LAKEPORT — Robert Penny, a disabled veteran from the Vietnam War, has assumed the responsibility of operating Lake County”s Veterans Service office.
The chief function of the office is to assist veterans and their dependents through the process of obtaining deserved benefits from the Veterans Administration and federal, state and local governments. Its clients include a mix of Iraqi, Vietnam, Korean and World War II veterans.
Penny, a San Francisco native, replaces James Brown in overseeing the Veterans Service Office. Brown will continue to be involved in veterans” affairs and will retain the title of Veterans Service Officer. A new title of Assistant Veterans Service Officer has been created for Penny.
“Jim has been doing this job for so many years he didn”t want to let go of it, which I understand, We can”t just walk away because we believe in this we believe in what we”re doing,” says Penny.
At present, the chief concern of this veterans” resource are the many factors that threaten to strip former members of the military of several benefits, including a stream of bills in the U.S. Congress aimed at reducing benefits, the government”s funding commitment to the war in Iraq, and a loss of service records to support claims. The latter occurred in the military”s bureau of personnel records in St. Louis on July 12, 1973, when a fire destroyed 80 percent of the records of Army personnel who were discharged between 1912 and 1980 and 75 percent of the records for Air Force personnel whose names ran “Hubbard” through the letter Z and served in 1947-64.
“So, when you go to a file to claim there are no records to prove your claim,” says Penny. “That”s one of the biggest fights we have; there aren”t any service records there to back up the claim of the veteran. So, we have to find other sources around that.”
He added, “The last few years the sticking point has been that Congress is not really funding that much to the Department of Veterans Affairs. Everything the federal government gets involved in whether it”s a war or anything else takes monies away from programs that are already in force. The gist of it is right now we”re spending money on Iraq and it”s taking away from veterans.”
This is of critical concern in Lake County, a retirement area whose 12-percent veterans population is among the highest in the state. And anything that is of concern to veterans is of concern to Penny, a Navy veteran who was hit by bullets and shrapnel while searching for contraband on a river patrol boat in the Vinh Long area of the Vietnam delta.
It was as front-line as anyone could get.
“We thought many times that we should paint targets on our boat that say, Here we are,”” Penny joked.
To function as an officer for the county-operated Veterans Service organization, one of the requirements is that Penny be a veteran.
“There is a misconception out there that we work with the Veterans Administration,” says Penny. “In truth, I spend a lot of hours fighting claims against the VA.
“They (VA) are upholding the code of federal regulations that they have to live by, which is set up by Congress. We have to be aware of those regulations and keep up with all the regulation changes so that we can help the veterans and their dependants as much as possible.”
While the Lake County Veterans Service office is not formally associated with any of them, there are similar offices in all but two of the 58 California counties. Presumably, all are administered by local governments. The local offices, said Penny, collaborate through a state veterans service officer association, which provides training and gives the association the clout needed to weigh in on legislative issues. There is also a national veterans service officer association.
Nearly all of the LCVS work is benefit-related, whether for the veterans or their dependants.
“The VA has two benefits payable to veterans,” Penny explains. “The first one is for disabilities that began in the military. We help the veteran file claims for those disabilities in order to receive payment. The second benefit is a non-service connected pension which plays benefits to veterans who served during a war era period and are low income and too disabled to work. This kind of gives veterans a leg up for getting a little more if they”re on Social Security or have no benefits at all.”
Penny urges Lake County veterans with questions or issues about their eligibility for pensions to contact his office at 263-2384. The office is located at 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport.
“There are a lot of low-income veterans out there who could qualify for this non-service pension and get more income,” he said.
Contact John Lindblom at jlwordsmith@mchsi.com.
