Latest / Built for Chaos / Episode 6 : The Way This Country Treats Its Veterans

Transcript

Episode 6 : The Way This Country Treats Its Veterans · Built for Chaos

0:13
Speaker 1: Thank you for your service. You've heard it. If you served,
0:18
Speaker 1: you've had it said to you in airports and restaurants
0:22
Speaker 1: by people who mean it and people who just say
0:25
Speaker 1: it because it's the thing to say. Now let me
0:29
Speaker 1: ask you a question. When that same veteran goes home
0:32
Speaker 1: and picks up the phone to fight for the benefits
0:34
Speaker 1: he earned, the health care he was promised, the disability
0:37
Speaker 1: check that keeps his family whole, where's the thank you then?
0:43
Speaker 1: I'm Brian Weatherby, 21 years in the United States Army,
0:46
Speaker 1: two tours in Iraq, one in Afghanistan. This is Built
0:49
Speaker 1: for Chaos, and today there is no holding back. Today
0:53
Speaker 1: we're talking about the way this country actually treats its veterans,
0:58
Speaker 1: not the speeches, not the flyovers, and not the treatment.
1:04
Speaker 1: The first thing we're going to talk about is the
1:05
Speaker 1: litmus test. Let me save you the suspense. The litmus
1:10
Speaker 1: test is in. And veterans are not treated favorably in
1:13
Speaker 1: this country. Not the way they should be. Not the
1:17
Speaker 1: way the posters say. Don't judge a country by what
1:21
Speaker 1: it says on Veterans Day. Judge it by what happens
1:24
Speaker 1: on Tuesday in February when a veteran is on hold
1:27
Speaker 1: with the VA for the fourth time. Judge it by
1:31
Speaker 1: what happens in the claims office, in the hospital corridor,
1:35
Speaker 1: in the hiring manager's inbox. That's the real test, and
1:39
Speaker 1: we are failing it big time. Here's what I see.
1:44
Speaker 1: Businesses love the word veteran. It's on the window. It's
1:48
Speaker 1: in the commercial. It's in the flags on the website.
1:52
Speaker 1: But when you look at the actual substance, the discounts,
1:55
Speaker 1: the services, the real help that would move a veteran's
1:58
Speaker 1: life forward, most of them, time isn't there. A parade
2:04
Speaker 1: is cheap. A policy costs something. And this country too
2:08
Speaker 1: often picks the parade. Now, some companies do it right.
2:16
Speaker 1: Some people generally show up. I want to be fair
2:19
Speaker 1: about that because fairness is what I'm asking for. But
2:23
Speaker 1: fairness also means saying the quiet part out loud. For
2:27
Speaker 1: a lot of this country, support the troops is a slogan,
2:29
Speaker 1: not a practice. And the veteran carrying the weight of
2:33
Speaker 1: the gap are the ones who already carried the weight
2:36
Speaker 1: of everything else. And saying that, uh, I'm telling you
2:43
Speaker 1: right now, I'm going through that with the VA right now,
2:46
Speaker 1: and we'll talk about that in the next segment. You
2:49
Speaker 1: shouldn't have to fight for what you earn. Let's talk
2:51
Speaker 1: about benefits in health care because this is where the
2:55
Speaker 1: gap between the promise and the reality goes personal. When
2:59
Speaker 1: you raise your right hand, the deal is simple. You
3:02
Speaker 1: give that country your years, your body, your family's hardest days.
3:07
Speaker 1: Some give everything. Some give all. In return, the country
3:12
Speaker 1: promises when you come home, we will take care of you.
3:16
Speaker 1: That's the deal. It was never charity. Benefits are not
3:19
Speaker 1: a favor. They're a debt the country owes the veteran,
3:24
Speaker 1: and the veteran already paid for his side in full.
3:28
Speaker 1: So why does collecting on that debt feel like a
3:30
Speaker 1: second war for a lot of veterans? And I'll tell you,
3:33
Speaker 1: I see it every day. Veterans fight for disability ratings
3:37
Speaker 1: they can prove with their own medical records. They fight
3:41
Speaker 1: denials that make no sense whatsoever. They fight war wait
3:46
Speaker 1: times measured in months and years, which is ridiculous. That
3:51
Speaker 1: should never happen. They fight for the system that loses
3:55
Speaker 1: their paperwork, which should never happen. They lose the evidence
3:59
Speaker 1: that they proved that they already had to prove, and
4:02
Speaker 1: they also lose their files of the medical records they
4:07
Speaker 1: turned in, and then tells them the burden of proof
4:10
Speaker 1: is on them. which I've had that happen to me myself.
