Rally Point 73

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Rally pointers, fall in, ladies and gentlemen, it's your show
again with your hosts, Jay the Sorry Timing, along with
Justin the Master, Sargeant Ledford and of course Amana Mikano
the try Tag team partners.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Here, folks, how are you doing today?

Speaker 3 (00:18):
Doing all right?

Speaker 2 (00:18):
Oh?

Speaker 4 (00:19):
I'm doing great? How are you guys?

Speaker 2 (00:20):
Living a dream? One day a week?

Speaker 3 (00:22):
One day a week, no, every day a week. So anyhow,
let's jump right into the show. Guys, what do you say?
All right? Folks, we're here with our friends from dav
chapter eighty two, Commander Dave Grant and Joe Rapley, your
whiz kid on the Claims. So, good morning guys. How's
it going.

Speaker 5 (00:39):
We're doing great, fantasy.

Speaker 6 (00:40):
Good morning, Good morning radio listeners.

Speaker 3 (00:43):
Yeah, so we are. We're going to talk today about
a lot of things, but we'll start talking about claims
and how important they are. So before we started recording,
and I'll mention it now, so I was talking about
my own husband. He's also a veteran. He retired back
in twenty twelve, so he's been retired for some time now,

(01:03):
and he recently had some conditions. Something he was rated for,
something he was not but in any event, the ones
that he was rated for, we are getting worse. And
so he had the documentation to show the conditions were
getting worse. He had his records from the military service
for certain things that were showing he had had conditions
since he was active duty that the VA did not

(01:26):
previously account for. He had all this documentation, and when
he submitted it to the VA, the letter came back
and it denied everything. And there were like four or
five things that he was requesting be relooked at or
you know, be evaluated, and they all got denied and
he was told it appeared the VA wrote it. It

(01:48):
was definitely a form letter because for every single condition,
even though it was proven that some of them were
getting much worse, it said, as it appears your condition
is improving, comma blah blah blah blah blah. And so
that is kind of something that really gave him pause
because I think a lot of veterans are out there
worried that if they try to file a claim to
increase their rating, they have this fear that the VA

(02:11):
is going to come back and go, well, actually, we're
going to decrease your overall rating. So with situations like that,
what insight do you all have for that, and what
encouragement do you have for the veteran who's listening to
this right now, who very well might be in the
same situation and really doesn't know how to proceed.

Speaker 6 (02:29):
Well, they says, I'm calling in. I'm going to jump
in on that, and I'll start from the aspect that
whatever a veteran is initially granted with a service connected disability,
the VA is going to send them a letter training
exactly how they rated that, how they came to the
conclusion they came to, why they gave them the percentage

(02:51):
they gave them, and exactly what it takes to be
rated at a higher percentage. And oftentimes we as veterans,
we don't read that information. The first things our veterans
need to do is read build the decision letters and
understand them. If there is medical documentation or medical terminology
in there that you don't understand, take it to your doctor.
Take it to your doctor and say, hey, they rated

(03:13):
me with this because I have this. However, the letter
says if I have these symptoms, I could be rated
at a higher rating. Do I have these and if
they have them, that's a good time for them to
make sure they annotated in their medical records. And if
they don't have them, just understand that as we get older,
we will probably eventually be developing some of those symptoms.

(03:35):
So it's important for us to go to the doctor
and make sure that it's annotated in our records.

Speaker 3 (03:41):
Got it. So what do you do when you paid
attention to those because we look through those rating letters
to determine is this even worth claiming? Like is this
actually a situation where you know, it says a higher
rating of whatever percent may be warranted if the following
applies and it gives, like you said, a certain diagnose symptoms.

(04:02):
So those were met, the records reflected the professionals that
evaluated concurred that those conditions and symptoms were present, and
the VA still came back and said denied, and it
appears your condition is getting better when it wasn't.

Speaker 6 (04:17):
Yeah, yeah, so, and every veteran is different, and that's
where we really come into play as the DAV because
you know, you have to look at every individual and
every particular case separately, because when the VA makes these ratings,
it's not done. The VA is definitely using AI. Now

(04:40):
to go through some of the records in their case,
that would explain.

Speaker 3 (04:43):
A lot because every single paragraph said it appears your
condition is improving for each condition, which was clearly not
the case based on the evidence provided. So so basically
like this, at this point, my husband is coming to
see you, Joe.

Speaker 6 (05:02):
That's a promise.

Speaker 3 (05:02):
That's not a threat promise, it's not yeah.

Speaker 6 (05:06):
And that had no fear because, like I said, as
we get older, we just have to understand what those
let us say. And now maybe the VA has missed
something absolutely, maybe they didn't go over some of the
evidence that was included. So that's what we tear apart
at the DAV and we go we look at what
the VA used to make their determinations, and if we
could prove them false, then we try and accumulate all

(05:28):
the documentation to prove them false.

Speaker 3 (05:30):
Fabulous, So he's going to be coming to visit you.
And for our listeners that may not know, DAV Chapter
eighty two sits in the Port Charlottetown Center Mall on
Tammy Emmy Trail, so you can go in and you
guys are walking only. Is that correct?

Speaker 7 (05:46):
Yes, we don't require an appointment, so it's you can
call and ask for an appointment, but we will tell
you over the phone no appointments are necessary. We just
take anyone walk in and we're open Monday through Friday
from nine thirty until usually three o'clock. We're closing up

(06:08):
even though our posted hours or later, because we won't
close until the last persons done.

Speaker 6 (06:13):
Got it, man, And let me add this to that
and some of the reasons that other people do it,
and one of the reasons that we don't do it.
One reason we do not have appointment set up is
because you shouldn't need to wait a month to get
into an office to have your benefit taking care of him.
We have enough people to definitely take care of it.

