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Q&A: Lending a helping hand to veterans

Newly chosen DAV?service officer plans to tackle outreach

Bruce Haas

On Friday, you’ll find Bruce Haas camped out outside the Marietta Walmart. And he hopes plenty of people do find him. Haas, the new service officer for the local Disabled American Veterans chapter (DAV), said he plans to tackle outreach as one of his first goals, ensuring that local veterans know what’s available to them and where to reach out for assistance.

Haas and other DAV members will be outside the Walmart from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. to answer questions and share information. It will be the first of many such events, said Haas.

Question: You’re setting up outside the Marietta Walmart next week to offer information about DAV. What’s that event about?

Answer: I’m the newly selected service officer for Disabled American Veterans. We’re stepping up our outreach in local communities. We want to make sure no one is out there looking for help and help them explore what they might have available, as far as medical services or compensation benefits for injuries or illness.

I was in the Air Force from 1980 to 1984 and I was diagnosed with a couple illnesses while I was in the service. After I was out, they really manifested and two years out I ended up having surgery. Since then, I’ve had four instances of hospitalizations. I know there are other folks out there with similar experiences.

Q: When you were going through that, were you aware of the options you had available?

A: I was totally unaware. The VA can be a bit of a maze, a real challenge. We in the DAV have a real heart for people who are not really adept at dealing with bureaucracy like that, all the paperwork and the processes. We try to make it easy and help them through every step. It can be as simple as helping them find a copy of the DD214 form, which is a Department of Defense record of service–when the service was, where the service was, if there was an honorable discharge. From there it could be filing a claim form, and sometimes there are different forms for different types of claims. I had kidney failure and then a transplant last year and the DAV actually helped me find a very specific form for people with renal failure. It took a year to find. Once we did, it went through in a couple of months. It was amazing.

Q: What are some of the other things the DAV offers local residents?

A: We’re about to have a mobile service unit at our headquarters, which happens once a year. Our headquarters are on DAV Road, a half-mile from (Ohio) 821 and Interstate 77 at Exit 6. This is a huge RV converted into an office on wheels. There are a couple of nationally trained service officers with a lot of experience. They’ve seen so many different cases. People can come out without an appointment, just show up. They can speak to the service officers who are very adept at helping people find which route they should take. They helped me in 2005 when I had a claim rejected, which happens a large percentage of the time. They suggested I appeal, I did and it was successful. This is a really an awesome thing that’s offered to all veterans. It will be there from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesday, June 26.

Q: When will you be at Walmart and what do you hope to accomplish there?

A: We’ll be there from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. May 25. If there’s anyone interested in joining the DAV or the auxiliary, they can talk to us. We’ll also have information about claims. We won’t be set up to start one but we can get names and numbers and help them put together some things they’ll need.

Q: Is this a kind of event you’ve done before or is this something new?

A: It’s kind of new. We’ll also have some little American flags and copies of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution to hand out. If people want to make a donation, great. I’m going to bring my guitar and play some music, too.

Q: When did you become the service officer for the area?

A: I’ve been a member of DAV since I got out of the service. I was at the state level and just transferred to the local chapter at the beginning of the year. I had in mind for some time that I wanted to do this after I retired. I’ll be going to formal training at the state convention in June. I’ve also been through four separate claims and two appeals. I think personal experience is as important as training.

Q: Do you have any long-term goals for the local chapter?

A: We want to continue with the outreach. After this one at Walmart, we’ll put another one on the calendar. We’re thinking about a meet and greet at a local restaurant, maybe in Belpre or Beverly, or somewhere east or west in the county so we can cover more territory and reach more people.

We’d like to overcome barriers. I know a Korean War combat veteran who went his whole life with private insurance and Medicare. He was really getting financially pinched with his medications and hospitalizations. He finally got help through the VA and he’s much more comfortable now.

Some consider it a handout and I tell them “No, it’s compensation.” It’s to compensate them for something they sacrificed for our country.

Q: How many members do you have in the local chapter?

A: Right around 180. Most are up there in years and they aren’t all able to participate in everything, but they are a very loyal bunch. We are looking for new members and we’re certainly open to all veterans of the most recent conflicts.

Q: What could a new person coming in expect? What would their experience be?

A: We could have another service officer if someone was so inclined and wanted to be available to veterans to help them with claims. They could also help with our fundraisers. We have gun raffles and sometimes we have coffee available at rest stops, those kind of things. We have very minimal expenses at our headquarters so we have a lot of opportunities to help veterans with financial difficulties. Sometimes it’s a straight out donation and other times it’s temporary assistance with transportation or food for the family. Sometimes, it’s comfort if someone’s passed away or an honor guard of sorts for a funeral. The VA will pay for a grave marker for a lot of services.

Q: Do you come across a lot of local veterans not aware of their benefits?

A: All the time. We work closely with Washington County Veteran Services and I run into veterans all the time and have for years who don’t even realize what they do. They know it’s there but they’re too busy or too shy to stop in. This is sort of an educational experience.

Q: Like the American Legion or the VFW, have you had a hard time getting younger veterans interested in joining?

A: We’ve had four join in the last year. They aren’t extremely active because they’re at that stage in life where they’re married with a couple of young kids. Something we’re really looking at doing is a survey of our members to find out if there is a better time and place to have our bi-monthly meetings. Right now we meet Mondays at 6 p.m. and lots of other groups meet then. We might end up changing it to Saturday mornings, someplace where we can have breakfast and then they can go to their kids’ games, mow the grass…We have to figure out how to make it more convenient and something they’ll look forward to.

Kate York conducted this interview.

Bruce Haas

¯ Position: Service officer for the Pioneer City Chapter #52 of Disabled American Veterans.

¯ Age: 62.

¯ Residence: Warren Township.

¯ Education: Marietta High School graduate; Bachelors degree in marketing and finance from Marietta College; masters degree in marketing and finance from Ohio University.

¯ Service: U.S. Air Force, 1980-1984.

¯ Family: Daughter Grace, a senior at Marietta College studying land/energy management; a son who completed two tours in Iraq, now residing in Knoxville, Tenn.

Source: Bruce Haas.

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