4:14
Speaker 1: A man can carry a rucksack through two combat zones
4:17
Speaker 1: and come home to carry a claims folder for a decade,
4:21
Speaker 1: which is disgustingly ridiculous. Something is deeply wrong with that
4:27
Speaker 1: picture and it shouldn't happen.
4:29
Speaker 2: Because I can tell you right now, most veterans in
4:34
Speaker 2: the healthcare system with the VA, there's such a backlog
4:37
Speaker 2: and there's such a lack of care and a lack
4:40
Speaker 2: of transparency that you're nothing but a number to them anyway.
4:45
Speaker 1: And here's the part that burns me up the most.
4:48
Speaker 1: When the system makes the mistake, it does not take
4:51
Speaker 1: responsibility and accountability, which is constantly. The veteran pays for
4:56
Speaker 1: it anyway. The check shrinks, which that has happened to me,
5:00
Speaker 1: and I'm going through it right now. And the appointment slides,
5:04
Speaker 1: and the veteran is told to wait, to be patient.
5:08
Speaker 1: To understand there's a process, which they didn't make the mistake.
5:12
Speaker 1: The VA made the mistake, which they don't take accountability
5:15
Speaker 1: and responsibility. I know I've dealt with them. And it
5:19
Speaker 1: should never happen. It's disgusting. A process we didn't get
5:24
Speaker 1: to understand. There's a process. When the country called, we went.
5:29
Speaker 1: The least the country could do is move with the
5:31
Speaker 1: same urgency when we call back. They don't do that.
5:36
Speaker 1: I was told recently when I had to file a
5:39
Speaker 1: claim for my spouse's support because they stopped it when
5:42
Speaker 1: I turned in my spouse's support and the evidence they
5:45
Speaker 1: asked for in August of 2025 that I had to wait,
5:51
Speaker 1: refile for more spouse's support, and that it'll get approved
5:55
Speaker 1: when it gets approved and they'll back pay me, which
5:57
Speaker 1: I think is ridiculous. Because let me tell you something.
6:01
Speaker 1: I didn't do anything wrong. I did exactly what they
6:03
Speaker 1: told me to. I turned in the verification like they
6:05
Speaker 1: told me to, and I was told that it was
6:08
Speaker 1: turned in in August of 2025, which is in the
6:10
Speaker 1: VA's computer when you call the hotline for disability benefits.
6:15
Speaker 1: They told me that I've called numerous times and every
6:18
Speaker 1: time I was told that, so it's definitely in the system,
6:21
Speaker 1: but their explanation of what happened is that, uh, I
6:27
Speaker 1: like they don't even want to admit they made a mistake.
6:29
Speaker 1: It's basically saying that I didn't prove what I had
6:31
Speaker 1: to prove, which I don't understand. If it's in your
6:33
Speaker 1: system and you told me to do something and I
6:35
Speaker 1: did it, how did I not do what you asked
6:37
Speaker 1: me to do? And then on top of that, when
6:40
Speaker 1: I asked him, you know, when are you going to
6:42
Speaker 1: expedite this or when can this be escalated? They told
6:44
Speaker 1: me that it's not that's not going to happen. That's
6:47
Speaker 1: not the way they do business. The way they do
6:49
Speaker 1: business is if it creates a hardship. Then they'll escalate it.
6:53
Speaker 1: So let me get this straight. You take money out
6:55
Speaker 1: of my pocket that I use to pay my bills
6:59
Speaker 1: with the benefits that I earned and I went to
7:01
Speaker 1: war with and I earned them. And the injuries I sustained,
7:05
Speaker 1: they're proven through combat and that are actually service related.
7:10
Speaker 1: I have to wait for you to tell me that
7:12
Speaker 1: you're going to pay me and that if it creates
7:15
Speaker 1: a problem, that's my problem. That's bullshit. That should never happen.
7:19
Speaker 1: People who work at the VA to tell people that
7:22
Speaker 1: and go by the little script they're handed, they should
7:24
Speaker 1: be fired immediately. And the VA should be ashamed of
7:28
Speaker 1: herself for treating veterans like that. That should never frigging happen.