(06:34):
That makes where it commits it hurts us. Would be
that if you're dealing with something with a veteran, like
if a veteran comes in to see me and he's
took time, he's took forty five minutes to explain what
he did in the military, and for me to get
all his information, for him to explain the story, for
me to give him ideas of where he needs to
go with a claim, and then he comes back two

(06:57):
months later and he doesn't see me but he sees
somebody differently. Now he has to go through that whole
series of what he did in the military.

Speaker 3 (07:06):
Starting from square point one.

Speaker 6 (07:08):
Yeah, again, that's right, he'd do with the same person.
But it's not really necessary, especially if you bring in
all your documentation.

Speaker 3 (07:16):
Oh yeah, Like I've got him a little packet. It's
all tabbed out with all the records that were submitted
the last time the claim was done. So it's tabbed
out to show conditions he had on active duty. It's
tabbed out to show you know, records and such. And
then also I always make sure he takes his initial
rating letter and any supplemental rating letters. Because the joke

(07:38):
is that I'm the administrator of the family. So that's
that's what idea yourself.

Speaker 6 (07:44):
What was it you called yourself.

Speaker 3 (07:46):
I'm the administrator. He's the CFO. He handles all the
financial side of the marriage. I handle the administrative stuff.

Speaker 6 (07:54):
So that had kind of take us to a little segue,
and you say, hell, let's let's wait before we discussed
this the radio. Yeah, so I'm going to go back
to that and say that that's very important for somebody
to have somebody like that in their lives. Especially if
you can't do it for yourself as a service officer.
I have had veterans that have come into the office

(08:16):
and you explain them and write it down on a
Manila envelope, because we have envelopes that that state, this
is what the veteran came in for, this is what
was suggested that the veteran needs to do in the future,
and this is what the next service officer needs to do,
and we will have that all written on the envelope

(08:37):
and we'll have everything all planned out in the veteran home.
And then when the veteran comes back, nothing has been done.
And that's where it helps to have somebody to either
explain what needs to be done, understand what needs to
be done, somebody that's going to help with that paperwork,
because certain conditions that we might have for the military

(08:58):
don't allow us to do that. We might have some
concentration issues, we might have some things that just don't
allow us to really focus. So it's important for us
to have people like that in our lives. So I
just want to thank you for that. What you do
for your husband.

Speaker 3 (09:13):
Well thanks, Yeah, I was going to say, I have
to write my own little roadmap to success out or
I'll forget details as well. But once I have a
list and I can just follow it, it works.

Speaker 4 (09:24):
So Hey, Joe, So this is justin so I have
a question for you. So I know you guys.

Speaker 8 (09:31):
Don't necessarily do appointments over the phone, But just like
Amanda was saying, like her husband depends on her to
do all those sorts of things, there are plenty of
veterans out there that you know, they're okay with not
having their benefits because it's too difficult for them to
come in or you know, we sometimes we just take

(09:54):
the path of least resistance and just we don't do
the things that we need to do to help ourselves.
So there is there a way like if like if
I'm out there and I identify a veteran and you know,
it's hard enough just to get them to have a conversation,
much less go up to the mall to meet with
you guys, Is there a way that you guys contact

(10:16):
those folks or even like the homebound veterans that can't
come out, Dave, you.

Speaker 6 (10:21):
Want to address that.

Speaker 7 (10:22):
Sure, we have adopted a concept called the Traveling Service Officer,
and we have a few service officers that are willing
to make the trip to a veteran's home. Not every
service officer is willing to do this, however, we do
have a few that are and if we're contacted and

(10:47):
it is one of these cases where the veteran isn't
able to make it into the office, we will make
every effort possible to go to the service or the
veterans home and complete the process with the veteran. We're

(11:08):
trying to facilitate this more and more here of late,
we've gutted some process and procedures in place so that
it'll become more streamlined.

Speaker 5 (11:19):
It was different in the it's never.

Speaker 6 (11:22):
A problem to fall it's never a problem to fall in.
And we'll talk over cases, even though we don't like
to do that because we want to make sure that
gets the appropriate information sent and that needs to be
sent in. But we we'll be happy to speak with
somebody about benefits over the phone with no problem at all.

Speaker 2 (11:39):
Yeah.

Speaker 8 (11:40):
I think I know the ultimate goal is to get
them in there, but I think if you guys are
able to do that initial phone call too, because you know,
people are skeptical, Veterans are skeptical that you know, uh,
everything's everything's a scam. You know, everyone's trying to take money.

Speaker 3 (11:56):
Well, and this is an unpopular thing to say, but
a lot of veterans, unfortunately sadly unpopular truth. They've been
burned by vsos period dot. I mean, I know that's
not a kind thing to say, and I'm not trying
to jab anybody, but a lot of veterans have been
burned by vsos in the past, and so they're not
exactly sure how the DAV is different. I kind of

(12:18):
explained it to somebody recently because my perception is there
are some vsos that if they try to approach the VA,
the VA just kind of flicks them away, like, yeah,
go away, we don't want to talk to you. However,
from what I understand, when y'all with the DAV, when
you contact somebody in the VA, it's a different story.
There's some attention is given some I guess there's some

(12:39):
clout or some credence that comes along with that. I'm
not sure. Maybe that's just a perception, but that's my perception.

Speaker 7 (12:46):
I think what you're going to find is that with
the DAV, we are disabled American veterans helping fellow veteran,
whether you're disabled or not, but we're here to help
you obtain your benefits. And I try to steer the
conversation away from disabilities only because there seems to be

(13:10):
many veterans that don't want to acknowledge they.

Speaker 5 (13:13):
Have a disability.

Speaker 7 (13:16):
They see the wounded as the ones having disabilities, and
those are the ones that are do the recognition.

Speaker 5 (13:25):
So if you're missing a limb or your.

