August 18, 2025 • 16 mins
IF YOU'RE A DISABLED VET You need to know about the next event with the Disabled American Veterans. Jerry Squyers and Brittany Costa are on today at 1 to talk about the next event in Lakewood August 23rd where they can help you apply for benefits or change your disability rating. The event is from 10:00 a.m to 2:00 p.m. at their Lakewood office at 1480 Hoyt Street, Lakewood, CO 80215 and if please spread the word! Find out more about DAV by clicking here.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Joining me now though, is a couple of people from
Disabled American Veterans. They are an organization that provides incredible
services to veterans who are making the transition, especially disabled veterans,
and one of the things they do is help veterans
navigate the veteran disability system, which, as the wife of
(00:20):
a disabled veteran, I can tell you is I'm not
saying it's purposely designed to Obfusekate, but it sort of
feels that way when you're trying to navigate your way
through it. And joining me now to talk about an
event coming up this weekend in Lakewood. I've got Britney Costa,
she's the Assistant Department Adjutant Expo Committee and she's going
to talk to us about the local event. And then
(00:42):
we also have Jerry Squires, a National Service Officer, Benefits
Production Team Chairman Finance Committee, United Veterans Coalition XCOM, United
Veterans Coalition Legislation. Jerry's a real slouch and he is
incredibly well versed when it comes to navigating the system
that I talked about. So let me start with you. Jerry.
(01:03):
First of all, welcome to the show, and let me
ask the question is it made complicated on purpose or
does it just feel that way?
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Oh yeah, thanks Mandy, I thank you for the time
and being on the show today. But yeah, it does
feel like that at times now. It is very frustrating
and for most veterans to try to follow these claims.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
I was one of them.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
I've been doing this for DAV for ten years now
and I had a very similar process where I tried
to follow my own claims. I went to the VA,
hit the run around.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
I got very frustrated. So the job that we do
here is National Service.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Office, is very personal to us because we do have
the context, the f of preference. We've been there, we've
seen that, we've lived it.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
Now.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
The system in and of itself is not meant to
be as difficult as it seems. It can be, you know,
kind of streamlined. If you do have representation, which I
always recommend any veterans out there they're thinking about filing
claims accessing the benefits they earned through their service, reach
out and make contact with the Vetter service to organization
either VAV American Legion, the VFW. There's a lot of
(02:06):
different accredited representatives out there that can help and provide
the service for free, so it is not designed that way,
but it does, you know, seem to fall into the
red tape and the fire hooks.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
We've got to jump through as a perception for sure.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Let me ask you a question that I thought about
for no reason the other day. This is just how
my brain works. Are there more common disabilities for members
of the service? Do you have sort of these categories
that are more likely to lead to a disability rating
than others?
Speaker 3 (02:39):
So there are some common ones.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
The most common ones we usually see is going to
be like caring loss tenatives. Everything we do in the
military is extremely loud. I was a Marine Corps artilleryman,
so I was around howitzers all the time.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
So those are the type.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Of experiences that the VA is looking for now with
hearing Wilson tenatives. The reason why it is one of
the most common disabilities because it's not something you need
to complain about that needs to be documented from a
military service. What they're really looking for is the you know,
hazardous noise exposure that you could potentially be around based
on your MOS or your job while you're in the military.
(03:14):
If the VA can conceive that you've had a moderate,
it's a high probability of hazardous noise exposure. They can
conceive that very first pillar out of the three maybe
that in service event. And if you have hearing loss
and tenatives today, that could be enough the case you
went for a compensation and pension exam and then audiological
examination to determine the severity the hearing loss and determine
whether or not you have tenatus and if you do,
(03:34):
get a medical opinion establishing that it is at least
as likely as not that tendatist or hearing loss is
related to military service.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
So I would say that's probably one of the most common.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
But you know, we've all seen the memes and you know,
the different videos on YouTube and stuff like that where
you see the pictures, like I said, I was a marine.
