Camp
La June marine water that has affected claims. We have
AFFF foam that has affected claims. So the VA is
(29:49):
seeing a multitude of claims that's coming to them right now.
In a lot of different areas that they have not
had before for increased benefits, and we just want to
make sure that any cut that are made do not
lessen the expediency of these claims getting processed and process correctly.
Correct is what we want to see, as well as
(30:11):
the claims that they had on backlog.
Speaker 1 (30:13):
Already absolutely and don't impact people's benefits. I mean, truly,
there are a lot of people who are very concerned
about you know, there's been speculation about taxing via disability
as income. There are a lot of people who are
very nervous about that, or people who are being told
their benefits may get cut in the interest of cutting
you know, funding spending, whatever you want to call it.
(30:36):
And again this is all like not not to try
to fear monger, but just to try to have a conversation.
I mean, these are these are things that people are
hearing about, and it's understood that there may not be
a lot of answers necessarily, but it's nice to know
that there's advocacy through the DAV through other organizations out
there that advocate on Capitol Hill for US veterans.
Speaker 4 (30:58):
Through our selves. While you get involved with commanded actions
much like that organizations.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
That's right, absolutely, because I mean everybody hears stuff, but
I mean unless you speak up, unless you know. It's
one thing to hear something, but the other question becomes,
what are you going to do about it?
Speaker 5 (31:16):
Exactly?
Speaker 4 (31:18):
So I have a question.
Speaker 3 (31:19):
So we were talking earlier about younger veterans. So what
I've noticed is that a lot of younger veterans they're
concerned about job placement or you know, college, a lot
of things that we associate with veterans. A lot of
your twenty thirty year olds they don't think that applies
(31:41):
to them yet, you know, because when when you picture
a veteran, it's a it's a much more seasoned individual.
So what do we what would you recommend for younger
veterans or what are you guys doing to reach out
to younger veterans.
Speaker 4 (31:58):
Oh well, I have always said that veterans are kind
of generational in a sense that you have your World
War Two veterans that were just happy to come home.
Then you had your Vietnam veterans that nobody wanted home.
And now in this generation, we have veterans that there
(32:19):
are a lot more resources available technically and technology wise,
that a lot of us older veterans have. I mean,
you can google benefits for college. You could research some
disability benefits. All you need to do is just google that.
(32:39):
So a lot of our younger veterans are technically savvy.
Where they're lacking, I would say, is just having battle buddies.
Maybe that's already out and had experience and went through
some of these things, which is another good reason to
get involved with service organizations. Bring a couple of friends
to a service organization, take it over. You and your
(33:02):
buddies take over the service organization. But just get involved.
So there's a lot of things available, and benefits are
such an individualized aspect of a veterans at his military career,
so it's kind of hard to give widespread information other
than use the internet. Join a service organization, find a
(33:24):
veterans service officer, and find out what your entitlements are.
Speaker 3 (33:29):
Okay, yeah, because it seems like, you know, claims aren't cool.
Speaker 1 (33:33):
You know, it's like buffoonery. If anything, I think the
younger generation is more dialed into doing their claims because
they know now where a lot of people, especially like
Vietnam era, they came home and they got told don't
go near the VA because if they tag you as disabled,
you'll never get meaningful work. My father told me that.
He's almost seventy five, and he said they told him,
(33:54):
don't go near the VA because you'll never be able
to get meaningful work. If they tag you as disabled,
you'll be you'll have a hard time, blah blah blah,
So don't go to the VA. So that ended up screwing,
for lack of a better term, a lot of the
Vietnam veterans now because they say, oh, we needed this
identified within a year of separating. Well, what do you
expect when you have military members senior leaders that are
(34:17):
telling their young men and women getting out of the service,
don't go near the VA because then they'll ruin you.
And then now they're in a position in life where
things are coming to the surface and they need it
and they need that help and they're not getting it.
But the younger ones they know, now, oh my window
opens at six months before I get out, let me
go file that claim. I think we're seeing kind of
(34:37):
a shift in that regard to generationally.
Speaker 5 (34:39):
How many military members went through their careers and if
you went to medical you were a gold breaker. I correct.
I avoided medical for many, many years because I didn't
want to be labeled as a gold breaker.
Speaker 1 (34:58):
Well, or people didn't want to get kicked out if
they ended up saying the wrong thing or if the
wrong thing popped up in their medical record. They didn't
want to risk being put out before they could retire.
Speaker 5 (35:06):
Now, your medical record doesn't reflect correct everything about you.
So yeah, you've got all those challenges that have to
be overcome.
Speaker 1 (35:15):
Well, I'm sorry, Justin we interrupted you. I wanted to
finish your thought.
Speaker 2 (35:20):
Now.
Speaker 5 (35:21):
Justin was asking about how do we how do we
engage younger veterans. That that is one of the challenges
that we all face, and we have been looking to
social media as our primary means of engaging younger veterans
(35:42):
because it's not something that you can magically do. I mean,
one of the reasons we moved into the Port Charlotte
Town Center Mall was to hopefully reach younger veterans. It
wasn't the magical solution because younger veterans aren't doing like
(36:04):
we did when we were younger and going to the mall.
They're working twenty four to seven because they have to
support families. They shop online. They don't shop in a store,
so we have to figure out how to engage the
younger veterans.
Speaker 2 (36:25):
Well, Dave and Joe, I have to say this. Before
we got on the air, we had a lengthy conversation.
And again, like I said on my text last night,
Amanda had those moments where a light bulb goes off.
Minds like a big lighthouse and the big bean starts
flashing around.
Speaker 1 (36:40):
And then again you are like six foot seven or something,
So that kind of makes sense that there would be
a lighthouse not a light bulb. I'm sorry, I digress.
Speaker 2 (36:50):
And of course, and I think you nail that both.
You nail it right on the head. The nail on
the head. Basically, you said the fact of when you
approach veterans. One of the biggest digmas to say disabled benefits.
The first name is disabled, and there's a whole we
all have our own image and stigma idea what disabled
(37:11):
means if the like, we go through the generational component.
If you're disabled, you're nothing, and you're thrown to the
side and the train went for you're put on the
stop and life goes forward. But when you say the
same sentence, say well, when's the last time you got
you checked in time? Your benefits? Me benefits you served? Right,
you're entitled this, let's take a look at it. Saying
(37:33):
disabled benefits and benefits puts the same concept in two
different lights. And I'm not the guy with all the answers,
but for me, when you kind of broke me down today,
I'm not going by saying that, oh, you serve, and
you deserve and do the benefits that they promise you,
and you're guaranteed that your enrollment. Was the last time
you check your contract?
Speaker 4 (37:52):
Huh?
Speaker 2 (37:53):
I didn't know how to contract until I went on
in Deer's and pulled it up on going wow, thirty
seven pages of the contract, that's what you signed for.
Those are your benefits guaranteed the contract Reunion, United States Government.
And for me, you guys, kind of it just came
on like do you I think younger generations nowadays, either
(38:14):
younger or later, if you tell them these are benefits
you've already served and paid for with their service, why
don't you utilize it? And you're like going, well, what
do I got? Come on down, have an appointment and
just figure this out.
Speaker 4 (38:27):
I mean, you tell me, guys, I think in all
the years that I've been doing this that there's two
conversations that I have with the majority of my veterans.