7:32
Speaker 1: They do it on a daily basis. When I go
7:34
Speaker 1: to the VA, it's disgusting to see how they treat
7:37
Speaker 1: some of the people there. Some of the people that
7:39
Speaker 1: work there are rotten to the core. They don't belong
7:42
Speaker 1: in that kind of service industry. They don't belong to
7:44
Speaker 1: service veterans and they don't belong to even have the
7:47
Speaker 1: honor of servicing veterans because they don't even want to
7:49
Speaker 1: be there. Their attitudes are horrible. They act like they're
7:53
Speaker 1: a burden to them. And I'm not making this up.
7:57
Speaker 1: I'm going to tell you, there's a lot of veterans
7:59
Speaker 1: out there that would agree with everything I said. We
8:01
Speaker 1: have veterans that literally commit suicide in VA parking lots
8:06
Speaker 1: because they can't get the care that they need. We
8:09
Speaker 1: have veterans that are committing suicide in numbers that far,
8:14
Speaker 1: far below go above what happened in combat. People are
8:19
Speaker 1: killing themselves and, and succumbing to whatever deemings they're fighting
8:24
Speaker 1: because they're not getting the proper healthcare. And these are
8:27
Speaker 1: people that have done more for this country than some
8:29
Speaker 1: people will ever dream of. And that, that is disgusting.
8:33
Speaker 1: That should not happen. The next thing we're going to
8:39
Speaker 1: talk about is my own fight, which I just, I
8:41
Speaker 1: briefly touched on, uh, I'm not telling you somebody else's
8:46
Speaker 1: story today. I'm telling you mine because mine is happening
8:49
Speaker 1: right now. Like I said, while I'm recording this episode,
8:53
Speaker 1: I am 100% service-connected disabled to the VA. 21 years
8:59
Speaker 1: of service will do that to your body. Trust me,
9:02
Speaker 1: I know I feel it every day. Part of my
9:05
Speaker 1: compensation includes a benefit for my wife, which I basically,
9:09
Speaker 1: I'm going into it a little more in depth so
9:11
Speaker 1: people understand it, because I'm married. I've been married to
9:14
Speaker 1: my wife, Estrelita, since Valentine's Day of 2017. That is
9:18
Speaker 1: a fact that is documented and the VA knows it.
9:23
Speaker 1: The VA stopped my spousal benefit. Listen to what I
9:27
Speaker 1: just said again. The VA stopped my spousal benefit. They
9:31
Speaker 1: stopped it. And then when I got on the phone
9:35
Speaker 1: and pushed, here's what I learned. The VA admitted they
9:38
Speaker 1: received the verification that I am married. Verification that got
9:42
Speaker 1: back in August of 2025, which I had stated earlier.
9:46
Speaker 1: They have it. It's in their system. They've had it
9:50
Speaker 1: in their system. And in their hands, by their own admission,
9:56
Speaker 1: they admitted it's in their system. And what do I do?
10:00
Speaker 1: when I call there? You have to wait. That's the
10:03
Speaker 1: answer I get. Wait for what? That's my answer or
10:07
Speaker 1: my question. There's nothing to verify. You've already verified what
10:11
Speaker 1: you had to verify. You admitted it. It says they
10:14
Speaker 1: verified it. There's nothing to investigate. They admitted they investigated.
10:19
Speaker 1: The mistake was clearly made by the VA. And they've
10:23
Speaker 1: done this to many veterans, not just myself. Trust me,
10:25
Speaker 1: I hear it every day. And my position is any
10:29
Speaker 1: fair person, as any fair person would take, especially if
10:33
Speaker 1: it was them and their money and their problems, they
10:35
Speaker 1: would be doing the same thing. If the mistake was
10:37
Speaker 1: made by the VA, it should be fixed immediately. Not
10:40
Speaker 1: when they feel like fixing it, immediately. Not eventually. Not
10:45
Speaker 1: when they get around to it. Not when the cue
10:48
Speaker 1: gets to me. immediately because the mistake was clearly made
10:52
Speaker 1: on the VA's part. And they do this with a
10:54
Speaker 1: lot of veterans. And that's why a lot of veterans
10:56
Speaker 1: are fed up, fed up. Every month that check is short.
