Latest / Real America with Dan Ball / 11/11/25 -- Dan Ball W/ Secretary Doug Collins, Mike Sarraille, Kate Monroe, Michael Carmichael.

Transcript

11/11/25 -- Dan Ball W/ Secretary Doug Collins, Mike Sarraille, Kate Monroe, Michael Carmichael. · Real America with Dan Ball

0:28
Speaker 1: Good evening. I'm Dan Bull, and thank you so much
0:31
Speaker 1: for joining us for this very special edition of Real
0:34
Speaker 1: America on this Veteran's Day, honoring those who've served as
0:38
Speaker 1: we as a nation, as a republic, say a collective
0:42
Speaker 1: big thank you, a huge thank you to all the
0:44
Speaker 1: brave men and women of our armed forces. I can't
0:47
Speaker 1: say it enough. Thank you, thank you, thank you for
0:50
Speaker 1: your sacrifice and for your service to this great nation.
0:55
Speaker 1: We wouldn't be a republic without you. So we begin
0:59
Speaker 1: the special program, which is dedicated one hundred percent to
1:03
Speaker 1: our veterans and veterans issues with a Real America exclusive.
1:07
Speaker 1: For years now, the Department of Veterans Affairs has had
1:09
Speaker 1: its fair share of criticism. Let's say, from those crazy
1:14
Speaker 1: long wait lines we've all heard about, to unanswered suicide
1:19
Speaker 1: tip phone lines. How about those lazy and negligent staff
1:23
Speaker 1: members that Trump fired in his first term, and of
1:25
Speaker 1: course the corruption. It's a federal agency that has come
1:28
Speaker 1: under fire and under the microscope more than once over
1:32
Speaker 1: the years. But now with President Trump back in charge,
1:35
Speaker 1: things are changing. And that's all thanks to the man
1:38
Speaker 1: who forty seven put in charge a veteran, a man
1:41
Speaker 1: of faith, former Georgia Congressman Doug Collins, who is still
1:45
Speaker 1: on active duty serving as a chaplain in the Air
1:48
Speaker 1: Force Reserve, and now the man who all of us
1:51
Speaker 1: as veterans looked too in his new role as Secretary
1:55
Speaker 1: of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and with today being
1:58
Speaker 1: Veterans Day, Scretary Collins was kind enough to give us
2:01
Speaker 1: nearly thirty minutes of his time in which we discussed
2:04
Speaker 1: a wide array of issues facing our heroes every day.
2:09
Speaker 1: Here now that exclusive interview with Secretary Collins. Secretary Collins,
2:14
Speaker 1: thank you so much for joining us. I know you
2:16
Speaker 1: have such a busy schedule these days because running the
2:21
Speaker 1: VA is not an easy job as a veteran, but
2:25
Speaker 1: also as a journalist, dug Over the three plus decades
2:28
Speaker 1: I've been on television, I have reported myself alone on
2:32
Speaker 1: dozens and dozens of not so good stories about the VA,
2:37
Speaker 1: right problems with the VA. And so you're handed a
2:40
Speaker 1: department that, let me throw some numbers out, has over
2:44
Speaker 1: four hundred and seventy thousand employees, has over nine million
2:49
Speaker 1: If you will customers veterans and their family members you help.
2:52
Speaker 1: You have some of the largest hospitals in our country
2:57
Speaker 1: and your budget is massive. So how's been the first
3:01
Speaker 1: nine months for Doug Collins, the Secretary of the VIA.
3:04
Speaker 2: Oh well, well that kind of introduction, you know, just yeah,
3:07
Speaker 2: really it's been easy. You know, sit back, you know,
3:09
Speaker 2: have a class t and everything's great.
3:13
Speaker 1: Now.
3:13
Speaker 2: It's look, I tell this all the time, and it's
3:16
Speaker 2: on Veterans Day. We talk about, you know, being veterans.
3:18
Speaker 2: But I have the best job in the cabinet. Everybody
3:20
Speaker 2: else can say they do, but I do because I
3:22
Speaker 2: get to take care.
3:22
Speaker 3: Of the best people in the world, that's our veterans.
3:24
Speaker 2: And we started it out by saying that the VA
3:28
Speaker 2: is going to become and go back to this roots,
3:30
Speaker 2: and that is everything we do is about a veteran.
3:33
Speaker 2: It's that's our first and for it's our first thought
3:35
Speaker 2: and our last thought. Is anything that we do, how
3:38
Speaker 2: we do it for our veterans. And it's just a mindset.
3:40
Speaker 2: And I've been looking. I was in Congress right years
3:43
Speaker 2: I dealt with the VA through some of the troubled
3:46
Speaker 2: times twelve thirteen years ago.
3:48
Speaker 3: I know where this you know how people interact with it.
3:51
Speaker 2: But what we have done is is had a really
3:53
Speaker 2: a great time hitting the ground running and laying out
3:56
Speaker 2: what I call standards. And the standards are that we're
3:59
Speaker 2: going to have the system in the country. We're the
4:01
Speaker 2: largest system in the country, and we're going to act
4:03
Speaker 2: like it. And that means leadership has become a pigh priority.
4:06
Speaker 2: But at the end of the day, I tell all
4:08
Speaker 2: our senior leaders, everybody that works for the VA, you
4:11
Speaker 2: have one job, and the only job you have is
4:13
Speaker 2: because a veteran walks through our doors. And if we
4:15
Speaker 2: don't understand that, then we thought we've lost our mission.
4:18
Speaker 1: You know, when you're dealing with people, and especially when
4:20
Speaker 1: it comes to our veterans on the medical side of it, right,
4:23
Speaker 1: there seems to be no more bedside manner anywhere in
4:27
Speaker 1: the medical profession. And so I want people to get
4:30
Speaker 1: to know Secretary Doug Collins. I feel like when people
4:33
Speaker 1: know the people they're dealing with, right whether they're emailing
4:36
Speaker 1: or calling into the VA and they're trying to get
4:38
Speaker 1: some benefits, whether it's medical or gibill or whatever, or
4:41
Speaker 1: they just want to express some problems they're having, they
4:43
Speaker 1: want to know who they're working with and the guy
4:46
Speaker 1: in charge is this guy. So Doug, let's back up
4:48
Speaker 1: real quick before we get into some of the key
4:50
Speaker 1: issues that the VA's facing today, and just tell them
4:52
Speaker 1: who you are, right coming from Georgia, being in Congress,
4:57
Speaker 1: being in two branches of the military. Can you back
4:59
Speaker 1: up and and tell us how little Doug all started
5:03
Speaker 1: to get into your faith because I saw a degree
5:06
Speaker 1: in theology. You're a chaplain in the United States Air Force,
5:09
Speaker 1: but then you got into politics. So give us that
5:11
Speaker 1: background on who Doug Collins is first, and then we'll
5:13
Speaker 1: get into the issues you're trying to tackle.