Speaker 3 (13:28):
A receipt of the benefits, yeah, they don't feel like
they're worthy to receive it.

Speaker 7 (13:31):
But if you came home with the post traumatic stress
disorder or you came home with other challenges, you don't
see yourself deserving of a benefit.

Speaker 3 (13:45):
Well, and I think too with the burn pits. There's
a lot of invisible illnesses that we're not seeing until
years of not decades down the road, and then they
start to surface and then people kind of wonder, like
where did this come from? And you triangulate, well, where
were you during these and then you can kind of
figure it out. Like I only just found out a
couple of years ago when they sent letters out that

(14:07):
the deployed location that I went to in two thousand
and nine that everybody thought was Camp Cupcake had an
active burn pit on it. And the next thing I know,
I'm getting a letter saying, hey, you've been put on
a burn bridge. I didn't put anything on a burn
pit registry. I didn't seek that out. I received a
letter saying I had been added based off of the
location I was at, which was an absolute shock to me.

(14:28):
So I think some people aren't realizing that they thought
they went to this safe, cushy place when in fact
there might have been some stuff going on in the
background they weren't aware of, and now it's going to
come to call with their health.

Speaker 2 (14:39):
Yes.

Speaker 6 (14:39):
So, Amanda, what I like to say on that is,
and you've kind of did it yourself that there were
things at your site that you really didn't even know about.

Speaker 3 (14:49):
No, and my job as a bio environmental engineer was
to be told about it, and they didn't tell us.

Speaker 2 (14:54):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (14:54):
But what I'm saying, I guess is that as a
veteran service officer, the first thing, they have good VET
service offices, and then and there's bad. There's good mechanics
and there's bad mechanics. And anytime you go anywhere, there's
good doctors and bad doctors. When you go somewhere, you
should always get a second opinion. So if a veteran
service officer has told you something, it's always good to

(15:15):
get a second idea on what you think you know that,
get another veteran service officer's opinion on that, because at
the eighteen almost twenty years in this business, there are
things that I don't know, and being a good veteran
service officer, when somebody comes into the office and instead
of me telling them something wrong, it would make sense
for me to find out the correct answer.

Speaker 3 (15:38):
Yes, I was just going to say, it's not about
knowing everything, it's about knowing where to find it. Because
there's so much in the VA system you can't know
it all. And there's such a difference between the health
benefits side of the house, and then there's there's like
two sides of the VA. If I'm not mistaken, I
think it's health benefits and then the other ones like compensation. Oh,
there's four and being informed there are four different inside

(16:00):
of the BA. So there you go. There's way too
much stuff for any one person to know.

Speaker 9 (16:05):
Yeah, one hundred percent, Joe to me. The storage here,
A couple of things here in Commander Grant. As you know,
rally points like a boot camp. Every time we have
every time you guys are on the show, we expect
new listeners. And I was wondering if you guys could
introduce yourselves from your backgrounds of your service and what
does DAV stand for? Because as sad as this is,

(16:28):
I can say here in twenty twenty five, there are
some veterans that don't know what DAV stands for.

Speaker 2 (16:33):
And to be more to say what's that.

Speaker 6 (16:36):
I'll go first, since David's command, and then I'll let
them tell them about the chapter and everything. But Joe Rapley,
I've been with the DAV Chapter eighty two about three
years now, and I came there because I'm retired Air Force.
I was a flight engineer and Air Force I did
that for fifteen years on one thirties in a wax.
My last three years was in hospital administration, and when

(16:57):
I retired from the military in ninety seven, I jumped around,
did a couple of things, and eventually I got into
the vocational rehab program and got a vocational job, a
boke rehab job working in a Veterans Service officer and
I did that in North Carolina. I did that for
about two years, and opening came up for a service

(17:19):
officer and they knew my work history. I applied and
I got that position, and I did that for six years,
and then I went to the count to the state
of North Carolina to become a service officer, and I
did that for another thirteen years. So I've been a
service officer for a while. Came to the Florida area,
and I wanted to continue because I got all this

(17:39):
stuff running around in my head and in order to
continue to be blessed, it's important to bless others. And
I wanted to assist veterans. So I walked into the chapter.
They opened their arms to me and they said, come on,
we got the perfect thing for you to do. And
I've been happy in content their assistant veterans with claims
and also helping the other service officers to grow and
instituting some training and things of that nature on local chap.

Speaker 2 (18:02):
Thank you very much, commander.

Speaker 7 (18:03):
So I've spent twenty two years in the Navy, retired
out of Fort Mead, Maryland. If you're familiar with what
they do there, enough set, Yeah, that's.

Speaker 5 (18:17):
That's how secret scroll.

Speaker 3 (18:18):
I'd say that used to be the chant. When I
was at Andrews and we had units up there, they
say the name of their unit and everybody would go yeah.

Speaker 7 (18:27):
So I had a very interesting life. I ran a
schoolhouse up there. That was my last job. But after
I retired, I went to work with one of the
contractors in the area. Did that for two years. Wasn't happy.
Went to work for a small business. Didn't realize how
small it was when they hired me. Found out my

(18:47):
first day that I was their third employee, and over the.

Speaker 5 (18:52):
Course of about six years, helped.

Speaker 7 (18:55):
Grow that company from three people to one hundred and
fifty people, from losing money to making fourteen million, and
it was.

Speaker 5 (19:04):
A lot of fun.

Speaker 7 (19:04):
I left them as the chief operating officer and went
to work for Raytheon, and then I spent a.

Speaker 5 (19:14):
Few years at Raytheon.

Speaker 7 (19:16):
However, in twenty eleven they had transferred me down to Raleigh,
North Carolina, so out of the rat race of Washington, DC,
which was a blessing, but unfortunately in twenty eleven December
twenty eleven, I was driving into work and a eighteen

(19:39):
wheeler decided to run a stoplight and I got hit
t bone and enough said on that, except that I
ended up on SSDI and medically retired. And twenty fifteen
is when the SSDI kicked in and I told my

(19:59):
wife I was moving to Florida and she was invited
to come with me.