One of them is they only did four years or
six years and they got out, and they always said,
I wish I had stayed. If I would have known
what I know now, I wish I would have made
it a career. The other one is concerning injuries, and
(38:54):
even if you sprain your ankle or spraining your knee
and you fight through it in your twenty one years
old or you bang your head, it's still a good
idea to go to the doctor and get it documented
because that sprained ankle when that twenty one year old,
once you hit the years of forty forty five, fifty,
(39:16):
it's going to change. Nothing is going to get better
during that timeframe. So the other conversation, I wish I
had went to the doctors. I wish that I got
this checked out because this is a lingering problem now
and I have no documentation to go back and prove
that that's when it's happened. So you know, if you
have children that's in the military, if you have friends
who's children in the military, please tell them go to
(39:38):
the doctors. Get everything documented because as you get older,
we know, you know, I wake up some time and
I used to wonder how my father said he sprained
his ankle while he was sleeping. But at this point
in my life, I know how it happens and I
so nothing is going to get better.
Speaker 3 (39:55):
So for any veteran, it's worth putting in a claim
because I right, I'm asking, because there's a lot of
veterans that I talked to that say that very thing.
You know, I was in three years, I was in
four years, but they never did a claim. Well you
know I was admin or you know I had a
(40:15):
desk job, Like, all right, you got carp tunnel? Did
you ever go to the range?
Speaker 4 (40:19):
Do you know? Do you have tonight?
Speaker 3 (40:20):
This is you got here and loss? Like everyone should
at least find out if they're entitled to something correct.
Speaker 4 (40:27):
Yeah, and really navigating the VA is a headache, and
it's really pretty simple, especially in that yes, you should
file for everything. Every claim has three things that's needed.
Basically your military service, an event, an injury, exposure to something.
(40:51):
That's the first thing. The second thing is a current diagnosis,
and the third thing is a link between the two.
And whenever you file any claim with the VA, they're
going to tell you what's missing. They're going to tell
you exactly which one of those three things is missing.
And then it becomes kind of our responsibility. Can I
prove that? Can I provide them that information? Or can
I not provide that information? And what's the best way
(41:13):
for me to get it to the VA? So it's
really a simple process, but you know, it's people like
us that's been doing it for a while and I'm
glad to help veterans navigate that system.
Speaker 3 (41:24):
Right, So the dav you guys are here to help
them map that.
Speaker 4 (41:28):
Out right, Yes, sir, free of charge, no appointment needed.
Speaker 2 (41:36):
Thank goodness for that, because we thought things were long
engated during before these changes that we have now. I
feel that if you can present your case properly, with
your guidance of course, bring the right paperwork, it increases
success but not guaranteed. And I'll say this, folks from
(41:57):
personal experience, I think it's a a birthright or a
write of passage to be denied by the VA, because
that's what they do. But I will say this, with
every denial, they'll tell you why it was denied. I'll
say it is they're giving you the answer to the test.
And I'll say, what you don't have, If you have it,
find it, if you don't make it. If you don't
have it, you don't have it. Do not do fraud,
(42:20):
do not lie. You will go to jail. It will
be a federal offense every day of the week on that.
But I will say this, if you read the denial,
they'll tell you what you have in favor and what
you don't and what you don't. Come back the next
time and go back to that information with the your vsos.
They'll they'll and they'll put it through. But I will
say this, if you get to put into time, folks.
(42:43):
And I'm going to steal a tiny segue, I go,
I'm having a flashback to whim. I was doing my
little speeches in front of my platoon and I said,
remember this the reason why you're here, everyone and every
every individual that's in the platoon and listen to this.
This conversation is that first it starts with you.
Speaker 4 (43:00):
You.
Speaker 2 (43:00):
This mission will succeed or will fail based on what
you will do, and in that you're part of the pie.
So we're putting your plant claim in You got to
do your part when the VSO is asking for information.
Don't sit there and expect them to do it. You
got to go back to find your records. If you
didn't have the records, then you find out how to
get your records. They're guidance, they're the being of light
I'm talking about from the lighthouse. They'll tell you how
(43:22):
to get it, and there are ins and outs to it.
If you know how to talk to a county v SO,
they can actually pull it up. But that's a whole
other conversation for them to talk about. But I will
say this, but before you put the onus on them,
before you show up, have the basic information and gentlemen,
what basic information do they need to present to put
a claim through?
Speaker 5 (43:43):
Start with a d D two fourteen, and from there
we can help guide you obtaining Typically the VA already
has your medical record if not. If you have them,
that's even better. But you probably know what was what
(44:07):
happened during your time in the military, and we'll just
sit down with you and fill out the documents that
need to be filed with the VA. We do an
intent to file and submit it to the VA. With
that first first time we see you. So you bring
(44:31):
in your d D two fourteen and we send in
that intent to file, and then you anything you don't
happen to know or have, we send you out and
back you come back with additional information that we may need,
or you go obtain an appointment or records so that
(44:57):
we can then file the actual fully developed claim or
standard claim with all the medical evidence.
Speaker 4 (45:08):
This is the gem of the day. So when you say,
what can you do, any veteran that's currently listening to this,
you could call one eight hundred eight two seven one thousand,
talk to someone on the phone and say I would
like to file an intent to file. That would save
today's date as your claim date for a claim. So
(45:32):
if it took you another six months to get a
Veteran Service office, it goes back. Today is your day
of claim, so you now get paid for these six
months up into that time. So if nothing else, just
call that number eight two seven one thousand and say
I would like to put in an intent to file
(45:52):
and it's done, and then go see your Veteran Service officer.
Speaker 1 (45:55):
Absolutely, and that's good for like a year, isn't it.
Speaker 4 (45:57):
And that is good for a year before.
Speaker 1 (45:59):
We have to dang I could be a vso I
hear that, and I'm kidding. I was going to say
I dabbled enough in that area when I was an
airman and family readiness, so I remember having to tell
people when they would call to make appointments. I'd be like,
you need to make sure for your claim that you
bring this, this, this, because there is extra stuff you
need to bring, like if you have dependents, make sure
you know where their birth certificates are, if their children,
(46:21):
make sure you have people's Social Security cards. Make sure
you have Oh, this is a big one. Not just
your marriage license, but guess what if you've been married before,
have your first and last page of your divorce de cree.
You might have to make a call and reach back
many lifetimes to some random county somewhere to get that,
but you are going to need it if you are
(46:42):
filing a claim. I believe for the first time. Am
I correct? Yes, because you got to make sure that
that whole former Spouse Uniform Services, Former Spouse Protection Act
doesn't come back. I'll bite you in the tukes were married?
Speaker 5 (46:55):
Yeah, correct?
Speaker 4 (46:56):
Yeah, out the woodwork. When if veteran died saying that
they are entitled this correct.
Speaker 1 (47:02):
I am not even kidding you. We had a guy
one time, and thankfully lucky for him, I can't remember
his name, but there was a gentleman that called one
time to make an appointment for his VA claim, and
when I told him, you need the first and last
page you're a divorced decree, he goes, how many marriages
do I got to have that for? I was like
all of them, and at that point, I believe he
was on wife number four. So it was like, oh, dear, well,
(47:26):
have fun going and finding all that documentation. So, I mean,
there's some some nuances obviously to the process, but as
long as I.
Speaker 4 (47:34):
Do it to the best of your ability. And also
everything is done by direct deposit now, so you want
to have your account number routing them in your bank information?
Speaker 1 (47:42):
Sweet, you don't need avoided check anymore? Are we passed
those days? Nobody even carries checks anymore? Really? Right?
Speaker 5 (47:48):
Just me?
Speaker 4 (47:49):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (47:50):
Raising the still wants avoided check? Do they really?
Speaker 1 (47:53):
I was gonna say, because I remember having to tell
people that, but I believe I thought I heard though,
because I had some friends who so they just went
rogue when they retired and they did their own thing,
and they filed. I couldn't believe this. They filed their
own VA claims and one of them ended up one
hundred percent total in permanent off the bat because she
just went through her whole medical record and if she
saw a condition, she'd type it in to see if
it said it was claimable, and if it did, she
(48:16):
claimed it and so anyhow. But yeah, like when they
do it online, from what I understand, there is an
option to enter your account and routing number. But from
what I understand, if you go see a VSO in
person to do it, that's where the voided check comes in.
Or is that just kind of a preference thing to
make sure they get it right?
Speaker 4 (48:37):
Yeah, you don't have to have the voided check.
Speaker 1 (48:39):
Okay, there are all you young ns out there that
don't keep check books anymore. Mischief managed right.
Speaker 3 (48:45):
I had a conversation with a twenty eight year old
couple of months ago that has never seen a check,
and there's probably a lot of them out there.
Speaker 1 (48:54):
I have definitely had parenting moments where I've taught my
children how to fill them out. And then I took
my son, I purposely took him to the bank and
I wrote him a check at the bank, and I
made him like endorse it and everything. It's hilarious. I
love seeing their faces because they're just like today's younger
veterans might feel the same way. They're kind of like,
what is that?
Speaker 3 (49:12):
But no one learns curses cursive anymore.
Speaker 5 (49:15):
It's say, nobody can read script. Yeah's a foreign language.
Speaker 3 (49:20):
So if you if you learn nothing else in cursive,
learn how to sign your name, good lord, Like, how
do you do that?
Speaker 1 (49:28):
I used to. I used to sign my signature like
I used to write out every letter, you know.
Speaker 4 (49:32):
And and as we talk about age, one of the
great things at our chapter, we've had the April fifth
is dav National Service Day and the Jacobson State Nursing
Home here in Port Charlotte. We're going to be doing
some things over there that day. But they have four
World War two veterans in that facility, and that's just
(49:56):
amazing at this point in time. I mean, we're talking
about cursive and things, and some of the veterans. I
remember when the first computers came out and they set
in rooms and all you heard was clicking and clanking
and the all the dots. And we've come a long way,
but we're still veterans, so we're going to go over
(50:17):
and help serve that.
Speaker 1 (50:18):
Day absolutely, And if people want to get involved with
the chapter, what's a good way for them to reach
out so they can see about getting involved.
Speaker 5 (50:26):
N six three three nine six two nine two eight
three three awesome.
Speaker 1 (50:36):
Well, Dave Grant, Joe Rapley, thank you so much for
being on the show today. We'll be having you on
a lot more often so we will have more opportunities
to discuss d you know, DAV and VA stuff in
the future. So thanks again for being on the show.
Speaker 4 (50:50):
Thanks for having us.
Speaker 2 (50:51):
Yeah, thanks guys, and once again, folks, that's our show.
And right now I want to thank our guts for
being on there, and I want to thank you our
listeners out there for keeping us here helping you. If
you have any concerns, comments, or ideas for our show,
please contact me at Hemingway at one rallypoint dot org.
Speaker 4 (51:08):
That's H. E. M. I.
Speaker 2 (51:09):
G W A Y at one rallypoint dot org. And
at this time I want to thank my producer for
being the man behind the mics and Amanda. I think
that's pretty much for our.
Speaker 4 (51:21):
Show for today.
Speaker 1 (51:22):
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Rally Pointers Fun.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Once again, folks, it's us at the Rally Point Show.
Your host Sergey James Hevyway, and my co host.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
I'm In and my canoe and our guest host we
have with us today. Introduce yourself.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
I'm Justin Ledford from Warrior Wellness Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Very cool, and Justin is going to be joining us
from time to time as a guest host here on
the Rally Point Show. So, now that we've introduced the gang,
everybody doing good, feeling good, hey.
Speaker 4 (00:31):
Man, living, breathing.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Oh yeah, right on, Well, let's jump right into the show.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Okay, folks in America. Here we're back again. In this
reception section of our show, we have the DAV Chapter
eighty two, that would be Disabled American Veterans Joe and Dave.
How are you doing today?
Speaker 5 (00:50):
Good morning, Dave Grant here from chapter eighty two.
Speaker 4 (00:53):
Good morning, This is Joe Rapley. I'm doing well this morning.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Well, folks, As you remember and those who don't remember,
the DAV is a huge component of US veterans here
in Charlotte County and the United States, and as you know,
I've been saying it for a year and a half.
Now you serve and you deserve, and these individuals are
the ones that make that happen. That being the case,
is going to turn over the conversation to the commander
(01:18):
of chapter eighty two, the dav here in Charlotte County,
Dave Grant.
Speaker 4 (01:23):
How you doing.
Speaker 5 (01:24):
I'm going really well. So we're here to talk to
you about benefits. You know, everybody comes in and the
first thing we meet in gree day veteran and we
asked them, do you have all your benefits? We don't
want them to think that we're there to call them disabled.
(01:48):
We're not here to talk about disabilities. We're here to
talk about benefits and help our fellow veterans obtain all
of their benefits. So that's our focus when we meet
and greet our fellow veterans. We're here to go out
in the community and spread the word about how and
(02:12):
what you are entitled to. You as a veteran, have
served your country and you are entitled to every veteran
every benefit that you earned.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
I agreed. And one of the things that when I say, Dave,
I want to say thank you for saying the benefits
that we are entitled to. I in my times and
travels and I hope you guys kind of reiterate this.
One of the things I have found in my day,
A lot of our veteran folks out there feel that
(02:48):
A and I've had this conversation a thousand times, Oh,
I didn't serve overseas, I don't think I deserve it,
or what I did, I didn't go in combat, and
I don't deserve it, or something around that kind of conversation.
And one of the things I'd liked for you guys
to kind of break down is that myth about having
(03:10):
to serve in combat in order to be qualified. And
one of the things I also want to say is
thank you for again kind of reiterating you served and
you deserved because whether our listeners notice or not, we
are the few in the prob that had the opportunity
to raise our right hand to be faithfully and loyal
to the United States Constitution, which we served in any capacity.
(03:34):
So could you kind of help us break that down.
Speaker 4 (03:36):
Well, I was going to hijack the conversation and go
a different direction, but since you asked that question, when
we're talking about combat veterans only having to apply for
benefits and most of the time you think about mental
health disorders or depression, anxiety, things of that nature, even
sleep disorders. If you was in Katrina doing the hurricanes
(04:01):
and you was a military veteran, are you entitled to
benefits because you suffer from thoughts from that process in
rescuing people in Katrina? I was in Oklahoma City during
the Mirror Building bombing and I had to go in
and retrieve and remains out of the Mirror Building. Am
I entitled to it for some thoughts that I might
(04:21):
have based on that this local area? We had three
hurricanes in the last two years. So if you a
National Guard or reserves and were called up to duty
and had some situations that were mentally draining and you
still suffering, that's not combat. So you do not have
(04:43):
to actually be in combat to have those I mean,
those things are an individual issue, and as human beings
we suffer from them differently. So the main thing if
speaking to a doctor, you get a diagnosis, then you
come to a veteran service office and ask hey, am
I qualified or does this meet the requirements for me
(05:04):
to file for that benefit?