5:15
Speaker 2: Well, dev I'd love to I'm a troopers kid from
5:18
Speaker 2: North Georgia. My dad was a Georgia State Trooper. My
5:20
Speaker 2: mom worked with senior adults. I had a foundation of
5:23
Speaker 2: a home that valued public service that you know. I
5:26
Speaker 2: watched my dad go out in some very difficult times
5:29
Speaker 2: and he would come back, you know, but he always
5:33
Speaker 2: you know, he would see the kind of the worst
5:34
Speaker 2: of community, but yet he was always very positive. He
5:36
Speaker 2: helped grow us up. He taught football, he was involved
5:40
Speaker 2: in things in the community, and that just said that
5:42
Speaker 2: laid the foundation for me. He was in the National
5:44
Speaker 2: Guard earlier in his life, and for me, it became
5:47
Speaker 2: a journey as Lisa, my wife of really over about
5:51
Speaker 2: thirty seven years now, has been together that we have
5:54
Speaker 2: a life of service and we believe that God has
5:56
Speaker 2: just placed us in places that allow for that. I've
5:59
Speaker 2: been in sales, but been a pastor for eleven years,
6:02
Speaker 2: as you said, was in the Navy for a while,
6:04
Speaker 2: went back into the Air Force in two thousand and two.
6:06
Speaker 2: I've been there ever since. I'm a colonel, deployed to
6:09
Speaker 2: Iraq back in eight nine time frame. And you know,
6:13
Speaker 2: and you know also have a law degree and that
6:17
Speaker 2: after I left the pastor. So for me, I really
6:20
Speaker 2: believe this. You know, there's many people who have talked
6:22
Speaker 2: about Trump's cabinet. They've talked about you know, who are
6:24
Speaker 2: these people? And you know they don't have the pedigrees.
6:27
Speaker 2: I think I've got the perfect pedigree. I think I
6:29
Speaker 2: come from folks who understand public service. I come from
6:32
Speaker 2: a background of being a pastor and a chaplain in
6:35
Speaker 2: the Air Force for now combined over twenty five years.
6:38
Speaker 2: I'm a lawyer, but I'm also I was a state
6:40
Speaker 2: legislator and a United States congressman. I'm the first congressman
6:43
Speaker 2: to serve in this roles. It's the early nineteen nineties,
6:47
Speaker 2: so I know how to deal with Congress. I think
6:49
Speaker 2: for this time and this purpose to make the changes
6:51
Speaker 2: at the VA we need to make. I believe I've
6:53
Speaker 2: been I believe God's placement at the time. And President
6:56
Speaker 2: Trump said he wanted me to do this. He said,
6:58
Speaker 2: take care of veterans. So for me, it's a labor
7:00
Speaker 2: of love to know that we can help each other,
7:03
Speaker 2: we can help veterans, but also raise the standard of
7:06
Speaker 2: what everybody has thought. Yes, I've also made another statement here.
7:10
Speaker 2: You're not only going to have for me from my heart.
7:12
Speaker 2: My heart is is that for too long, the VA
7:14
Speaker 2: has been the whipping post for too many in Washington, DC,
7:17
Speaker 2: whether it be the media or Congress or other people.
7:19
Speaker 3: And here's what I've determined. If you lie.
7:21
Speaker 2: About the VA or my employees, then you're gonna get
7:24
Speaker 2: called out, and I will call you out for lying.
7:27
Speaker 3: Now.
7:27
Speaker 2: If we're doing something wrong, we will fix it. But
7:30
Speaker 2: you're not going to just use us as political polems
7:32
Speaker 2: and political toys anymore. The VA is going to take
7:34
Speaker 2: care of the veterans, and we're going to cut through
7:36
Speaker 2: the bureaucracy and the I want to play the advocate
7:40
Speaker 2: for veterans when I want to but yet do nothing
7:42
Speaker 2: in the past. We're going to make sure that we're
7:44
Speaker 2: actually focused on what we need to do and take
7:46
Speaker 2: care of veterans.
7:47
Speaker 1: You know, Secretary, that's interesting you bring that up about
7:49
Speaker 1: people lying about the changes that have been being made
7:53
Speaker 1: within the VA since you took over the helm because
7:56
Speaker 1: I happened to find a clip of you testifying before.
8:00
Speaker 1: I think this one was a Senate committee, because I've
8:02
Speaker 1: got another clip of you testifying before some folks in
8:05
Speaker 1: the House, and this was several months back. This was
8:08
Speaker 1: right after DOGE was making their big recommended cuts, right
8:11
Speaker 1: in February, March and April, and you were in the
8:13
Speaker 1: hot seat on the hill and these Democrat of course
8:16
Speaker 1: Democrat senators, and I can't believe it happens to also
8:19
Speaker 1: be mister Blumenthal, the guy that lied about his military service,
8:23
Speaker 1: decided to try to take you to task for the
8:26
Speaker 1: cuts that you're going to be making or have made.
8:29
Speaker 1: So I want to play this clip and then get
8:31
Speaker 1: your take on the backside.
8:32
Speaker 4: Go ahead, and then reinstate them when the courts tell you,
8:40
Speaker 4: as they will, that they've been wrongfully terminated.
8:43
Speaker 2: We're talking about less than one half of one percent,
8:45
Speaker 2: mister Ian, miss rank member, you've got you. You've thrown
8:47
Speaker 2: out numbers of thousands. This is exactly what I'm fighting against.
8:51
Speaker 4: You may workforce, but they are the physicians.
8:55
Speaker 2: No rank member, I will not let you do that.
8:59
Speaker 2: I will not let you sit here and scare my
9:02
Speaker 2: veterans and scare my employs because there's been no I mean,
9:05
Speaker 2: you must have stuff that again, you're looking at making
9:07
Speaker 2: a prediction in the future, because no one has discussed
9:11
Speaker 2: firing doctors or firing nurses. We have always said that
9:14
Speaker 2: we're going to keep frontline healthcare.
9:17
Speaker 1: So, Doug, I have a headline here when you were
9:20
Speaker 1: visiting the fair city I live in about a month
9:23
Speaker 1: or two ago in San Diego talking about you defending
9:27
Speaker 1: your staff reductions at the VA. The Democrats believe you're
9:31
Speaker 1: getting rid of nurses and doctors. Would you now like
9:35
Speaker 1: to set the record straight on those cuts that were
9:37
Speaker 1: made back in the spring and summer and that may
9:39
Speaker 1: still be made looking forward, because let's be real. Even
9:42
Speaker 1: though you might hear veterans sometimes complain like I need this,
9:45
Speaker 1: I need that, there's not enough people, there's not enough services.
