Veterans Encouraged To Tap Into Benefits, Services
It’s been 45 years since Bob’s deployment in the Vietnam War. He didn’t fight the Viet Cong, but served instead as an Army mechanic in Thailand, working on trucks that patrolled the perimeter of the U. S. Army installation at Camp Samea Sam. In the evenings, he and a buddy kept in shape by running that perimeter. The chemical smell they noticed and inhaled by the lungful on their runs came from the herbicide that the Army sprayed around the camp, killing the vegetation that could conceal an enemy attack.
Almost four decades later, Bob (who asked that his full name not be used) was diagnosed with hairy cell leukemia. He spent a full week in round-the-clock chemotherapy and three subsequent months in and out of the hospital. While now cancer-free, he’s been unable to work and battling chronic health issues ever since. And after discovering that his relatively rare form of cancer is associated with Agent Orange, the carcinogenic herbicide widely used in Vietnam, he’s been struggling to convince the Veterans Administration that his illness is connected to his service.
It should be easy. He has photographs of his younger self, posing next to the camp sign and with his two buddies in the mechanics’ shop. As a member of a military police unit in Thailand, he qualifies ? on paper, at least for AO-related illness benefits. When he found out that his two other buddies in the photo were also diagnosed with cancer, he said, “I about fell out of my chair.”
The struggles of military personnel are far from over when they return from duty, or even long after they have re-established themselves in civilian life. As those who fought in the Vietnam War enter their retirement years, latent health problems are surfacing to make the rigors of aging more difficult. Elderly vets from the Korean Conflict and World War II have their own health issues related to their advanced age.
Bob’s claim for disability benefits has been denied, and he and his wife herself a Navy veteran who worked in cryptology struggle to make ends meet each month. “I did 25 years [in the service],” he said. “Am I proud of my service? You betcha. Would I do it again? I don’t know.” After all the sacrifices he and his family have made to serve the nation, he hopes for a declaration of 50 percent disability from the VA. Since he can’t earn an income from work, and VA benefits are not taxable, “that would really open a lot of doors for us,” he said.
Members of today’s armed forces are armed with benefit information when they are discharged, said Moe Collin, a volunteer veteran advocate for the town of Coventry. “It’s changed over the last couple of years. The guys [and women] getting out today are more aware,” he said. Part of the current discharge process involves education about benefits counseling, health care, and housing assistance that vets are eligible to receive.
It’s a contrast from when troops came back from Vietnam. “They just sent us home,” said Collins, who served in Vietnam in 1968. He only knew where to turn for help because of a friend he met while recuperating from his wounds at Bethesda Naval Hospital. “He told me, ‘Moe, when you get out of here, promise me you’ll go to the DAV [Disabled American Veterans] office.” Collins did as his friend asked, and he’s grateful for the advice.
Connecticut municipalities are now required to have a designated advocate for local military veterans, said Collin. That person can be either paid or volunteer, but they are tasked with fielding questions from the town’s vets and steering them to needed services.
According to Ed Burke, state service officer for the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Vietnam veterans like himself make up the largest number of vets in need of services. Along with the typical health complaints of late middle age, “a lot of the conditions associated with Agent Orange have very long incubation periods,” he said. Those conditions include diabetes and cancers of the lung and prostate.
Even so, “a lot of older veterans have never used the VA,” said Burke. After America pulled out of Vietnam in the mid 1970s, “there was a huge mistrust by Vietnam veterans of anything to do with the government or the military.” Vet Centers, like the one at 2 Cliff Street in Norwich, were established “as a separate entity away from the VA, mostly helping with readjustment issues.”
These centers are still doing such work, helping steer combat veterans from all our nation’s conflicts to services ranging from substance abuse treatment to education to counseling to family support groups.
The biggest issues facing veterans across the board include healthcare needs and claims for disability related to military service, said Burke. Access to help with these issues in eastern Connecticut can be complicated: most of the veterans’ healthcare resources are located in the state’s densely-populated cities, like Hartford and New Haven.
To make matters worse, “transportation is definitely an issue,” said Burke. Vets living in communities with no public transportation may find visiting the primary care center in Willimantic or the Vet Center in Norwich difficult or impossible. Some veterans living in the Northeast Corner seek healthcare in Providence, rather than drive all the way to New Haven, but that complicates reimbursement by the state VA, he said.
Collin said that the DAV is one of several organizations authorized by Congress to advocate for veterans and their families in claiming benefits from the VA. (The full list is included in the sidebar to this story.) These approved vets’ agencies have full-time, paid staff members who are granted full access to veterans’ military service and medical records, he said. “They perform the same function as lawyers do in civil cases, and the veteran doesn’t pay any fees for their services. They’re trained to get veterans what they’ve earned,” he said.
The DAV, which proved so helpful to Collin, offers free door-to-door transportation to the VA’s healthcare centers In New Haven and Newington, he said. And despite recent horror stories about the quality of VA hospitals, after more than a year enrolled as a patient in private practice through his state job, he switched to VA coverage. Unlike his private physician, who arrived late for appointments and spent all of 8 minutes with him for a check-up, his VA doctor is always punctual. “He’s scheduled to see me for 40 minutes twice a year, and he’s never been late for my appointment,” he said. “I wish more people could know about experiences like that.”
Collin said that veterans should not hesitate to seek out the benefits available to them. “A lot of times veterans will say, ‘other people need it more than me.’ Well, it’s not a need, it’s a benefit they earned,” he said.
Resources for veterans and their families
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) national healthcare: 1-877-222-8387; https://www.va.gov
VA Homeless Veterans hotline: 1-877-424-3838
VA National Benefits hotline: 1-800-827-1000
Norwich Vet Center: 2 Cliff St.; 860-887-1755
Department of Veterans’ Affairs Healthcare System Willimantic Primary Care Center: 1320 Tyler Square, Main St., Willimantic: 860-450-7583. The VA also offers healthcare in West Haven (203-932-5711) and Newington (860-666-6951).
The following organizations provide free advocacy for veterans in claims for VA benefits:
American Legion: 860-721-9542
Amvets: 860-887-6056
Veterans of Foreign Wars: 860-594-6610
Disabled American Veterans: 860-594-6612
Vietnam Veterans of America: `1-800-882-1316
Military Order of the Purple Heart: 860-594-8648
Statewide resources:
Connecticut Military Support Program call center: provides free and confidential counseling for veterans of all wars and their family members: 866-251-2913
Connecticut Veterans website: https://www.veterans.ct.gov
Connecticut Department of Veterans’ Affairs: https://www.ct.gov/ctva
Tags: Veterans News