11:01
Speaker 1: That's my family's money, not their money, but they use
11:05
Speaker 1: it for whatever they decide they want to use it
11:07
Speaker 1: for because they didn't pay me or the other veterans
11:11
Speaker 1: that they did this to. Taken by error, the VA
11:14
Speaker 1: already confessed to and the interest on the air that
11:17
Speaker 1: is paid by me, which has already been paid in
11:20
Speaker 1: full by the service to my country. In patience, I'm
11:24
Speaker 1: supposed to be manufacturer out of thin air, which is ridiculous.
11:29
Speaker 1: I've tried to be patient with these people, and every
11:30
Speaker 1: time you call there, you get to run around. You
11:32
Speaker 1: get a different story or a different script. So that's
11:36
Speaker 1: the thing I just don't understand. Now, understand, I am
11:41
Speaker 1: one man, and I know how to fight. I have
11:44
Speaker 1: a voice. I have this microphone and I'm not going away.
11:50
Speaker 1: And I'm here to advocate on behalf of all veterans,
11:53
Speaker 1: not just myself. But think about the veteran who doesn't
11:56
Speaker 1: do that and just allows it to happen. Think about
12:00
Speaker 1: the older vet that's sick and he can't do that.
12:02
Speaker 1: He can't do these things on his own and take
12:04
Speaker 1: care of himself. And the VA is getting over or
12:07
Speaker 1: any system that he has to deal with on a
12:10
Speaker 1: daily basis is getting over. The vet working two jobs
12:13
Speaker 1: who can't spend his lunch break on hold because he's
12:16
Speaker 1: at work. Multiply my phone call by every veteran in
12:23
Speaker 1: this country in the same chair staring at the same wall.
12:28
Speaker 1: That's not a glitch in the system. That is the system,
12:31
Speaker 1: and that is not acceptable in any means. If you're
12:37
Speaker 1: a veteran listening to this, And you're in your own
12:42
Speaker 1: version of this fight. Don't just sit there on hold.
12:47
Speaker 1: Work every door the VA benefits line has. And I
12:50
Speaker 1: have called this number many times. And trust me, you're
12:54
Speaker 1: probably going to have to call there more than once.
12:56
Speaker 1: You're probably going to have to call there and you're
12:57
Speaker 1: going to have to raise some hell because you're not
13:00
Speaker 1: always going to get the answer you want. The number
13:03
Speaker 1: is 1-800-827-1000. Get it in writing through va.gov. Paper trails
13:11
Speaker 1: don't evaporate the way the phone call does. They say
13:15
Speaker 1: they record the phone calls for your protection and that
13:20
Speaker 1: they're helping you, but don't always trust that because that
13:23
Speaker 1: doesn't always happen. Make sure you get it in writing.
13:27
Speaker 1: Get a veteran service officer through the DAV, Disabled Veterans
13:31
Speaker 1: of America, or the VFW, the Veteran Foreign Wars, or
13:35
Speaker 1: the American Legion. Accredited reps who can look into your files.
13:40
Speaker 1: For free. You won't have to pay any money. And
13:44
Speaker 1: that's a huge benefit to people that serve this country.
13:48
Speaker 1: And if the VA error is admitted and still not fixed,
13:52
Speaker 1: call your congressman's office. Sometimes you have to get your
13:55
Speaker 1: congressman involved. They will get involved. Constituent caseworkers open inquiries
14:01
Speaker 1: with the VA. They have to answer them in writing.
14:05
Speaker 1: Sunlight moves files. Use all of them. I am. I've
14:11
Speaker 1: also reached out to the inspector general's office at the VA.
14:15
Speaker 1: You can also use them because what happened here is
14:18
Speaker 1: ridiculous and it happens to too many veterans. And that's
14:21
Speaker 1: the reason a lot of veterans have the beliefs they
14:24
Speaker 1: have about the VA healthcare system. The job front. That's
14:29
Speaker 1: what we're going to talk about next. The same story
14:31
Speaker 1: plays out in the job market. Corporate America loves to
14:35
Speaker 1: say we hire veterans. There's a banner. There's a program.
14:40
Speaker 1: There's a smiling photo on the careers page. And some
14:43
Speaker 1: of these programs are real. There are companies out there
14:46
Speaker 1: that do take care of veterans. And I'll never take
14:49
Speaker 1: that away from the ones doing it right. But too
14:52
Speaker 1: many veterans find out the banner is where the commitment ends.