Everything we carry is very heavy, and you see this
veteran carrying the heavy pack on his back and then
he says he goes to VA fall claim and they're
telling him, while your back pain is not re lived
in military service.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
So again, those type of injuries are very common and
it's not you know, detrimental.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
A lot of veterans get, you know, kind of dissuaded
to file claims because they might not have complained about
it in service. And I always advise veterans that's not necessary, right,
It's it's always better. It makes a little bit easier
path that to have the objective evidence of treatment while
you're in the military, but it's not mandatory. So it's
always good to reach out to the representative talk about
the different disabilities that you have so that we can
(04:27):
then kind of point in the right direction, tell you
what type of evidence might be needed to help substantiate
that claim, because there are also a lot out there.
Even from you know, direct service connection, there are secondary claims,
meaning if you have a bad back that is service connected,
maybe you've got some nerve root impingement, causing some lower extremity, numbness,
singling issues. Those are secondary disabilities. It's not directly related
(04:48):
to service, but it's secondary to that primary service connected disability.
And the third most common way would be based on presumption.
So we're talking about Vietnam era veterans where they're in Vietnam,
they are in Thai Land, they are in the different
locations where they know they were exposed to agent Orange.
They had been legislations that's been passed it recognize a
certain disabilities associated with that type of exposure. Back in
(05:09):
twenty twenty two, they passed the pack Deck, which did
recognize burnpit exposure for Gulf War veterans from August nineteen
ninety forward and again has a list of different presumpted disabilities.
And what that presumption means is that again, you don't
need the in service event. You don't need to be
complaining about like I couldn't have trouble breathing while I
was in the military. If they can put you there
time to take place and concede that, yeah, you were exposed,
(05:31):
we can file the claim and potentially get that service
connected based on presumptions. But I would say those are
probably the most common well, And the.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Reason I asked that, Jerry is, you know, I'm married
to a disabled VET. He got shot in combat, he
was wounded in combat, so his disabilities have been well known,
at least part of them had been well known. But
in the twenty you know years that I've been with him,
he has become more and more decrepit. Right, just it
just goes that way. And I know he's not alone
because a lot of his friends that are his age
(05:59):
at this point, now they're having this sort of cascade
of physical issues. And I wanted to ask you the question,
which is, even if you don't think even if you go, look,
I was out of the military thirty years ago, and
now I'm having horrific back issues and I'm having all
this stuff. What I just heard from you is that
you should probably investigate it anyway, right, That's.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Right, that's right, Yeah, just because you didn't complain about it. Again,
I'm Marine Corps, right, so Marine Corps, but on combat forces.
I was there from invasion by Iraq, So I get
these things, and we don't complain about stuff. You suck
it up, you deal with it. I mean, it's just
the mentality that is brought into you. And unfortunately, when
veterans separate or service members separate, they still have that mentality.
It's kind of a roadblock we've got to get over
(06:44):
and understand that. You know, if we're having pain, we're
having issues, we need to go get a documented and
talk to people about it and file the claims for it.
Because again, personal statements, a statement from a veteran that
kind of explains I was, you know, trying.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
To get veterans to provide personal statements.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
Chronologically, I came in the military, and nothing happened was
battle my back.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
While I was in the military, I did X, Y,
and Z.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
This is what occurred while I was in the military,
and since I separated, this is what I've been dealing
with since that point in time.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
The other thing they.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Can possibly do is try to get some buddy statements
and lay witness statements from people they might have served
with who might have observed the injury or them complaining
about pain. All of this can help build that, you know, establishment,
that first pillar.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
That in service event. So even though they might not
have follow acclaim for it.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
They definitely can and they should investigate it and make
contact with us so we can try to point them.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
In the right direction.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
Well, we're going to tell people in just a moment
when we talked to Brittany about an event coming up
this Saturday, where if you're hearing this going, wait a minute,
maybe I should look into it. We'll get to that
one second. I have one more question for you, Terry.