Speaker 2 (05:07):
And for our listeners out there, and again we're of
my not my issue, but I'm finding that a lot
of our veterans who are women, they are they don't
applying for benefits. He kind of give us an idea
of what is behind that kind of mystique.
Speaker 4 (05:26):
Uh, my wife, who you've been trying to get up
here for for months has several disabilities, and I think
it's too For one thing, I always say, the military
is in doctrination. Uh, they make you think that we
are American fighting men and fighting women, and we will
(05:47):
not be defeated, and we're the badest mothers on earth,
and we're not able to get injured. We're going to
fight through it. In a lot of instances, especially I
would say for my marine and army brethren and sister
and who never went to the doctors because of some
of the stigmas that are attached to them going to
(06:09):
the doctors. They don't have a lot of documentation. One
of the great thing about a lot of lady and
female veterans, they do go to the doctors a little
bit more, but they're not really educated in what they
might be entitled to do to some of the problems
that they have. Women have specific issues, and a lot
of those specific issues they're able to get compensating for
(06:33):
a hysterectomy a voluntary HYS direct to me, while you're
in the military. Service is a service connected disability. So
they are a lot of things that women don't understand
about the process, and that's why we're there to help them.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
Dave, what your thoughts on that?
Speaker 5 (06:48):
Okay, Well, I'm going to segue off of that into
a slightly different area because there's another significant challenge that
exists here and it's one that our female service officers
are reaching out trying to address, and even though we
don't specifically recognize it as a solely veteran issue, it
(07:16):
is one that our service officers are working with our
fellow sister organizations over in Arcadia at the American Legion.
It's called period poverty. This sounds like something that most
of the males wouldn't like to talk about, but it's
(07:40):
one that's important specifically because of the number of school
age and homeless female veterans that suffer from this challenge.
So I have four service officers that are currently working
on obtaining female products to address this for school age
(08:08):
and older females to ensure that there isn't the issue
of period poverty going unnoticed, and I encourage those out
(08:28):
here in the audience to provide assistance through monetary donations.
You can contact our service officers and ask them how
you can contribute to addressing this challenge. DAV has been
(08:55):
very active in addressing women veteran issues, and this is
again another women veterans issue that needs to be addressed.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Most definitely so and as I think I've sat on
our conversations in the past, I feel that over in
the beginning or back in the day, women representation in
the military and as veterans wasn't so much pronounced as
we're now trying to present it now in present day.
(09:27):
And I'm thankful that you guys are kind of taking
the ball and just stick to kind of promote that
and let them know that they are inclusive to our
veteran family, and that their efforts and energies are definitely
appreciated in the perpetuation of our nation's goal without goal
of being a successful and free country, that their participation
(09:51):
is just as important as everyone else's. But I wanted
to ask you guys again just to re educate America
about the DAVING. Yourselves can kind of explain what the
DAV does on a local and then on a national.
If they're the same, that's not a problem.
Speaker 4 (10:06):
But this was going to be the direction that I
was hijacked in the first place. I was a service
officer in the state of North Carolina for sixteen years
before I relocated here to this area. And although I
had been a member of the VFW American Legion and
the DAV prior to me get here, I was never
(10:28):
really involved. It was basically in name only. I didn't
want to go to any of the meetings because I
thought it had more of an elderly old boy of
you know, good old boys. Yeah, it was a good
old boy community. And then I moved here and I
talked to a couple of people and I walked into
(10:49):
our DAV chapter, and as a service officer, they had
nineteen other service officers. It wasn't a bar, don't serve drinks.
The only thing our chapter does is do claims to veterans,
and there's families with benefits. Recently. One of the things
(11:11):
that we've noticed, and over the years many other people
have noticed because of that good old boy network was
that it was a lot of elderly veterans in it,
and it seemed like they just wanted to hold onto power. Recently,
we have started to attract younger veterans. There's a lot
(11:32):
of volunteer opportunities. Dave, our commander here, is glad to
give up brains on different duties, so there's plenty to
do in the community, as well as making a nationwide
push for some of the things that's been put on
the agenda as far as veterans benefits and submitting letters.
(11:55):
I'm sure he'll talk to you about the Command Is
Action Network, which is very important, and having veterans voices
heard in some of the things and approving some of
the items that we put before our law makers. So
I would say get involved and do something, especially as
(12:16):
fellow veterans are involved.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
Well, I'll tell you that all sounds wonderful because there
is a younger generation of veterans that are coming out
of the military, and sadly, for the longest time, it
seemed like a lot of them wanted nothing to do
with BSOS and that has to change because a VSO
isn't just four walls where people go to drink and
commiserate and whatever the case might be. It's also advocacy
(12:40):
in the halls of Congress, and a lot of people
lose sight of that. So hopefully with these younger veterans
coming in, they're recognizing that need and the importance and
they're eager to jump in. I'll also say that we
have a County Women's Veterans group that meets more so
for you know, camaraderie, mutual support, networking and such. But
(13:03):
definitely I will put to them that you know, these
opportunities exist, because I wholeheartedly agree. When I was with
the Charlotte County Veterans Council, I said all the time
to people, please go back to your posts, go back
to your you know, your groups, and go find people
who are looking for an opportunity, because we had opportunities
with Charlotte County Veterans Council that thankfully have since been filled,
(13:24):
but we were trying to get those those positions filled
and trying to get a little bit more engagement, a
little more involvement. So it's wonderful that you have an
avenue for that with the DAV through the Commander's Action Network.
That's wonderful.
Speaker 5 (13:38):
Yeah, let me talk about a couple of things that
have come out through the dav's Commander's Action Network. And
you know, the DAV Commander's Action Network isn't solely for
members of the disabled American veterans. It's also for anyone
that wants to join. The only requirement is that you
(14:00):
go to our website DAV dot org and put in
Quorum dot us and put your name and sign up,
and then it helps you just do the rest of
it as far as putting your name and address, etc.
In there. And then when some legislative information comes out
(14:26):
that we're trying to get in front of Congress, whether
it's our House of Representatives or senators, you are informed
and then we ask you to respond and send a
note to your congressman or senator supporting it. One such
(14:49):
thing is retiring the Pay Restoration Act, which used to
be that if you were forty or less disabled as
a veteran, they took that money out of your military
retirement and then allegedly, I say that allegedly gave it
(15:11):
to you as part of your va A disability.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
Pay, kind of like they made you choose one or
the other. I think we heard something about that at
some point, like an offset of sorts.
Speaker 5 (15:24):
Yeah, the other one dental. They're talking about providing dental
care for.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
All veterans as it should be.
Speaker 5 (15:35):
As it should be, yes, because part.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
Of the whole free health care for life promise that
was made and justly kept. To say the least, Congress,
I'm looking at you.