9:48
Speaker 1: That it up you're not cutting anything that would directly
9:51
Speaker 1: affect those people, because let's be real, almost every department
9:54
Speaker 1: at the federal level has some bloated, bloated staffing that
9:58
Speaker 1: needs cleaning up. Oh go ahead, Secretary Collins phill Us in.
10:02
Speaker 2: Well, I still stand behind everything I told Center Blimoth
10:05
Speaker 2: th All, Center, Blimouthal at times unfortunately has a awkward
10:09
Speaker 2: position with the truth a.
10:11
Speaker 3: Lot of times.
10:12
Speaker 2: But here is the big part that I have with
10:15
Speaker 2: it is I want to just correct some and we
10:17
Speaker 2: cut no one. In fact, we now we have had
10:19
Speaker 2: a reduction and staff of about thirty thousand people, all
10:22
Speaker 2: of which came through a voluntary early retirement. We did
10:26
Speaker 2: not fire anyone in the VA. They took that and
10:30
Speaker 2: so it was and all those are outside of three
10:33
Speaker 2: hundred plus three hundred thousand plus positions, and we said
10:36
Speaker 2: you're not eligible for early retirement. That was all in
10:39
Speaker 2: our healthcare, our disability benefits. So we found the areas
10:42
Speaker 2: in which this department had grown in both money and people.
10:46
Speaker 2: But we're not making the right change as we go forward.
10:49
Speaker 2: In other words, the metrics in which we measured ourselves
10:52
Speaker 2: by we're going in the wrong directions wait times, which
10:55
Speaker 2: is not a good way to measure us. But wait
10:57
Speaker 2: times we're not good. People are waiting too. Disability backlog
11:01
Speaker 2: was over two hundred and sixty five thousand when I
11:04
Speaker 2: came in on February the fifth. Today, on Veterans Day,
11:07
Speaker 2: I can report to you that we're right around one
11:09
Speaker 2: hundred and fifteen thousand. We've cut off almost one hundred
11:12
Speaker 2: and fifty thousand off the one hundred and twenty five
11:15
Speaker 2: day back law. That means our veterans are getting answers quicker.
11:18
Speaker 2: But on the top end of that, we had over
11:19
Speaker 2: a million claims pending. We're right under right at six
11:24
Speaker 2: hundred thousand right now, so we've taken off almost four
11:26
Speaker 2: hundred thousand of just regular claims that we're processing in
11:29
Speaker 2: the normal fashion. So for anybody to say that we
11:32
Speaker 2: cut which is a lie. Anything else that is, as
11:35
Speaker 2: Bluemith all said, your firing doctors a lie. All of
11:39
Speaker 2: this was a day in which we made the changes
11:42
Speaker 2: and put the veteran first. So for us, you know, look,
11:45
Speaker 2: I want to defend my workforce. They've done a great job.
11:47
Speaker 2: But we had gotten to a point where money and
11:49
Speaker 2: people were not solving the problems at the VA we
11:52
Speaker 2: had to have leadership to put people in the right
11:54
Speaker 2: places to use the right way we go forward. So
11:57
Speaker 2: I'll stand behind it every bit of the way that
11:59
Speaker 2: we have.
12:00
Speaker 1: All Right, Trey con sounds good to me. How about
12:02
Speaker 1: another one here? Politico reported on you, oh geez, only
12:05
Speaker 1: a few days ago in this one, promising to overhaul
12:10
Speaker 1: a lot of the poor performing medical centers, and that
12:13
Speaker 1: I want to dive into a little bit deeper as well.
12:15
Speaker 1: Besides cleaning up some of the medical centers, there's also
12:18
Speaker 1: been a call, I think with your department to put
12:23
Speaker 1: some new facilities in rural areas and underserved areas for veterans.
12:27
Speaker 1: So how are we going about that as far as
12:30
Speaker 1: revamping ones that say don't look that well, aren't that clean,
12:33
Speaker 1: aren't running that efficiently? Or do we close those down
12:36
Speaker 1: and build new ones? What about getting those ural areas?
12:38
Speaker 1: Kind of give us that overview on your plan for
12:40
Speaker 1: taking care of the facilities we have now and potentially
12:42
Speaker 1: any new ones that may open up.
12:45
Speaker 2: I love to because this is a very passionate part
12:47
Speaker 2: of my job is making sure that we're providing the
12:50
Speaker 2: best product for our veterans. Look, CMS is a standard
12:53
Speaker 2: for hospitals across the country, private public, VA government CMS
12:58
Speaker 2: has a measuring stick in which they measure from one
13:00
Speaker 2: to five on a scale on good performing and poor
13:04
Speaker 2: performing hospitals. I'll be I do have to say that
13:07
Speaker 2: the vast majority of our VA medical centers outperformed the community,
13:11
Speaker 2: both public and private hospitals across the country, with many
13:15
Speaker 2: at five and four ratings. But we do have twos
13:17
Speaker 2: and threes, and up until last year we had some ones.
13:20
Speaker 2: I made a statement earlier this summer that said, my
13:23
Speaker 2: standard is only fives and fours, So threes and twos
13:26
Speaker 2: under the CMS rating system, we were going to do
13:28
Speaker 2: everything we can to move them to five and fours.
13:31
Speaker 3: Now we're one VA.
13:32
Speaker 2: Unfortunately, many of the hospitals acted as if they were startups.
13:35
Speaker 2: I threw away that motion and said, if you've got
13:37
Speaker 2: VA on the side of your building, you're part of
13:39
Speaker 2: the largest healthcare network around. So we're taking the fives
13:42
Speaker 2: and fours and training the twos and threes to upgrade
13:46
Speaker 2: and how they can do their facilities better. And what
13:48
Speaker 2: political was reporting was the fact that we had all
13:51
Speaker 2: we had the twos and threes who are administrators and
13:54
Speaker 2: workers in those hospitals training in New Orleans a few
13:57
Speaker 2: weeks ago to learn how that they can do tricks
14:00
Speaker 2: are in trade tips from other hospitals in the VA
14:03
Speaker 2: system to make sure their hospital gets better. And then
14:05
Speaker 2: on top of that, we brought back the Mission Act.