Speaker 3 (20:05):
And that was basically so that's how I should have
phrased it to my husband instead of bribing him with
a boat. Got it? Okay, Yeah, that's where I went wrong.

Speaker 2 (20:14):
Yep.

Speaker 7 (20:16):
I was tired of sitting on a heating pad and
you know, she's like, well, it's only three months out
of the year, and I said this three months too long,
So enough about me.

Speaker 5 (20:27):
Well, in twenty.

Speaker 7 (20:28):
Eighteen, I joined the DAV and I joined the DAV
and then I found my local chapter and started doing
my started helping out there, initially just being a one
of their front desk meet and Greek people, and then
they needed somebody to help with the IT. So I

(20:51):
helped with the it. And the next thing I know,
I was yeah, it's assumed. Yeah, and now it's like
a seven days a week passion for me. My wife thinks, I,

(21:13):
you know, just don't do anything but EAV. She said,
that's the way I was with the Navy. That's the
way I was with the small business I helped grow,
and now this is the way I am with Chapter
eighty two. And Chapter eighty two has been around since
I believe it was nineteen sixty six when eight employees

(21:35):
of the United States Postal Service got together and formed
this group, the original charter and we originally were located
on Tammy Ammy Trail over here in Port Charlotte until

(21:56):
Hurricane Charlie came through and it decimated the original office
we were in. So that's when we moved over to
Market Circle. And we stayed at Market Circle until a
few years ago. And that's when our neighbor kind of
decimated the parking area that we had. They fenced it

(22:21):
all off and it became dangerous for us to have
our clients come and try to park. And so I
turned to some of my officers and I said, we got.

Speaker 5 (22:36):
To find somewhere else to be.

Speaker 7 (22:41):
When it was suggested we relocate to the Port Charlottetown
Center Mall, everybody thought we were crazy, but I'll tell
you what, it has turned into a raging success. We
used to at Market Circle be able to serve one
hundred to one hundred and fifty a month, and we
thought those were great months. In the Port Charlotte Town

(23:04):
Center Mall, we are able to facilitate four hundred to
five hundred veterans a month and we're still busting at
the seams.

Speaker 5 (23:14):
Some days.

Speaker 7 (23:15):
We have five service officers on duty and I've only
got four office and all five are busy, which means
they come over into the administrative space and use that,
so I have to build another office for.

Speaker 5 (23:31):
The service officers.

Speaker 7 (23:32):
We love being busy, so you need help, come see us.
We're in the Port Charlotte Town Center Mall. If you
know where DSW Shoes is located, we're right across from
Dswshoes and you can.

Speaker 3 (23:46):
Park outside of Dillard's. I think the back end of Dillard's.

Speaker 5 (23:49):
In between JC Penney and Dillard's.

Speaker 3 (23:51):
Got it perfect.

Speaker 7 (23:53):
Yes, there does seem to be a car dealership now
in the parking lot in front of jcpenny. So we're
just you know, to the you know, well whatever side
the south of that car dealership. But you know, any
questions are concerned, you have feel free to call us

(24:16):
nine four one six nine two eight three three, and
my front desk personnel are glad to put a service
officer on to answer your questions.

Speaker 9 (24:28):
Well, I wanted to say thank you guys for doing
what you're doing, because besides just the benefit portion, the psychological,
the weight of the burden of doing a claim by
yourself as a veteran can be monotonous. It can be
a tortuous situation, and many of the veterans give up
and one of the things that you kind of give

(24:49):
them is hope. And like you said before, Joe, there
are different gauges of service officers out there, but fortunately
DAV has been a consistent, like fierce forced because I'll
say one hundred percent.

Speaker 2 (25:03):
I'm also a da V.

Speaker 9 (25:07):
Applicant of getting one's UH benefits and as of two
months ago, I deemed one hundred percent TMP. So I'll
be the first to tell you I think I received
over probably a dozen rejection letters or denial letters. And
then I said, you know what, enough is enough. And
I won't talk about the organization I was with because

(25:29):
I feel that the quality of service that you guys have, I.

Speaker 3 (25:31):
Say, we'll stay focused on the positive.

Speaker 2 (25:33):
Of course, we were moving, we're going positive.

Speaker 9 (25:35):
We're you guys provide a process UH interactive and actually
the fact of the matter is you guys are able
to so you put the veteran has a skin in
the game. If you don't take care of yourself, we
can't take care of you. Absolutely, and I'll say this again,
it was like night and day. And like I said,

(25:56):
from a year and a half of denials to I
think with you guys for I think six months tops
before I get to TMP. So I'm not saying that
every every veterans situation is going to be different.

Speaker 3 (26:09):
That's just your testimonial that you can speak to. It
doesn't mean that's going to happen for every individual that
goes to the DAV. But I will say what I
gather from you and other people who have sought the
DAV for assistance with their claim. The recurring theme I
see is peace of mind. So so thank you for

(26:29):
doing that. Thank you for giving that to veterans in
our community, giving them that peace of mind and knowing
that somebody is looking out for them and somebody can
at least guide, advise and help, you know, maybe interpret
some of the vaes if you will, in those letters
and help them understand, you know, for them, what's the

(26:50):
best path forward. As far as how do they want
to manage their.

Speaker 6 (26:54):
Benefits and that's exactly what we try and do it. Amanda,
that's right, is just direct and guide to vetting on
what I would do if this is my claim, this
is what I would do, and that helps a lot
of times.