Speaker 5 (15:46):
Well, we still get free health care for life, you
just have to pay for I was.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
Going to say free free isn't free, that's for sure.
Speaker 5 (15:57):
And then improving menopause care for veterans. Act hey out there,
yes again focusing on our women veterans.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
Which is wonderful and appreciated for sure. And all these
these letters that you guys provide, they're pre written correct,
so like somebody can go online, yes, type their name,
I think their address. Usually you have to give so
that way they get it to the right member of Congress.
Speaker 5 (16:20):
It's not even that.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
And then you just push send.
Speaker 5 (16:22):
Oh nice, it's not that hard. It comes all pre
done for you. All you have to do is push
a button and it goes directly to the right representative
or senator. It's that easy. It comes in an email
ready for you.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
Nice. Well, very cool. Yeah, those are super helpful because
I think a lot of people get very intimidated surrounding
contacting their congressmen. And the thing that people forget is
these people in DC, they work for us. It is
not the other way around. We do not bow to
them like they work for us. They're elected, so we
(16:59):
shouldn't be afraid to send the messages let them know
what we think about things. Tactfully, of course, But at
the same time, that's our civic duty as citizens. If
we're going to send people to Congress to represent us,
then we are bound by civic duty to make sure
that we are communicating with them, to tell them what
we think about certain things and things we want to see.
Speaker 5 (17:20):
Yes, attacking diplomacy goes.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
A long way, agreed, so hopefully they listen. That's that's
kind of a horse of a different color. But I mean,
I think hopefully we'll get more veterans in Congress. I
know our representative in our area, Representative Stuby, he's an
Army veteran and he does a lot to advocate for
us as veterans. So hopefully we'll get more veterans who
(17:45):
are willing to answer that call to go serve in
Congress and definitely make sure that we're not forgotten about.
Speaker 4 (17:52):
I think within the last three months. I've probably hit
command as network four times and send let us mister Stewby.
There's a couple of things, especially for veterans. One of
them is that HR six's eighty they're Caring for Survivors Act,
And what that does is if a veteran is one
hundred percent disabled for ten years, his wife is entitled
(18:16):
to forty one percent of that disability. That's about sixteen
hundred dollars a month. So right now on the table
is they're going to decrease that ten years to five
years and also increase the amount to fifty five percent.
So it used to be about sixteen hundred dollars a
month for a widow, and that would increase the amount
to twenty two hundred dollars a month, which is a
(18:38):
significant amount for a widow that's living off of that page.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
Absolutely, I mean it's still not enough, but it's something
for sure. In this economy, twenty two hundred bucks doesn't
do as much as it eases.
Speaker 4 (18:49):
Then HR sixty four to fifty two, which is the
Veterans Scam and Prevention Act, which is to get rid
of some of these pirates that are paying asking you.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
To pay for Oh, the pension poachers.
Speaker 4 (19:02):
Yes, so there's an acting now to get rid of
some of these pension poaches and taking veterans for their money.
Speaker 5 (19:11):
Good.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
That's as it should be. You should never ever ever
pay for somebody to do what There are so many
organizations out there who exist to do this for free,
and they have all the same qualifications. In most cases
the vso who's free frie best four letter F word
out there, I don't care what you want to say.
They are the ones. They have better training in most
(19:33):
cases than the pension poachers.
Speaker 5 (19:35):
So quite often they come to our DAV training and
then go off and try to charge you for the
same things that we give you for free. Come see
your local DAV in our chapter it's a first come,
first served basis. Not all chapters are that way, but
(19:58):
chapter eighty two Port Charlotte Town Center Mall, it's first come,
first served, and we're there to serve you.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
So you're saying you just do walkins, you don't schedule appointments.
Speaker 5 (20:09):
No appointment ness, Okay.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
Great, Yeah, because you're right, A lot of veteran service
organizations do require appointments to be made, and sometimes they're
booked out. Gosh when I worked in airmin in family Readiness.
We had the BFW in our center doing claims for
people when they were at their like six month out
or so point of transitioning from the military, and they
would sometimes be booked like months out.
Speaker 5 (20:32):
We understand that frustration factor, and that's what I think
fed into some of those sharks being able to make money.
We do not operate in that manner, and that's why
we try to. I mean, there are times when our
waiting area is full. We have, you know, just jam
(20:58):
packed with folks. We've got stale donuts and coffee or
not stale.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
They're day old, day old. Sounds a little more humane.
Hey Hey, but they're free, right, They're free every there
you go. So I have a question for you, And
this might be kind of rumor mill kind of you know,
I understand a lot of things have kind of been
put on pause, But has there been any update, Like
(21:25):
we were seeing reports that we're saying you can no
longer go to a private doctor to get a nexus
letter for a condition that is believed to be service connected.
Has there been any change on that, because from what
we've heard, and like I said, I stress, this is
all conjecture. This is all hearsay kind of stuff. I've
(21:46):
been told that the only people right now who can
write a nexus letter are VA doctors, and VA doctors
are disinclined to do so because they see it as
a conflict of interest. So most of them absolutely will
not write a nexus letter for any veteran. So kind
of what is the status there? Where do folks go
if they're trying to file a claim or maybe appeal
(22:06):
something where they need a nexus letter?
Speaker 4 (22:08):
All right, so first let's talk about that it's not
in their best interests. A veteran goes to the VA
to receive care, correct, to get well, there's not a
much there's not much incentive to write something that says
that this is what's caused it that you're getting worse,
(22:30):
because that's a conflict of interest. Somebody's not doing that job. Then, However,
as far as getting a nexus from a civilian doctor
is still available, is still encouraged, is still going to
help you the problem. In some instances, sometimes you have
to have an initial diagnosis from a VA doctor prior
(22:52):
to getting that nexus letter. But a nexus letter is
just as good as a buddy statement. One of the
things We have all that that happened in office. All
the time VA's come in and they assume that a
condition is caused by military service, or they presume that
they have a certain disability or diagnosis, and we always
(23:13):
tell them what we aren't doctors, and you aren't doctors.
What you need to get is a nexus letter from
a provider, a diagnosis from a provider. So it's still
highly encourage and acceptable.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
Maybe you can provide some clarity because I'll use myself
as a guinea pig. I did a lot of research
and I got a nexus letter. I was also told
to write a letter byself to explain, like I'm writing
a letter not to the doctor, I'm writing a letter
to the radar explaining my military career and how that
may collaborate with the nexus letter. Would you concurred that
(23:48):
would that be helpful? Do you think one is better
than the other? What do you think about that?
Speaker 4 (23:52):
Well, I would say in a perfect nexus letter, what
a doctor is going to do is he's going to
review your military background, what you did, He's gonna look
at your current condition, and he is going to make
a statement linking the two of them. What you do
is just help clarify because when it goes to a
VA raider who might be a military veteran. I was
(24:13):
air for US. I never jumped down the airplanes. I
can't see why people jump out of perfectly good airplanes,
but there are people that jump, and for me to
understand what happens on an eighty mile rock march and
jumping out of an airplane into trees and having injuries
(24:35):
from that sometimes need to be explained. If I was
rating a claim, and that's a good instance that a
veteran can write something exactly what happened, exactly what their
circumstances are and what they went through to help give
a clearer picture exactly what it is that they're claiming.
Thank you, very cool.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
So what I was going to say, what else is
coming down the pipe for the.