14:57
Speaker 1: It's not true. They use veterans for whatever benefits they
15:00
Speaker 1: can get out of them. The kickbacks, the government funding
15:04
Speaker 1: they get for hiring veterans. Here's what a veteran actually
15:08
Speaker 1: runs into. A resume written in a language the civilian
15:11
Speaker 1: world refuses to learn. If you're going to hire veterans,
15:15
Speaker 1: you might want to learn the lingo. You might want
15:17
Speaker 1: to understand what veterans are talking about, because there is
15:20
Speaker 1: definitely a barrier there. 21 years of leading people, running
15:25
Speaker 1: operations worth millions, making decisions where the stakes, where life
15:30
Speaker 1: and death, that's the possible outcome, translated into doesn't have
15:35
Speaker 1: industry experience, a hiring process that once The veteran's discipline,
15:40
Speaker 1: but not the veteran's directness and age. Don't get me
15:45
Speaker 1: started on age. I've seen plenty of veterans get passed
15:48
Speaker 1: over because of their age. I hired a man in
15:52
Speaker 1: my plant this year, a Marine, 60 years old, who
15:56
Speaker 1: had been judged and passed over because of his number
15:59
Speaker 1: on his birth certificate, which is ridiculous. Because that man
16:03
Speaker 1: is 60 years old, and he works harder than some
16:05
Speaker 1: of the people that are in their 30s in the
16:07
Speaker 1: plant that I work in. The guy he replaced, he
16:12
Speaker 1: does 10 times the amount of work that he did
16:15
Speaker 1: when he was there. He's one of the best hires
16:19
Speaker 1: I've ever made in the plant so far since I've
16:22
Speaker 1: been there. His story is in episode 5 of this show,
16:26
Speaker 1: and it ought to shame every hiring manager who looked
16:32
Speaker 1: at him and did not see what he was capable
16:36
Speaker 1: of instead of a date and what they associated with
16:40
Speaker 1: that man. That's absurd. A veteran isn't a charity case.
16:47
Speaker 1: He isn't a photo opportunity. He's a person you want
16:53
Speaker 1: standing next to you when things go bad. Trust me,
16:56
Speaker 1: they know how to handle things. They've been experienced. They're
16:58
Speaker 1: very seasoned. Because things going bad is literally his training.
17:03
Speaker 1: That's what they've been through. His or her training. They've
17:06
Speaker 1: been through all of it. They've been through things you
17:08
Speaker 1: can never even dream of. If your company says it
17:11
Speaker 1: supports veterans, the proof is in, it's not in a banner.
17:15
Speaker 1: It's not in a flyer. It's not in a job
17:18
Speaker 1: fair where you advertise that you take care of veterans.
17:21
Speaker 1: The proof is the callback, the interview, the offer, and
17:24
Speaker 1: the promotion after you hire them based off what they're
17:28
Speaker 1: capable of and what they bring to the table and
17:30
Speaker 1: the value they bring to your organization. And to the
17:34
Speaker 1: veteran on the job hunt right now, I see you.
17:37
Speaker 1: Trust me, I look at that every day. When I'm
17:40
Speaker 1: trying to hire people, I'm in it with you. I've
17:44
Speaker 1: been through it myself. I know, I know what you
17:47
Speaker 1: deal with. I know a lot of people in the
17:51
Speaker 1: hiring manager positions, they take us as a threat because
17:54
Speaker 1: they know what we're capable of, or they just don't
17:56
Speaker 1: feel comfortable with the fact that we do have a
18:00
Speaker 1: lot of training and that we're capable of doing a
18:02
Speaker 1: lot of things that other people won't be able to.
18:04
Speaker 1: And they see us as a threat, which is ridiculous
18:06
Speaker 1: because we'd be nothing but an asset to that team
18:08
Speaker 1: and that organization. I'm on my own hunt while I'm
18:13
Speaker 1: running the plant that I'm running. And I know the
18:16
Speaker 1: silence after the application. And I know what it costs
18:19
Speaker 1: to keep swinging and keep swinging. The right door does
18:25
Speaker 1: exist for all of us. You just have to be patient.
18:28
Speaker 1: I know sometimes that doesn't always seem the right way
18:30
Speaker 1: to do things, but that's the way to handle it.