Speaker 8 (27:08):
So you have somebody there. You don't have to do
it alone. You have somebody there that can help you
along the way. But as a veteran, you you got
to be willing to put yourself out there. You got
to be willing to make that first step. We all
need help, but you got to be able to raise
your hand and say hey, I need help, whether that

(27:28):
be with the paperwork side or anything else. Like we
we we are all veterans. We all did things in
the military that you know took more effort than to
make a phone call and say hey, help.

Speaker 4 (27:40):
Me out, you know.

Speaker 8 (27:41):
So so this one, this last time, you know, you
got to be able to to stand up and say, hey,
I just need a little help with this.

Speaker 3 (27:50):
And then put your feet to the pavement and walk
it out and see it through for sure.

Speaker 7 (27:56):
And remember there are no charges for anything that Davy does.
Everything we do is gratis. So anyone that's going to
charge you for what we provide is a shark, and
we don't like sharks in the water.

Speaker 2 (28:14):
Yes, I called.

Speaker 3 (28:16):
Yeah, say, I call them pension poachers.

Speaker 7 (28:20):
We have a lot of words and descriptives order that's true.

Speaker 3 (28:24):
We'll keep it FCC friendly today.

Speaker 7 (28:28):
But as veterans, we've paid a price in our service
to our country, and there is no reason that you
should not be eligible for the benefits that that that
price that you paid earned you. So there these benefits

(28:51):
are what you have earned and that your government owes you.
There's nothing that you're getting that is free. It's something
that you've already paid for.

Speaker 9 (29:05):
And to caveat that listeners, you need to be very careful.
It's the reverse persumption here about getting your benefits. And
I'm gonna go a little bit to the biblical component.
In Congress, if we don't use what's been allotted to us,
they make the presumption it's too much and they will
take it back exactly if we do not get And

(29:28):
this is why I am adamant to this day. I
don't care if people have served the World War two,
or in Vietnam or the Korean War, and if you
have not gone back to get a benefit your benefits
re looked at in a period of time. You need
to because the new kids on the block that are
now serving our country will bear the brunt of our misfortune.

(29:49):
They will take away the benefits that they've earned their
earning as we speak, and I'll say there's one hundred percent,
folks again, you serve and you deserve, and I understand it.
We all had those times in service of the Sick
Hall bandits, and we probably shame those guys all up
and down, but we are not that you crossed the
roub a com you've gone through a career, you served

(30:12):
your country in combat or not, but you're at a
point in a life where your service has taken a
toll on yourself mentally and or physically, and you've served
your country and you deserve the benefits that.

Speaker 2 (30:24):
You put in well.

Speaker 3 (30:25):
And I would dare caveat to you that a lot
has changed. So from the time that people were separating
in you know, the forties, fifties, sixties and so on,
to just recently where we've had the Packed Act, We've
had a lot of things change in the VA where
you know, if you're not getting your benefits looked at,
and I can't recall where I heard this, but I

(30:46):
was told probably about every five years you need to
at least go have a benefits review done, just to
make sure that for where you're at and for any
changes that have come down the pipe from the VA,
if there's a new program, if there's a new thing
that you might be eligible for, going into a VSO
and having that benefits review done that helps you make

(31:07):
sure that you are maximizing your utilization of your benefits
and that you're aware of things that you're eligible to receive.
There are a lot of benefits out there that go unused.
There are a lot of veterans out there who have
needs that they are not aware that the VA can
take care of by virtue of their military service. So
if you haven't seen a VSO lately, you need to

(31:30):
go do it because you need to make sure that
you're maximizing your benefits.

Speaker 8 (31:35):
So I actually spoke to a Marine Corps veteran on
Saturday who was in from.

Speaker 2 (31:41):
Eighty two to eighty six.

Speaker 8 (31:43):
So he did four years and got out. But people
are under the assumption that if they didn't deploy, they
weren't an afford area. You know, they weren't injured per se,
then they're not entitled. And I was like, okay, where
were you stationed, Like well, campla June.

Speaker 4 (32:01):
I'm like, okay, well there have.

Speaker 3 (32:03):
Been ambulance chasers screaming about the water.

Speaker 4 (32:06):
Yeah exactly.

Speaker 8 (32:07):
So like you know, he got out, he did his
review in nineteen eighty six. Well there wasn't a such
thing as the pak Dact and and all these things.
Like we we learned things throughout time. So if you
got out in the seventies, eighties, nineties, there are things

(32:28):
that have came about that we didn't know about then.
And if nothing else, if if you come to the
VA commander correct me if I'm wrong. But if you
come to the VA and say, hey, I have this, this,
and this, if there's enough people that do that, then
that shows a pattern and then they can start to

(32:50):
unravel other things. It's like, hey, maybe we should look
into this because.

Speaker 3 (32:54):
It might be presumptive.

Speaker 8 (32:55):
Yeah, enough people have it, then there might be a problem.
But if you're if you think, oh, well I didn't deploy,
so so this doesn't apply to me, that's wrong.

Speaker 5 (33:06):
Right, yeap, Joe?

Speaker 6 (33:08):
Yeah? And yeah, I mean y'all stepped on a lot
of topics there, But yeah, veterans are so generationally, and
I always tell my veterans, you know, being in the
military is an indoctrination, and depending on the branch of
service that you're in, your creed is different. But most
of them are You're an American fighting man, a fighting women.

(33:31):
You can't be defeated. You're the baddest mother on earth.
You're this, and you're a dad. And when we get home,
you take people like our World War Two veterans that
were just happy to get home. They didn't file for anything.
They just came home and they made it. They were happy,
they lost buddies.

Speaker 2 (33:49):
Then you had.

