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Teach a Veteran to Fish
Recently, I had the privilege of helping another veteran who had retired from federal service after leaving the military before 2011. Like so many others, he was facing family challenges and decided it was finally time to look at his VA disability rating.
But he was afraid.
Not because he thought he wasn’t entitled to his benefits. He was afraid that if he opened the door again, the VA might reduce his rating. So for years, he simply left it alone.
A mutual friend from college introduced us, and we talked veteran to veteran.
I asked him a few simple questions: How old are you? What is your current rating? What conditions were originally service connected?
Then I asked him something he had never really considered.
“What if the VA simply missed something?”
The VA handles millions of claims. Like any large organization, mistakes happen. Sometimes conditions are overlooked. Sometimes veterans don’t claim everything because, when they leave the service, they’re focused only on what hurts the most at that moment.
In his case, we reviewed his VA decision letter together and found a condition that should have been claimed. He submitted the claim himself.
Within two weeks, his rating increased from 60% to 80%.
That gave him confidence.
Next, I asked him to do something I ask nearly every veteran to do: build a timeline of his military career and write down every injury, illness, exposure, and significant event he could remember.
As we worked through his history, we discussed secondary conditions—medical problems that develop because of already service-connected disabilities. He realized he had been receiving treatment for several of them for years without ever connecting them to his original service-connected condition.
Again, he filed the claims himself.
His rating increased from 80% to 90%.
At that point, I told him what I tell everyone.
“I’ve taught you the process. You know how to advocate for yourself now.”
Several months later, he called.
The VA had completed additional examinations, approved more secondary conditions, and he had reached a 100% disability rating.
Like so many veterans, he earned every bit of it.
No one wants the injuries, the chronic pain, or the emotional scars that come with military service. But when those sacrifices affect a veteran for the rest of their life, our nation made a promise to care for them.
Unfortunately, many veterans never even look.
They’ve heard stories about fraud or abuse. They worry they’ll be judged. They don’t want to seem like they’re asking for a handout.
The reality is that the overwhelming majority of veterans simply want to be treated fairly.
My philosophy has always been simple.
I don’t want to hand someone a fish.
I want to teach them how to fish.
I mentor veterans so they understand the process, learn how to gather evidence, write their own statements, and become their own best advocates. Then I ask them to do one thing:
Help the next veteran.
Imagine the impact if every veteran helped just one more.
Today, it’s estimated that roughly six million veterans who left the military before the widespread use of digital VA claims have never even had their disabilities fully evaluated. Many don’t realize that decades after service is often when conditions become significantly worse. Bad backs become arthritis. Knee injuries deteriorate. Ankles fail. Hearing loss progresses. Mental health conditions become more apparent with time.
Those veterans deserve to know they still have options.
Less than one percent of Americans have been willing to raise their right hand and volunteer to serve this nation, knowing that service could cost them their health—or even their life.
Seeking the benefits they earned isn’t taking advantage of the system.
It’s simply allowing a grateful nation to keep its promise.
When the Ramps Found Their Next Home
Yesterday was a good day.
My neighbor is a Vietnam veteran. Neuropathy has slowly been taking its toll on his legs and lower back, and lately he’s been falling more often. While talking with his daughter, who cares for him, she mentioned they wished they had a safer way to get down the front steps.
“Hold on a second,” I said.
I walked across to my garage and brought back the two ramps for Sherri. Within minutes, we had them secured to their front steps. Just like that, they had a safer way for him to get in and out of his home.
It made me think.
It took us nearly a year to realize how much we truly needed those ramps. When you’re caring for someone with an incurable illness, watching them slowly lose their mobility, your mind is consumed by the next appointment, the next medication, the next crisis. Something as seemingly simple as installing a ramp somehow becomes another impossible decision. Which ramp? What angle? How do you secure it? Will it be safe? None of it feels simple when you’re living under constant pressure.
Yesterday, those hard-earned lessons allowed me to help someone else before it was too late. My neighbor gets to use the ramps while he can still walk with assistance, preserving a little more independence and, hopefully, preventing another fall.
I know Sherri loved this.
Even though she’s no longer here, her kindness continues to reach people she’ll never meet. Those ramps once carried her safely home. Now they’re helping a veteran like her father do the same.
Maybe that’s one of the quiet gifts of love. It doesn’t end when a life ends. It simply finds another person who needs it.
Yesterday wasn’t just about a couple of aluminum ramps.
It was another reminder that Sherri is still making the world a little better—through the people she changed, the lessons she taught, and the love she left behind.
Don’t Leave a Service Member Behind: Empowering Veterans to Navigate VA Disability Benefits
Most of my veteran clients come to me the old-fashioned way: through referrals and word of mouth.
I am not currently accredited by the Department of Veterans Affairs, although I began that process nearly three years ago. About a year ago, the VA contacted me to ask if I was still interested. I told them absolutely. Since then, I have been waiting to hear back.
In the meantime, veterans continue to need help.
Recently, a veteran over the age of 50 was referred to me. He was rated at 60% disability but was afraid to file any additional claims because he had heard a common myth: “If I ask for more, the VA will take away what I already have.”
After reviewing his file, we discovered that a bilateral condition had never been properly claimed. The issue wasn’t that he was asking for something new—the original rating simply wasn’t correct.
