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Tracers Rounds with AMVETS Post Cdr Tony Goodesmith · Military Broadcast Radio | MBR Talk

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  MBR giving veterans a voice. And welcome back to Teresa
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  Rounds. And we're on military broadcast
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  radio where we're giving veterans a voice.
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  And tonight's voice is to ambeds post Commander of Post 12, Tony
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  Goodsmith. Welcome, Tony.
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  Thank you for having me, Terry. So excited for you to be here.
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  Yeah. Happy Tuesday.
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  So we know you're a veteran as well as being the post
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  commander. Can you tell us a little bit
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  about your military service, what branch and maybe how many
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  years and some of your highlights of your career?
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  Well, I'm in the the original branch U.S.
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  Army. Go Army.
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  Go Army. Yeah.
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  And I was enticed to go into the military by my father.
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  You know, he's a immigrant. I'm a son of an immigrant
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  Jamaican father and and American mother.
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  I said tell everybody I'm half coconut and I'm half Peach.
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  But the coconut part of me wanted me to to join the
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  Marines. I said, well, I don't know if
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  I'm ready for the Marines yet. But you know, he said, just why
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  don't you try the Army? You know, go in the Army and
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  stay there for 20 years and become a general.
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  So I did that. I didn't become a general.
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  I didn't stay for quite 20 years.
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  I did 19 years and six months and worked my way up from
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  Regular Army to the Army Reserves, served in the the New
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  York 99 Signal Battalion. And then I also went over, took
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  a break, and then went over to the National Guard, the New
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  Jersey National Guard, where I started out, enlisted, and then
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  I went into office of Kennedy School there and then got out in
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  2002, started when I was about 17 years old, right after high
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  school. And my mother weepingly had to
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  sign me over to Uncle Sam. So I did learn a lot when I was
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  in boot camp. And then after AIT and Signal
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  School went overseas to to Germany and did my first tour
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  there and got to see a whole lot of from a different perspective,
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  you know, from a young kids coming from the city of New
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  York. It was a very, very eye opening
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  experience. Yeah, I can only imagine.
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  Germany is a good first assignment, first of all.
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  I mean, I was in Germany too, and I really loved it.
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  It's beautiful countryside and the people are genuinely very
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  friendly and nice, especially the older ones that remember
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  World War 2 and remember, you know what, what America did back
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  in the day for them, the younger ones, and maybe they're a little
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  more removed from that experience unless they have
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  family that, you know, talks about it often.
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  But it definitely was a great assignment.
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  And it is very eye opening because it's very different from
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  the US. You know, it's they, they move
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  slow, but fast all at the same time.
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  And when you come back from Germany, it seems like people
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  move really slowly. It's like around here, it's like
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  what it why is everyone so slow? We've got things to do.
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  It's like when you're active duty military and you're in that
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  environment where everything is, you know, move professionally,
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  move quickly, you know, keep keep the mission going and then
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  you come back and it's pretty seems like slow paced.
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  You're just not ready for it. Yeah, So what's wrong with these
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  people? They're just moving like they
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  got the rigor martyrs. Right.
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  Like they've got nowhere to go and nothing to.
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  Do yeah, The first word that I I learned in Germany was schnell,
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  Schnell. But that means fast move fast.
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  That's right, let's go. And then even driving on the
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  Autobahn, you just love it because there's no speed limit
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  and you can drive as fast as you, you, you're capable, but
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  come back to the US and you definitely will rack up some
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  speeding tickets. So I, I learned quickly not to
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  change my my need for speed, but it was a great experience.
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  Also, I got a chance to go behind the the Iron Curtain when
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  I was stationed in Reese concern in Augsburg, Our first Sergeant
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  picked me for a special mission, quote UN quote, to go to East
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  Berlin. And so I took a train overnight
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  to, over to East Berlin at Checkpoint Charlie, which was,
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  was absolutely eye opening because you, you're, you're
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  going through, there are two different worlds where one is
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  free and one is not free, especially in the 80s.
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  And you, you can see the stark differences when you, you
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  crossover to Checkpoint Charlie into East Berlin and you see the
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  meager, meager existence of the, of the people there.
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  And they don't have all the choices of food groups and
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  molding union cars. And they're like living in the
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  the 1940s or 30s, you know, versus we were in the 80s.
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  So that was very much a a eye opening experience to show me
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  that freedom is really not free. Right.
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  Yeah, there's a there's a price to be paid one way or another
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  for that freedom. Yeah, I was over there in the
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  80s as well. And I was a dependent at the
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  time, but I was over there and we took a tour over to the
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  Berlin Wall as well. And so the guy that took us, he
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  had a pistol on his side and he said, and he said, see that guy
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  over there in that building right across the the the wall?
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  He said he's over there, you know, just taking note of who's
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  all here and looking if there's any dignitaries, any of that.
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  And he said, and he's telling people on his side that the
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  reason that I have a gun is because we need to keep you from
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  going over to the other side because everyone wants to come.
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  And I was like, OK, that's interesting.
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  You know, way to spin that is that he's trying to keep us at
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  Bay because we're we're really wanting to go over there really
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  badly. And I was.
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  Like, yeah, OK, yeah, well, I saw the I saw the East German
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  guards actually goose stepping like you see in the movies.
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  And I said, wow, this is this is real.
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  And those guys weren't playing, but it was, like I said, it was
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  to see it up front and close and not just watching in a black and
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  white movie. It was something that you can
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  really appreciate. Yeah, definitely.
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  It's very eye opening. So we were talking a little bit
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  before the show and I asked you which you preferred, active duty
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  Army component or the reserves or National Guard, and you said
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  that you preferred the active duty Army versus Reserves.
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  Why did you say that? Because the active duty is
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  really like varsity football or baseball.
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  If you just to connect it to sports, you know, no, no, I
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  don't want to judge the, the, the reserves or the national
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  card, but the active duty is really like the major leagues.