Speaker 6 (33:50):
Vietnam veterans who came home and they would spit upon
and they weren't giving any benefits. They were shyed away.
They were too embarrassed almost to go to the VA
and seek treatment or get care. And you know, we
have a new generation, so regardless. One of the things
you said is if you don't use the benefits, when
it comes time for our political leaders to make a budget,

(34:15):
and if those benefits are not used, it's just like
the military, where if you come to that last day
and any supplies you have, you better use them or
else you're not going to get them next year. And
our military budget is pretty much the same. If it's
not used, it's gonna get cut. So anything that we

(34:36):
have any ailments, that we have any possibility of filing
a claim for a disability that we incurred in the military,
that we need to file for those benefits. And the
reason for those registries is for them to look at
exactly what diseases, what ailments our veterans are having, and

(34:57):
then start listing those so that when they become prevalent enough,
we could take that documentation to Congress and say, hey,
you know, a whole lot of our veterans have high
blood pressure that was exposed to agent orange. Why isn't
this on the presumptive list? And now organizations like the
DAD the American Legion, we could force our political leaders

(35:21):
to take notice of that and grant us the benefits
associated with those disabilities one hundred percent.

Speaker 9 (35:30):
And in closing, I wanted to say that I really
appreciate what you guys really do, and that even the
most seasoned veteran or I don't care if they're in
there for fifteen years or five years. Life comes quick
and we kind of put ourselves last. And the one
thing we have to learn in this new life that

(35:52):
we live as veterans, we need to put ourselves first
because without us being functional, we can't take care of
our families.

Speaker 2 (35:59):
We're trying to.

Speaker 9 (36:00):
And like I said, you give us a glimmer of
hope that we can make our second half of our
life better or a higher quality of life. And Joe,
like I said, I would like to have you guys
do a workshop because I'm almost certain despite how many
people we have in how many people we have in
Charlotte County, how many time we have this type of segment,
there's always going to be a huge amount of people

(36:22):
who don't know what they have or how to apply,
how to get to it.

Speaker 2 (36:25):
So thank you for being a part of our programming, and.

Speaker 3 (36:28):
We'll have you on a lot more often. So for
those of you listening, you will start hearing from your
friends at the dav a lot more regularly on the
Raley Point Radio show. So at least monthly, that's the plan.

Speaker 2 (36:42):
All right, not a problem.

Speaker 3 (36:43):
Awesome, Thanks guys. We appreciate you coming out today.

Speaker 6 (36:46):
All right, Thank you y'all, have a great week.

Speaker 8 (36:48):
Eat you Hi, all right everyone. For our next segment,
we're going to talk a little warrior wellness, a little
Legacy Rock Club. I've got Amanda Mcanu here with me,
my partner in crime on the Legacy Rock Club, my mainstay,
mister Paul Polecchi and uh.

Speaker 3 (37:10):
He's our righteous rucker. Actually, we recognize people that are
faithful followers at the Legacy Rock Club, and you are first.

Speaker 10 (37:18):
I didn't even know I was up in the running.

Speaker 8 (37:20):
Oh yeah, so you didn't even have to campaign like
you were issue.

Speaker 3 (37:24):
In Nope, just show up.

Speaker 4 (37:25):
That's amazing, that's right.

Speaker 2 (37:26):
Did something right for Jedge.

Speaker 8 (37:28):
Yeah, and then we got a big sarge Jay Hemingway.

Speaker 2 (37:32):
And again I apologize. I have to go on a
rock and I will make one. Yeah.

Speaker 8 (37:36):
I wasn't going to ask you anything about Legacy.

Speaker 4 (37:38):
Rock I need I you didn't know about it.

Speaker 3 (37:42):
And you mentioned donuts and coffee when he does arrive,
so we're.

Speaker 2 (37:46):
Yes, I am bringing coffee, I'm bringing donuts.

Speaker 3 (37:49):
You say there's there's a certain video game character that
says I'm waiting. I'll leave that out there. You get
if you get it, you get it. If you don't,
you don't.

Speaker 4 (37:59):
All right, all right.

Speaker 8 (38:00):
So some of the things that I want to talk
about today, So Legacy Rock Club, A lot of folks
ask me what exactly is that. So the reason that
I started Warrior Wellness is to give veterans the opportunity
to get together talk or don't talk. It's up to them.

(38:21):
So personal training, gym memberships, that's what Warrior Wellness does.
It's no cost to the veterans. So your gym of
choice personal training, twelve sessions, twelve weeks of membership.

Speaker 3 (38:34):
But you do have a partnership with the local gym
correct I do.

Speaker 8 (38:38):
That would be Rhino Jim here in Port Charlotte. So
all those things brought Legacy Rock Club up as a
conversation piece between Amanda and our own Dane Boyle from
Positively Caffeinated, and Amanda started talking to Dane about, Hey.

Speaker 4 (38:57):
I think this would be a great piece of Warrior Wellness,
and it has been.

Speaker 8 (39:01):
It's been amazing because something I didn't think about when
we started putting this together is the conversations that happen
and the camaraderie.

Speaker 4 (39:10):
It's just kind of been a natural.

Speaker 3 (39:12):
Flow, absolutely, and we've run We've run into people on
the path that we don't even know, and since we're
not shy, we just walk up to them and talk
and then the next thing you know, they're joining our
ranks with Legacy ret Clubs. So we had that happen
with a gentleman named Jerry, who you've probably heard us
talk about before on the show, and he's a snowbird,
and so we saw him on the path, started talking

(39:34):
to him. Turns out he's a Vietnam veteran. Had Paul
Plushy with us, who happens to be a Vietnam veteran too,
and they were able to talk about their shared experience
while they were, you know, on the on the path, rocking, walking,
whatever you want to call it. Legacy Ret Club's pretty
flexible like that. You you know, you come as you are,
all ages, all abilities, You rock with or without weight.

(39:57):
The goal is movement and purpose overpaid. So we're there
to have a good time and get exercise in a
manner that works for where we're at.

