Boots on the Ground

Featuring Washington County Veteran Services

‘He is Why I Do This Job’

About two years ago, a Korean War veteran came in to see if he would be eligible for hearing aids and some extra money.

He was 86 and still working part-time as a mechanic, but said it was getting difficult to maintain employment.

I enrolled him in VA health care, and we got him set up for an audiology appointment.

We looked at whether he would qualify for non-service connected pension and determined that his working income put him over the threshold for eligibility.

He was reluctant to file for hearing loss, even though he had a combat infantry award and had described several significant “acoustic traumas.”

In the course of our conversation, he also mentioned he broke his back and had spent several months in an Army hospital in Tokyo. In the end, we filed for all three (health care, disability compensation and pension). His records had been damaged in the 1973 fire at the National Personel Records Center, so it took almost a year and a half to process his claim, but we finally received word that he had been approved for disability compensation at the 80 percent rate.

He also has hearing aids now. He was able to quit working, and even installed air conditioning in his house last summer.

He used part of the retroactive pay to travel to see his brother and sister, whom he hadn’t seen for years.

He is why I do this job.

Vicki Horn, Veteran Services Supervisor

U.S. Army infantrymen take cover during the Battle of Heartbreak Ridge in the Korean War.

Building Trust, Changing Lives

What I like most about my job is the ability to assist those that may not be able to help themselves.

One particular veteran comes to mind. Let’s call him “Gabriel.” Gabriel started showing up at the office right about the time I started working for Washington County Disability, Aging and Veteran Services.

He was a Vietnam-era veteran, homeless, justice-involved and mentally not well. He came around mostly for the pudding cups and juice that we gave him. Gabriel trusted us and would sometimes fall asleep on the long wooden church bench out in the hall where no one could see him because he felt safe there.

Ultimately, Gabriel allowed us to help him file a claim with the VA.

Although I was not his veteran service officer, I was fortunate to be able to have played a supporting role in this positive experience both for the veteran and myself.

With a great deal of work and persistence from his VSO, Colette Klein, this veteran was awarded a 100 percent service-connected disability rating.

I was awarded the honor of helping with a successful outcome for a veteran that was not able to help himself.

Wendy Socha, Veteran Services Program Specialist

A Deeper Impact

I like my job as a veteran service officer because each claim affords an opportunity to tell the veteran’s unique story against the backdrop of relevant legal statutes. This role regularly involves writing, research and collaboration with my colleagues, and every claim is different. What really makes the work stand out, though, is the relationships with each veteran and family that I get a chance to meet with.

Some share fond stories about their service, which they sometimes recall only after discussion about claimed conditions. Others come in looking for hearing aids or some other specific benefit and are happily surprised by the different resources that are available.

The cases that often have the greatest impact on me are when the veteran wants help and doesn’t know where else to go. One experience that is especially representative of this was a veteran who had a traumatic experience during his service in the Vietnam War and has struggled with the impacts ever since.

He had filed a claim on his own long ago, but didn’t know what evidence was needed and gave up after receiving an unfavorable decision. Since that time, he has had ongoing struggles with employment and strained family relationships.

During our first meeting, this veteran described it as a “leap of faith” to not just ask for help but to try submitting his claim again, and talked at length about the importance of validation.

Being granted service connection for that condition, he noted, would help him meet financial obligations and open up health care resources for treatment, but with this claim, he was also seeking validation that he does have a condition and it is related to service. This individual developed the necessary evidence for his claim and received a favorable decision.

This has been a reminder of the responsibility I hold as a VSO as well as the impact that we can have on people’s lives — far more than just the ultimate result of the decision letter from the VA.

Sean Files, Veteran Service Officer