Is it possible This is from our Common Spirit Health
text line. Hi, Mandy, is it possible for National Guard
veterans to get a disability rating. I was in the
field artillery and have hearing loss.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
No absolutely, so it can be a little bit more
difficult for National Guardsman reservists.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
The VA.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
What they're looking at is the active period of service,
so anytime they are on drill weekends, they're two weeks
a year. If there's any Title ten, Title thirty two
orders they might have been activated for any injuries sustained
that they had during those periods of time. They can
definitely take in consideration as direct service connection. Now again
with hearing loss and tenatus, if he served and filled artillery, again,
(08:25):
it's a high probability of noise exposure. I was around
in one nine or ra's one five to five millimeter
houisers and I can tell you when they go off,
you know it. So if he did experience something like that,
absolutely I would recommend he come out to the claim
event that we're going to do Saturday.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
At chapter seven was I'm sure Britainy'll fill you.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
In on we can, you know, at least discuss it
and kind of established representation potentially help them follow claims.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Okay, let me get to Brittany. Brittany, let me ask
you this. We already did one of these events in
Fort Morgan or Fort Lupton. What are the forts up there?
I can't ever remember. I always mix them up. I
don't mean to insult the lovely people of Fort Lupton
or Fort Morgan, I mix you up. How did that
event go and what were you guys able to accomplish?
Speaker 4 (09:06):
Hey, Mandy, that event was excellent, thanks for asking. Jerry
and I were there and there were over fifty veterans
who came registered learned about the claims process from a
farm short information session that Jerry and his colleagues gave,
and then they each sat down with a National Service
(09:26):
officer like Jerry and discussed their issues that they're having,
that they're experiencing, and then they either established you know,
an intent to file, which is the first step in
filing a claim and working with these service officers, and
then that way they can the service officers can follow
up with those veterans. So more than fifty different veterans
(09:48):
with their own the laundry.
Speaker 5 (09:49):
List of issues, if you will. And I say that
because I am one of those. Yeah, so I was able.
Speaker 4 (09:56):
I was lucky enough to work with these wonderful service
officers and get I claim done. It took over four years,
one hundred percent permanent total, and I'm so grateful for that.
So I'm telling you come to this event. It is
this Saturday, August twenty third. We're starting at ten am,
and that is because our information session starts at ten am.
(10:18):
So if you can get there a little bit before
sign in, I'll be there to register. If you can
come see me, Brittany, I'll have my little name tag on.
I'll be there registering everyone with some of our auxiliary
members and hope to get you some information to get
you connected with the service officers and get you started.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
So do they need to bring anything on Saturday or
do they just show up with their litany of complaint?
How what expedites the process.
Speaker 4 (10:47):
I'm so glad that you asked, so Jerry correct me
if I'm wrong. But they are going to need their
d D two fourteen. That is definitely the most important.
Most likely some sort of unidentification. I'm not sure if
that's needed, but anything else that you have if you
are recently getting out of service and you have some
sort of medical records that are you know, that could
(11:09):
be a scant in or something or given. I don't
we don't take physical copies, but you know, medical records
d D two fourteen, stuff that pertain to your issues.
I think what's most important as well is to know
what you are coming to file acclaim.
Speaker 5 (11:25):
About or I know what topics to talk about.
Speaker 4 (11:28):
What are your current issues, symptoms that you're experiencing that
you know are most likely due to service and you
need to get home.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Well, maybe sit down this week at some point, give
it some thought, jot down a little list so you
don't forget something when you're there on Saturday. Because I
mean if honestly, like my husband has a spreadsheet of
surgeries because there's thirty, you know, and if somebody asks
you about this stuff, then you're like, okay, here's my spreadsheet.
You can just copy that. Just because sometimes it does
(11:56):
get a little you get a little flustered. So maybe
think about those things, Jerry, from your perspective, is there
anything else that they can bring to expedite the process?