Speaker 8 (40:06):
Yeah, I think people don't believe me when I tell
them that that it's for any any age group and
you can carry any weight.

Speaker 3 (40:15):
Yes, and fun fact, you don't have to be a veteran. Yes,
this show The Rally Point radio show is about veterans
and those who are supportive of us. You don't have
to be a veteran to do Legacy Rut Club. If
you're supportive of veterans, come on out. It doesn't matter.
We've had babies, You've had babies out there and strollers,
We've had couples, folks bring their kids, So I mean,

(40:36):
it really is. It's something for everyone.

Speaker 9 (40:39):
And also, remember, folks, just because veterans are out of
service doesn't mean we're stopped serving our country. And I
think the RUT Club is kind of an example exemplary
of that concept. And also I want to ask Dressen,
how are you who supports your Warrior World so.

Speaker 3 (40:55):
That would be helping Hearts for Heroes correct, and you
just had a fundraiser with them?

Speaker 4 (41:00):
Oh yeah, yeah we did.

Speaker 8 (41:01):
We had Bingo a couple of nights ago.

Speaker 6 (41:05):
Yeah.

Speaker 8 (41:05):
Yeah, that was a very successful event. I think it
was obvious pretty quick that we had never done that before.

Speaker 3 (41:12):
So great. Definitely, definitely some learning curves. We had the
basic layout there, but we'll let Kim and Shawna speak
more to that next time they're on the show. But yeah,
I think it went really successfully and it benefited Helping
Hearts for Heroes and warrior wellness since you fall under
their umbrella.

Speaker 2 (41:30):
Yeah.

Speaker 8 (41:30):
Absolutely, Yeah, the Bingo folks are pretty serious.

Speaker 3 (41:35):
Oh they are. I'm not gonna lie I was. I
was half surprised that we didn't see somebody show up
with like their little totems, their little troll dolls and
like they're They're Lucky Dauber or whatever.

Speaker 5 (41:47):
I mean.

Speaker 3 (41:48):
Sometimes they're the Bingo culture. And this is by no
means I am not knocking anybody in the Bingo culture.
I'm just saying it's it's serious business like so, but
we did. We had some some bing Goo players out
there that were definitely pretty competitive and it was a
good time. We did a fifty to fifty, had a
bunch of baskets to raffle off. Some of them were

(42:11):
valued at like four hundred dollars or so, and they
definitely were going to do it again. So I say
we because you know, Jay, Justin and I we all
sit on the board for Helping Hearts for Heroes, so
it goes without saying, you know, we're part of that group.
So yeah, we'll be doing more of that.

Speaker 4 (42:28):
It was a great time. I definitely want to do
it again.

Speaker 3 (42:31):
And it's a good way to help raise funds. So,
like you said, you can provide personal training sessions and
things like that at no cost to the veterans. That's
what pays for it, folks, is doing fundraisers and the
kindness and generosity of others so that Justin's able to
give this back to the veterans in our community that
need it, right, I will.

Speaker 2 (42:56):
I will say this.

Speaker 9 (42:57):
I don't know about you guys, but I started sweating
bullets from the book struck getting really thin because they
wanted to play more. That was just I got from
them and why they were leaving the event.

Speaker 2 (43:07):
They won't do it again.

Speaker 7 (43:08):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (43:09):
I had people telling me. They were like, how come
they won't sell me extra bingo sheet? And I was like,
I don't, I don't know, but I didn't know. I
didn't know, but they were like. I had women tell me.
They were like, I would have paid five dollars a
sheet for an extra bingo sheet so that I could play.
You know, I can handle three or four bingo cards
per round. And it was like, oh, so I think
we'll definitely be ready. Yeah. I was going to say

(43:30):
I think this time was kind of you always have
to have the initial dry run kind of thing, but
I think next time we'll have a lot more. It
was good to begin with, but next time it will
just be better. That's how you do it. It gets better
every time.

Speaker 8 (43:43):
So thank you for all the folks that came out
and supported us, and thank you for Thank you to
the Elks in Inglewood for hosting us.

Speaker 2 (43:51):
It was a great event.

Speaker 8 (43:54):
So getting back to Legacy Rock Club, so we've had
different a bunch of different pop ups throughout the weeks.
Right now we're sitting at one hundred and seventy members,
one hundred and seventy.

Speaker 3 (44:04):
Strong on our Facebook page yep.

Speaker 8 (44:07):
And I mean we started five weeks ago, five six
weeks ago, and so it's growing rapidly. So Paul, who
has been on every ruck, what do you get out.

Speaker 4 (44:20):
Of Legacy Rock Club? What is it all about in
your opinion?

Speaker 10 (44:24):
Well, I started, I had started walking prior to this
club starting, but I hated it because it was just me.
So the big advantages is now I get to walk
with all kinds of different people. I get to meet
some two rucks ago, I met some current artillery people
because that's what I was in, so to me, that

(44:45):
was kind of neat to compare what we've did back
in the day and what they're doing or what they
did when they were active in the artillery and active service.
So that was kind of neat. That was something that
would never have had happened before for me. So I
get something out of it every time I go. So
there's no goal other than get out and get moving.

Speaker 4 (45:08):
Yeah, and have a lot of fun.

Speaker 10 (45:09):
It is kind of a lot of fun.

Speaker 8 (45:10):
So I posted a video the other day of me
huffing and puffing because I got I got caught looking
at raccoons in a tree and Paul and Jerry ran
off of the track. So, uh, it's purpose over pace.
And but you've got Jerry and Paul, who are both
Vietnam veterans that were just smoking me because you once

(45:33):
you once you tap into the purpose, you forget about
the pace and they were rolling.

Speaker 4 (45:39):
You guys are getting it.

Speaker 10 (45:40):
We were, and we found out that we ate some
of the same dirt, so it was kind of interesting
that we were in the same base camps. Of course
that base camp was kind of large, but for the
short time that I was there, we never would have
known that.