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  It's like varsity playing on the varsity team versus second
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  string or I would say a minor league team.
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  So having to having that experience first hand as a young
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  tender soldier, there's nothing better.
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  The training is, is top notch. The, the exposure to different
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  countries, the different personnel is, is elite to say
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  the most. So I think anybody who has
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  served in active duty would probably have the same feeling
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  that when you are on active duty, it's, you know, it's
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  really the real deal because you are really prepared, you know,
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  for the fight. If, if there has to be the call,
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  you are definitely trained and ready to go.
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  So yeah, I would say my active duty experience was the best out
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  of the three. And what do you think it taught
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  you being military service in general?
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  What do you think your biggest take away was from that time?
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  Absolutely, without a doubt. It's the discipline that you
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  have to, to have to be on active duty because you know without
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  that discipline lives could be lost, your life or your buddy's
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  life. So you have to be on point and
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  you have to be pretty much serious and take your job very
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  seriously and, and the commitment to be, you know, a
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  soldier, sailor, airman or Marine.
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  And I, I do see that with a lot of my comrades.
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  We're a little bit different than civilians in that in that
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  respect that our mission and we take very seriously because our
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  lives and our compatriots lives depend on us being the best that
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  we can possibly be at her job. Yeah, that's true.
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  I agree with that, definitely. So after you got out of the
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  military and then transitioned to civilian work, what did you
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  do? What was your next role?
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  Well, I went back to, well I went to college.
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  I was in college while I was in the service in, in the Army.
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  Big Bend Community College is kind of like UMGC, but I got out
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  in the 86 and I went into the Army Reserve and then I went to
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  another Community College and then worked my way up to Long
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  Island University where I studied the marketing and I
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  studied also legal studies. So did that for about four years
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  and got my bachelor's degree in marketing.
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  And then after that I went to get my social's degree in
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  paralegal studies. And then after that I went
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  joined the the New Jersey National Guard and met the love
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  of my life in New York and moved it back to New Jersey.
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  And she, she didn't like going back to New Jersey, but that's
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  where I bought my first home in, in the in the mid 90s.
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  And we met in the Bronx, of all places, S Bronx.
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  And she was a young college student herself.
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  And we met at a real estate office where she worked.
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  I was also, you know, being a, a crazy entrepreneur.
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  I had so many different jobs, people saying when you, you
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  really a Jamaican, you got 16 jobs.
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  I said, yeah, it's my father's fault.
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  He said if you have one job, you're a lazy Lima bean.
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  You got to have at least 16 jobs, man.
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  So I was a real estate broker, I was a mortgage broker.
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  I was a pharmaceutical sales salesman and so when I met my
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  lovely bride, she said I really would love to meet a guy who
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  speaks different languages. So she studied over in Germany
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  as well. So she couldn't believe that she
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  would meet a man that spoke German.
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  So that was like, that was probably a deal, not a deal
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  breaker, but a deal maker for her.
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  And so we got together and we've been together, married for the
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  last 26 years. That's awesome.
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  Yeah. It's a legacy for sure.
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  Yes. So what led you to Ambitz and
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  can you tell us a little bit more about what Ambitz are for?
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  Ambitz is for people that maybe aren't familiar with the
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  organization. I mean, obviously it's about
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  veterans, but can you really tell us how it came to be and
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  then what the mission set is of Ambitz?
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  Well, it's pretty much like the other Bsos out there.
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  You heard of Veterans of Foreign Wars, VF, WS, you heard of DAV,
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  Disabled American Veterans and you heard of, of course,
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  American Legion. But AMVETS is a little different
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  because it encapsulizes all of the, the veteran groups and, and
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  different branches, Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard,
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  and even Space Force. We take all the veterans that
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  have served into our, our family, if you will.
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  If you look at DAV, they just primarily focus on the
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  disabilities of veterans. VFW, they look at veterans that
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  have served in foreign wars overseas and we kind of like the
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  American Legion. They take take all branches too.
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  But our our VSO just celebrated its 80th convention.
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  We just had it down in Orlando, FL about a week a couple weeks
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  ago. And we have been in existence
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  since 1944. We been charted by Congress
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  since 1944. So if you, you look at the, the
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  AMVETS national website, you'll see that Harry Truman, our
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  former president, received the silver helmet award from an
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  AMVET. So we go way, way, way back.
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  OK, wow, Kennedy as well. He's he received he was an AMVET
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  as well. OK.
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  Well that's awesome to know then a little bit about the history.
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  And so it's pretty much AVSO type organization where you're
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  helping veterans learn about their benefits and really engage
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  with the different programs that are out there for them.
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  Can you tell us a little bit about some of the some of the
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  little known benefits that maybe somebody would not know about?
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  I mean, obviously, you know about filing VA claims, and that
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  process is very tenuous and it's difficult sometimes to navigate
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  because you're turned down more than you're accepted and you
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  have to keep fighting for a little more, a little more.
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  So you get where you think maybe I don't know if the word
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  deserved is quite the right word, but where you should be in
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  ratings, I guess. But what are some of the other
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  benefits that maybe somebody doesn't know about besides the
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  claims process? Well, once you go through the
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  claims process and you are even at 0% disability, once you file
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  a claim, you are connected what they call service connected to
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  the VA. So you can get the VA hospital
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  services. They may be prorated based on
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  your your income, but it's really a minimal charge and the
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  VA has great services. I've been using the VA since I
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  was separated in the 1980s and I received all types of services
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  from, you know, services for dental services for hearing
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  services for, you know, just basic checks and vaccinations
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  and you name it. It's, it's 100% full service.
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  And, and the, the staff is unbelievable.
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  They really do bend over backwards to help veterans.
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  So I would I would give it pretty much a A rating.
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  And a lot of the people, at least around here in the area
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  that I am, I'm in the DFW area, a lot of the people that work at
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  the VA are veterans themselves, you know, And so they really
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  understand what it's like to be on that side too, as a patient.
