VFW Magazine January 2012 : Page 32

‘THERE’S NOTHING LIKE THIS ANYWHERE ELSE’ Veterans Corner in Goldsby, Okla., provides free claims ﬁ ling assistance for veterans and widows every week. VFW members are among the volunteers. S TORY AND PHOTO BY K ELLY V ON L UNEN H 32 • VFW alf an hour south of Oklahoma City, Goldsby, Okla., is home to some 1,500 residents. Yet Veterans Corner in town draws near-ly 200 vets each week, many from nearby states such as Texas. In September 2011, Deborah Ritter met with Mary Bolding, a Veterans Corner volunteer, to get the details on her new Civilian Health and Medical Program beneﬁ ts provided by VA. As the widow of a veteran rated at 100% dis-abled, she now receives those beneﬁ ts. Ritter’s husband, a VFW member, died in April 2011, one month before their 35th wedding anniversary. With the help • JANUARY 2012 of Veterans Corner , he had received his disability rating in 2010, some 40 years after serving in Vietnam. She continues to make the 50-minute drive to Goldsby for claims assistance. “This is the best group of people you’ll ever meet,” Ritter said. “You walk in here and you feel the pain and need of the vet-erans and their families.” Robert Bovee met Veterans Corner founder Dale Graham in April 2009. For Bovee, the meeting was the beginning of a newfound passion for helping fellow vets. “During our meeting, Dale found out I was in the service and noticed that I had difﬁ culty hearing him,” Bovee said. “He invited me to Veterans Corner for assis-tance in ﬁ ling a claim for hearing loss and tinnitus.” Bovee says he was amazed by what he saw that next Thursday morning. The Goldsby Community Center was full of veterans waiting for assistance. “I waited my turn and was seen by a volunteer about two hours later,” Bovee said. “Dale’s knowledge and willingness to assist has enabled me to receive a dis-ability rating of 60%. I am now going back to school and receive VA educational ben-eﬁ ts under [the Montgomery GI Bill].” Bovee was so amazed by this volunteer service for veterans, widows and families that he decided he wanted to be a part of it. The Army vet who served from 1985-

‘There’s Nothing Like This Anywhere Else’

