Getting the word out

Curtis Fisher, who served in the U.S. Army from 1988 to 1992, was in the Tomah VA Medical Center June 25 when he walked past The American Legion’s Veterans Benefits Center (VBC). Doubling back, Fisher ventured inside to find out what services the center was offering.

It was a decision he was glad he made. Fisher has a pending benefits claim with the Department of Veterans Affairs and, after talking with a service officer at the center, was able to find out the status of the claim after talking with one of the VBC’s workers.

‘I was able to get some helpful information from the Legion and those representatives there,” Fisher said. “They pointed me in the right direction. Now it’s about me making phone calls and following through.”

Over the course of the VBC’s three days, first at American Legion Post 201 in Tomah and then at Tomah VAMC, dozens of veterans asked similar questions of Legion and VA staff, and Wisconsin county service officers.

Post 201 Commander Todd Steffel said Tomah was an ideal setting for a VBC. “You’ve got two major military installations here: Fort McCoy and Volk Field,” he said. “There’s a ton and ton of military. They retire here. So we need to get this information out.”

That information available during the VBC included the steps needed to enroll in VA health care, how to use GI Bill benefits, filing for survivor benefits and home-loan information.

Larry Williams, who served in the U.S. Army from 1977 to 1979, also came to the VBC to make sure a claim he’d filed with the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) had been received. He spoke with Waushara County Veterans Service Officer Bill Rosenau, who was able to locate the claim and assure a relieved Williams that VBA does have the paperwork and is reviewing it.

“It was hard for me to believe (VBA) actually got (the claim),” Williams said. “The system lets you down so many times, (so) that until you hear from them, you never know. It was nice (to talk with Rosenau). I’m better than I was when I got here.”

Kenneth Williamson, a service-connected disabled U.S. Navy veteran, said stopping by the center was a good move on his part. “I came here to see if there were any benefits I might be eligible for that I might not have heard about,” he said. “(The VBC people) were very helpful. The person I spoke to is going to do a lot of legwork and check into some things for me. It’s a lot better than dealing with things (over the phone). It’s more personal. I like that a lot.”

Deborah Chesser, an Army veteran and one of the last members of the Women’s Army Corps (WACS), was dealing with an issue with VA and was able to stay in Tomah, rather than traveling 30 minutes, to meet with Monroe Co. Service Officer Margaret Garvin at the VBC.

“I’d gotten a letter in the mail that I needed some help from Margaret with, and she’s working on helping me get it resolved,” Chesser said. “It was very convenient for me because of the timeframe we needed to work on this. This worked out better for me.”

Another veteran who came to the VBC – Ron Dwyer, who served in the U.S. Army in the 1960s and the Wisconsin National Guard prior to that – wanted to enroll in VA health care because of the rising cost of his prescriptions. He also spoke with Garvin and was able to take steps in that direction.

Garvin, who has been a service officer for three and a half years and spent more than four years serving in the U.S. Navy, liked the opportunity that the Legion’s VBC gave her. “When you do the outreach … (the veterans) are really happy to see you,” she said. “It’s a fresh break to do outreach. It’s also great to be with other service officers. We network. We come up with additional ideas. We share information. (It) gives us extra ideas and helpful hints … to do even more stuff for the veterans that are out there.”