Veterans urged to come show support at county’s talks on local veterans service officer
A leader with a local veteran service group was urging former military personnel to join him at next week’s planned commissioners court meeting in Hallettsville in a show of support for the planned talks about appointing a local veteran’s service officer.
Hallettsville’s Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6382 Commander Kevin Bright sent out word a week ahead of the upcoming county meeting that begins at 10 a.m. Monday, Aug. 12, in the first-floor courtroom of the historic Lavaca County Courthouse in Hallettsville.
“I am requesting as many veterans as possible to be at the commissioner’s meeting on Aug. 12,” he wrote in an email sent to various veterans group members across the county earlier this week.
“The court will be addressing the selection of a new veterans service officer for Lavaca County,” he continued. “If we show in strength, it will tell the county judge and commissioners that the veterans of this county have a need and desire for their own VSO here in Lavaca County.”
Bright further asked that veterans come wearing the regalia of the service groups to which they belong, be it a VFW or American Legion shirts and caps, the Auxiliaries of those organizations, any of the local Vietnam veteran groups, as well as any of the affiliated groups, such as Sons of the Legion or Legion Riders, to name a couple.
If not affiliated with any of those groups, this could offer an opportune time to meet those who are and join them in supporting a worthy cause. If you wear something representative of the branch with whom you served, it is encouraged.
What does a VSO do?
For those who may not know, a veterans service officer, or VSO, is someone who assists veterans and their families navigate the oft complex world of Veterans Affairs (VA) benefits.
That assistance can take on many forms, including:
• Educating veterans: Inform veterans and their dependents about the benefits they are eligible for, including healthcare, education, and disability compensation.
• Filing Claims: VSOs help veterans prepare and submit claims forms for VA benefits. This includes gathering necessary documentation and ensuring that all paperwork is correctly filled out.
• Filing Appeals: If a claim is denied, VSOs assist in filing appeals and provide support throughout the appeals process.
• Tracking Claims: VSOs monitor the status of claims and help resolve any issues that may arise during the process.
Why do we need a VSO here?
After operating locally for several months now without one—all in a county that’s home to an estimated 1,200 former servicemen and women, many of whom are now in their elder years—the lack of VSO leaves a definite and noticeable void locally, particularly for those who could benefit from their services.
If the number of veterans does not seem all that large a population, consider this: The roughly 1,200 veterans in Lavaca County — or 1,167 former military men and women residing here, according to the latest demographic data—represents about7.5% of the total 20,379 people who call Lavaca County home.
That’s roughly a 20% higher concentration of veterans locally than exist statewide at 6.5%, and about 10% more than are found nationwide at 6.6%.
They include some 1,058 servicemen and 109 service women, according to the adjusted census data from 2022.
Service eras fall as follows: World War II, 28; Korea, 135; Vietnam, 497; Gulf (1990s), 212; and Gulf (2001-today), 307.
When you consider that most from the Vietnam War are now in their mid-70s or older and those from the first Gulf War in 1990 are in their 50s or older, those are substantial populations who are likely looking at senior care options if not for the immediate future, then in the not-so-distant one.
And when you consider that our youngest veterans— a full 307 former soldiers, sailors and airmen locally, which is second only to the Vietnam era group—are now part of an even scarier group than anything aging might do to them.
Sadly, the men and women they served alongside have already posted some the highest soldier suicide rates ever seen in a single era military group, so much so, they’ve become the special focus of groups like the Legion and SAL as part of their international “Be The One” campaign, which urges us all to just check in on our brothers and sisters in arms every so often, just to let them know that we care.
What have we done to find a VSO?
After open postings failed to garner many takers, County Judge Keith Mudd and Lavaca County commissioners appointed a selection committee last month that was charged with trying to locate a suitable candidate.
That search committee included Steven Greenwell, a former Marine and retired federal agent supervisor who is set to become the new county sheriff with the start of the new year; retired Air Force Lt. Col., pilot and, now, the Rev Jerry Tanner, who wrapped up a 30-year military career in 1992 before launching into his second career in the ministry, who today serves as pastor for Calvary Baptist Church in Weimar; and James Fenner, a former Marine One pilot (during the Reagan years) and local leader with several organizations including his service as president of the Lavaca Hospital District and chairman of the board for the Lavaca County Central Appraisal District.
All active veterans in their own rights, and each brought some solid credentials and unique qualifications to the table, skills that it seems, at very least, will pay off big for the veterans in need of a VSO.
Based on our sources, they have a candidate in mind, someone who, like them, is also a veteran as well as a familiar face among local veterans’ groups. Not only that, but from what we understand as well, they’re eager to dive right in and go to work, too.
We’ll leave the introductions to the members of our search committee at next week’s meeting, but we’re quite certain everyone should be well pleased with their selection.
In the interests of full disclosure, editor Bobby Horecka, though not a veteran himself, is member of Moulton’s Sons of the Legion Squadron No. 392. In fact, he had the distinct honor of serving as group chaplain these last few months, an elected post within the organization.
SAL is a group specifically for folks like him: The son of a veteran, and he's got oodles of military ties in the family. On his maternal side, he had an Army Ranger uncle who gave the ultimate sacrifice on D-Day somewhere over Normandy and at least one other Army uncle who spent his wartime in the Pacific fighting the Japanese, before returning home to open a small country store and dancehall that, 75 years later, still bears his name today. Paternally speaking, he’s the grandson of a WWII Army Master Sergeant First Class, the son of an Air Force Sergeant from the Vietnam era, and father to a Navy Specialist, currently on deployment aboard one of our nation’s tactical nuclear submarines.