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  And so they're a little more, I guess, passionate about helping
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  you and making sure you have what you need because they've
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  stood in those same shoes and understand how difficult
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  sometimes that process may be in some, in some areas.
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  I mean, other times some of the VA clinics and hospitals and
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  whatnot are, you know, very accommodating and will help you
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  and are very welcoming. I know the, the one here in Fort
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  Worth is you walk in and they're ready to help you.
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  You know, they're not trying to, you know, push you to the side,
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  they're trying to engage you. So I, you know, I'm hopeful that
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  other VAS around the country are similar where they're really
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  bringing in the, the veterans and really wanting to help.
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  And like you said, I think I think VA is getting much, much
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  better. Do they have work to do?
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  Yes. But does any organization have
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  work to do? I would say yes.
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  So I think they're doing what they can do with with the
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  guidance they have in place right now.
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  I think it could they do more, Yeah, they could.
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  But I think we're getting better.
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  Yeah, I think we need to also probably increase and focus on
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  community care. So if some some type of service
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  is not available in the VA hospital facility that there are
• 20:05
  partners, clinical HealthPartners outside of the VA
• 20:09
  and that's where community care comes in.
• 20:11
  So if you. Don't have, they don't do, let's
• 20:16
  say dental implants. You can hook up with a community
• 20:20
  care partner outside of the VA and get your your dental
• 20:25
  implants done. So I think that's something that
• 20:29
  is available, but we need to also work on the VA increasing
• 20:34
  that community care reach for every veteran.
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  Yes, I think so too. I think that would alleviate
• 20:40
  some of the backlog and care because you know, sometimes an
• 20:44
  appointment is a month or two out and it and it and it should
• 20:48
  be a little more timely based on what what it is.
• 20:51
  It's not like a routine check. It's something that needs to get
• 20:54
  treated and it's still like you're going to be two or three
• 20:57
  or four, maybe six weeks out. So in that case, I think like
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  you said, it should be where you could go to a civilian Dr. and
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  still seek care and get in probably a lot faster than you
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  would at the VA. So I think that should obviously
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  be an option as well as getting treated at the VAI.
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  Totally agree with that. Right.
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  And also like the opportunity that the VA is, is offering
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  veterans that you know, are suffering from, let's see, PTSD
• 21:29
  or mental illness, they're looking at other alternatives
• 21:33
  other than just straight pharmaceuticals or angiolytics
• 21:39
  or antidepressants. And they're looking into natural
• 21:43
  alternatives like I believe it is cycles, cycles, I forgot the
• 21:52
  name of it, but it's has to do with a more of a natural
• 21:58
  psychedelic, natural medicine medicine rather than just the
• 22:08
  the medicine that has been used for a long term of time that has
• 22:13
  side effects. And a lot of veterans really
• 22:18
  seem not to do well on. But it's good to have other
• 22:21
  choices. Natural choices.
• 22:24
  Yes, I, I think because, I mean, when it comes to somebody having
• 22:29
  PTSD, one solution doesn't fit every soldier or, or you know,
• 22:35
  service member that doesn't treat them all because maybe
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  it's totally different what they need, their needs aren't the
• 22:41
  same. So what once it's not a
• 22:43
  one-size-fits-all solution, it should be that you're looking at
• 22:47
  the individual and what their needs are versus OK, globally,
• 22:50
  we just give them meds and, and everyone's good.
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  And so it should be you're looking at the person versus
• 22:56
  you're looking at what the diagnosis.
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  Is right? Definitely.
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  So when you walk into an AMVETS and you you join or you're,
• 23:07
  you're just coming in for services and and filing a claim,
• 23:11
  what does that look like? How easy is that?
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  Is that just as simple as I go in and I say I'm looking to file
• 23:17
  a claim I think I have? Maybe I have PTSD or maybe I
• 23:23
  have some hearing loss or maybe I have sleep apnea which is
• 23:26
  maybe a byproduct of PTSD. What is the process look like
• 23:30
  when you go into an Ambitz organization and set your claim
• 23:35
  into motion? Well, Terry, I'm glad you asked
• 23:39
  because we have our benefits officer as our second Vice
• 23:45
  commander, Steve. He's dedicated to that.
• 23:49
  So we have a veterans claims clinic every Wednesday at our
• 23:55
  office here in Rockville, MD. And he goes over the full gamut
• 24:00
  of, of questions as an intake person to ask all the questions
• 24:05
  that are are necessary to start your claim, to find out, you
• 24:10
  know, what are your ailments, what have you suffered during
• 24:17
  your time in the service and also how you can receive the
• 24:23
  benefits that you've earned through the disability ratings
• 24:28
  chart. So I think I had a, a sheet
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  right here and it shows all of the different, different ratings
• 24:37
  here. So this is exactly what we
• 24:41
  usually ask these questions right here.
• 24:44
  So how VA disability ratings work is that you come in at 0%,
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  so 10 point of federal hiring preference, which like I
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  mentioned before, even at 0% you still are eligible for
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  healthcare prescriptions for service connected conditions,
• 25:07
  whether that be tinnitus, hearing loss, sleep apnea, PTSD,
• 25:15
  any of the respiratory problems that that have occurred from
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  burn pits or being exposed to toxic exposure during your
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  service, you would get that. And also you would also have
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  even at 0% you would have travel allowance for all your VA
• 25:35
  appointments. So from 10 to 20% disability
• 25:42
  ratings you would be eligible for a home loan funding fee
• 25:47
  waiver. Also burial and plot allowance
• 25:52
  10 point federal hiring preference and veteran readiness
• 25:57
  and employment may apply. So at 30 to 40% direct hire to
• 26:02
  authority may apply additional compensation and and you're
• 26:07
  eligible for dependence and commissary and exchange
• 26:13
  privileges. So at 50%, there's no cost to
• 26:17
  healthcare and prescription medications, additional
• 26:20
  dependent compensation, travel allowance to all your VA
• 26:24
  appointments again. And then from 60 to 90%, you may
• 26:28
  qualify for individual unemployability, possible
• 26:32
  dependent education and health benefits.
