NORMAN — Volunteer of the week is Phil Roth who served in the United States Coast Guard. He has volunteered for several years and does research helping veterans substantiate claims for service connection of disabilities. His wife Joyce has supported his endeavor to help other veterans.
There were 110 veterans’ surviving spouses who made the trip to Goldsby for assistance with their VA claims and questions. There were 24 veterans who filed their first claim for benefits. Of this number. There were 11 widows who applied for DIC or pension benefits based on their husband’s military service. There were 10 veterans who were recently received a 100 percent rating from the Veterans Administration for their disabilities that were caused by or aggravated by military service. Those who receive the rating will be eligible for the Oklahoma State benefits for property tax relief, sales tax and other benefits that our state provides. We were also able to assist veterans with the re-evaluation of their claims or review their recent ratings.
Suicide among returning veterans is at an all time high. Since January we have had seven widows whose husbands have committed suicide. If you know of any returning veterans who are having adjustment problems, ask them to visit with one of our volunteers or send them to the local VA Mental Health Center at the Oklahoma City VA Hospital or to the Vet Center in Oklahoma City.
The benevolence fund was used to assist surviving spouses and veterans with food and other types of needed household items last week. Sid Smith provides food boxes for veterans and their families who are in need of this service. If you need this type of assistance, stop by Thursday morning or call Sid at 573-1990.
The Goldsby Veterans Memorial continues to impress those who make a visit to Goldsby. Harold Harvell along with his crew, JD Kinard and Riley Phillips, are on duty every Thursday providing assistance to the many visitors. We now have more than 940 bricks around the memorial. Clayton Lee, 684-8860, and the other transportation drivers, provided rides to seven veterans to the Oklahoma City VA Hospital for their appointments. If you need a ride or know a veteran who does, call Clayton to set up a driver. For the Norman area, call Harold Martin at 227-3239 or Robert Root at 919-3008. For the Moore area, call Howard Robertson at 205-4895.
Our book, “100 stories from Veterans Corner,” by Dr. Kami Day continues to be one of the proudest achievements for all of the volunteers who make the trip to Goldsby each week. Harold and his helpers have sold more than 100 copies at our location. These are available each Thursday morning or they are available for purchase on line at Amazon. To order one from Amazon go to their website, type in Kami Day. Every story in this book came from a veteran who made the trip to Goldsby for help with their VA claims and questions.
If you would like to help us to help our fellow veterans and their surviving spouses, we are a 501(c)(3) non-profit. We are veterans helping veterans. Jerry Baxter is the treasurer and can be reached at 833-0773 for information about Veterans Corner.
If you have questions on surviving spouse benefits, call Shirley at 361-9322.
For all of your questions and assistance about veteran’s benefits, we are at the Goldsby Community Center each Thursday. The doors open at 8 a.m.
Take time to visit www.veteranscorner.org. You also may send donations to Veterans Corner, P.O. Box 704, Washington, OK, 73093.
You can call me at 550-8806 or email kdgraham@windstream.net.
Semper Fi.
Dale K. Graham is service officer for VFW Post 4890.
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