Veterans’ Administration offers workshop to veterans, families

By Jamie Durant
Morning News Health/Environmental Reporter
Published: July 19, 2008

Veterans and their families packed American Legion Post 210 on Saturday to learn more about the benefits and services available to them through the Veterans’ Administration.

“We’re here this morning because of one common thread that holds us all together,” Roberta Balthrop, post service officer, said. “There’s not one of us in here who has been in the military who doesn’t know that we have to take care of one another.”

Michael Driver — the guest speaker for the workshop and a spokesman for the Governor’s Office of Veterans’ Affairs — said there are many issues that can make it difficult to access veterans’ benefits if a person is not clear on the process.

Driver offered information regarding the steps of the application process in an effort to better explain why many claims for veterans’ benefits are commonly denied.

“I’ve been working there for a little while and I spent a little time in the military,” he joked. “I’ve got a little bit of experience in some areas.”

Driver said it is small issues such as misunderstood definitions that can cause claims to be denied. He defined the various department and steps in the claim process for the more than 100 people assembled at the American Legion Post.

Many of the veterans attending the workshop said they now have a better understanding of the claims process, which should help them greatly in the future.

“I’ve listened to a lot of veterans and they just don’t know,” Evans Gilliard, a veteran of the Vietnam War, said.

Gilliard said he is grateful to the post for organizing the event and bringing in informative speakers to clarify a convoluted process.

Balthrop said veterans can access local help at the Veterans’ Affairs Office in their community, but if the cases become too involved, they must be sent to the county or state office for more in-depth assistance.

“After I read the paper yesterday, I said let me go up here and see if I can learn,” Gilliard said. “It’s been very informative.”

Balthrop said Gilliard is like many veterans living in the Pee Dee, who are eligible for benefits and services but are unsure how to access them.

“We’ve found that the Darlington community and the Pee Dee as a whole has so many veterans out there that you would think (they) know about the agencies out there to get help, but they just don’t,” she said.

For more information about veterans’ services, contact the local county veterans’ affairs office. In Darlington County, that number is (843) 398-4130.