• 26:35
  In some cases, concurrent receipt of retirement pay may
• 26:42
  apply. So at 100%, there's no cost to
• 26:48
  dental care. As I mentioned before,
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  dependence on educational assistance may apply.
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  CHAMP VA may apply in qualifying permanent cases, and you also
• 27:02
  receive a uniformed services ID card, which will get you onto
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  most of the military bases, you know, around the United States
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  and around the world. So these benefits are really
• 27:19
  earned by each and every veteran.
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  And it just hurts my heart that there's a lot of veterans out
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  there that don't know about it. They leave this information,
• 27:28
  which is goal, on the table. So it is my job really day in
• 27:33
  and day out as a post commander to get this information out to
• 27:38
  every veteran that I I touch and see.
• 27:42
  Well, we definitely appreciate that because I know that there's
• 27:45
  a lot of organizations out there that want to charge to do that
• 27:49
  and then they recoup some of what the veterans earned, which
• 27:53
  you know, that's not the best way to get your claim enter.
• 27:56
  It is paying someone else like that to do your claim and to,
• 28:01
  you know, assist with that. You know, there should be an
• 28:03
  organization like yours or others or VS OS in other states
• 28:07
  if there's not an and that's in your state to help with that
• 28:11
  process and so you're not having to pay a third party to work
• 28:15
  that claim for you. Exactly.
• 28:17
  And that is actually it should be illegal for, you know, it's
• 28:23
  because we have VS OS like ours that don't charge a dime.
• 28:27
  And you know, we do it freely because it's like you said, it's
• 28:33
  veterans helping veterans and that's our credo.
• 28:37
  Yeah. And I love that because we were
• 28:39
  talking a little bit before the show to saying veterans do need
• 28:42
  to help one another, not put obstacles in the way.
• 28:44
  And so if an obstacle is like, well, you pay me first and then
• 28:47
  I'll help you, that's an obstacle because a lot of
• 28:51
  veterans don't have the resourcing behind that.
• 28:53
  And so then they're trying to guarantee if we get a claim
• 28:58
  that's filed, then that person's going to get some of that money
• 29:01
  and that's how they're going to pay that person versus I have
• 29:03
  the money on the front end to to pay you for services.
• 29:07
  But they shouldn't have to give up any of their money at all to
• 29:10
  get that claim filed and to be considered for a rating.
• 29:14
  It just doesn't make any sense to me.
• 29:19
  So we were talking a little bit before the show too, about the
• 29:21
  Richard Starr Act and about some other legislation that's getting
• 29:25
  ready to pass. Can you tell us a little bit
• 29:26
  more about that and about how it's going to impact veterans
• 29:30
  going forward? Yes, we have a very busy
• 29:35
  legislative year behind us and we're getting ready to start a a
• 29:41
  new fiscal year, actually today, September 1.
• 29:45
  And a lot of the legislative priorities like the Richer STAR
• 29:51
  Act is on our agenda, which is coupled with the Take Care of
• 29:58
  America's Act, which has a lot of these different bills all
• 30:04
  gobbled up together. So I think it's about maybe
• 30:09
  about 30 different legislative bills that have all been
• 30:12
  packaged together into what we call Takava or Take Care of
• 30:17
  America's Veterans Act. And the Richard Starr Act is one
• 30:21
  of them, which basically has been on the books and has been
• 30:28
  stalled in Congress for for years now.
• 30:31
  And it basically is like if a veteran like myself has retired,
• 30:39
  medically retired, didn't do a full 20 years, but did let's say
• 30:46
  19 years, six months, just like Major Richard Starr, they won't
• 30:51
  be eligible for full retirement. They're getting disability.
• 30:55
  That disability stands by itself, but the retirement is
• 31:00
  separate. And they don't get the same
• 31:02
  retirement as a government employee would get for 20 years
• 31:06
  of service. Actually, they would get maybe I
• 31:08
  would think about 50% of their, their earnings, their the annual
• 31:14
  earnings. So the Richard Starr Act wants
• 31:16
  to really change that so veterans will receive their full
• 31:22
  retirement and a disability will not be impacted as well.
• 31:27
  So we've worked very hard on the Hill in the last legislative
• 31:38
  session and we'll be back on the Hill if it doesn't pass.
• 31:42
  But I'm, I'm hoping and praying that the Take Care of America's
• 31:49
  Veterans Act will pass. I think it has passed in the
• 31:53
  House. We're waiting for the Senate to
• 31:55
  vote on it and that will affect 32,000,000 veterans.
• 32:01
  So we really are hoping and praying that it does pass the
• 32:09
  House and Senate and the president does sign it into law,
• 32:13
  yes. Definitely.
• 32:14
  We're, we've been waiting on some of that legislation, like
• 32:17
  you said, far too long. It's just been stalled for one
• 32:20
  reason or another. But it just needs to happen.
• 32:23
  People need to step up and start taking care of America's heroes.
• 32:27
  You know, because we took care of the nation.
• 32:30
  So now the shoes on the other foot, take care of the soldier
• 32:33
  or the Airman or the Marine or, you know, sailor, whoever,
• 32:37
  whoever's applying for their benefits, they should get them.
• 32:40
  And they should get them, like you said, if they're military,
• 32:44
  if they're, if they retired prior to getting their 20 for
• 32:48
  whatever reason, because their medical retirement, then they
• 32:51
  should still get a retirement 'cause they didn't intend to end
• 32:53
  their service early. It was, you know, there was
• 32:56
  something that caused the career to end early.
• 32:59
  So I don't think they should be penalized for that.
• 33:02
  And I think they should get both.