18:33
Speaker 1: And when you get through it, hire the next veteran
18:37
Speaker 1: behind you if you're a hiring manager. That's how we
18:41
Speaker 1: build the thing nobody built for us. And you carry
18:44
Speaker 1: it forward. We got to take care of each other.
18:47
Speaker 1: We got to look out for each other. We did
18:50
Speaker 1: it in the military. Now it's time to do it
18:52
Speaker 1: in the civilian world. We all know that. We all
18:56
Speaker 1: took that oath and we know what that means to
18:58
Speaker 1: our brothers and sisters. If you're looking for help on
19:03
Speaker 1: the work front, Hire Heroes USA, hiresheroesusa.org. Free one-on-one resume translations,
19:12
Speaker 1: which any type of resume translation for somebody who's coming
19:15
Speaker 1: out of the military and going into the civilian world
19:18
Speaker 1: is huge. It helps, and it can help you get
19:21
Speaker 1: that job. It also helps you get interviews. This organization
19:27
Speaker 1: also helps with interview prep, which is very important, believe
19:30
Speaker 1: it or not. I've used it in many of the
19:32
Speaker 1: jobs that I've had. For veterans and military spouses as well,
19:37
Speaker 1: military spouses can also use this organization, which is a
19:40
Speaker 1: great help. The American Job Centers through the Department of
19:45
Speaker 1: Labor's VETS program do the same in person, free to use.
19:50
Speaker 1: Use them. Use these tools to get the jobs that
19:53
Speaker 1: you're looking for. Use them to help you write your
19:56
Speaker 1: resume and make people understand what you're capable of and
19:59
Speaker 1: translate those military terms into civilian terms so that they
20:03
Speaker 1: understand when the hiring manager has your resume and what
20:06
Speaker 1: they know you're capable of and they make the right
20:09
Speaker 1: decision and they hire you. The next thing I'm gonna
20:14
Speaker 1: talk about is what I'm asking for. I'm not asking
20:17
Speaker 1: for pity and no veteran here is either. Pity is
20:21
Speaker 1: worthless in my opinion. What I'm asking for is simpler
20:25
Speaker 1: and harder. Keep the promise. A lot of these organizations
20:30
Speaker 1: and a lot of people in society nowadays, they promise
20:33
Speaker 1: that they're gonna take care of veterans They promise that
20:36
Speaker 1: they care about veterans. Like I said, I can say
20:39
Speaker 1: whatever I want to say. That doesn't mean I'm telling
20:42
Speaker 1: you the truth. The actions speak louder than words. We
20:46
Speaker 1: all know that. When a veteran's benefit is cut by mistake,
20:50
Speaker 1: fix it like it matters. Because to that family, it does.
20:57
Speaker 1: When a veteran applies for a job, judge the record,
21:01
Speaker 1: not the stereotype like we already talked about. When a
21:05
Speaker 1: business puts a flag in a window, let there be
21:08
Speaker 1: something real standing behind it, not just a flag in
21:11
Speaker 1: the window. And when the veteran speaks, do the thing
21:17
Speaker 1: this country is worst at. Listen the way corporations get
21:22
Speaker 1: listened to. Because a veteran's voice should carry weight in
21:26
Speaker 1: the country he carried weight for and fought for. Some
21:30
Speaker 1: died for. That's what it shows. And that's what it's for.
21:37
Speaker 1: Built for Chaos is a platform for where veterans get heard,
21:41
Speaker 1: your experiences, your flights, your stories, and your own words.
21:45
Speaker 1: So here's my ask, and I mean it. Tell me.
21:50
Speaker 1: How the country has treated you. The good, the bad,
21:56
Speaker 1: the VA story. The job. The story that you want
22:01
Speaker 1: to tell that you never said out loud. Write to me.
22:06
Speaker 1: You can write to Build for Chaos at P.O. Box
22:10
Speaker 1: 3066 Easton, PA 18043. If you don't feel comfortable coming
22:17
Speaker 1: on to the show and talking about your experience, you
22:19
Speaker 1: can definitely write to me. And with your permission, I'll
22:22
Speaker 1: put your story out there. I'll let people know what
22:25
Speaker 1: you're thinking. I'll let people know what your experiences are
22:27
Speaker 1: if you want me to. I have no problem doing that.