14:07
Speaker 2: The Mission Act was put in under Donald Trump's first
14:10
Speaker 2: administration to get people, the veterans, the ability to go
14:13
Speaker 2: into the community and get care. The Biden administration basically
14:16
Speaker 2: did away with that for the last four years. We're
14:19
Speaker 2: bringing back the law. And now if we have veterans
14:21
Speaker 2: who need to get into the community for care that
14:23
Speaker 2: may not be able to get into you know, have
14:25
Speaker 2: the services at our VA facility or others, they're able
14:27
Speaker 2: to get into the community. And we're building sea box
14:30
Speaker 2: those clinics that are in different areas, and we've had
14:33
Speaker 2: dozens already that we've already put together just this year,
14:36
Speaker 2: and they're allowing people to get care closer to home,
14:40
Speaker 2: closer to where they are, without having to drive into
14:43
Speaker 2: our large hospitals.
14:44
Speaker 1: That is great news, Doug, That is really truly great news.
14:47
Speaker 1: All right, So got the medical side of it. Two
14:50
Speaker 1: other big main issues that the VA helps out with
14:53
Speaker 1: that I would feel that some would say the VA
14:56
Speaker 1: needs to do more. I know you personally are trying
14:59
Speaker 1: to do all you can. And that is the issue
15:01
Speaker 1: of veteran suicide. And then I want to touch on
15:05
Speaker 1: veteran homelessness because I know that's a big one for
15:07
Speaker 1: you and for President Trump. He's talked about eradicating it
15:10
Speaker 1: in his next three years, and I hope to golly
15:13
Speaker 1: we can. Let's begin with the suicide the real numbers, Doug,
15:16
Speaker 1: you and I know I've had a lot of nonprofit
15:19
Speaker 1: and veteran groups on this program the last five years.
15:21
Speaker 1: The government has told us for decades it's twenty one
15:24
Speaker 1: or twenty two. Every group I talk to says that's underreported.
15:28
Speaker 1: It's almost double. It's more like forty four or forty
15:30
Speaker 1: five one. Where do you think the number stands? And
15:33
Speaker 1: what are you doing now? Is the top dog at
15:34
Speaker 1: the VA to help this problem so we get it
15:37
Speaker 1: down to zero?
15:39
Speaker 2: YEA, Look, I think the biggest number here is somewhere
15:41
Speaker 2: between seven seventeen and really probably the upper twenties thirties.
15:46
Speaker 2: It could be then the real reason there and some
15:47
Speaker 2: people may say, well, why wouldn't you know? Frankly, death
15:51
Speaker 2: by suicide is still in many areas of our country
15:53
Speaker 2: not talked about is the reporting view very unfortunately shameful
15:59
Speaker 2: in today we don't have sometimes the you know, the
16:04
Speaker 2: basically the coroners and others not reporting it as a suicide. Sure,
16:08
Speaker 2: that's how you get the disparity in numbers. But here's
16:11
Speaker 2: what we're doing. Here's a couple of concerns. Number one,
16:14
Speaker 2: we spend five hundred and eighty eight million dollars on
16:16
Speaker 2: preventive work. What I found was, though, is when I
16:19
Speaker 2: started asking what are we actually doing, I come to
16:22
Speaker 2: find out we really didn't have a very focused plan.
16:24
Speaker 2: It was sort of a scattershot And then I found
16:27
Speaker 2: out something that really put me on edge and said,
16:32
Speaker 2: we've got to completely rechange what we're doing. Because what
16:34
Speaker 2: we found out was is sixty percent of those whether
16:37
Speaker 2: you seventeen, twenty two or whatever, have never had any
16:40
Speaker 2: contact with the VA. So if we're spending five hundred
16:43
Speaker 2: and eighty eight million dollars a year for the past
16:46
Speaker 2: four or five six years, billions over the past ten
16:48
Speaker 2: to fifteen years, and we're still at the same number
16:52
Speaker 2: and sixty percent of those folks have never been in
16:54
Speaker 2: contact with the VA for mental health counseling or anything else.
16:57
Speaker 2: Then we're going after the wrong crowd. We're like we're
17:00
Speaker 2: at the church that talks to each other in the
17:02
Speaker 2: choir and thinks that we're doing something good. What we
17:05
Speaker 2: got to do now, and what we've done is I
17:06
Speaker 2: reshaped that entire department.
17:08
Speaker 3: We've brought in new leadership.
17:10
Speaker 2: I we're working with our public affairs people and others
17:13
Speaker 2: to target our messages through email to TV commercials. But
17:19
Speaker 2: also we're partnering with folks like the NFL, like the NBA,
17:23
Speaker 2: like the Major League Baseball UFC hunters. I go on
17:27
Speaker 2: podcast all the time with major players in the veteran
17:31
Speaker 2: because I want them to know that we're going to
17:34
Speaker 2: go after the people that are on the fringes. Those
17:36
Speaker 2: are the people that I want them to know that
17:39
Speaker 2: they have a chance at the BA. And we want
17:42
Speaker 2: every veteran to know you're never forgotten.
17:44
Speaker 3: We love you. There are people who want to see
17:46
Speaker 3: you succeed.
17:47
Speaker 1: Thank you, Doug, God bless you for that. What about
17:49
Speaker 1: the homelessness issue? Those numbers two you know in the
17:51
Speaker 1: six figures, I don't know what the accurate one is
17:53
Speaker 1: because again you google it and you ask Ai and
17:55
Speaker 1: it's all over the map, but we know there's tens
17:58
Speaker 1: of thousands of homeless veterans. And this was an article
18:02
Speaker 1: from the American Legion that just dropped saying, you guys
18:04
Speaker 1: just awarded eighty four million dollars in grants to fight
18:08
Speaker 1: veteran homelessness. And the President has said, I want to
18:10
Speaker 1: eradicate it in my last term. Doug, how are we
18:13
Speaker 1: doing that.
18:14
Speaker 2: We're doing better, and I think this is an issue.
18:16
Speaker 2: We're down to about thirty five. I think the number
18:18
Speaker 2: that we have is between thirty and forty thousand, depending
18:21
Speaker 2: on the chronicness nature, and some of that is SIU
18:24
Speaker 2: as opposed to the national average the non veteran population,
18:28
Speaker 2: we've actually been going down while the non veteran population
18:31
Speaker 2: has actually been going up. But we're nowhere close to
18:33
Speaker 2: where we need to be. President Trump has been an
18:35
Speaker 2: amazing advocate for this. And we have a Center of
18:37
Speaker 2: Excellence that's going to be in West la and are
18:40
Speaker 2: across from our hospital out in Los Angeles in which
18:43
Speaker 2: we're putting upwards of six thousand veterans over the next
18:46
Speaker 2: few years that are going to be able to be
18:49
Speaker 2: held there. Because southern California has one of our largest populations.