• 33:04
  I don't see a reason why they shouldn't.
• 33:07
  Absolutely, yeah. And some veteran groups are
• 33:12
  against passing the Take Care of American Veterans Act because
• 33:17
  they said it downgrades, you know, 2 disabilities, tinnitus
• 33:22
  and sleep apnea. But I think the only reason why
• 33:29
  they're against it and that, you know, I don't want to speak for
• 33:32
  them, but this is what I've heard in the veteran community
• 33:34
  is because in their constitution and bylaws, if there's any
• 33:40
  downgrade in benefits, they have to be against it.
• 33:44
  So I, I, I understand that, but as I mentioned to you before,
• 33:51
  Terry, is that we should not let the perfect be the, the enemy of
• 33:57
  the good and the good would be 32,000,000 veterans receiving
• 34:05
  all of these great benefits from a myriad of these bills that
• 34:10
  have been held up in Congress for years, like the Richard
• 34:15
  Starr Act, the the love love act.
• 34:20
  Was it Lib love act that even if you got a widow or you know a
• 34:28
  spouse who you know, God forbid, and this has happened, the the
• 34:33
  veteran has, you know, died in in combat or gave the ultimate
• 34:40
  sacrifice, that widow cannot remarry until she's 55 years of
• 34:47
  age. Yeah, that's, that's different.
• 34:53
  I understand some of that like, you know, maybe maybe they
• 34:57
  weren't on good terms when the veteran passed.
• 35:01
  And so maybe they're thinking, oh, she was just waiting for him
• 35:05
  to pass so that she can move on as and now she's remarried
• 35:08
  within a year or two. And or he in that case, because
• 35:12
  it could be a male as well. But I think at some point you
• 35:17
  just have to just say, OK, you know, if it's if it's five years
• 35:20
  down the road, that's enough time or four years down the road
• 35:23
  or even 3 years down the road. I mean, I get immediate like
• 35:27
  getting remarried into a new relationship and then maybe you
• 35:30
  don't get the benefits in that case.
• 35:31
  But waiting until a specific age.
• 35:34
  I'm not sure if that's the right answer either.
• 35:36
  I think there's got to be a compromise in there somewhere
• 35:39
  that that they wouldn't lose their benefit because they were
• 35:43
  married to that person for how many, how many every years they
• 35:46
  were, they were part of that military family and they should
• 35:50
  be afforded some of those benefits as well since the
• 35:53
  service members not there to collect it should be followed to
• 35:56
  their beneficiary. And so, you know, I think they
• 35:59
  shouldn't be penalized by age. For sure.
• 36:06
  So what all those Amvets do in the community?
• 36:09
  There's some other priorities, I guess that the AMVETS does in
• 36:16
  the community to help veterans as well.
• 36:19
  I know that there's a couple of fundraisers or other things that
• 36:22
  you're different posts are involved in.
• 36:24
  Can you tell us about some of the other things that AMVETS
• 36:27
  does besides just the claims process?
• 36:30
  Yes, Terry. We, we have a merit of
• 36:33
  resources. If you go to our, our website
• 36:36
  amvetspost12dc.org you can see that we have what we call a, a
• 36:43
  veteran resource hub tab and it shows that we have what we call
• 36:50
  a never forgotten Fund. So that helps veterans who are
• 36:55
  going through financial difficulties, whether or not
• 36:57
  they, you know, they are, are homeless or in between housing.
• 37:03
  We help them to to get into permanent housing and we also
• 37:08
  help veterans with short term financial hardships like say if
• 37:17
  they, they can't pay their monthly rent, we have the for
• 37:22
  never forgotten fund that helps alleviate that financial gap.
• 37:27
  If they just go through our website and apply for a, a what
• 37:32
  we call the NFF fund. We have a a post executive
• 37:38
  committee that looks at each and every case and we approve that
• 37:44
  that veteran for an allotted amount of financial assistance
• 37:49
  and that could be for on a monthly basis or or a one time
• 37:55
  grant for that that particular veteran in need.
• 37:59
  We also have a financial literacy program through our
• 38:03
  partner D5 tax that helps veterans with filing their
• 38:10
  taxes, learning about, you know, cryptocurrency and also the
• 38:17
  compliance with that with the the IRS and the federal
• 38:21
  government. So we also help with state
• 38:25
  planning. We don't, but our partner D5 tax
• 38:28
  does. And we also have a partnership
• 38:31
  with Vantage Alliance that helps veterans develop their family
• 38:40
  insurance plan as well as take care of their final expenses
• 38:46
  through IUL planning. Well, that's.
• 38:48
  Great to have those resources. Do they cost do the tax filing
• 38:54
  and the information there and the state planning, do those
• 38:58
  cost the service member? No, not at all.
• 39:01
  No, those are all free services. And I forgot to mention also
• 39:05
  that we have a partnership with our education partner,
• 39:11
  University of Maryland Global Campus, where we're offering 17
• 39:16
  scholarships, free scholarships to veterans and their caregivers
• 39:20
  as well. Oh wow.
• 39:23
  So do you have to live in that area?
• 39:24
  Is it like an online type thing or it would it be in person?
• 39:28
  Yes, it's on. It's.
• 39:30
  Online university, actually they're, they're very close to
• 39:36
  our history. I think UMUC, it was called back
• 39:42
  in the 1940s and 50s where they offered online education for
• 39:48
  veterans. And I'm actually a recipient of
• 39:51
  a of a master's degree in biotechnology management from
• 39:56
  UMGC and. They're in actually in the DMV
• 40:02
  area. They're located right here in
• 40:04
  Adelphi, MD, but they offer courses 300 / 350 courses around
• 40:11
  the world on three continents. So they're in the United States,
• 40:15
  they're in Asia, they're also in in Europe and South America.
• 40:23
  Oh wow. Well.