Speaker 3 (45:53):
Kind of a full circle moment, isn't it when you
realize that you and another person were in the exact
same place, but years and years years later is when
you actually met.

Speaker 10 (46:02):
Yeah, yeah, really.

Speaker 2 (46:05):
Yeah.

Speaker 8 (46:05):
I think like you're saying, one of the things that
I've seen is, you know, and by no means would
we ever make anyone talk about anything that they're uncomfortable with. However,
the network that we've built with Warrior Wellness Helping Hearts
for Heroes is that.

Speaker 4 (46:20):
We have that follow on care.

Speaker 8 (46:22):
So if if we're walking and we pill off a
scab and you overshare, we can point you in the
right direction. We're not just going to be like, all right, well,
enjoy your car, right home, be alone with your thoughts.

Speaker 4 (46:34):
Like we have that I would.

Speaker 3 (46:35):
Dare say in the veteran community, there is no such
thing as oversharing. I think it's just a matter of yeah,
like if you really share something super personal. I get
what you're saying, but I'm just saying it's like we've
all been there.

Speaker 2 (46:48):
Right, So.

Speaker 8 (46:50):
There's probably things that that Paul wouldn't talk about or
Jerry wouldn't talk about. But when you're out there on
the trail and you've been in the same places with
with people, the conversations just happened. So we've had veterans
out there that start talking about their experiences in Afghanistan
and start talking about their experiences in Iraq, and we've

(47:11):
not asked for any of that. They just start walking
and talking with somebody and then it just starts to flow.
And it's very therapeutic in my opinion, to be able
to have that freedom to just talk about things that
you may not talk about at the house. So you're
not going to talk about at church, you're not going
to talk about at work.

Speaker 3 (47:30):
Yeah, but you're in a good place where you're around
like minded individuals who understand, can level and can handle
that degree of conversation. I guess you could say, yeah.

Speaker 8 (47:40):
Right, And did you notice that we kept it in
for forty years.

Speaker 10 (47:44):
That's when we had our first reunion. So we need
an outlet. You all need an outlet. And there's certain
things that only we understand that only we know, we've done,
we've seen, so that part of it is good. But
the other side of it is we never tell our
wives that yours is a little bit different because it's
more current. But we kept it in. My wife forty

(48:06):
years later, didn't know what I did. I had the
pictures that I have on my display. They were hidden
probably thirty thirty five years, and I took them out,
looked at him, decided I had to do something with them.
But I put them back away and didn't do anything
for many years later. So that's one of the benefits
that's coming out that we need to push because we

(48:26):
know how important that is for everyone, not necessarily to
hash it over, but to at least acknowledge that internally
that we did it.

Speaker 3 (48:35):
I think the rucks are a good primer for you know,
your rucking, there's camaraderie or around fellow veterans, and I
think it's a good primer for helping people figure out
that they can tell their story, that it's safe to
talk about, that they can tell their story, that they
start kind of figuring out how they want to tell

(48:56):
their story. You know, what parts they want to talk
about versus what parts they'll come gloss over and keep
moving from. But I think it is kind of a
tool to help empower people to help them tell their
story of their service. Because there are a lot of people,
especially from your generation. Paul and generations prior that they
didn't talk about it. For a long time. It was

(49:16):
highly discouraged actually sadly, and now it's being encouraged to
come talk about it. And so I think being on
these rucks kind of helps break that ice up a
little bit to help them feel more comfortable sharing.

Speaker 9 (49:30):
And I want to say thank you guys because with
the upcoming holidays coming up, they're in our country. I
believe that these stories that we're sharing on our show
and other segments play a bigger role in the grandest
scheme of the veteran experience. And what I mean by
that is basically Memorial Day in the fourth of July.

Speaker 2 (49:50):
They come with the price.

Speaker 9 (49:51):
But you know what the average civilian thinks about, you know,
it's vacation time, hamburgers and hot dogs. But beneath that
is the real purpose of it is to remember those
who sacrifice everything and why it's our obligation to take
care of the families that they can't take care of.
Now that we remember what they did, how we served,

(50:12):
and what it meant to serve. And for me, particularly
Memorial Days, my little grind of a holiday, it helps
me remind me why our colors red, white, and blue
are bright always constantly because it's on the backs of
those people who aren't here today. So those Rock Martins
that you guys do in those conversations you have keep

(50:33):
that spirit alive not only with ourselves but for their
families who aren't veterans. They understand what we are and
the veteran experience is something we will never ever get
rid of until you know we pass on. So again, guys,
I can't begin to begin to thank you for what
you do in the and you put into it because

(50:53):
not only helping ourselves individually, but we're helping a create
and mold the culture of veterans to bring who we are.

Speaker 8 (51:00):
Interested in more information about that, reach out to me
Justin at Warrior dashw dot com. Okay, and I think
that's all the time we've got for today, so we're
gonna go ahead and wrap up. Thank you very much
Paul for sharing.

Speaker 10 (51:17):
See you at the next Rock absolutely.

Speaker 8 (51:19):
Which is going to be every Wednesday. If nothing else,
we may have a pop up here and there, but
every Wednesday Kpay's Pioneer Trail zero.

Speaker 3 (51:29):
Seven thirty and coming up this Saturday for a pop up.
Speaking of pop up Saturday, May tenth, we're going to
do a Ladies' Day rock at eight am at Centennial
Park in the Veteran Flag Memorial area. So with that, yes,
we'll definitely see y'all all the rucking way.

Speaker 9 (51:48):
All right, folks, once again, thank you for attending listening
to our show today. I want to say thank you
Paul Pleshi, thank you Justin, thank you Amanda, and of
course the man behind the mic day in the brain
being the case fall out