Larry sat with his hands clasped thinking about the times he spent with his father. Looking around the room, his two younger sisters and his younger brother were having a difficult time with their father’s death. They were pretty attached to Dad, but Larry had spent many hours with his father learning the responsibilities of being the oldest and being a man. You sucked it up and provided for your family; that was what a man was to do without question. It was part of his generation, a generation that went to war in a foreign country to protect a way of life we all enjoy everyday.
When Larry was old enough, he enlisted in the Army to do his duty for God and country and to secure a future for himself and his future family. Just as his father did, he did his time, used the GI Bill to attend college, and receive his degree. Larry married and bought his home using his Veterans Administration (VA) guaranteed home loan certificate, provided Joe with three grand children and became a successful business owner.
Sissy, the oldest of the girls also enlisted — her choice was the Navy — and made it a career. After retiring, she continued serving as a registered nurse and continued pursuing a civilian career. The other two never served but managed to attend college, graduate and pursue civilian careers.
It was Sissy who encouraged Larry to enroll in the VA Health Care System and file a claim for the injuries he incurred while serving. She talked with her father many times about filling a claim to get the VA benefits he had earned. Joe being one of those veterans that always thought there were other veterans that needed health care more than him, Sissy could never convince him that the health care system was not substandard care as the rumors circulated around the local VFW post membership. It was also a challenge for Sissy becoming a member of the local VFW post, with many ingrained thoughts of the older veterans that women should not be in combat, much less part of a men’s fraternity of war veterans.
Joe’s fight with alcohol abuse after returning from Japan caused him many pains over the years. He attended two different colleges after his release but never managed to complete his degree. He never pursued his medical training, as the scars of being a Korean War medic would haunt him until his death. Joe did manage to start a business and provide for his family but never really secured for his wife’s and his own retirement. He was depending on Social Security to provide for him and his wife during their later years of life. Joe found solace in membership with the local veteran’s organizations, as they had something in common. This is where he first heard the stories of VA health care and was not about to get involved with such a disorganized government agency.
Larry and Sissy started to have concerns for Joe as his health started to deteriorate. Sissy, on her own, contacted the County Veterans Service Officer (CVSO) to see what it would take to get her father into the VA health-care system. At this point all of Joe’s savings had all been used up. The family had tried to care for Joe as best as possible but finally decided that the local nursing home was their only solution to Joe’s failing health. Sissy and Larry completed all the required paperwork and returned it for submission to the VA. The CVSO forwarded the claim, hoping to get a quick evaluation. Joe was not able to make the required appointment for the VA and had to rely on the local doctor evaluation.
Joe’s health got worse and he died before the claim was complete. The VA determined there was no service connection and benefits would not be awarded. Larry and Sissy now turned their attention to their mother and which one of the two she would live with. Their mother’s Social Security would not be able to sustain her, and she was not entitled to any veterans benefits.
Joe’s family endured the life of a combat veteran with many medical problems that could have saved his family financially and provided him with health care he needed over the years. In the end Joe passed away with only an American flag, a white granite head stone and a small burial compensation from the VA for his service to his country.
Joe is a fictional character but his story is more true of veterans returning home from combat than we realize. Every day, veterans return home to face uncertainty about the direction their lives will be heading. The veteran’s community needs to get all these veterans, young and old, pointed in the right direction, to get the veteran’s benefits they have earned, so as not to cause their families undue stress in the future.
I would like to welcome Rick Torres, our newly appointed Montezuma County Veterans Service Officer. His experience, dedication and service to veterans is something this community has needed for years.
Robert Valencia can be reached (970) 560-1891.