• 40:25
  That's a lot of students, yeah. That sounds like a really great
• 40:30
  thing to have, you know, in your hip pocket if you do need some
• 40:34
  education or you want some additional training on
• 40:36
  something. So.
• 40:39
  Also on the. The alumni board.
• 40:42
  So just full, just Full disclosure, I'm a little biased.
• 40:47
  I'm a UMUMGC fan. Well, I would be.
• 40:52
  Too, If I had, you know, been able to take advantage of that
• 40:55
  type of thing. That's a really great resource
• 40:57
  for veterans. Yes.
• 40:59
  So when you were talking about those scholarships, do you have
• 41:03
  to live in the DC area or can anybody apply for those you
• 41:08
  have? To live in, yeah, the DC area in
• 41:11
  Maryland, and I believe there's another state, I believe it's
• 41:16
  Iowa, but there's two states that you have to domicile if you
• 41:23
  want, if you want to qualify for the free scholarships.
• 41:26
  But they do have veteran discounted tuition for veterans,
• 41:32
  you know, all across the world. So you can also look at their
• 41:37
  website, umgc.edu. You can put that.
• 41:44
  In thechatumgc.edu. That's one of our hosts.
• 41:53
  That has a show on Mondays at 9:00 Eastern.
• 41:56
  The world of conscious, positive thinking.
• 42:00
  Cool. I hope positive thinking.
• 42:03
  Me too, I think. I think everybody would benefit
• 42:06
  from kind of losing that, that optimistic approach to
• 42:11
  everything where well, I'm probably, I mean nothing
• 42:14
  optimistic is good, but the approach with it's half empty or
• 42:17
  half full. You know, if you say, well, it's
• 42:20
  half full, like I, you know, that that's a, a mindset that
• 42:24
  sells your attitude across the day versus it's half empty.
• 42:31
  I you know, you do much better if you're, if you're on the
• 42:34
  positive side of that. So that's my take on it too, for
• 42:38
  sure. So how does somebody in help do
• 42:44
  like either a volunteer at an Ambitz event or how do they
• 42:49
  enroll or register to be a member?
• 42:51
  They just go to the website or they go to a local office.
• 42:54
  What's the process that somebody could take?
• 42:57
  If they want to be part of that or your organization, they can
• 43:00
  do both. Terry, they can go to our
• 43:02
  website whichisambitzpost12dc.org or
• 43:08
  they can come by office, which is located in the Washington, DC
• 43:14
  area in Rockville 1700 Rockville Pike Executive Suite 400.
• 43:21
  And we were glad to to serve them with our myriad of
• 43:26
  services. And also we have we're sponsor
• 43:31
  every year of rolling to remember here right here in in
• 43:34
  the nation's capital. And we're starting a new
• 43:38
  adaptive sports program through I saw on our website
• 43:45
  thetirebootcamp.org. You can look take a look at our
• 43:51
  website and that is free adaptive training for all
• 43:57
  veterans and it comes with an app.
• 43:59
  So you don't have to be here in Maryland or even Hawaii, but you
• 44:07
  can do online training with one of our Amvets comrades.
• 44:12
  His name is Coach Alene. And he would gladly help you get
• 44:18
  back into shape. And I'm, I'm going to try my
• 44:23
  best to be disciplined again to, to get back into that shape,
• 44:29
  military shape that I was in about 40 years ago.
• 44:34
  I hear you. I've, I've tried to make myself
• 44:37
  commit to that too. I'm like, OK, just let's just
• 44:39
  start with 30 minutes a day walking.
• 44:41
  Let's try that first. And I'm still struggling to find
• 44:44
  that 30 minutes. I know it's there.
• 44:45
  Just trying to struggle to, to juggle everything else in that
• 44:49
  too. So I get the challenge there.
• 44:51
  But you know, I think that just being in that mindset of I need
• 44:57
  to be healthy and well will serve you well as in your in
• 45:01
  your life ahead and in everything that you do, you
• 45:04
  know, just trying to get back into shape and, and physically
• 45:07
  be fit, fit to fight, as we say, and fit to fight the day.
• 45:11
  So I think that's a good thing to really plug into those types
• 45:15
  of resources and really get yourself in a good place
• 45:18
  physically. And then the mental hopefully
• 45:20
  follows exactly. Yeah, the mental follows
• 45:24
  because, you know, we also have fun and we have adaptive rowing.
• 45:31
  So we made a partnership with a with a organization called the
• 45:37
  Unity Boat Club. So we just get into their boats
• 45:42
  and a bunch of veterans. We row down the Potomac River or
• 45:46
  the Anacostia River in the area here and it's just a lot of fun.
• 45:50
  It's relaxing, it's peaceful and it really helps, you know, keep
• 45:55
  give you a sense of calm. So we are, we're planning an
• 46:00
  event hopefully late this year and November or early next year,
• 46:07
  it's going to be called instead of we'll have Rowing to
• 46:11
  remember. We going to add Rowing to
• 46:13
  remember as well, where we have a bunch of veterans, you know,
• 46:18
  wearing their favorite branch garb, rolling down the Potomac
• 46:22
  River to remember the sacrifices that we all have been through
• 46:30
  as, as veterans. So look out for that.
• 46:33
  That's going to be, yeah, that's going to be hopefully.
• 46:37
  Hopefully you'll get some media coverage for that because I
• 46:39
  think that will be a very prominent event and that people
• 46:45
  should really take notice of it. So I think that's a really neat
• 46:48
  idea. I love that.
• 46:50
  So MJ is asking, does it do training like Tai chi walking or
• 46:54
  low impact for a handicap? So do on that you.
• 47:00
  You said on that. That you can log into the online
• 47:03
  portal. Do they do some adaptive type
• 47:05
  sports where it's lower impact? Yes they do.
• 47:09
  Absolute, absolutely. They have veterans that are
• 47:14
  physically disabled, so they have adaptive different types of
• 47:19
  workouts and Cal aesthetics and Coach Aleem, you can go on the
• 47:25
  on the website tirebootcamp.com and connect with Coach Aleem and
• 47:32
  he will run you through all of the different adaptive creative
• 47:36
  sports programs that we have. That sounds good, she said.