18:53
Speaker 1: Draws them out.
18:53
Speaker 2: Sure, we're also able to put them in as well
18:56
Speaker 2: with the skills beside the wraparound services to figure out
19:01
Speaker 2: why they were there. Could it be a you know,
19:02
Speaker 2: economic issue, is at a mental health issue, is at
19:05
Speaker 2: an addiction issue.
19:06
Speaker 3: We're trying to get that to the Squared away.
19:08
Speaker 2: But also I just want to tell you know your
19:10
Speaker 2: listeners that from December one, well really the middle of
19:14
Speaker 2: East November through January, we're also doing another push through
19:18
Speaker 2: all of our hospitals and where we're going out into
19:21
Speaker 2: the community to known areas of homelessness, and our folks
19:24
Speaker 2: from the hospitals are going and making contact with these
19:26
Speaker 2: veterans to get them into temporary housing and shelter. That's
19:30
Speaker 2: all we call surges, and we're seeing a lot of
19:33
Speaker 2: success in that. So we're doing everything we can to
19:35
Speaker 2: make sure that we get them housed.
19:36
Speaker 1: All right. We talked a lot about the mental health,
19:38
Speaker 1: the physical health, the homelessness, and the suicide that kind
19:41
Speaker 1: of revolves around medical type stuff. People forget you have
19:45
Speaker 1: a big, big job, meaning you also have to do
19:48
Speaker 1: the financial aid. You got the GI bill, You've got
19:50
Speaker 1: VA home loans, you've got access to different types of
19:54
Speaker 1: loans for businesses, college, you have to be in charge
19:56
Speaker 1: of the memorial benefits for the funeral services, and then
19:59
Speaker 1: you have benefits that go to the spouses and the children,
20:02
Speaker 1: so encompassing all that. How are we doing on making
20:05
Speaker 1: that better for our veterans and their family members?
20:07
Speaker 3: Done well?
20:08
Speaker 2: As I said earlier in the in the interview, that
20:10
Speaker 2: is one of the areas we made some of the
20:12
Speaker 2: largest improvements of getting the backlogged down, getting the you know,
20:15
Speaker 2: the answers to the veteran quicker. We shall have an
20:18
Speaker 2: issue with you know, sometimes the appellate process goes longer
20:21
Speaker 2: if they don't if they don't like what we said,
20:23
Speaker 2: and again that's not uncommon, but we go by a
20:26
Speaker 2: certain formula and that says, okay, if this is service related,
20:29
Speaker 2: how much is it and if they don't like it,
20:31
Speaker 2: they can appeal it, which is their right, but that
20:33
Speaker 2: just takes out longer. But on those initial appeals, we're
20:35
Speaker 2: seeing those numbers come way down.
20:37
Speaker 3: That's actually very helpful.
20:39
Speaker 2: The GI Bill for education is still one of the
20:41
Speaker 2: best tools out there. We're making it more streamlined. They
20:45
Speaker 2: have apps that they can work off of they're getting
20:47
Speaker 2: paid quicker, you know, the schools are getting their money.
20:50
Speaker 2: Vocational rehab and education know is a problem, and as
20:55
Speaker 2: we go through a shutdown which we're in experiencing, those
20:58
Speaker 2: are shut down right now, so some of our veterans
21:01
Speaker 2: who are in transition are not able to access those
21:03
Speaker 2: kind of things.
21:04
Speaker 3: But we're we're putting more people.
21:06
Speaker 2: We're gonna be putting almost two hundred and fifty more
21:08
Speaker 2: people inside our VR and E programs within the next
21:11
Speaker 2: few months after we get opened back up, so to
21:13
Speaker 2: make sure that we're getting that that came from a
21:15
Speaker 2: big pack back push that allowed that also in educational
21:20
Speaker 2: benefits too, So look, I feel really good. And of
21:22
Speaker 2: course the one that whether anybody a veteran ever uses
21:25
Speaker 2: anything else in the BA, almost all of them probably
21:28
Speaker 2: was at some point use the VA home loan, which
21:30
Speaker 2: is one of the best things that has ever occurred
21:32
Speaker 2: at my first house for our DA folks to get
21:35
Speaker 2: into homes in a very reasonable way in a lower
21:39
Speaker 2: interest rate.
21:39
Speaker 3: So those are the great things we are doing there.
21:41
Speaker 1: Last question two weeks, I know you got a run, Doug.
21:43
Speaker 1: There was an article that dropped. Well, this is just
21:45
Speaker 1: a couple of days ago on November fourth. The trouble
21:48
Speaker 1: with US veterans benefits isn't rampant fraud like some claim,
21:53
Speaker 1: it's bureaucratic roadblocks. That's one headline I want to throw
21:58
Speaker 1: up as I then throw it this sound bite clip
22:01
Speaker 1: and we'll get your take on the backside, Doug, of
22:03
Speaker 1: you and a congresswoman during a visit on the hill
22:07
Speaker 1: a few months back, where she's talking to you and
22:10
Speaker 1: you're responding about these roadblocks, about how hard it is
22:14
Speaker 1: for veterans to apply for their benefits like a VA
22:17
Speaker 1: home loan, like a GI bill. Let's get your response
22:20
Speaker 1: to that on and after here we go.
22:22
Speaker 2: I've said this earlier this morning. I'll say it again,
22:24
Speaker 2: and I may have partially said it here. The V
22:27
Speaker 2: when a veteran has to call any one of your
22:29
Speaker 2: offices and sixty percent of your caseload is the A
22:32
Speaker 2: caseload when they have to call your.
22:34
Speaker 3: Office is a fail. It's a mission fail for us,
22:36
Speaker 3: it's a mission fail for VA.
22:38
Speaker 2: It should not be this hard to get benefits that
22:41
Speaker 2: are already earned, no matter what the bureaucracy says or
22:43
Speaker 2: anything else.
22:45
Speaker 1: So, Doug, what are we doing to make it easier?
22:47
Speaker 1: For us to apply for any benefit with the VA.
22:50
Speaker 2: Yeah, a lot of them are We've already done in
22:52
Speaker 2: the past by actually streamlining technology has helped our VA
22:56
Speaker 2: home loans and our educational benefits, the disability initial disability
23:00
Speaker 2: benefits or something that is a problem. It's like eighteen
23:02
Speaker 2: pages most of them with legal ees. I have a
23:05
Speaker 2: group right now that is looking at that to narrow
23:07
Speaker 2: that down. My hope is that we get it down
23:09
Speaker 2: to about two pages. And I truly meant what I
23:11
Speaker 2: said there. I love our vsos, our veteran service organizations.