Speaker 4 (12:07):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (12:07):
Man, you so again, the DGC fourteen is always good.
Having an idea of exactly what disabilities you're dealing with
that you wanted to try to follow claim force always recommended.
Now I will caveat at that because you know, a
lot of times we're doing these information seminars, we don't
hold representation for a lot of the veterans that we're
speaking with, so the information we're going to provide to
them is going to be very general in nature. I
can't give you specific details about exactly the path we
(12:30):
need to navigate unless we can access those records from VA.
Speaker 3 (12:33):
So that's typically what we're doing.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
We're providing a lot of information, general information about DAV
what we do, the different program services we provide, as
well as establishing representation for these veterans. And that can't
take a couple of days. So if you show up
on Saturday, you're more than welcome to come. I encourage
everyone to come. Just understand that it might be limited
to the amount of information that we have access to
an amount of information that we can provide you on
(12:56):
that day, but again, come out, we can establish that
representation and get the ball.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
Well, okay, Brittany, give the details one more time, the
where the wind all that good stuff? This Saturday. What's
that address again?
Speaker 4 (13:07):
Yes, So Saturday, August twenty third, we're going to be
at fourteen eighty Hoyt Street, Lakewood.
Speaker 5 (13:15):
That's one four eight zero Hoyt Street.
Speaker 4 (13:17):
If you're on Collfax and you're trying to figure out
where to go, look behind the Hamburger stand, the.
Speaker 5 (13:22):
Big yel Hamburgerstan, the building with the pole, the flagpoles
in the back. That's us. So fourteen eighty Hoyt Street,
Lakewood Show at before ten am. We'll get you.
Speaker 4 (13:31):
Signed in, we'll get you some snacks, and you listen
to the information seminar and then you can sit down with.
Speaker 5 (13:36):
Our National Service officers. Again, this is for.
Speaker 4 (13:39):
New claims and if you're interested in doing an increase
to any current claims, okay, But like Jerry said, there
is the caveat. It depends if they have access to
your records or not. So that will be a conversation
you can have at this event.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
All right. I also put all of that information on
Today's blog. I have the address, the times, the whole
nine yards. So if you can't remember that, or you
you know, forget it later, just go to Today's blog.
You're gonna find it there. Jerry, I want to ask
you one more question before I let you guys go,
and that is if someone has been turned down in
the past for a disability claim, is it worth them
trying again?
Speaker 2 (14:18):
Absolutely many. I mean it always tell veterans that it
doesn't surprise me in the via deny something. It's a
game of persistence, right. You heard Britney talk about it
took her four years, I mean to get her claim
square away.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
It took me about eight years to get.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
My clay before I you know anything about you know,
finally claims the VA. So it is a game of persistence, right.
We can't just throw our hands up and get frustrated
and walk away. We've got to, you know, re engage.
We've got to reassess and try to figure out what's
the best past to navigate there. So if it's something's
previously been denied, we can always reopen that through a
sultlemental claim process with new and relevant evidence. And that's
(14:51):
where National Service officers come into play. We are experts
at looking at prior decisions, looking at the previous exams
that might have been done from COMPS pension and really
point out the details that a veteran needs to know.
So we can say this is the type of evidence
I would recommend you to try to obtain, and then
when you bring that back we can follow something all claim.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
Okay, this is such great information. Guys. The event is
Saturday from ten am to two pm at their location
in Lakewood. It is fourteen eighty Hoyt Street. Go do this, veterans.
These are benefits that you have earned. And as I
like to tell people, you know, I always love it
when people say they should just you know, why do
we take care of our veterans. I'm like, the military
(15:32):
beats people up mentally and physically in a way that
nothing else does. I truly believe that. I really truly
believe that, and because of that, I think they have
a responsibility to try and put them back together the
best they can when they get out. That's just the
way I feel about it. Britney Consta and Jerry Squire,
thank you for your time today and for all you
do to help the veterans in not just our area
(15:53):
but everywhere. I really appreciate what you're doing.