• 47:40
  I find there are quite a few organizations looking for vets
• 47:43
  to get as healthy as basic. Interesting.
• 47:46
  Which one, though, understands the handicaps are specialized
• 47:51
  fit training. So yeah, I mean there has to be
• 47:54
  some that. Entirebootcamp.com They
• 47:57
  definitely understand that and that's their mission.
• 48:03
  They received a grant from the VA, so they don't charge a a a
• 48:06
  penny for this. And Kochelim is a certified
• 48:11
  trainer and nutritionist and he knows what he's doing.
• 48:16
  I met him out there at our National Convention in Orlando
• 48:21
  and he's a super guy, very nice guy.
• 48:24
  And he's super fit. And you see this guy, he's like
• 48:28
  Adonis. He's chiseled and and jacked up.
• 48:31
  So I was like, man, when I grow up, I want to be like you.
• 48:36
  I want to be the opposite, not grow up.
• 48:37
  I want to go back in time, right?
• 48:40
  I hear. You definitely definitely she
• 48:44
  said that is awesome. Please post the link so the link
• 48:54
  to tap into that yeah, if you just go to our.
• 48:58
  Website Ambitz post 12 DC That's post. 12 DC.
• 49:07
  And what's the rest of it? Dot O.
• 49:10
  Rg.org. OK.
• 49:13
  There we go. I got that in there.
• 49:19
  Good. You could type much faster than
• 49:21
  I could. Yeah, except for I.
• 49:22
  Realized I mistyped the the name of the college and I put an
• 49:27
  extra E on there and I think I had an extra keysoitsays.edu
• 49:31
  with an E, so it doesn't have an E on it.
• 49:33
  Folks, if you're trying to go to ititsumgc.edu with no E, so
• 49:38
  sorry about sorry about my fingers weren't working at that
• 49:41
  moment. That's OK.
• 49:46
  Is there anything? Else you'd like to talk about
• 49:48
  tonight. I know we've talked about a lot
• 49:49
  of different things. Is there something else you'd
• 49:51
  like to put out to the audience? Maybe if there's somebody on the
• 49:55
  fence about trying something new or getting into an organization?
• 50:00
  What would be your advice? Or what else would you like to
• 50:03
  to put out to our audience tonight?
• 50:06
  I would say. That veterans understand,
• 50:12
  veterans don't go it alone. You know, there's resources out
• 50:16
  there for you. There's help if you need it.
• 50:21
  You know, we serve together in the trenches and we are serving
• 50:27
  together outside of the trenches.
• 50:30
  Like I said earlier, my greatest time in the service was active
• 50:38
  duty service. You know, when I first was that
• 50:41
  that very inquisitive young young man, 1718 year old going
• 50:47
  into the military in the service and now as an old salty dog,
• 50:54
  it's the other flip side of that.
• 50:59
  This is the greatest time for me to continue serving in this
• 51:03
  capacity as a post commander, helping my fellow soldier,
• 51:09
  airman, Marine Coastie or you know, even I don't know what
• 51:13
  they call the space people, what they call them species.
• 51:16
  I'm I'm not sure if. They're still called Airman.
• 51:19
  Or if there's another service term for that, I'm not exactly
• 51:23
  sure. I don't know what we've even had
• 51:25
  any. Oh, I know what it's.
• 51:27
  Called Guardians. That's it.
• 51:29
  You're right. Guardians, that is so right.
• 51:32
  I have heard that. I just forgot.
• 51:34
  But I don't even know if we have any retirees from the Space
• 51:37
  Force yet since it's so new, you know, unless somebody with a
• 51:41
  bunch of service transferred over and then is retiring.
• 51:43
  But you know, I don't know if we have a lot of ones that would be
• 51:47
  retiring out as a guardian. Yes, so MJ says so the VA to
• 51:52
  assist, is that by state? So yes, that would be by state
• 51:57
  rank. Yes, that's by.
• 51:58
  State and I would just say that, you know, get in contact with a
• 52:06
  VSO like Ambitz or you can, if you're in the DMV area, you can
• 52:11
  definitely contact me or any of our post executive committee
• 52:17
  staff members and we'd be glad to walk you through the process
• 52:22
  of, you know, filing your claim or getting any of the the
• 52:26
  benefits that you deserve and earn as long as you served
• 52:30
  honorably. DD214 We can help.
• 52:33
  And that's what we do day in and day out is to help veterans.
• 52:40
  And we, like I said, we have fun.
• 52:42
  We have our gala, which is coming up on October the 24th, I
• 52:47
  believe. Yeah, at the, it's called the
• 52:51
  Never Forgotten Fun Gala and Awards Dinner, and that's going
• 52:56
  to be at the Andrews Air Force Base Club, so you can mark your
• 53:02
  calendar for that. Tickets are available online $50
• 53:07
  and all the proceeds will go to the Never Forgotten Fund to help
• 53:11
  veterans SO. What does the Never Forgotten
• 53:16
  Organization do? Or what does that fund do?
• 53:19
  It helps. Veterans in need pretty much
• 53:23
  like a Make a Wish campaign or help veterans that are
• 53:30
  financially hardship or if they are you know, have a a serious
• 53:36
  commitment financially that they cannot meet due to unforeseen
• 53:45
  circumstances. The the Never Forgotten Fund
• 53:49
  team steps in and helps that that veteran with a financial
• 53:54
  donation or financial grant. And that's why donations are so
• 54:00
  important for our organization. So anybody out there who would
• 54:05
  love to to donate to Amvis, Post 12 DC and the Never Forgotten
• 54:10
  Fund, you could do that on our website as well.
• 54:14
  And so I was just going to ask you, how can civilians and
• 54:17
  community members get involved in?