22:30
Speaker 1: That's what we're here for. Or reach me through the
22:33
Speaker 1: show page. Until we're live streaming, Your letters are the
22:37
Speaker 1: mic and I will read what you send me because
22:41
Speaker 1: these stories deserve room where they're believed for the first
22:45
Speaker 1: time and people need to hear them. They learn from them.
22:49
Speaker 1: We also are inspired by your stories and we can
22:52
Speaker 1: learn from them as well. And that saying that, you know,
22:57
Speaker 1: I used to have a good friend of mine who
23:00
Speaker 1: passed away a couple of years ago. His name was
23:02
Speaker 1: Wesley Massey. He advocated for veterans in the craziest of ways.
23:10
Speaker 1: At times, I thought he was fanatical. He was a
23:13
Speaker 1: great guy. He would give you the shirt off his back.
23:17
Speaker 1: He lived in Texas. He died in a car accident, tragically.
23:26
Speaker 1: But I can tell you that After he retired from
23:29
Speaker 1: the military, he joined all kinds of organizations. I know
23:32
Speaker 1: he was a commander of one of his VFW posts. Um,
23:37
Speaker 1: he worked for the DAV. He worked for many veterans organizations. Um,
23:42
Speaker 1: he was a very big part of the VFW in
23:44
Speaker 1: the town that he lived in. Uh, he also advocated
23:48
Speaker 1: with businesses that claimed they would help veterans. And, um,
23:52
Speaker 1: In no way, shape, or form am I saying that
23:55
Speaker 1: every business out there doesn't help veterans. But there are
23:57
Speaker 1: a lot of businesses out there that they're full of shit.
24:00
Speaker 1: They don't care about veterans. The only thing they care
24:03
Speaker 1: about is what they can get as far as kickbacks
24:06
Speaker 1: for veterans. And a lot of agencies use veterans as
24:10
Speaker 1: a way to advertise that they take care of the
24:12
Speaker 1: community and that they care about veterans. And they don't care.
24:15
Speaker 1: They could care less. I can say Wesley Massey. he
24:20
Speaker 1: would go out there and he would talk to businesses
24:23
Speaker 1: and he, he had a way of talking to him
24:26
Speaker 1: to where he could get them to, you know, there
24:29
Speaker 1: was a veteran in the, in the community that didn't
24:31
Speaker 1: have the money to put a roof on their house.
24:33
Speaker 1: He would talk to these businesses and they would put
24:35
Speaker 1: roofs on their houses. Um, these businesses, once they did
24:39
Speaker 1: that kind of stuff, they had more business than they
24:41
Speaker 1: know what to deal with because they put their money
24:43
Speaker 1: where their mouth was. The actions actually spoke louder than
24:46
Speaker 1: the words they were saying. Uh, There was people that
24:49
Speaker 1: needed concrete work in their neighborhoods that they couldn't afford
24:53
Speaker 1: the concrete work. He would go out and he would
24:55
Speaker 1: talk to them. He would reach out to these businesses
24:58
Speaker 1: in the community, and somehow he would get them to
25:02
Speaker 1: go out and help them with the concrete work. And
25:05
Speaker 1: like I said, in no way, shape, or form is
25:07
Speaker 1: any veteran that's listening to this expects somebody to do
25:11
Speaker 1: something for free. But, you know, in my opinion, if
25:15
Speaker 1: I owned my own business, I would tell you that
25:18
Speaker 1: If I could help somebody and I knew it was
25:20
Speaker 1: going to help them, it's more important to me to
25:23
Speaker 1: help them to me worried about making dollars off them.
25:26
Speaker 1: And just because they're a veteran, I think they have money,
25:29
Speaker 1: which is crap. That's bullshit. There's a lot of misconception
25:33
Speaker 1: there because that's not always true. And basically helping that family,
25:40
Speaker 1: you're going to see other members of your community realize
25:42
Speaker 1: that you really do mean that you want to help
25:45
Speaker 1: veterans and you'll have more business than you know what
25:48
Speaker 1: to do with. I guarantee you, you don't have to
25:50
Speaker 1: listen to me. I can just tell you from experience
25:53
Speaker 1: that if you do this, it does work. Because I
25:56
Speaker 1: saw some of the things he did when he was
25:58
Speaker 1: doing it, and it was phenomenal. Some of the things
26:00
Speaker 1: he got these businesses to do and somehow agreed to
26:04
Speaker 1: do and help veterans. And it was breathtaking to watch it.