Speaker 4 (24:59):
V We're kind of at a standstill now, Okay, we
really don't know what's going to happen. One of the
things that we're all hearing in the news about the
cuts that they're firing so many veterans and workers. They're
not saying where these workers are coming from, So we
(25:22):
don't know how it's going to impact or if that's
actually going to be fired or not.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
Yeah, we've heard that too. I have a friend whose
husband is a home healthcare via employee, so he does
a lot with the home health program in their state.
And the thing I don't know, The thing I hate
about the VA in some ways is it's a lot
like pcsing. If you're in one region, they might do
things completely different than another region of America. There might
(25:48):
be services you can get, Like my sister where she
lives in Colorado, she can get services over there that
I can't get here through the VA. And so with
the positions being cut, the concern is are these home
health position's going to be cut? And the sad part
is most people I know in America who have a
need for this, who are veterans, they can't get home
health in their state where they live. And so I'm
(26:11):
hoping they're not going to cut that. A lot of
people are. Everybody's kind of want some wishes at this
point because we really don't know how that's going to
shake out with those cuts that Secretary Collins talked about.
But it's like people are kind of hoping like maybe
these will be like groundskeepers or like executive level positions
or you know, little kind of more menial, less impactful
(26:33):
positions if they have to cut something. But I think
it's kind of too soon for anybody to really know.
Speaker 5 (26:39):
Yeah, about two weeks ago, I was up to DC.
I had to put a suit on and tie.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
Again, Florida. That's torture, Like if my husband puts pants on,
somebody passed away. That's just how it rolls like. It
was a feel for you, that's u.
Speaker 5 (26:57):
It was cold. Oh man, it was cold up there,
twenty degrees.
Speaker 1 (27:03):
Yeah, anyway, still coming off the Potomac.
Speaker 5 (27:07):
So I was up there for the Commanders and Adjutants
Conference for the dav and he was part of the
Legislative Affairs and Commander or Secretary Collins opened up our
conference and his first statement that he made to us
(27:31):
was that his his his, I'm trying to figure out
how to say this properly, but his. When he got
(27:52):
his appointment from President Trump and was speaking to the
employees at the department, he addressed them and said that
from here on out it was imperative that they put
(28:13):
veterans first, which he felt was something that had been
sorely missing in the Department of Veteran Affairs, and they
feel that part of what they're doing right now is
(28:34):
right sizing the department, and we're going to feel some
of these frustrations as they right size the department. It's
going to hurt.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
All change hurts. I mean I kind of have to
say that, like a lot of people are kind of
freaking out about stuff, but on some level, change hurts
because that's an adjustment you gotta if you go back
to your like PM day's a whole unfreezing making the
change and trying to refreeze. It never comes without bumps
or hiccups. And this is definitely going to be no different.
(29:16):
I just hope that they adopt the whole slowest smooth
and smooth as fast rather than you know, let's ramrod
this through and just make a quick change thinking it
will change quickly. Because change is true, change is never quick.
Speaker 4 (29:28):
Well, And I'm just afraid, and I think as most
veterans are, because right now, we have burn pits that
have increased the amount of claims correct, we have Camp
La June marine water that has affected claims. We have
AFFF foam that has affected claims. So the VA is
(29:49):
seeing a multitude of claims that's coming to them right now.
In a lot of different areas that they have not
had before for increased benefits, and we just want to
make sure that any cut that are made do not
lessen the expediency of these claims getting processed and process correctly.
Correct is what we want to see, as well as
(30:11):
the claims that they had on backlog.
Speaker 1 (30:13):
Already absolutely and don't impact people's benefits. I mean, truly,
there are a lot of people who are very concerned
about you know, there's been speculation about taxing via disability
as income. There are a lot of people who are
very nervous about that, or people who are being told
their benefits may get cut in the interest of cutting
you know, funding spending, whatever you want to call it.
(30:36):
And again this is all like not not to try
to fear monger, but just to try to have a conversation.
I mean, these are these are things that people are
hearing about, and it's understood that there may not be
a lot of answers necessarily, but it's nice to know
that there's advocacy through the DAV through other organizations out
there that advocate on Capitol Hill for US veterans.
Speaker 4 (30:58):
Through our selves. While you get involved with commanded actions
much like that organizations.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
That's right, absolutely, because I mean everybody hears stuff, but
I mean unless you speak up, unless you know. It's
one thing to hear something, but the other question becomes,
what are you going to do about it?
Speaker 5 (31:16):
Exactly?
Speaker 4 (31:18):
So I have a question.
Speaker 3 (31:19):
So we were talking earlier about younger veterans. So what
I've noticed is that a lot of younger veterans they're
concerned about job placement or you know, college, a lot
of things that we associate with veterans. A lot of
your twenty thirty year olds they don't think that applies
(31:41):
to them yet, you know, because when when you picture
a veteran, it's a it's a much more seasoned individual.
So what do we what would you recommend for younger
veterans or what are you guys doing to reach out
to younger veterans.
Speaker 4 (31:58):
Oh well, I have always said that veterans are kind
of generational in a sense that you have your World
War Two veterans that were just happy to come home.
Then you had your Vietnam veterans that nobody wanted home.
And now in this generation, we have veterans that there
(32:19):
are a lot more resources available technically and technology wise,
that a lot of us older veterans have. I mean,
you can google benefits for college. You could research some
disability benefits. All you need to do is just google that.
(32:39):
So a lot of our younger veterans are technically savvy.
Where they're lacking, I would say, is just having battle buddies.
Maybe that's already out and had experience and went through
some of these things, which is another good reason to
get involved with service organizations. Bring a couple of friends
to a service organization, take it over. You and your
(33:02):
buddies take over the service organization. But just get involved.
So there's a lot of things available, and benefits are
such an individualized aspect of a veterans at his military career,
so it's kind of hard to give widespread information other
than use the internet. Join a service organization, find a
(33:24):
veterans service officer, and find out what your entitlements are.
Speaker 3 (33:29):
Okay, yeah, because it seems like, you know, claims aren't cool.
Speaker 1 (33:33):
You know, it's like buffoonery. If anything, I think the
younger generation is more dialed into doing their claims because
they know now where a lot of people, especially like
Vietnam era, they came home and they got told don't
go near the VA because if they tag you as disabled,
you'll never get meaningful work. My father told me that.
He's almost seventy five, and he said they told him,
(33:54):
don't go near the VA because you'll never be able
to get meaningful work. If they tag you as disabled,
you'll be you'll have a hard time, blah blah blah,
So don't go to the VA. So that ended up screwing,
for lack of a better term, a lot of the
Vietnam veterans now because they say, oh, we needed this
identified within a year of separating. Well, what do you
expect when you have military members senior leaders that are
(34:17):
telling their young men and women getting out of the service,
don't go near the VA because then they'll ruin you.
And then now they're in a position in life where
things are coming to the surface and they need it
and they need that help and they're not getting it.
But the younger ones they know, now, oh my window
opens at six months before I get out, let me
go file that claim. I think we're seeing kind of
(34:37):
a shift in that regard to generationally.
Speaker 5 (34:39):
How many military members went through their careers and if
you went to medical you were a gold breaker. I correct.
I avoided medical for many, many years because I didn't
want to be labeled as a gold breaker.
