Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Valeeta Soltys served as an Army Reservist in Operation Desert Storm. She praises the VA health care system to anyone who will listen.
"The VA is as good as any private physician," the St. Joseph woman said, noting the medical care she gets at the local clinic and in occasional trips to Fort Leavenworth.
But the American Legionnaire, from Post 359, concedes that many female veterans fail to take advantage of their due benefits. According to the Missouri Veterans Commission, the state has nearly 37,000 women veterans and only about 4,000 draw compensation or pension for their service.
Karen S, Etzler, the commission's women veterans coordinator, staffed a booth at a veterans resource expo in St. Joseph on Tuesday. Female service personnel of recent years tap into the VA entitlements. Those from the Korean War and World War II periods, she said, often don't look into the possibilities.
"They're just not aware of their benefits," she said.
Benefits proved an important component of the afternoon event at the Mayes Memorial Armory. Booths promoting resources lined the walls with representatives from groups such as the VFW, Gold Star Wives and Veterans of Modern Warfare.
About 90 people attended the expo, which was hosted by Northwest Missouri Congressman Sam Graves. The lawmaker updated the veterans on legislation dealing with the military, voicing his pleasure that Congress has denied money for the relocation of terrorist detainees from Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba to the American mainland.
"These are pretty bad individuals," he said. "I do not want them here."
Jack Jackson, a former Missouri state representative and retired Marine colonel, praised the fighting forces in Iraq and Afghanistan but said narrowly defined rules of engagement hamper the troops' security and mission.
"They could clean that mess up in three weeks if we would turn them loose," the veteran aviator said.
Issues were numerous for the veterans in attendance. Rex Lyon, a veteran from New Hampton, Mo., signed up for the Army in 1940 with the promise the military would take care of him after 20 years of service. During a question-and-answer period, he told the congressman about the TRICARE health insurance program adding co-pay costs to his prescription drugs.
"I hope they take the thing off," Mr. Lyon said.
Ken Newton can be reached at kenn@npgco.com.
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gbldivmrk says...
As a retired Navy vet, I'd llike to know why I have to pay medicare for the right to use tricare. Promises made by the government in the past have been blatenly ignored. Also why are some medications not paid for by tricare, such as smoking quit programs. If I were a drug user I could get paid health care for the treatment of drug use but not for a quit smoking program. Is it because the governmnet gets taxes on the cigarettes and not the drugs?
May 27, 2009 at 11:01 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )