“Our men and women have volunteered their time and they’ve
been sent over multiple times now,” said Indiana Veterans of Foreign Wars State
Commander Eric Billman. “The government, both at the state and national level,
they need to take care of our veterans because we did our part, and now they
have to do their part and making sure that the funding is there, the programs
are there, and help is there if it’s needed.”
Judy Brown, an Army veteran from Columbus who served in the
military from 1986 to '94 and again from 2007 to '12, including a tour of duty
in Iraq, said veterans have four legislative priorities this year. They
include:
• Remission of fees for disabled veterans’ children
attending state schools;
• Property tax exemptions for veterans who are in the VA’s
individual unemployability category and the spouses of service members killed
in action. Veterans who are 100 percent disabled already received the
exemption;
• Electronic gaming terminals in veterans’ service
facilities; and
• Appropriating a percentage of lottery ticket revenue to
fund state veterans’ programs.
“The best part I can take out of my service is what I’m
doing right now,” Brown said. “I love veterans. I was helping them over there
and I’m helping them now.”
Monday’s event was the Fifth Annual Military Veterans’
Legislative Day at the Statehouse. Pam Smith, an Army veteran from Indianapolis
who served as a dental assistant in Vietnam from 1970 to 1972, has come each
year wondering if help was going to be given to vets, whether it be to help
them find a job or owning a home.
“I like to talk to legislators and find out what they’re
going to do for us. I mean it seems like the government keeps taking away,
taking away, taking away and leaving the veterans with nothing,” Smith said. “Some
of these people went overseas to Vietnam and come back and can’t get anything.”
Jake Skillett, owner of VonBernd K9 Training Center in
Brownsburg, wasn’t enlisted, but was in Iraq training dogs to detect bombs. He
said he’d been around veterans for most of his life and could see the problems
they face.
“As hard as it was for the Vietnam boys coming home, you can
definitely see a huge change in that regards as far as the support,” he said.
“As a whole, it’s getting better every day and the support is slowly but surely
becoming recognized.”
Billman, the VFW state commander, said the government has to
do its part to help veterans adjust when they return home.
“Men and women are put in situations that aren’t normal
situations for the general public and they deal with them, but some people deal
with them in different ways,” Billman said.
He said that while there are “several great bills” filed by
lawmakers this session, he and others want to ensure those don’t get forgotten
as the legislature deals with other issues.
“Unfortunately sometimes with the government, things can be
buried which is what we are trying to avoid as well, so we can make sure our
veterans are taking care of,” Billman said.
SOURCE: Hendricks County Flyer
SOURCE: Hendricks County Flyer