Vietnam Memorial exhibit in Middletown, IN

Hanging on the wall in my office are memories of a class trip to Washington D. C. in 1997. Teacher Don Renihan took his 5th grade class from Westwood Elementary School in New Castle, IN to see the sites and visit the war memorials. The photos depict the class visiting the Vietnam Memorial Wall, Korean War memorial and other memorials. The most telling items are framed rubbings of the names of 19 Henry County soldiers that died during the Vietnam War. 

The Vietnam War Memorial is the most visited Memorial in Washington D. C. I had the privilege to see this and other memorials last April. There were a number of Vietnam vets on our Honor Flight. It was very emotional watching them look for and finding the names of their fallen comrades and friends on the wall. When I worked in D. C. in the late 60’s, many of these memorials were not built.  

If you have not seen or visited the Vietnam War Memorial, you will have that chance Sept 27 -30 at Dietrich Memorial Park in Middletown. Circle your calendar. The Wall That Heals exhibition features a 250-foot replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and exhibit will be open 24 hours a day while there. The 24 panels lists the names of the 58,000 men and women who died during the Vietnam War. 

Marty Ballard of Ballard and Sons Funeral Homes in Middletown stated that donations to help defray the cost of bringing the huge exhibit to Henry County would be accepted and appreciated. Donations may be sent to P.O. Box 124, Middletown, IN 47356.

If you need information about VA or Indiana Dept. of Veterans Affairs programs and benefits, you can call me at 765-529-4305. Or email me at jguglielmi@henryco.net. The Veterans Service Office is open Tuesday through Friday from 7 a.m. till noon. It is located on the first floor of the old Henry County Courthouse. For out more information about the exhibit go to www.vvmf.org.

New Year & Maybe Some New Choices

It's the start of a new year, a new administration and a new head of Veterans Affairs. What the coming years will bring is anyone's guess. There are a few changes in the pipeline that could effect veterans and their families.

For Indiana veterans there a couple things you should know. If you have a 10% or higher VA or DOD rated disability you can apply for a tax deduction on your home. If there is any credits left, they can be deducted from your license plates. Note: your home can not be assessed for more that $175,000. The assessment was increased in 2017 from $143,160 to $175,000. If you rent, you can receive a $70 deduction on your license plates.

Effective July 1, 2016, the Military Family Relief Fund is available to all veterans that served on active duty during a national conflict or war time period. The emergency grants may be used by the families for needs such as food, housing, utilities, medical services, transportation and other essential family support expenses which have become difficult to afford. Grants up to $2,500 may be awarded.

Over 33,000 women veterans reside in Indiana. They served in every war period, including World War II, and 1,087 of them are military retirees. Today, there are a few thousand women on active duty not including those serving in the Indiana National Guard or who are members of a Reserve unit. Indiana has established a registry for Hoosier Women's Veterans.  The purpose of the registry is to serve as an informational bridge to connect women veterans to the numerous resources and benefits that are available and that you are entitled to. To register go to www.in.gov/dva/2344.htm. or go to the Veterans Service Office in the Henry County Courthouse.

On the national side, VA seeks to expand the time limit that veterans of the Gulf War may claim disability benefits for the chronic multi symptom illness known as Gulf War Syndrome from December 31, 2016 until December 31, 2021. Gulf War Syndrome is defined by the VA as a cluster of medically unexplained chronic symptoms that can include fatigue, headaches, joint pain, indigestion, insomnia, dizziness, respiratory disorders, and memory problems. Veterans can register to receive a comprehensive health exam. This includes an exposure and medical history, laboratory tests, and a physical exam. A VA health professional will discuss the results face-to-face with the Veteran and in a follow-up letter.

Many veterans want to have an ID card to take advantage of discounts and benefits that are available from many retailers and restaurants. Any veteran who requests such card and is neither entitled to military retired pay nor enrolled in the VA system of patient enrollment. Requires such card, among other things, to: (1) display their name and photograph, and (2) serve as proof that the veteran honorably served in the Armed Forces and has a DD-214 form or other official document in their personnel file that describes their military service. A small fee, as yet defined, will be payable to receive the ID card.

For questions and information you can contact my office at 765-529-4305 or jguglielmi@henryco.net

A US Navy LST 325 Finds A Home In Evansville, Indiana

   My wife and I spent Memorial Day in Evansville placing flowers on her parents and relatives graves and visiting with cousins. Pat also gave me a guided tour of the city she grew up in. She showed me where she use to drag race the boys in her dad's 56 Ford on Slaughter Ave, now a 4 lane highway, and the circuit of drive-in-restaurants she use to cruise on Friday nights to visit and meet friends. Saturday was date night.

Our tour guide explained how trucks and jeeps were tied down

on the upper deck during transport to their destination.

Though I enjoying reminiscing about days gone by, there was one exhibit on the Ohio River that I really wanted to see. A fully operational and seaworthy WW II LST. For landlubbers not familiar with Navy lingo, an LST (landing ship tank) is a ship that was built to transport troops, equipment and supplies to war zones.