23:15
Speaker 2: They do good folks and people who want to help
23:16
Speaker 2: veterans get their benefits. But why do we have to
23:19
Speaker 2: have people? This should be simple to where the veteran
23:22
Speaker 2: can apply, use their you know what they have, provide
23:26
Speaker 2: the minimal information that they need to to make sure
23:28
Speaker 2: they meet the qualification, and then we are able to
23:30
Speaker 2: process the claim. By making it more difficult, it has
23:33
Speaker 2: been harder for the veteran to do it and they
23:36
Speaker 2: feel like they have to reach out, which is just
23:38
Speaker 2: slows things down a lot of times in the process.
23:41
Speaker 2: So for me, we're focused on the veteran first.
23:44
Speaker 3: The veteran.
23:44
Speaker 2: What is the only reason we exist. We're making it
23:47
Speaker 2: easier for them to get the benefits they've already earned.
23:49
Speaker 2: They did that when they raised their right hand and
23:51
Speaker 2: they said that I'm going in and I'm going to
23:53
Speaker 2: serve this country. So we're taking down all the bureaucratic
23:56
Speaker 2: maze that we can to get them the answers quicker.
23:59
Speaker 2: And look, there's a lot of things out there that
24:02
Speaker 2: we're still working on to do better. Of course, at
24:04
Speaker 2: a four hundred and fifty thousand first workforce, it takes
24:08
Speaker 2: a lot. But I'm on the phone every day. I'm
24:10
Speaker 2: contacting our offices. They all know the standard now and
24:13
Speaker 2: now we're just living to the standard.
24:14
Speaker 1: Doug, a few seconds left. I'll give you the final word,
24:16
Speaker 1: just as a message on this Veteran's day to all
24:19
Speaker 1: of our veterans in this amazing Republic. Senator Doug Collins,
24:23
Speaker 1: go ahead, sir.
24:24
Speaker 2: For my veterans that I've served with, I just want
24:27
Speaker 2: to say thank you. I've served with you in combat,
24:31
Speaker 2: in wartimes and bases across the world. I've served with
24:33
Speaker 2: you in the States. I get to serve you now
24:35
Speaker 2: as the Secretary of the A. Our veterans are the
24:37
Speaker 2: ones that give us the freedom in this country. It's
24:39
Speaker 2: not even the press, it's not the lawyers, it's not
24:42
Speaker 2: the politicians. It is the veteran who is willing to
24:44
Speaker 2: serve and stand guard. Whether you served in wartime or
24:47
Speaker 2: you served in peacetime, you serve and you made sure
24:50
Speaker 2: our country is strong. We owe you a debt of
24:52
Speaker 2: gratitude and you've earned the benefit. Make sure that you
24:55
Speaker 2: use those benefits as you've earned, and as I've heard
24:58
Speaker 2: some veterans say, because you're humble enough to I don't
25:01
Speaker 2: use the VA because it must be there for somebody else.
25:04
Speaker 2: Now it's there for you, and this Secretary wants you
25:06
Speaker 2: to know that wherever we can help you, come, use
25:09
Speaker 2: the VA benefits you've earned. We've got enough for everybody.
25:11
Speaker 2: And why you're doing it. Bring a friend along, call
25:14
Speaker 2: a buddy. Make sure that they know that every veteran
25:17
Speaker 2: on this Veter's Day knows that they're not left behind.
25:20
Speaker 1: Beautiful, beautiful message. Department Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins, a chaplain,
25:26
Speaker 1: a veteran active duty right now in the Air Force,
25:29
Speaker 1: and attorney, a dad, a husband. Now our secretary, so
25:33
Speaker 1: many titles you have had over the years. I want
25:36
Speaker 1: to thank you on this Veteran's Day for your service
25:38
Speaker 1: in the military in uniform, out of uniform, Doug, God
25:41
Speaker 1: bless you for helping our veterans. You take care, sir.
25:45
Speaker 3: Thank you so much. I'm enjoyed being here.
25:49
Speaker 1: Up next, if you're a veteran or a family member
25:51
Speaker 1: of VET, do you understand and know the benefits that
25:53
Speaker 1: are available to you and actually how to apply for them.
25:56
Speaker 1: If not, our next guest, Kate Munroe from Vetcom's going
25:59
Speaker 1: to fill you in, so stay with us. Viewers are
26:04
Speaker 1: always asking me how can they watch OA in live.
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26:22
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Speaker 1: did you know that One America news network has launched
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26:43
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27:42
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28:06
Speaker 1: offered by Olien, including my show Real America. Welcome back
28:37
Speaker 1: to the special edition of Real America honoring those who've
28:40
Speaker 1: served on this Veteran's Day. Once an active duty military
28:43
Speaker 1: member finishes their tour of duty. The first thing they
28:45
Speaker 1: should do is reach out to the Veteran affairs and
28:48
Speaker 1: find out what your benefits are. But a lot of
28:50
Speaker 1: vets don't do that or they don't understand how to
28:52
Speaker 1: start the process. That's where our next guest steps in.
28:56
Speaker 1: Kate Monroe is a marine and the founder of Vetcom,
29:00
Speaker 1: a nonprofit that helps veterans and their family members understand
29:03
Speaker 1: their benefits and how to get the ball rolling. Kay,
29:08
Speaker 1: thank you so much for joining us on this such
29:11
Speaker 1: an important day. But I always throw this out and
29:13
Speaker 1: I'm gonna do it with I think everybody throughout this
29:15
Speaker 1: special and I should do it more than one day
29:17
Speaker 1: a year, since I'm ripping people for only doing something
29:21
Speaker 1: one day a year, and that is bringing up issues
29:24
Speaker 1: with our veterans. We've got to talk more about how
29:28
Speaker 1: they're being left behind and whether it comes to what
29:30
Speaker 1: you do at Vetcom or it's just calling a VET
29:32
Speaker 1: to make sure they're okay, making sure it's easy to
29:34
Speaker 1: get their benefits, get them off the streets that they
29:37
Speaker 1: fought to protect. There's so many issues, so first and foremost,
29:40
Speaker 1: and we had a little build up as far as
29:42
Speaker 1: what you do, but you're the boss, So tell my
29:45
Speaker 1: viewers at home what vetcom is all about, why you
29:49
Speaker 1: started it, what the mission statement was back then, and
29:52
Speaker 1: what it is today and moving forward.
