November 11, 2025 • 7 mins
Buck Bramlish, Colonel U.S. Army (Ret.) and executive Director of the Franklin County Veterans Services Commission discusses how his organization is helping veterans and how we can help
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It is Veterans Day twenty twenty five. Let's welcome in
(00:03):
the executive director, Franklin County Veterans Services, retired Colonel US
Army Buck Bramless, our guest. Tell us about your military career,
Buck and what it means today.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Well, I was very lucky to have a thirty four
year career, and I can tell you I met the
greatest people and had great opportunity. But when we talk
about that, I always like to bring up what I
call two promises, and they're really important. The first promise
is those seventeen, eighteen and nineteen year olds that raised
their hand and swore an oath to support and defender constitution.
(00:33):
That was a big promise for a young person. And
then the second promise is while we're talking today on
Veterans Day, it's our promise as citizens as a nation
to honor, to remember, and to make sure that we
provide service and support to our veterans.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
When did you enlist in Why did you make that decision?
Speaker 2 (00:52):
It was nineteen eighty two. I was working at a
grocery store. Me and another buddy were bagging groceries back
in the day when you still did that, and we
were hauling the bottles pop bottles back and forth with
people that were bringing them back. And he said, how
are you paying for college? And I said, I figured
my parents were paying for it, and he said the
same thing. So I got on the phone at the
(01:14):
grocery store called my parents and they said, you know
some we want you to go to college. We don't
have the mind for that. And all of a sudden,
I said, oh my gosh, what am I going to do?
And so honestly, I was just turned seventeen, and the
first thing was how do I do that? And someone
talked about the military, a great career and a way
to pay for college.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
That's how it started. Did you come from a military family?
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Dad was in the Navy, served during the Korean War,
so proud of his Navy time. He was what I
call the typical veteran. Wasn't a hat wearing veteran until
maybe he hit sixty five, sixty six, you know, and
then all of a sudden, you know, his Navy hats,
Navy shirts, and you know it, it was time to start
reflecting on his life.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
Sure that all came back.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
Sure Speaking with retired Colonel Buck Bramlish, United States, Army
on this Veterans Date twenty twenty five. So if you're
not familiar with Franklin County Veterans Service Commission, what do
you do there?
Speaker 2 (02:05):
So, the Veterans Service Commission, and by the way, there's
one in every county in Ohio, we all do basically
the same thing. We just operate and execute our jobs
a little differently. It started at the end of the
Civil War when the local community said, hey, we need
a way to take care of our veterans, our widows,
our widowers, our orphans, and so later codified in Ohio law,
(02:27):
there's this county level agency that has two primary functions.
The first is emergency financial assistance, and I can talk
about that a little bit. And then the second is
what I call a pathway to veterans benefits, usually applying
for benefits through the VA.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
Talk about some of the people that you meet, and
I'm sure you hear a ton of great stories from
the vets that you cross paths with daily. Talk about
the people that come in and use your services, you.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
Know, it is great.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
I get a slice of what I would call all
of Franklin County, or really all of the Midwest. You know,
I'd say maybe fifty sixty percent of the veterans that
we are providing service and support for are kind of
in and out of the poverty cycle. So they are
they're struggling to make ends meet, and we're trying to
help them keep the lights on, keep food on the table.
Sometimes it's temporary, you know, and they lost a job,
(03:17):
or maybe they they're out of sick leave. Other times,
if the problems are a little larger, we try to
make time and space for longer solutions. We keep the
lights on. Why we refer them to some of our partners.
But then there's also veterans that, you know, they're just
making transitions in life and they've reached the point, well, hey,
I wonder what my veterans benefits are, or I've never
(03:38):
checked to see if I'm eligible for via healthcare, or
you know this nee that I hurt in the military,
but I got over it all of a sudden. I'm
fifty five or sixty and I'm limping. And so they
come to us and they say, this is what happened.