• 54:19
  So you've just told us they can go and donate in person.
• 54:22
  Can they also help work different events that you host
• 54:27
  or do you need volunteers to come out from the community?
• 54:31
  To help with different. Things, yes.
• 54:33
  Like that, that rowing to remember event that we're going
• 54:39
  to have in November. We do need volunteers for that
• 54:43
  to help, you know, set up the boats and the the rowing
• 54:49
  veterans and the adaptive rowing that we would need assistance in
• 54:55
  helping those disabled veterans to dock into the boats and get
• 55:00
  out of the boat. So the more the merrier.
• 55:04
  So we all welcome volunteers for, you know, for all these
• 55:09
  different events, Rowing to remember and rowing to remember
• 55:13
  and rowing to remember those two events which will be happening
• 55:18
  in November and Memorial Day. That sounds great.
• 55:22
  I'm looking forward to seeing something about that.
• 55:24
  I'm sure there's going to be some news that it's going to
• 55:27
  cover this and really going to showcase what you're doing.
• 55:30
  Because, you know, I think like you said, being out on the water
• 55:33
  for one thing is very peaceful. And then working as a team
• 55:36
  again, because you have to work as a team if you're rowing,
• 55:39
  because if one person is out of sync, it messes up everything.
• 55:43
  So you're really getting into working as a together as a team,
• 55:47
  like we used to do and really kind of helping us all get to a
• 55:51
  good place. And, and, you know, doing that
• 55:53
  type of work really helps you mentally as well.
• 55:56
  You know, just being active and just engaging with other people
• 56:00
  and being in that mind frame that I'm part of a team, I'm
• 56:03
  part of an organization that's making a difference.
• 56:05
  It really will help your mood to and your mindset.
• 56:08
  I think it really goes a long way to healing your soul and
• 56:13
  healing the person that maybe lost something when they came
• 56:16
  out of the uniform, they they couldn't find where they fit
• 56:19
  anymore. They've lost that connectiveness
• 56:22
  to a group of people that really had the same mission and really
• 56:26
  had the same passion for service.
• 56:29
  And so being part of AMVETS or other organizations like that
• 56:33
  and doing these different events is really important I think to
• 56:37
  overall mental health and physical health.
• 56:41
  Thank. You so much Terry, you could be
• 56:43
  a spokesperson for our rowing event.
• 56:45
  You you hit it. You hit it right on the on the
• 56:48
  on the nail. Well, I'd love to.
• 56:50
  Come, I wish I could. That sounds like an amazing.
• 56:53
  You know, amazing. Time and amazing organization
• 56:56
  that's hosting. So yeah, I'm really happy to
• 56:59
  learn more about Ambits because I knew of Ambits, but I've never
• 57:03
  really, you know, dug into the details.
• 57:07
  And I'm really glad that you are on tonight to give us more
• 57:10
  information because hopefully now you'll get some more new
• 57:13
  members. Absolutely.
• 57:15
  Yeah. And we're like one of the lowest
• 57:20
  registration membership dues have just increased by $5.00.
• 57:25
  So it's only $35 annually to join AMVETS.
• 57:30
  That's not bad. That that's doable, yeah.
• 57:33
  And look at all the. Benefits veterans received from
• 57:36
  that, that $35, right? Yeah, and they can be helping
• 57:41
  other veterans as well through the organization.
• 57:43
  So not only are you helping yourself, you're helping your
• 57:46
  fellow veteran through maybe some tough times that they're
• 57:49
  going through. So it's a win.
• 57:51
  Win it, sure. Is, yeah.
• 57:55
  Is there any final thoughts that you want to put out before we
• 57:58
  get off the air? We've got like 2 minutes left.
• 58:00
  And so if there's anything else, I didn't ask you anything else
• 58:03
  you wanted to say, here's your few minutes to put that out
• 58:06
  there. Well.
• 58:08
  Thank you so much for having me, Terry.
• 58:10
  This has been a great experience.
• 58:13
  I also wanted to give a shout out to our veteran that we just
• 58:20
  recruited is, is our ambassador and he's 102 years old.
• 58:26
  He's a World War 2 veteran. His name is Doctor R Lester
• 58:31
  Brown, You may have heard of him.
• 58:34
  He served at the 599th Quartermaster Brigade during the
• 58:39
  Battle of the Bulge. And he's a, a recipient of of,
• 58:46
  of a one of, well, not the, the, the award that was given by the
• 58:52
  president of France, Emmanuel Macron, the French American
• 58:58
  Legion award. And he's been to Normandy five
• 59:01
  times. So I'm planning to go to
• 59:04
  Normandy with him next June. I missed last June, but this
• 59:09
  June will be heading on, God, God willing.
• 59:12
  That is a great experience. And he got a standing ovation at
• 59:16
  our at our convention as being the oldest Amvet ever at 102.
• 59:24
  And if you wouldn't believe it, because he has no cane, no
• 59:30
  Walker, wheelchair, I mean, he's a spry healthy 102 year old.
• 59:38
  So we'll have to have him on the show next time.
• 59:41
  Yes, absolutely. That's amazing.
• 59:43
  I, I love that. I'm glad you let us know about
• 59:46
  that. That's exciting.
• 59:48
  Yeah, He's on our website. Too, if you go to the landing
• 59:51
  page, you'll see a picture of him.
• 59:52
  All right, I'll have to do. That, Yeah, definitely.
• 59:56
  Well, it's been a pleasure having you on.
• 59:58
  Tony. I thank you so much for sharing
• 1:00:00
  your message and sharing the information that you did with us
• 1:00:02
  tonight. And I'm looking forward to
• 1:00:04
  seeing more about your rowing event.
• 1:00:06
  Yes, indeed. We'll definitely keep you
• 1:00:09
  posted. Thank you, Terry.
• 1:00:11
  Thank you. This is.
• 1:00:12
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• 1:00:16
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