Within two weeks, his rating increased from 60% to 80%.
We then identified several secondary conditions that were directly related to his service-connected disabilities. Within two months, his rating increased again to 90%.
But the most important part of this story is not the rating increase.
Throughout the process, I taught him how the VA disability system works. I explained evidence requirements, secondary conditions, effective dates, and how to build a strong claim.
Armed with that knowledge, he continued the process himself.
Today, he has achieved the correct rating of 100%.
That is success.
Not because I helped him. Because he learned how to help himself.
The Numbers Tell the Story
There are approximately 6 million veterans who have never been evaluated for VA disability compensation. Many left military service before programs such as the Benefits Delivery at Discharge (BDD) process became common.
At the same time, there are only about 2,000 accredited Veterans Service Officers (VSOs) across the country.
Let’s do the math.
Assume:
- A compensation claim review takes an average of 135 days (midpoint between 120 and 150 days).
- A VSO works 40 hours per week.
- A VSO works 50 weeks per year.
Even if every VSO could somehow manage one complete compensation review every 135 days, the system could only process about 5,400 veterans per year nationwide.
At that rate, it would take more than 1,100 years to review 6 million veterans.
Even if we assume far greater efficiency, the reality remains the same:
There are far more veterans needing assistance than there are professionals available to help them.
The Solution: Veteran Helping Veteran
We cannot solve this challenge by relying solely on VSOs, attorneys, claims agents, or consultants.
We must empower veterans.
Every veteran who learns how the system works should help another veteran.
Every veteran who successfully navigates the process should teach someone else.
Every veteran who receives benefits they earned should encourage a fellow service member to get evaluated.
The goal is not dependence.
The goal is education.
The goal is confidence.
The goal is ensuring that every veteran understands the benefits they earned through their service.
The veteran in this story did exactly that. He overcame fear, learned the process, achieved the correct rating, and is now in a position to help others.
That is how we create a force multiplier.
One veteran helping another.
Then another.
Then another.
Because at the end of the day, we all swore an oath to leave no one behind.
That principle should not end when military service does.
Don’t leave a service member behind. Help them get the benefits they earned. Teach them how the process works. Empower them to help the next veteran.
Doing the Right Thing
I was sweating, feeling sick to my stomach. I told the examiner and my wife that I couldn’t do this interview.
I left the secure sterile Veterans Benefits Administration office and went to the waiting room and began to pace. Thinking how I hated being here. How I was such a failure for even entertaining this stupid suggestion of reopening my disability claim with the VA after I listed to Jarmon.
I was trying to sell a BBQ Grill to Jarmon at a large chain home improvement store in early November 2023. I worked in the Inside lawn and garden department as the money from my corporate severance package had run out. My wife was only able to work part time as well as myself. My job search for over a year was fruitless. We cut everything we could from cable, yard service, no more going out to dinner, we reduced our health, life and car insurance but it was not enough. I had to bring in something even though I had military retirement and my VA disability to cover my bills and help my family. It was a hard landing for us as our great retirement plan went array.
Jarmon was solemn. He didn’t want to listen to my shtick I did in one form or another to sell BBQs to people. “Are you guys Bar-Be-Queuing this weekend? I wore a vest which represented military service to show to customers the corporation liked Vets. I pretty much knew he was Military because of our interaction and demeanor. Like a soldier knows an officer in or out of uniform. He said: “Thank you for your service but I’m not interested”. I said: “Thank you for your service”. He said: How did you know? I said, “I was in for 23 years so I know”. He laughed, and said; “What’s your my VA rating?” I told him, and he said; “you should be at 100”. I said: “I’ve heard that so many times but that’s just not a thing I want to do. He said, hey stupid this is not a gift or charity, and it’s not you scamming the government. This benefit is for your family and a grateful Nation, so get over yourself and help them. I laughed and said; “how are you so sure?” He said; “I work for the VA and this is what I do”. I advise veterans about this”. He said; “come to my office and I’ll help you”. I said: “Let me think about it”.
Regaining my composure I finally came back to the office. Jarmon, the Veteran Benefits Officer had tears in his eyes. I was scared something terrible had happened and I immediately internalized that it was something I did, or my wife told him I was a bad person as my mind went straight to the dark side.
My wife looked at me which meant to sit down. I did. Jarmon said he was upset and sad because the story my wife recounted about me was his story. He did not want to file. He did not want to appeal. He did not want to get help along the way. He was in a downward spiral. After several years someone out of the blue told him;” Hey stupid this is not a gift or charity, and it’s not you scamming the government. This benefit is for your family and a grateful Nation, so get over yourself and help them. In the long run you will get better for doing this.
I heard this before several times over the years, but that day and in that way it resonated. Hearing a CSM speak to me like when I was a dumb PVT back in 1988 again made it stick. “Tough love” is a good thing!
I appealed my claim 11 years after my first decision. Six months later and three one hour appointments I received my decision.
Now, my daughter will have the ability to go to a school of higher learning or vocation for a minimal sum. We will not have to pay property taxes allowing my wife not to work. The stress of getting care for my wife who suffers from liver cancer has been lifted. I can spend more time helping others in different ways while helping myself too.
I hope this true story helps any Veterans out there that need a good talking to.
Find the strength to do the right thing.