The ships were built like floating shoe boxes. They were 328 foot long, 50 feet wide and had a flat bottom so they could beach themselves to unload troops, tanks, trucks, equipment and supplies.

LST 325 with Pittsburgh in the background. (jpdirottphotography)

Now why was an LST in Evansville, Indiana? Eville was one of 5 US shipyards employing hundreds of workers that turned out an LST every four months. Of the 1,051 built, 670 were built stateside. Evansville turned out 171, the most of any of the US shipyards. The remainder were built in Canada and England. My father-in-law, Leonard Preston, was one of those ship builders during WW II and proud of it. My mother-in-law made ammunition for troops.

The ship on display, LST 325, is docked less than a mile from where the original ship yards were located. The irony is that the 325 was built in Pennsylvania and last used by the Greek Navy. To understand the story behind the 325 go to www.lstmemorial.org.

Waiting to offload equipment and troops.

We arrived early for the noon tour and had a great view of downtown Evansville from the pier. Our first stop was the main deck where trucks and equipment were tied down like peas in a pod. Tanks were loaded through clam shell doors at the bow of the ship and parked in the lower deck. Troops would sleep in bunks, below deck or in their vehicles. LSTs were notorious for rocking side to side and up and down at sea. Flat bottoms do not make for a smooth ride.

Our group clambered down steep stairs and through narrow passageways trying not to smack our heads on the unforgiving metal door frames. The bowels of the LST was wide open and ready to receive tanks and other heavy equipment. A special ventilation system was designed to suck exhaust gases out of the lower deck when all the tanks were running and ready to offload.

Troops and equipment hit the beaches during the battle of the Phillipeans.

A small galley and mess area was on the upper deck along with the bridge (the bridge of a ship is the room or platform from which the ship can be commanded). The LST had to defend itself and was equipped with 1  twin 40 mm gun, six 20 mm guns, 3  Lewis guns, two 4 in (100 mm) smoke mortars.

LST 325 is fully operational and will often stop at river ports so that the public can explore this important WW II vessel. For more information about LSTs and their specs go to:  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landing_Ship,_Tank.

  

Find A Veteran Service Officer to File Claims

Trying to comb through the claims process with the VA is daunting enough. If you try to go it alone, you might end up dazed, confused and waste valuable time. Seek out a Veteran Service Officer in the county you live in. We are trained and accredited by the VA to help veterans check what benefits are available, help complete the proper forms, gather the evidence needed and submit the claims through an accredited service organization. The American Legion, DAV, VFW and the Marine Corps League are just a few that serve veterans. To find a VSO you can go to www.va.gov or www.nacvso.org.

The following is an NPR story about Veteran Service Officer Bob Kelly in Indiana and the work he does for veterans.

Grant County Veterans Service Officer Bob Kelley, right, works with World War II Army veteran Frederick Kern at the Grant County Government Building in Marion, Ind., on Monday.

Aaron P. Bernstein for NPR

NPR — along with seven public radio stations around the country — is chronicling the lives of America's troops where they live. We're calling the project "Back at Base." This story is Part 2 of a three-part series about veteran benefits.

The latest data from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs show Indiana — which has the 35th highest number of veterans in the U.S. — receives $4,935 per veteran each year. If they received as much as Utah — which has the 35th highest return — Indiana vets would receive on average another $558. And if they received the national average of $6,088, that's another $1,153.

Retired Brig. Gen. Jim Bauerele has spent years working to match veterans with their benefits.

"I think Indiana has neglected veterans," he says. "I think veterans are uneducated as to what their benefits are, and there has been little effort undertaken to communicate and get that to veterans."

Source: NPR analysis of Department of Veterans Affairs data

Credit: Robert Benincasa and Alyson Hurt/NPR

Back in 2010, a VA survey found that nationwide fewer than half of veterans understood their benefits, whether it was medical care, college tuition or pension and disability payments.

There are all sorts of reasons why veterans in one area may not receive as many benefits as veterans in another. Veterans from different eras, such as Vietnam or Iraq, can receive different amounts. Older vets might receive more benefits.

VA applications are also notoriously difficult to complete. Vets don't always get the help and guidance they need.

Bauerele says one reason for the poor showing in Indiana can be traced to what are called veterans service officers (VSOs). County-level VSOs are part of a system operating in 28 states, and they're supposed to help vets get the benefits they've earned. Some VSOs operate on the state level, and veterans groups like the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars have their own VSOs, which operate in most states.

Some county-level VSOs in Indiana operate on a shoestring.

"Some counties have an officer who is part-time, works three days a week, part-time and doesn't even have an office or a computer," Bauerele says.

So depending on where they live, one vet might find an office with a full-time staff trained to file paperwork with the VA, while another might find a closed office, or a VSO who can't navigate the system.

And without help, filing a VA claim can be tough.

Tom Nichols, a 29-year-old Indiana National Guard veteran, has struggled to file his disability claim. After returning from Iraq in 2010, he became addicted to drugs and alcohol. Eventually, he landed in treatment for PTSD.