Is our benefit for me? And we work with them
to find those benefits, see if they're there, are they eligible,
and then we actually will file for them and help
(04:01):
support that claim.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
Every veteran really does have a unique story, don't they.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
They do. You know, it's some got in because you know,
it was a kind of a family thing my dad
encouraged because of the Navy. Some got in for college,
Some got in because it was just they didn't know
what to do next. But the people you meet in
the military are a maze to this day. You know,
I don't go back to my high school reunions, but
(04:26):
I always joke no one would believe I've got three
college degrees. I mean, I think I was like two
hundred and a class of three p fifty. I wasn't
real interested in in, you know, school. When I was
in high school, it was football and working out. And
but you get to the military, and you get opportunity,
and you get people that encourage risk taking and encourage
you to stick your neck out a little bit and
(04:46):
take on this responsibility. And that's why I think our
bonds last so long, because there were bonds that were
forged under heat and pressure. So yeah, I couldn't be
more encouraging about today's military.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
I'll put you on the spot, what do you think
was your biggest takeaway from your thirty four year military career,
what was what sticks with you.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
I'm sure you learned a lifetime.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
You've got to gain the lifetime's worth of knowledge, and
whether it's just you know, here in this country. In
your overseas deployments, what's your biggest take home.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
I didn't spend a lot of time overseas, but I
will tell you I can remember walking along the inside
of the concrete trees, the concrete walls that went around
the embassy at Baghdad, and seeing the American flag lit up,
of course at night, and then you would look over
(05:38):
the walls and you almost saw nothing because they didn't
have energy and they didn't have the ability to generate
enough energy to have the lights.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
On throughout Baghdad.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
But here was America, you know, at this embassy, and
I was there twenty fifteen, twenty sixteen, so we were
trying to help them reorganize. My job there was to
try to help them reorganize their military and to try
to strengthen the way that they operated. But seeing that
American flag trying to make a difference in another country,
(06:07):
that was that was pretty neat.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
Yeah, I'm kind of getting goosebumps thinking about you doing
that job at Colonel Buck Bramliss, United States Army and
executive direct their Franklin County Veteran Service Commission. So if
people want to get in talk with you and maybe
get some assistance to find out exactly what their benefits
that they are and maybe owed as being a veteran
into this country, where do they get started?
Speaker 2 (06:27):
Let me start with encouraging. Last year we had almost
seven thousand requests for financial assistance and ninety eight percent
of those that applied all or at least part of
what they asked for. And then we filed over one
thousand v a clime last year. So very busy. So
I tell that because the best way to get a
hold of this is go to vets dot Franklin County,
Ohio dot gov. I'm gonna state it again when I'm
(06:50):
done here, and just do an online request for an
appointment and then.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
We'll call you. We'll talk about what.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
You're trying to get information, and then you you can
decide as a veteran, do you come in and see
us face to face or do we do it virtually
over the fund.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
We'll give you the choice.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
So again that website was vets dot Franklin Countyohio dot gov.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
And you do have a Veterans crisis line too. It's
really important.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Unfortunately, veterans suicides still outpace the general public rate of suicides.
It is a very hard number that we're having difficulty denting. Anybody.
Anybody in America can call nine eight eight and immediately
talk to someone on a twenty four seven crisis line.
But if you dial nine eight eight and you press
(07:35):
one afterwards, you'll be connected with someone that deals with
crisis and has knowledge of veterans and veterans issues.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
So that's nine eight eight and then press one and again.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
The website is vets dot Franklin Countyohio dot gov
It is Veterans Day twenty twenty five. Let's welcome in
(00:03):
the executive director, Franklin County Veterans Services, retired Colonel US
Army Buck Bramless, our guest. Tell us about your military career,
Buck and what it means today.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Well, I was very lucky to have a thirty four
year career, and I can tell you I met the
greatest people and had great opportunity. But when we talk
about that, I always like to bring up what I
call two promises, and they're really important. The first promise
is those seventeen, eighteen and nineteen year olds that raised
their hand and swore an oath to support and defender constitution.
(00:33):
That was a big promise for a young person. And
then the second promise is while we're talking today on
Veterans Day, it's our promise as citizens as a nation
to honor, to remember, and to make sure that we
provide service and support to our veterans.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
When did you enlist in Why did you make that decision?
Speaker 2 (00:52):
It was nineteen eighty two. I was working at a
grocery store. Me and another buddy were bagging groceries back
in the day when you still did that, and we
were hauling the bottles pop bottles back and forth with
people that were bringing them back. And he said, how
are you paying for college? And I said, I figured
my parents were paying for it, and he said the
same thing. So I got on the phone at the
(01:14):
grocery store called my parents and they said, you know
some we want you to go to college. We don't
have the mind for that. And all of a sudden,
I said, oh my gosh, what am I going to do?
And so honestly, I was just turned seventeen, and the
first thing was how do I do that? And someone
talked about the military, a great career and a way
to pay for college.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
That's how it started. Did you come from a military family?
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Dad was in the Navy, served during the Korean War,
so proud of his Navy time. He was what I
call the typical veteran. Wasn't a hat wearing veteran until
maybe he hit sixty five, sixty six, you know, and
then all of a sudden, you know, his Navy hats,
Navy shirts, and you know it, it was time to start
reflecting on his life.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
Sure that all came back.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
Sure Speaking with retired Colonel Buck Bramlish, United States, Army
on this Veterans Date twenty twenty five. So if you're
not familiar with Franklin County Veterans Service Commission, what do
you do there?
Speaker 2 (02:05):
So, the Veterans Service Commission, and by the way, there's
one in every county in Ohio, we all do basically
the same thing. We just operate and execute our jobs
a little differently. It started at the end of the
Civil War when the local community said, hey, we need
a way to take care of our veterans, our widows,
our widowers, our orphans, and so later codified in Ohio law,
(02:27):
there's this county level agency that has two primary functions.