Speaker 1 (34:58):
Well, or people didn't want to get kicked out if
they ended up saying the wrong thing or if the
wrong thing popped up in their medical record. They didn't
want to risk being put out before they could retire.
Speaker 5 (35:06):
Now, your medical record doesn't reflect correct everything about you.
So yeah, you've got all those challenges that have to
be overcome.
Speaker 1 (35:15):
Well, I'm sorry, Justin we interrupted you. I wanted to
finish your thought.
Speaker 2 (35:20):
Now.
Speaker 5 (35:21):
Justin was asking about how do we how do we
engage younger veterans. That that is one of the challenges
that we all face, and we have been looking to
social media as our primary means of engaging younger veterans
(35:42):
because it's not something that you can magically do. I mean,
one of the reasons we moved into the Port Charlotte
Town Center Mall was to hopefully reach younger veterans. It
wasn't the magical solution because younger veterans aren't doing like
(36:04):
we did when we were younger and going to the mall.
They're working twenty four to seven because they have to
support families. They shop online. They don't shop in a store,
so we have to figure out how to engage the
younger veterans.
Speaker 2 (36:25):
Well, Dave and Joe, I have to say this. Before
we got on the air, we had a lengthy conversation.
And again, like I said on my text last night,
Amanda had those moments where a light bulb goes off.
Minds like a big lighthouse and the big bean starts
flashing around.
Speaker 1 (36:40):
And then again you are like six foot seven or something,
So that kind of makes sense that there would be
a lighthouse not a light bulb. I'm sorry, I digress.
Speaker 2 (36:50):
And of course, and I think you nail that both.
You nail it right on the head. The nail on
the head. Basically, you said the fact of when you
approach veterans. One of the biggest digmas to say disabled benefits.
The first name is disabled, and there's a whole we
all have our own image and stigma idea what disabled
(37:11):
means if the like, we go through the generational component.
If you're disabled, you're nothing, and you're thrown to the
side and the train went for you're put on the
stop and life goes forward. But when you say the
same sentence, say well, when's the last time you got
you checked in time? Your benefits? Me benefits you served? Right,
you're entitled this, let's take a look at it. Saying
(37:33):
disabled benefits and benefits puts the same concept in two
different lights. And I'm not the guy with all the answers,
but for me, when you kind of broke me down today,
I'm not going by saying that, oh, you serve, and
you deserve and do the benefits that they promise you,
and you're guaranteed that your enrollment. Was the last time
you check your contract?
Speaker 4 (37:52):
Huh?
Speaker 2 (37:53):
I didn't know how to contract until I went on
in Deer's and pulled it up on going wow, thirty
seven pages of the contract, that's what you signed for.
Those are your benefits guaranteed the contract Reunion, United States Government.
And for me, you guys, kind of it just came
on like do you I think younger generations nowadays, either
(38:14):
younger or later, if you tell them these are benefits
you've already served and paid for with their service, why
don't you utilize it? And you're like going, well, what
do I got? Come on down, have an appointment and
just figure this out.
Speaker 4 (38:27):
I mean, you tell me, guys, I think in all
the years that I've been doing this that there's two
conversations that I have with the majority of my veterans.
One of them is they only did four years or
six years and they got out, and they always said,
I wish I had stayed. If I would have known
what I know now, I wish I would have made
it a career. The other one is concerning injuries, and
(38:54):
even if you sprain your ankle or spraining your knee
and you fight through it in your twenty one years
old or you bang your head, it's still a good
idea to go to the doctor and get it documented
because that sprained ankle when that twenty one year old,
once you hit the years of forty forty five, fifty,
(39:16):
it's going to change. Nothing is going to get better
during that timeframe. So the other conversation, I wish I
had went to the doctors. I wish that I got
this checked out because this is a lingering problem now
and I have no documentation to go back and prove
that that's when it's happened. So you know, if you
have children that's in the military, if you have friends
who's children in the military, please tell them go to
(39:38):
the doctors. Get everything documented because as you get older,
we know, you know, I wake up some time and
I used to wonder how my father said he sprained
his ankle while he was sleeping. But at this point
in my life, I know how it happens and I
so nothing is going to get better.
Speaker 3 (39:55):
So for any veteran, it's worth putting in a claim
because I right, I'm asking, because there's a lot of
veterans that I talked to that say that very thing.
You know, I was in three years, I was in
four years, but they never did a claim. Well you
know I was admin or you know I had a
(40:15):
desk job, Like, all right, you got carp tunnel? Did
you ever go to the range?
Speaker 4 (40:19):
Do you know? Do you have tonight?
Speaker 3 (40:20):
This is you got here and loss? Like everyone should
at least find out if they're entitled to something correct.
Speaker 4 (40:27):
Yeah, and really navigating the VA is a headache, and
it's really pretty simple, especially in that yes, you should
file for everything. Every claim has three things that's needed.
Basically your military service, an event, an injury, exposure to something.
(40:51):
That's the first thing. The second thing is a current diagnosis,
and the third thing is a link between the two.
And whenever you file any claim with the VA, they're
going to tell you what's missing. They're going to tell
you exactly which one of those three things is missing.
And then it becomes kind of our responsibility. Can I
prove that? Can I provide them that information? Or can
I not provide that information? And what's the best way
(41:13):
for me to get it to the VA? So it's
really a simple process, but you know, it's people like
us that's been doing it for a while and I'm
glad to help veterans navigate that system.
Speaker 3 (41:24):
Right, So the dav you guys are here to help
them map that.
Speaker 4 (41:28):
Out right, Yes, sir, free of charge, no appointment needed.
Speaker 2 (41:36):
Thank goodness for that, because we thought things were long
engated during before these changes that we have now. I
feel that if you can present your case properly, with
your guidance of course, bring the right paperwork, it increases
success but not guaranteed. And I'll say this, folks from
(41:57):
personal experience, I think it's a a birthright or a
write of passage to be denied by the VA, because
that's what they do. But I will say this, with
every denial, they'll tell you why it was denied. I'll
say it is they're giving you the answer to the test.
And I'll say, what you don't have, If you have it,
find it, if you don't make it. If you don't
have it, you don't have it. Do not do fraud,
(42:20):
do not lie. You will go to jail. It will
be a federal offense every day of the week on that.
But I will say this, if you read the denial,
they'll tell you what you have in favor and what
you don't and what you don't. Come back the next
time and go back to that information with the your vsos.
They'll they'll and they'll put it through. But I will
say this, if you get to put into time, folks.
(42:43):
And I'm going to steal a tiny segue, I go,
I'm having a flashback to whim. I was doing my
little speeches in front of my platoon and I said,
remember this the reason why you're here, everyone and every
every individual that's in the platoon and listen to this.
This conversation is that first it starts with you.
Speaker 4 (43:00):
You.
Speaker 2 (43:00):
This mission will succeed or will fail based on what
you will do, and in that you're part of the pie.
So we're putting your plant claim in You got to
do your part when the VSO is asking for information.
Don't sit there and expect them to do it. You
got to go back to find your records. If you
didn't have the records, then you find out how to
get your records. They're guidance, they're the being of light
I'm talking about from the lighthouse. They'll tell you how
(43:22):
to get it, and there are ins and outs to it.