Not only does Nichols not understand his benefits — he doesn't really know the best way to get them, either. He hasn't tried a VSO because he says it's too much trouble.

"I've got to go to some VFW to track down this guy, and it's only the first Thursday of every month," Nichols says.

Pamphlets detailing services available to veterans are displayed in VSO Bob Kelley's office in Marion, Ind.

Aaron P. Bernstein for NPR

So he filled out the paperwork himself. To some of the medical questions, he just wrote "ask my doctor," which could be part of the reason his claim didn't go through. Advocates say the VA rejects claims for reasons as simple as using an outdated version of the form.

"It's basically on me to go out there and receive this," Nichols says.

But a trained VSO can cut months and years off the time it takes veterans to receive benefits from the VA.

"You never want to apply for benefits on your own, unless you have some experience with it," says Bob Kelley, the VSO for Grant County, one of the Indiana counties receiving the most from the VA.

The VA's own data show vets who give VSOs power of attorneyreceive more than double the disability benefits of vets who file their own claims.

BACK AT BASE

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David McLenachen, acting deputy undersecretary for disability assistance for the VA, agrees that VSOs routinely help the system work.

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"It can be overwhelming for somebody to prepare a claim and submit it," he says. "The VSOs can be very successful at helping with the claim process."

Kelley also goes to nursing homes and Veterans of Foreign Wars halls to tell veterans about their benefits, often on his own time. He would do more, but his county won't pay for an assistant until January.

"It's not a career," Kelley says. "In the state of Indiana, it's not a career. When I retired from the military after 25 years, I was hired on at $28,000, and that's the average salary."

But the state is trying to give VSOs more resources in order to ensure all veterans have access to them.

For Veterans

Veterans Coming Home, made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, is a collection of resources and public media stories aimed at helping veterans returning back to civilian life.

Looking for a veterans service officer? Visit theNational Association of County Veterans Service Officers to find links to yourstate VSOs and state benefit resources. Ordownload a directory from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

In the past year, the state paid for software and training so county VSOs could file claims electronically. And for the first time, the Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs set up workshops to explain federal benefits to vets.

Bauerele is part of the Military Veterans Coalition of Indiana, which is pushing to reform the system in Indiana. He'd like to see better pay for county officers, and he wants the state to offer more help. VSOs like the American Legion already process thousands of VA claims.

"Every dollar you give a veteran is new money from outside the state coming into the state," Bauerele says. "That'll pay for a lot of Cadillacs, a lot of homes."

Short and To The Point: Filling Out Claim Forms

  Many times when a veteran or his spouse comes into my office to file a claim, but they want to take the forms home. They have another appointment, don't have the information with them, etc. I try to help everyone I can plow through the paperwork on site, but that is not  always possible.

   My advice to anyone filling out their own forms goes like this:
   
        Read each question carefully.
                   Don't guess at the answers. If you are not sure, bring the forms to you Service Officer.
     
        Print all your answers plainly. Do not use cursive.
                  You may know what you have written but the VA Grader that processes your claim might not be able to read your scribbles.
     
        Fill in all the blanks.
                  Example: Many VA forms ask for morning & evening phone numbers. Today it is common for people to have cells phones and no home phone. They put their cell phone number in the 'morning' box and same in the 'evening' box. Put the number in both boxes.

        Get all your financial information together before completing claims that require it.

        Gather up the necessary certificates you might need: discharge, death, marriage, etc.

        Know your doctor's full name, address and phone number and what they treated you for.

        Disability comp claims require What, When, Where & Why types of information.
                  Their needs to be a cause and effect. Yesterday a vet came in and wanted to file an "Agent Orange" claim. There is NO such thing. You have to have a disability related to you time in Vietnam, on the ground or serving in the Blue or Brown water Navy.

   When you have completed the forms and gathered all the necessary documents together, bring them to your county Veteran Service Office so they can check them over before they are shipped off to your Regional VA Office.

   The people that rate claims are not sitting waiting for your claim to land on their desk. They already have a stack of folders they are working on. If they have not their morning coffee or were stuck in traffic on the way to work, they not be in the best frame of might when they look at your claim that is full of scribbles and missing forms. They already have a stack of claims on their desk that they can turn to.

    Be concise, neat and have everything you need. If not sure, go to your VSO office and ask.  
 
  Remember www.va.gov  or email me at jguglielmi@henryco.net with you questions or write a comment on this blog.         

       

     

     
     

     

Henry County, Indiana Veterans Information

Veterans of Henry County, Indiana have access to information and benefits they might be eligible for through the Veterans office located in the Henry County Courthouse Room 114. I, John Guglielmi, am the Veterans Service Officer for Henry County. My position is to help Veterans research information, file claims and help them fill out the many forms that are required when working with any federal and state entity.


The Veterans Administration in Washington, D. C. can be found at http://www.va.gov/ and is a wealth of information and updates about what is going on with and for Veterans. The state of Indiana has a comprehensive site at www.in.gov/dva.


The Veterans is open Tuesday thur Friday from 7:00 a.m. till 12:00 p.m. My email is jguglielmi@henryco.net and phone is 765 529-4305.