29:54
Speaker 5: So Vetcom's one and only purpose is to help veterans
29:58
Speaker 5: who are not rated or who are underrated, meaning they
30:00
Speaker 5: are not getting compensated for their disabilities, so they're not
30:03
Speaker 5: getting compensated enough. Our job is to take them safely
30:06
Speaker 5: on the journey of getting compensated fully. We have helped
30:09
Speaker 5: twenty one thousand people get almost eight billion dollars in
30:13
Speaker 5: lifetime income by quite frankly, just offloading all of the hassle,
30:16
Speaker 5: the anxiety, and all the bureaucracy onto our plate. Taking
30:20
Speaker 5: it off of your plate. We actually guarantee our results.
30:23
Speaker 5: Our average time to getting people rated and compensated is
30:26
Speaker 5: only four months, which beats the average of eighteen months
30:29
Speaker 5: by quite a lot. And we're really proud of what
30:32
Speaker 5: we do. We do the right thing. You know, we
30:34
Speaker 5: fill two hundred suicide calls per month. You got to
30:38
Speaker 5: think those are two hundred people that couldn't reach the
30:40
Speaker 5: VA that we are willing to take on and speak to.
30:42
Speaker 5: We are helping veterans with their msts, their sexual traumas
30:46
Speaker 5: getting those recognized. About fifty percent of our claims include
30:50
Speaker 5: things like that. So we just want veterans to know
30:52
Speaker 5: on this day, maybe this is a day for you
30:55
Speaker 5: to heal what you've been hiding, because so many veterans
30:58
Speaker 5: come to us and they just have hearts and kind
31:02
Speaker 5: of like I did. I became a broken toy in
31:05
Speaker 5: the Marine Corps. I was assaulted. I smashed my nose
31:07
Speaker 5: and eye socket, broke my elbow, my ankle, all my
31:10
Speaker 5: feelings most importantly, and I think there was some closure
31:13
Speaker 5: I got by way of getting compensated and seen by
31:17
Speaker 5: the VA. So why did we start it? Because it's
31:20
Speaker 5: a hassle and all my brothers and sisters were going
31:23
Speaker 5: in the ground with nothing, and I said, this can
31:25
Speaker 5: be better. There's a better way to do this. And
31:27
Speaker 5: that's really how it was born.
31:29
Speaker 1: Man, I should have had John a little bit ago
31:30
Speaker 1: with the secretary. You could have filled his ear and
31:32
Speaker 1: head with all the issues that might have opened his eyes.
31:35
Speaker 1: We have taught.
31:36
Speaker 5: Yeah, I'm I've been to a roundtable with him in
31:39
Speaker 5: DC and he's very bright.
31:40
Speaker 1: Man.
31:40
Speaker 5: I respect him.
31:41
Speaker 1: Quite a lot. Yeah, I think we're lucky to have
31:43
Speaker 1: him in charge. President Trump picked a good, good guy.
31:45
Speaker 1: We know that for decades the VA has had its issues,
31:49
Speaker 1: and that doesn't matter if there was an R or
31:51
Speaker 1: a D in charge in the White House, the House,
31:53
Speaker 1: or the Senate. The VA has had its issues. You've
31:58
Speaker 1: had to deal with them. Your charity is based on
31:59
Speaker 1: literally dealing with the VA to try and get the
32:01
Speaker 1: veterans the help they need and the benefits they deserve.
32:05
Speaker 1: Has it gotten any easier this year? Have you noticed
32:08
Speaker 1: under the new administration? Is it getting better?
32:11
Speaker 5: I do feel like in some regard its getting better.
32:13
Speaker 5: They are trying to truncate the amount of time it
32:16
Speaker 5: takes veterans to be seen. But I think the real
32:19
Speaker 5: issue at hand is that the VA operates like a
32:22
Speaker 5: big insurance company that just quite frankly, does not want
32:25
Speaker 5: to pay people. And because of that, they also pray
32:29
Speaker 5: on the anxiety that veterans have. So they know if
32:32
Speaker 5: they make it too complicated or too much of our hassle,
32:34
Speaker 5: or they create mistrust, the veterans will just say, you
32:37
Speaker 5: know what, this is not for me.
32:38
Speaker 1: I insurance companies to make you jump through hoops to
32:40
Speaker 1: get your car fixed, right, just went through that crap
32:44
Speaker 1: every month. But the minute you wreck the car and
32:46
Speaker 1: you want it fixed. Well, now wait a minute, we're
32:48
Speaker 1: going to use some used parts. We've got to have
32:49
Speaker 1: an adjuster. Come look at it. That sounds like what
32:52
Speaker 1: the VA does to our Thank god. At fifty one, kid,
32:54
Speaker 1: I've never had to use any benefits. I've been healthy
32:57
Speaker 1: as a horse.
32:58
Speaker 5: So but do you know what I want to speak
33:01
Speaker 5: to that for just a second, because you know you
33:03
Speaker 5: I both served and ideologically there's a breakdown of communication
33:07
Speaker 5: between veterans understanding that your health care benefit is totally
33:12
Speaker 5: different than you are compensation benefits. So while you might
33:15
Speaker 5: not have needed the hospitalization part, like the medical care,
33:20
Speaker 5: you could be missing out on one to four thousand
33:22
Speaker 5: dollars a month of compensation. And when you do that,
33:26
Speaker 5: you are ensuring that the budget gets smaller over time.
33:28
Speaker 5: You're not doing anyone a favor. So if you're not rated, sir,
33:31
Speaker 5: we should probably take a look at that.
33:33
Speaker 1: Uh oh, so now I need to call my friend
33:35
Speaker 1: Kate at vetcom and see if I'm rated. I mean,
33:38
Speaker 1: maybe can I get some duty free stuff?
33:42
Speaker 2: Right?
33:42
Speaker 1: Because I live in commy furnia and stuff costs so much,
33:44
Speaker 1: So maybe gets an ID to use the base. Again,
33:46
Speaker 1: that would be a nice benefit.
33:48
Speaker 5: Well, that's a nice benefit, but but but really, truly,
33:51
Speaker 5: you got to think. I said, we helped twenty one
33:52
Speaker 5: thousand people get nearly eight billion dollars in lifetime income.
33:56
Speaker 5: So if if you were to make a claim today,
33:59
Speaker 5: in four months from now, you would likely make one
34:02
Speaker 5: to four thousand dollars a month packs free for the
34:05
Speaker 5: rest of your life, auto deposited. So I can tell
34:08
Speaker 5: you you likely aren't rated because you would know if
34:11
Speaker 5: you were getting that destance.
34:12
Speaker 1: So we're going to get it done. So veterans, we
34:15
Speaker 1: got a lot of vets that watch this show. Veterans.
34:17
Speaker 1: This is my friend Kate Monroe. Her charity is called Vetcom.