26:11
Speaker 1: And the look on their faces when they got the
26:13
Speaker 1: help they needed. There's organizations out there. that they build
26:18
Speaker 1: houses for veterans. Tunnel to Towers is one of them.
26:23
Speaker 1: Veterans that their family members are killed in combat. They
26:28
Speaker 1: pay off mortgages for people. That's the kind of outreach
26:31
Speaker 1: we're talking about here. Yes, I do understand that every
26:35
Speaker 1: business can't do that. And I do understand that it
26:37
Speaker 1: does cost money to run a business. But the things
26:41
Speaker 1: that you're asked to do to help these veterans are
26:44
Speaker 1: Imagine what they did when they were in combat. Imagine
26:47
Speaker 1: the things they had to face and imagine the things
26:50
Speaker 1: they're going through when they came home and nobody's taking
26:52
Speaker 1: care of them. Because that's exactly what's going on. A
26:57
Speaker 1: lot of country or a lot of these companies say
26:59
Speaker 1: they take care of veterans or a lot of these
27:01
Speaker 1: organizations say they take care of veterans and they're lying.
27:04
Speaker 1: They're not telling the truth. The only people they're lying
27:06
Speaker 1: to is themselves. And then they get offended when people
27:10
Speaker 1: like myself on the microphone are telling the truth and
27:13
Speaker 1: they don't want to hear it. Well, you need to
27:16
Speaker 1: wake up. You need to wake up and you need
27:19
Speaker 1: to start practicing what you preach because if you don't
27:21
Speaker 1: do that, guess what? You got nobody to blame but yourself.
27:24
Speaker 1: So let's get together and work in these communities and
27:27
Speaker 1: start helping the veterans the way we claim we're going
27:29
Speaker 1: to help them and the actions speak louder than words.
27:34
Speaker 1: Stop telling people what you're going to do and start
27:36
Speaker 1: doing it. Start helping the veterans that need the help
27:40
Speaker 1: and get them the help that they need because I'm
27:43
Speaker 1: telling you, it's going to pay off tenfold for you
27:47
Speaker 1: and the veterans in your community. They're going to spread
27:49
Speaker 1: the word like there's no tomorrow. So resources that are
27:55
Speaker 1: available that I do on every show and every episode,
27:59
Speaker 1: if you're struggling and you're a veteran or not, people
28:02
Speaker 1: are available to help you right now. If you're a
28:05
Speaker 1: veteran in crisis or you're worried about one, dial 988
28:08
Speaker 1: and then press one. Once again, dial 988 and then
28:09
Speaker 1: press one. Free, confidential, 24-7. You don't have to be
28:17
Speaker 1: enrolled in VA health care to call that number or
28:20
Speaker 1: text that number. You can also text it at 838-255.
28:27
Speaker 1: Once again, that's 838-255. If you're anyone in crisis, call
28:35
Speaker 1: or text 988. The Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, free and confidential, 24-7.
28:42
Speaker 1: Like I said, you don't have to be a veteran
28:43
Speaker 1: to call that number or text that number. Or text
28:47
Speaker 1: HOME to 741741 to reach the crisis text line. Don't
28:54
Speaker 1: go through it alone. I told you at the top
28:58
Speaker 1: of the show, no holding back today. This country asks
29:02
Speaker 1: everything of its veterans and then too often asks them
29:05
Speaker 1: to wait quietly for what is theirs. Not anymore. Not
29:11
Speaker 1: on this show, not in real life. That should never happen.
29:16
Speaker 1: You want to thank a veteran for their service? Here's
29:19
Speaker 1: how you fix that. Fix the claim, make the callback,
29:23
Speaker 1: keep the promise. That's the thank you that counts. That's
29:26
Speaker 1: the thank you that matters. I'm Brian Weatherby. This is
29:30
Speaker 1: Built for Chaos. If this episode is your story too,
29:35
Speaker 1: share it with one person who needs to hear they're
29:39
Speaker 1: not crazy anymore. they're not alone, especially a veteran in
29:42
Speaker 1: the middle of their own fight with the system that
29:45
Speaker 1: failed them miserably. Remember always, there's a bulldog in all
29:50
Speaker 1: of us. Today, let it bite. See you on the
29:54
Speaker 1: next episode. Stay blessed and have a great night. Thank you.