The first is emergency financial assistance, and I can talk
about that a little bit. And then the second is
what I call a pathway to veterans benefits, usually applying
for benefits through the VA.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
Talk about some of the people that you meet, and
I'm sure you hear a ton of great stories from
the vets that you cross paths with daily. Talk about
the people that come in and use your services, you.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
Know, it is great.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
I get a slice of what I would call all
of Franklin County, or really all of the Midwest. You know,
I'd say maybe fifty sixty percent of the veterans that
we are providing service and support for are kind of
in and out of the poverty cycle. So they are
they're struggling to make ends meet, and we're trying to
help them keep the lights on, keep food on the table.
Sometimes it's temporary, you know, and they lost a job,
(03:17):
or maybe they they're out of sick leave. Other times,
if the problems are a little larger, we try to
make time and space for longer solutions. We keep the
lights on. Why we refer them to some of our partners.
But then there's also veterans that, you know, they're just
making transitions in life and they've reached the point, well, hey,
I wonder what my veterans benefits are, or I've never
(03:38):
checked to see if I'm eligible for via healthcare, or
you know this nee that I hurt in the military,
but I got over it all of a sudden. I'm
fifty five or sixty and I'm limping. And so they
come to us and they say, this is what happened.
Is our benefit for me? And we work with them
to find those benefits, see if they're there, are they eligible,
and then we actually will file for them and help
(04:01):
support that claim.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
Every veteran really does have a unique story, don't they.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
They do. You know, it's some got in because you know,
it was a kind of a family thing my dad
encouraged because of the Navy. Some got in for college,
Some got in because it was just they didn't know
what to do next. But the people you meet in
the military are a maze to this day. You know,
I don't go back to my high school reunions, but
(04:26):
I always joke no one would believe I've got three
college degrees. I mean, I think I was like two
hundred and a class of three p fifty. I wasn't
real interested in in, you know, school. When I was
in high school, it was football and working out. And
but you get to the military, and you get opportunity,
and you get people that encourage risk taking and encourage
you to stick your neck out a little bit and
(04:46):
take on this responsibility. And that's why I think our
bonds last so long, because there were bonds that were
forged under heat and pressure. So yeah, I couldn't be
more encouraging about today's military.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
I'll put you on the spot, what do you think
was your biggest takeaway from your thirty four year military career,
what was what sticks with you.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
I'm sure you learned a lifetime.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
You've got to gain the lifetime's worth of knowledge, and
whether it's just you know, here in this country. In
your overseas deployments, what's your biggest take home.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
I didn't spend a lot of time overseas, but I
will tell you I can remember walking along the inside
of the concrete trees, the concrete walls that went around
the embassy at Baghdad, and seeing the American flag lit up,
of course at night, and then you would look over
(05:38):
the walls and you almost saw nothing because they didn't
have energy and they didn't have the ability to generate
enough energy to have the lights.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
On throughout Baghdad.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
But here was America, you know, at this embassy, and
I was there twenty fifteen, twenty sixteen, so we were
trying to help them reorganize. My job there was to
try to help them reorganize their military and to try
to strengthen the way that they operated. But seeing that
American flag trying to make a difference in another country,
(06:07):
that was that was pretty neat.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
Yeah, I'm kind of getting goosebumps thinking about you doing
that job at Colonel Buck Bramliss, United States Army and
executive direct their Franklin County Veteran Service Commission. So if
people want to get in talk with you and maybe
get some assistance to find out exactly what their benefits
that they are and maybe owed as being a veteran
into this country, where do they get started?
Speaker 2 (06:27):
Let me start with encouraging. Last year we had almost
seven thousand requests for financial assistance and ninety eight percent
of those that applied all or at least part of
what they asked for. And then we filed over one
thousand v a clime last year. So very busy. So
I tell that because the best way to get a
hold of this is go to vets dot Franklin County,
Ohio dot gov. I'm gonna state it again when I'm
(06:50):
done here, and just do an online request for an
appointment and then.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
We'll call you. We'll talk about what.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
You're trying to get information, and then you you can
decide as a veteran, do you come in and see
us face to face or do we do it virtually
over the fund.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
We'll give you the choice.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
So again that website was vets dot Franklin Countyohio dot gov.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
And you do have a Veterans crisis line too. It's
really important.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Unfortunately, veterans suicides still outpace the general public rate of suicides.
It is a very hard number that we're having difficulty denting. Anybody.
Anybody in America can call nine eight eight and immediately
talk to someone on a twenty four seven crisis line.
But if you dial nine eight eight and you press
(07:35):
one afterwards, you'll be connected with someone that deals with
crisis and has knowledge of veterans and veterans issues.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
So that's nine eight eight and then press one and again.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
The website is vets dot Franklin Countyohio dot gov
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