If you know how to talk to a county v SO,
they can actually pull it up. But that's a whole
other conversation for them to talk about. But I will
say this, but before you put the onus on them,
before you show up, have the basic information and gentlemen,
what basic information do they need to present to put
a claim through?
Speaker 5 (43:43):
Start with a d D two fourteen, and from there
we can help guide you obtaining Typically the VA already
has your medical record if not. If you have them,
that's even better. But you probably know what was what
(44:07):
happened during your time in the military, and we'll just
sit down with you and fill out the documents that
need to be filed with the VA. We do an
intent to file and submit it to the VA. With
that first first time we see you. So you bring
(44:31):
in your d D two fourteen and we send in
that intent to file, and then you anything you don't
happen to know or have, we send you out and
back you come back with additional information that we may need,
or you go obtain an appointment or records so that
(44:57):
we can then file the actual fully developed claim or
standard claim with all the medical evidence.
Speaker 4 (45:08):
This is the gem of the day. So when you say,
what can you do, any veteran that's currently listening to this,
you could call one eight hundred eight two seven one thousand,
talk to someone on the phone and say I would
like to file an intent to file. That would save
today's date as your claim date for a claim. So
(45:32):
if it took you another six months to get a
Veteran Service office, it goes back. Today is your day
of claim, so you now get paid for these six
months up into that time. So if nothing else, just
call that number eight two seven one thousand and say
I would like to put in an intent to file
(45:52):
and it's done, and then go see your Veteran Service officer.
Speaker 1 (45:55):
Absolutely, and that's good for like a year, isn't it.
Speaker 4 (45:57):
And that is good for a year before.
Speaker 1 (45:59):
We have to dang I could be a vso I
hear that, and I'm kidding. I was going to say
I dabbled enough in that area when I was an
airman and family readiness, so I remember having to tell
people when they would call to make appointments. I'd be like,
you need to make sure for your claim that you
bring this, this, this, because there is extra stuff you
need to bring, like if you have dependents, make sure
you know where their birth certificates are, if their children,
(46:21):
make sure you have people's Social Security cards. Make sure
you have Oh, this is a big one. Not just
your marriage license, but guess what if you've been married before,
have your first and last page of your divorce de cree.
You might have to make a call and reach back
many lifetimes to some random county somewhere to get that,
but you are going to need it if you are
(46:42):
filing a claim. I believe for the first time. Am
I correct? Yes, because you got to make sure that
that whole former Spouse Uniform Services, Former Spouse Protection Act
doesn't come back. I'll bite you in the tukes were married?
Speaker 5 (46:55):
Yeah, correct?
Speaker 4 (46:56):
Yeah, out the woodwork. When if veteran died saying that
they are entitled this correct.
Speaker 1 (47:02):
I am not even kidding you. We had a guy
one time, and thankfully lucky for him, I can't remember
his name, but there was a gentleman that called one
time to make an appointment for his VA claim, and
when I told him, you need the first and last
page you're a divorced decree, he goes, how many marriages
do I got to have that for? I was like
all of them, and at that point, I believe he
was on wife number four. So it was like, oh, dear, well,
(47:26):
have fun going and finding all that documentation. So, I mean,
there's some some nuances obviously to the process, but as
long as I.
Speaker 4 (47:34):
Do it to the best of your ability. And also
everything is done by direct deposit now, so you want
to have your account number routing them in your bank information?
Speaker 1 (47:42):
Sweet, you don't need avoided check anymore? Are we passed
those days? Nobody even carries checks anymore? Really? Right?
Speaker 5 (47:48):
Just me?
Speaker 4 (47:49):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (47:50):
Raising the still wants avoided check? Do they really?
Speaker 1 (47:53):
I was gonna say, because I remember having to tell
people that, but I believe I thought I heard though,
because I had some friends who so they just went
rogue when they retired and they did their own thing,
and they filed. I couldn't believe this. They filed their
own VA claims and one of them ended up one
hundred percent total in permanent off the bat because she
just went through her whole medical record and if she
saw a condition, she'd type it in to see if
it said it was claimable, and if it did, she
(48:16):
claimed it and so anyhow. But yeah, like when they
do it online, from what I understand, there is an
option to enter your account and routing number. But from
what I understand, if you go see a VSO in
person to do it, that's where the voided check comes in.
Or is that just kind of a preference thing to
make sure they get it right?
Speaker 4 (48:37):
Yeah, you don't have to have the voided check.
Speaker 1 (48:39):
Okay, there are all you young ns out there that
don't keep check books anymore. Mischief managed right.
Speaker 3 (48:45):
I had a conversation with a twenty eight year old
couple of months ago that has never seen a check,
and there's probably a lot of them out there.
Speaker 1 (48:54):
I have definitely had parenting moments where I've taught my
children how to fill them out. And then I took
my son, I purposely took him to the bank and
I wrote him a check at the bank, and I
made him like endorse it and everything. It's hilarious. I
love seeing their faces because they're just like today's younger
veterans might feel the same way. They're kind of like,
what is that?
Speaker 3 (49:12):
But no one learns curses cursive anymore.
Speaker 5 (49:15):
It's say, nobody can read script. Yeah's a foreign language.
Speaker 3 (49:20):
So if you if you learn nothing else in cursive,
learn how to sign your name, good lord, Like, how
do you do that?
Speaker 1 (49:28):
I used to. I used to sign my signature like
I used to write out every letter, you know.
Speaker 4 (49:32):
And and as we talk about age, one of the
great things at our chapter, we've had the April fifth
is dav National Service Day and the Jacobson State Nursing
Home here in Port Charlotte. We're going to be doing
some things over there that day. But they have four
World War two veterans in that facility, and that's just
(49:56):
amazing at this point in time. I mean, we're talking
about cursive and things, and some of the veterans. I
remember when the first computers came out and they set
in rooms and all you heard was clicking and clanking
and the all the dots. And we've come a long way,
but we're still veterans, so we're going to go over
(50:17):
and help serve that.
Speaker 1 (50:18):
Day absolutely, And if people want to get involved with
the chapter, what's a good way for them to reach
out so they can see about getting involved.
Speaker 5 (50:26):
N six three three nine six two nine two eight
three three awesome.
Speaker 1 (50:36):
Well, Dave Grant, Joe Rapley, thank you so much for
being on the show today. We'll be having you on
a lot more often so we will have more opportunities
to discuss d you know, DAV and VA stuff in
the future. So thanks again for being on the show.
Speaker 4 (50:50):
Thanks for having us.
Speaker 2 (50:51):
Yeah, thanks guys, and once again, folks, that's our show.
And right now I want to thank our guts for
being on there, and I want to thank you our
listeners out there for keeping us here helping you. If
you have any concerns, comments, or ideas for our show,
please contact me at Hemingway at one rallypoint dot org.
Speaker 4 (51:08):
That's H. E. M. I.
Speaker 2 (51:09):
G W A Y at one rallypoint dot org. And
at this time I want to thank my producer for
being the man behind the mics and Amanda. I think
that's pretty much for our.
Speaker 4 (51:21):
Show for today.
Speaker 1 (51:22):
Right on rally Pointers, Fun out bus miss Are you
looking to honor a loved one who served in our
armed forces? Now is your chance to make a difference.
The one hundred point nine FM rally Point Show is
proud to announce our partnership with Reaths Across America Radio,
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Your contribution, no matter the size, plays a crucial role
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