Kelly Von Lunen

Veterans Corner in Goldsby, Okla., provides free claims filing assistance for veterans and widows every week. VFW members are among the volunteers. Half an hour south of Oklahoma City, Goldsby, Okla., is home to some 1,500 residents. Yet Veterans Corner in town draws nearly 200 vets each week, many from nearby states such as Texas. In September 2011, Deborah Ritter met with Mary Bolding, a Veterans Corner volunteer, to get the details on her new Civilian Health and Medical Program benefits provided by VA. As the widow of a veteran rated at 100% disabled, she now receives those benefits. Ritter’s husband, a VFW member, died in April 2011, one month before their 35th wedding anniversary. With the help of Veterans Corner, he had received his disability rating in 2010, some 40 years after serving in Vietnam. She continues to make the 50-minute drive to Goldsby for claims assistance. “This is the best group of people you’ll ever meet,” Ritter said. “You walk in here and you feel the pain and need of the veterans and their families.” Robert Bovee met Veterans Corner founder Dale Graham in April 2009. For Bovee, the meeting was the beginning of a newfound passion for helping fellow vets. “During our meeting, Dale found out I was in the service and noticed that I had difficulty hearing him,” Bovee said. “He invited me to Veterans Corner for assistance in filing a claim for hearing loss and tinnitus.” Bovee says he was amazed by what he saw that next Thursday morning. The Goldsby Community Center was full of veterans waiting for assistance. “I waited my turn and was seen by a volunteer about two hours later,” Bovee said. “Dale’s knowledge and willingness to assist has enabled me to receive a disability rating of 60%. I am now going back to school and receive VA educational benefits under [the Montgomery GI Bill].” Bovee was so amazed by this volunteer service for veterans, widows and families that he decided he wanted to be a part of it. The Army vet who served from 1985- 87 in field artillery now volunteers with Veterans Corner and maintains www.vet eranscorner.org. “I had a website up and running within four months,” Bovee said. “We are now able to reach people all over the country and provide assistance to those deserving veterans, as well as the ones in our local community. I have received e-mails from veterans in Hawaii, California, Nevada, Florida, Alabama and New York.” Veterans Corner operates with 42 volunteers who have varying amounts of training and expertise. For example, Shirley Clark-Cowdin works with five to 10 widows each week. Her own husband, a Vietnam veteran, died at age 63 from complications due to Agent Orange exposure. “We try to help those who are still alive and we help their widows,” said Graham, a Vietnam War vet. “I think we do a pretty good job.” ‘IF YOU’RE A VFW MEMBER, YOU’VE BEEN THERE’ In the last five years, Veterans Corner has worked with as many as 198 people in one day. As of mid-September, volunteers had helped 150 veterans receive 100% disability ratings from VA in 2011 alone. The average claim requires three visits. When Graham came home from serving with the 3rd Combat Eng. Bn., 3rd Marine Div., in Vietnam at 20 years old, he had his eyes checked at a VA hospital but says he was not granted any assistance. In the late 1980s, he tried again, to no avail. “So I started working on my own,” he said. “It took me about five years, but I finally got my own claim done. Then I got to working with other people.” A member of Post 4890 in Norman, Okla., Graham has worked with multiple veterans service organizations but asserts that “VFW is the best one.” All Veterans Corner claims are filed through VFW’s service office in Muskogee, Okla. Graham says of his fellow members: “If you’re a VFW member, you’ve been there.” Graham retired from a civilian career at Tinker Air Force Base in 2002 and has been helping veterans file VA claims since then. He started Veterans Corner in the garage of his home and moved to the community center when the operation became too large. Once a week, volunteers set up Veterans Corner starting at 7:30 a.m. They unload a 24-foot trailer full of tables, copiers and supplies. By 8 a.m., veterans and widows who have been waiting for hours can finally get in. “All I wanted to do is have a little fun and help some folks,” he said. “So far it’s worked like we want it to. That’s what it’s all about, making a difference to these people. I personally believe that we’ve made a difference in thousands of people’s lives.” ‘PAPERWORK OVERWHELMS PEOPLE’ Clarence Powell was rated as 30% disabled in 1968 after nearly losing his arm the year before while serving with the Marines’ 3rd Recon Battalion in Vietnam. Graham helped him with a claim, and he is now rated 100% for diabetes due to Agent Orange exposure. “The paperwork overwhelms people,” said Powell, a member of Post 4890. “Most people just stay away from it. These guys know what to file and how to file it. So many people don’t know what they’re entitled to or how to get it.” Clark-Cowdin worked with one veteran who proved his asbestos exposure with pictures of himself on the ship. “You need some kind of proof,” she said. “You’ve got to document.” T his process can be even more daunting for spouses of deceased disabled veterans. “We’ve got so many women whose biggest peeve with VA is how long it takes a widow to get something,” Graham said. “It takes a long time to the veteran; for widows it takes three times longer.” Volunteer Phil Roth helped Ron Eitel, a combat veteran of the Vietnam War, research his claim online at one of the laptops brought into the community center each week. “We work to establish connection for incidents that happened 40 or more years ago,” said Roth, who served with the Coast Guard from 1974-78. “Over that time, you forget. We try to bring back a Lot of what happened and when. There’s so much information out there. It’s not just about the details of what happened, but also the relationships.” “The system works,” said fellow volunteer Harold Reed. “What he’s done is force the VA to do the right thing. We’re fired up with that.” Graham describes Reed, a member of Post 9969 in Del City, Okla., who served as a door gunner in Vietnam with the 187th Assault Helicopter Company, as the “eyes” of Veterans Corner. “He checks over everything. He takes care of our computer updates. Without him we’d be back in the dark ages.” In addition to VA compensation, some veterans are eligible for state benefits such as free license plates, fishing licenses and commissary privileges. Veterans Corner volunteers research these as part of the effort to create a “one-stop shop.” Veterans Corner also operates what Graham calls a benevolence fund for local veterans and their families. This is similar to VFW’s Unmet Needs but limited to active-duty and recently discharged veterans. Applicants must apply for assistance and receive it in the form Of bills paid or store gift cards. “People give us money as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, but nobody gets paid, period,” he explained. “We give that money away after we pay our expenses. We probably gave away $40,000 last year.” In the meantime, Clayton Lee drives fellow veterans to doctor’s appointments several times per week. “I never met a veteran I didn’t appreciate,” the Vietnam vet said. He drives veterans as old as WWII and as young as Iraq and Afghanistan. As Reed said of this operation in a small town in the Midwest: “There’s nothing like this anywhere else.”

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