Published: May 31, 2008 01:01 am            

Indiana vets faring better than their predecessors

Richard Jones served as a helicopter pilot in Vietnam for one year starting in September 1968. But he only found out about many of the military benefits available to him after becoming the Jefferson County, Ind., Veterans Services officer eight years ago.

“In my war — Vietnam — they just asked you to hang around (after military service was over) and have a physical,” he said.

Many soldiers didn’t do it. “They weren’t aware they could apply for anything,” Jones said. “That was a problem then, and is still a problem today. But it is better now than it used to be.”

Many Vietnam veterans are now able to receive benefits they could not receive before 2000, when Agent Orange — the nickname for the herbicide the military sprayed on Vietnam fields to erode the enemies’ cover that was later blamed for many veterans’ health problems — was connected to various illnesses, including diabetes. And many Veterans Service officers in Southern Indiana agree that Iraq War veterans are far more informed about the availability of benefits than previous soldiers who faced conflict.

Iraq War veterans serving in the U.S. military receive briefings upon return from active duty, where they are informed of the benefits available, instructed on how to complete aid application forms and advised on what evidence they will need to support claims, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

“(Iraq War veterans) are getting more info than other guys ever did,” said Shelby Shaffer, the Clark County Veterans Services officer. “They’re meeting with soldiers when they return to go over benefits.

“I think they’re more well-informed — when I got out they didn’t tell me anything.”

Shaffer, like all VA Service officers, is a veteran. She served in the Navy from 1965 to 1971 and spent 23 years as a Navy Reservist.

There are 24 million U.S. military veterans, and nearly three-quarters served during a war or conflict. About a quarter of the entire U.S. population is potentially eligible for veterans’ benefits, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

“The thing I spend more time on than anything else is writing claims for benefits for veterans,” Jones said. “I’ve written more claims for World War II veterans than any — then Vietnam, then North Korea and then Iraq and Afghanistan. A lot of injuries and illnesses develop over the years but are traceable back to a service injury.

“A soldier may have been a gunner on an aircraft in World War II, and now they have hearing loss,” Jones said. “Right now, I’m not seeing a lot of Iraq veterans, but in 10 years, the numbers will probably increase.”

Indiana boasts the largest number of National Guard troops serving in Iraq. In addition to veterans of previous wars, that keeps county VA officers busy.



Helping those who help

Shaffer has been working to help veterans in Clark County for nearly 15 years, and she finally got a raise from the Clark County Council this month to place her at the same pay level as surrounding county VA officers, such as Jefferson County’s Richard Jones.

Scott County Veterans Service Officer Jim Jones is a part-time employee of the Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs — working about two days a week — and he makes $13,500 a year. Jones handles, on average, about six original claims a month, which doesn’t include amendments to claims.

“Let’s say a veteran got hurt in Vietnam, he’s applied for some kind of benefit, and then let’s say he comes up with cancer related to that service — that’s an amendment to the original claim,” Jim Jones said. “Especially for Vietnam veterans — all those guys on the ground were exposed to herbicides, and a lot of cancers and diabetes have been linked to that.

“As a guy ages, those things start to show up.”

He expects his workload to increase greatly when a new Scott County VA clinic opens this year. The funding necessary to make sure he is available to provide service comes from the county council — as does funding for all VA services officers.

Richard Jones gets paid $18,502 a year, working what is considered technically part-time; generally about 30 to 35 hours a week. Before her raise, Shaffer was paid $15,200 a year, with $5,200 coming from the city of Jeffersonville, for her part-time 35 hours per week.

But while the Jefferson County VA office received about $2 million for veterans last year and the Harrison County VA office received about $5.5 million, the Clark County office received more than $29 million in veteran’s benefits.

“(Shaffer) serves a whole lot more (veterans) than surrounding counties and gets paid considerably less,” said Clark County Commissioner Mike Moore.

Shaffer has very outdated equipment, he said.

“The computer she had was probably one of the oldest in the courthouse,” he said.

Moore said Shaffer was operating on an office supply budget of about $75 a year.

So the council gave the county VA office about $2,800 for new equipment, and gave Shaffer a $5,000-a-year raise to make her salary comparable to other officers in surrounding counties. Shaffer now makes $20,200 a year.

“She hadn’t had any budget increase in several years,” said Clark County Councilman Monty Snelling, who advocated for Shaffer at a meeting this month. “She was underpaid as far as surrounding counties for what she did.

“She was using her own vehicle, and her own gas, to make home visits,” he said. “I took it on myself to get her an increase in pay and increase in budget.

“It’s near and dear to my heart — veterans are so often overlooked.”



By The Numbers

Paying for Veterans Services officers in Southern Indiana

• Clark County $20,200*

• Floyd County $29,003 (full-time)

• Harrison County $30,431 (full-time)

• Scott County $13,500 (part-time)

• Jefferson County $18,502*

* receives employee benefits, but is not considered a full-time position

        

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