Speaker 4 (15:58):
Well.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
Thank you, Mandie. We appreciate you.
Speaker 5 (16:00):
Community.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
Alright, guys, we will talk to you again soon.
Joining me now though, is a couple of people from
Disabled American Veterans. They are an organization that provides incredible
services to veterans who are making the transition, especially disabled veterans,
and one of the things they do is help veterans
navigate the veteran disability system, which, as the wife of
(00:20):
a disabled veteran, I can tell you is I'm not
saying it's purposely designed to Obfusekate, but it sort of
feels that way when you're trying to navigate your way
through it. And joining me now to talk about an
event coming up this weekend in Lakewood. I've got Britney Costa,
she's the Assistant Department Adjutant Expo Committee and she's going
to talk to us about the local event. And then
(00:42):
we also have Jerry Squires, a National Service Officer, Benefits
Production Team Chairman Finance Committee, United Veterans Coalition XCOM, United
Veterans Coalition Legislation. Jerry's a real slouch and he is
incredibly well versed when it comes to navigating the system
that I talked about. So let me start with you. Jerry.
(01:03):
First of all, welcome to the show, and let me
ask the question is it made complicated on purpose or
does it just feel that way?
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Oh yeah, thanks Mandy, I thank you for the time
and being on the show today. But yeah, it does
feel like that at times now. It is very frustrating
and for most veterans to try to follow these claims.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
I was one of them.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
I've been doing this for DAV for ten years now
and I had a very similar process where I tried
to follow my own claims. I went to the VA,
hit the run around.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
I got very frustrated. So the job that we do
here is National Service.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Office, is very personal to us because we do have
the context, the f of preference. We've been there, we've
seen that, we've lived it.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
Now.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
The system in and of itself is not meant to
be as difficult as it seems. It can be, you know,
kind of streamlined. If you do have representation, which I
always recommend any veterans out there they're thinking about filing
claims accessing the benefits they earned through their service, reach
out and make contact with the Vetter service to organization
either VAV American Legion, the VFW. There's a lot of
(02:06):
different accredited representatives out there that can help and provide
the service for free, so it is not designed that way,
but it does, you know, seem to fall into the
red tape and the fire hooks.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
We've got to jump through as a perception for sure.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Let me ask you a question that I thought about
for no reason the other day. This is just how
my brain works. Are there more common disabilities for members
of the service? Do you have sort of these categories
that are more likely to lead to a disability rating
than others?
Speaker 3 (02:39):
So there are some common ones.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
The most common ones we usually see is going to
be like caring loss tenatives. Everything we do in the
military is extremely loud. I was a Marine Corps artilleryman,
so I was around howitzers all the time.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
So those are the type.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Of experiences that the VA is looking for now with
hearing Wilson tenatives. The reason why it is one of
the most common disabilities because it's not something you need
to complain about that needs to be documented from a
military service. What they're really looking for is the you know,
hazardous noise exposure that you could potentially be around based
on your MOS or your job while you're in the military.
(03:14):
If the VA can conceive that you've had a moderate,
it's a high probability of hazardous noise exposure. They can
conceive that very first pillar out of the three maybe
that in service event. And if you have hearing loss
and tenatives today, that could be enough the case you
went for a compensation and pension exam and then audiological
examination to determine the severity the hearing loss and determine
whether or not you have tenatus and if you do,
(03:34):
get a medical opinion establishing that it is at least
as likely as not that tendatist or hearing loss is
related to military service.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
So I would say that's probably one of the most common.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
But you know, we've all seen the memes and you know,
the different videos on YouTube and stuff like that where
you see the pictures, like I said, I was a marine.
Everything we carry is very heavy, and you see this
veteran carrying the heavy pack on his back and then
he says he goes to VA fall claim and they're
telling him, while your back pain is not re lived
in military service.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
So again, those type of injuries are very common and
it's not you know, detrimental.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
A lot of veterans get, you know, kind of dissuaded
to file claims because they might not have complained about
it in service. And I always advise veterans that's not necessary, right,
It's it's always better. It makes a little bit easier
path that to have the objective evidence of treatment while
you're in the military, but it's not mandatory. So it's
always good to reach out to the representative talk about
the different disabilities that you have so that we can
(04:27):
then kind of point in the right direction, tell you
what type of evidence might be needed to help substantiate
that claim, because there are also a lot out there.
Even from you know, direct service connection, there are secondary claims,
meaning if you have a bad back that is service connected,
maybe you've got some nerve root impingement, causing some lower extremity, numbness,
singling issues. Those are secondary disabilities. It's not directly related
(04:48):
to service, but it's secondary to that primary service connected disability.
And the third most common way would be based on presumption.
So we're talking about Vietnam era veterans where they're in Vietnam,
they are in Thai Land, they are in the different
locations where they know they were exposed to agent Orange.
They had been legislations that's been passed it recognize a
certain disabilities associated with that type of exposure. Back in
(05:09):
twenty twenty two, they passed the pack Deck, which did
recognize burnpit exposure for Gulf War veterans from August nineteen
ninety forward and again has a list of different presumpted disabilities.
And what that presumption means is that again, you don't
need the in service event. You don't need to be
complaining about like I couldn't have trouble breathing while I
was in the military. If they can put you there
time to take place and concede that, yeah, you were exposed,
(05:31):
we can file the claim and potentially get that service
connected based on presumptions. But I would say those are
probably the most common well, And the.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Reason I asked that, Jerry is, you know, I'm married
to a disabled VET. He got shot in combat, he
was wounded in combat, so his disabilities have been well known,
at least part of them had been well known. But
in the twenty you know years that I've been with him,
he has become more and more decrepit. Right, just it
just goes that way. And I know he's not alone
because a lot of his friends that are his age
(05:59):
at this point, now they're having this sort of cascade
of physical issues. And I wanted to ask you the question,
which is, even if you don't think even if you go, look,
I was out of the military thirty years ago, and
now I'm having horrific back issues and I'm having all
this stuff. What I just heard from you is that
you should probably investigate it anyway, right, That's.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Right, that's right, Yeah, just because you didn't complain about it. Again,
I'm Marine Corps, right, so Marine Corps, but on combat forces.
I was there from invasion by Iraq, So I get
these things, and we don't complain about stuff. You suck
it up, you deal with it. I mean, it's just
the mentality that is brought into you. And unfortunately, when
veterans separate or service members separate, they still have that mentality.
It's kind of a roadblock we've got to get over
(06:44):
and understand that. You know, if we're having pain, we're
having issues, we need to go get a documented and
talk to people about it and file the claims for it.
Because again, personal statements, a statement from a veteran that
kind of explains I was, you know, trying.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
To get veterans to provide personal statements.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
Chronologically, I came in the military, and nothing happened was
battle my back.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
While I was in the military, I did X, Y,
and Z.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
This is what occurred while I was in the military,
and since I separated, this is what I've been dealing
with since that point in time.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
The other thing they.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Can possibly do is try to get some buddy statements
and lay witness statements from people they might have served
with who might have observed the injury or them complaining
about pain. All of this can help build that, you know, establishment,
that first pillar.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
That in service event. So even though they might not
have follow acclaim for it.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
They definitely can and they should investigate it and make
contact with us so we can try to point them.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
In the right direction.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
Well, we're going to tell people in just a moment
when we talked to Brittany about an event coming up
this Saturday, where if you're hearing this going, wait a minute,
maybe I should look into it. We'll get to that
one second. I have one more question for you, Terry.
Is it possible This is from our Common Spirit Health
text line. Hi, Mandy, is it possible for National Guard
veterans to get a disability rating. I was in the
field artillery and have hearing loss.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
No absolutely, so it can be a little bit more
difficult for National Guardsman reservists.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
The VA.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
What they're looking at is the active period of service,
so anytime they are on drill weekends, they're two weeks
a year. If there's any Title ten, Title thirty two
orders they might have been activated for any injuries sustained
that they had during those periods of time. They can
definitely take in consideration as direct service connection. Now again
with hearing loss and tenatus, if he served and filled artillery, again,
(08:25):
it's a high probability of noise exposure. I was around
in one nine or ra's one five to five millimeter
houisers and I can tell you when they go off,
you know it. So if he did experience something like that,
absolutely I would recommend he come out to the claim
event that we're going to do Saturday.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
At chapter seven was I'm sure Britainy'll fill you.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
In on we can, you know, at least discuss it
and kind of established representation potentially help them follow claims.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Okay, let me get to Brittany. Brittany, let me ask
you this. We already did one of these events in
Fort Morgan or Fort Lupton. What are the forts up there?
I can't ever remember. I always mix them up. I
don't mean to insult the lovely people of Fort Lupton
or Fort Morgan, I mix you up. How did that
event go and what were you guys able to accomplish?
Speaker 4 (09:06):
Hey, Mandy, that event was excellent, thanks for asking. Jerry
and I were there and there were over fifty veterans
who came registered learned about the claims process from a
farm short information session that Jerry and his colleagues gave,
and then they each sat down with a National Service
(09:26):
officer like Jerry and discussed their issues that they're having,
that they're experiencing, and then they either established you know,
an intent to file, which is the first step in
filing a claim and working with these service officers, and
then that way they can the service officers can follow
up with those veterans. So more than fifty different veterans
(09:48):
with their own the laundry.
Speaker 5 (09:49):
List of issues, if you will. And I say that
because I am one of those. Yeah, so I was able.
Speaker 4 (09:56):
I was lucky enough to work with these wonderful service
officers and get I claim done. It took over four years,
one hundred percent permanent total, and I'm so grateful for that.
So I'm telling you come to this event. It is
this Saturday, August twenty third. We're starting at ten am,
and that is because our information session starts at ten am.
(10:18):
So if you can get there a little bit before
sign in, I'll be there to register. If you can
come see me, Brittany, I'll have my little name tag on.
I'll be there registering everyone with some of our auxiliary
members and hope to get you some information to get
you connected with the service officers and get you started.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
So do they need to bring anything on Saturday or
do they just show up with their litany of complaint?
How what expedites the process.
Speaker 4 (10:47):
I'm so glad that you asked, so Jerry correct me
if I'm wrong. But they are going to need their
d D two fourteen. That is definitely the most important.
Most likely some sort of unidentification. I'm not sure if
that's needed, but anything else that you have if you
are recently getting out of service and you have some
sort of medical records that are you know, that could
(11:09):
be a scant in or something or given. I don't
we don't take physical copies, but you know, medical records
d D two fourteen, stuff that pertain to your issues.
I think what's most important as well is to know
what you are coming to file acclaim.
Speaker 5 (11:25):
About or I know what topics to talk about.
Speaker 4 (11:28):
What are your current issues, symptoms that you're experiencing that
you know are most likely due to service and you
need to get home.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Well, maybe sit down this week at some point, give
it some thought, jot down a little list so you
don't forget something when you're there on Saturday. Because I
mean if honestly, like my husband has a spreadsheet of
surgeries because there's thirty, you know, and if somebody asks
you about this stuff, then you're like, okay, here's my spreadsheet.
You can just copy that. Just because sometimes it does
(11:56):
get a little you get a little flustered. So maybe
think about those things, Jerry, from your perspective, is there
anything else that they can bring to expedite the process?
Speaker 4 (12:07):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (12:07):
Man, you so again, the DGC fourteen is always good.
Having an idea of exactly what disabilities you're dealing with
that you wanted to try to follow claim force always recommended.
Now I will caveat at that because you know, a
lot of times we're doing these information seminars, we don't
hold representation for a lot of the veterans that we're
speaking with, so the information we're going to provide to
them is going to be very general in nature. I
can't give you specific details about exactly the path we
(12:30):
need to navigate unless we can access those records from VA.
Speaker 3 (12:33):
So that's typically what we're doing.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
We're providing a lot of information, general information about DAV
what we do, the different program services we provide, as
well as establishing representation for these veterans. And that can't
take a couple of days. So if you show up
on Saturday, you're more than welcome to come. I encourage
everyone to come. Just understand that it might be limited
to the amount of information that we have access to
an amount of information that we can provide you on
(12:56):
that day, but again, come out, we can establish that
representation and get the ball.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
Well, okay, Brittany, give the details one more time, the
where the wind all that good stuff? This Saturday. What's
that address again?
Speaker 4 (13:07):
Yes, So Saturday, August twenty third, we're going to be
at fourteen eighty Hoyt Street, Lakewood.
Speaker 5 (13:15):
That's one four eight zero Hoyt Street.
Speaker 4 (13:17):
If you're on Collfax and you're trying to figure out
where to go, look behind the Hamburger stand, the.
Speaker 5 (13:22):
Big yel Hamburgerstan, the building with the pole, the flagpoles
in the back. That's us. So fourteen eighty Hoyt Street,
Lakewood Show at before ten am. We'll get you.
Speaker 4 (13:31):
Signed in, we'll get you some snacks, and you listen
to the information seminar and then you can sit down with.
Speaker 5 (13:36):
Our National Service officers. Again, this is for.
Speaker 4 (13:39):
New claims and if you're interested in doing an increase
to any current claims, okay, But like Jerry said, there
is the caveat. It depends if they have access to
your records or not. So that will be a conversation
you can have at this event.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
All right. I also put all of that information on
Today's blog. I have the address, the times, the whole
nine yards. So if you can't remember that, or you
you know, forget it later, just go to Today's blog.
You're gonna find it there. Jerry, I want to ask
you one more question before I let you guys go,
and that is if someone has been turned down in
the past for a disability claim, is it worth them
trying again?
Speaker 2 (14:18):
Absolutely many. I mean it always tell veterans that it
doesn't surprise me in the via deny something. It's a
game of persistence, right. You heard Britney talk about it
took her four years, I mean to get her claim
square away.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
It took me about eight years to get.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
My clay before I you know anything about you know,
finally claims the VA. So it is a game of persistence, right.
We can't just throw our hands up and get frustrated
and walk away. We've got to, you know, re engage.
We've got to reassess and try to figure out what's
the best past to navigate there. So if it's something's
previously been denied, we can always reopen that through a
sultlemental claim process with new and relevant evidence. And that's
(14:51):
where National Service officers come into play. We are experts
at looking at prior decisions, looking at the previous exams
that might have been done from COMPS pension and really
point out the details that a veteran needs to know.
So we can say this is the type of evidence
I would recommend you to try to obtain, and then
when you bring that back we can follow something all claim.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
Okay, this is such great information. Guys. The event is
Saturday from ten am to two pm at their location
in Lakewood. It is fourteen eighty Hoyt Street. Go do this, veterans.
These are benefits that you have earned. And as I
like to tell people, you know, I always love it
when people say they should just you know, why do
we take care of our veterans. I'm like, the military
(15:32):
beats people up mentally and physically in a way that
nothing else does. I truly believe that. I really truly
believe that, and because of that, I think they have
a responsibility to try and put them back together the
best they can when they get out. That's just the
way I feel about it. Britney Consta and Jerry Squire,
thank you for your time today and for all you
do to help the veterans in not just our area
(15:53):
but everywhere. I really appreciate what you're doing.
Speaker 4 (15:58):
Well.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
Thank you, Mandie. We appreciate you.
Speaker 5 (16:00):
Community.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
Alright, guys, we will talk to you again soon.
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