34:20
Speaker 1: There's the website. Get yourself rated. See what this country
34:24
Speaker 1: owes you for the years you gave in uniform to her.
34:27
Speaker 1: I love that, Kate. God bless you on this Veteran's
34:30
Speaker 1: Day for helping our brothers and sisters after their service
34:33
Speaker 1: to this great republic.
34:35
Speaker 5: You take care, Thank you for your service.
34:37
Speaker 1: Thank you. Coming up after the break, check it in
34:41
Speaker 1: on our bravest. Did you know that the number of
34:43
Speaker 1: daily veterans suicides currently sits somewhere between twenty two to
34:48
Speaker 1: forty four, a staggering and chilling number. So what can
34:52
Speaker 1: we do to reduce these horrific stats? How about picking
34:56
Speaker 1: up the phone checking on a veteran to see if
34:58
Speaker 1: they're doing okay, straight ahead a charity that's doing just that. Hey,
35:06
Speaker 1: did you know that One America News Network has launched
35:08
Speaker 1: a twenty four to seven Twitter like social media replacement.
35:13
Speaker 1: We're calling it free Talk forty five. So why is
35:16
Speaker 1: it branded free Talk forty five? Well, free talk because
35:20
Speaker 1: you will not be censored for expressing your opinion there,
35:23
Speaker 1: and forty five because forty five is a really lucky number.
35:28
Speaker 1: So join us at free Talk forty five and express
35:31
Speaker 1: yourself with no fear of cancelation. Ever, Hey, if your
35:39
Speaker 1: cable provider doesn't offer one America News Network, you should
35:43
Speaker 1: get them a call and kindly demand that they carry
35:46
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Speaker 1: strong demand across this country for one America News Network.
35:59
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36:03
Speaker 1: or demand that they add o ANN to their channel lineup. Hey, everyone,
36:12
Speaker 1: here's a question for you. What does Roku TV, Apple TV,
36:17
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36:21
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36:24
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36:28
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36:32
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36:36
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36:44
Speaker 1: asking me how can they watch OAN live? The solution
36:48
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36:52
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37:39
Speaker 1: So Veteran suicide. It's been on the rise ever since
37:43
Speaker 1: we started those two never ending wars in Iraq in Afghanistan,
37:46
Speaker 1: and while the federal government says the number is somewhere
37:48
Speaker 1: around twenty two a day taking their own lives, many
37:52
Speaker 1: veteran groups I've spoken with say no no, no suicides
37:55
Speaker 1: amongst our bravest that are going unreported make the real
37:58
Speaker 1: number more like forty four a day. Our next guest
38:01
Speaker 1: is an Army veteran and the founder of the charity
38:04
Speaker 1: Check a Vet. Michael Carmichael has dedicated his life now
38:07
Speaker 1: to helping veterans get through their trauma, saving lives one
38:11
Speaker 1: phone call at a time. Michael, nice to see you again,
38:16
Speaker 1: my friend. This is a day when, unfortunately your nonprofit
38:24
Speaker 1: probably is very busy. And how do I say this
38:29
Speaker 1: nicely to you? I hope that we can get to
38:31
Speaker 1: a place, Michael, where your charity is no longer needed,
38:36
Speaker 1: meaning we're not having to check on vets who might
38:38
Speaker 1: be thinking about committing suicide. I was speaking with the
38:42
Speaker 1: VA secretary a little bit before you and we were
38:46
Speaker 1: talking about those numbers, and you and I have talked
38:47
Speaker 1: about him for a long time. But let's just review, brother,
38:51
Speaker 1: what are we facing every day in this nation when
38:53
Speaker 1: it comes to the brave men and women that have
38:54
Speaker 1: donned that uniform that are taking their lives.
39:00
Speaker 6: According to Operation Deep Dive and the VA's numbers, we
39:04
Speaker 6: lose forty four veterans a day to suicide. Forty four
39:08
Speaker 6: get us straight. Everybody that puts us since nine to eleven,
39:13
Speaker 6: up to three hundred and sixty thousand veterans that we've lost.
39:17
Speaker 7: It's time to do something.
39:19
Speaker 1: Yeah, it is. It truly is. If folks don't know,
39:22
Speaker 1: and we gave a little bit of an intro to you,
39:25
Speaker 1: what is check a Vet all about.
39:29
Speaker 6: So we're a national nonprofit to prevent veteran suicide by
39:33
Speaker 6: getting to mobilize Americans to check on their veterans. You
39:37
Speaker 6: guys need to help us out. Make sure that your
39:40
Speaker 6: veterans are doing okay. Look them in the face, make
39:43
Speaker 6: sure that they're okay. And for God's sakes, it's Veterans
39:47
Speaker 6: Day coming up. Please plant something and do all that
39:51
Speaker 6: you can with your veterans to uplift them.
39:54
Speaker 1: Michael, something you and I was talking about every time
39:56
Speaker 1: you come on is the unfortunate reality that most people
40:00
Speaker 1: only think about those veteran family members or friends, let's say,
40:06
Speaker 1: if they're distant, not like in the house on Veterans Day.
40:09
Speaker 1: And that's the real problem. There's three hundred and sixty
40:12
Speaker 1: five days a year, and if you're only thinking about
40:14
Speaker 1: our veterans one day, we're going to keep losing forty
40:17
Speaker 1: four a day. Right. So your message to people when
40:20
Speaker 1: it comes to actually checking on them should be what Michael.
40:24
Speaker 6: It needs to be meaningful in person connection, not a
40:28
Speaker 6: text go and get.
40:29
Speaker 7: Them, and it needs to be routine.
40:31
Speaker 1: There you go.
40:32
Speaker 6: The struggle with suicide is a daily struggle, so the
40:36
Speaker 6: treatment for suicide needs to be daily as well.
40:40
Speaker 7: We need to wrap our arms around our nation's heroes.
40:42
Speaker 7: Let's do something.
40:43
Speaker 1: Yeah, amen, what are the warning signs? Michael? Tell my
40:46
Speaker 1: viewers what should they be looking for in that cousin,
40:49
Speaker 1: that uncle, that brother that served, that's dealing with those
40:53
Speaker 1: horrific nightmares, that PTSD, that traumatic brain injury or trauma.
40:57
Speaker 1: What should we be looking.
40:58
Speaker 6: For some of the I guess ones DAN or isolation, depression,
41:04
Speaker 6: substance abuse, disheveled appearance.
41:10
Speaker 7: People just letting themselves go.
41:12
Speaker 6: When your veteran is not acting like you're a good
41:15
Speaker 6: old veteran, it's time to check on them meaningfully.
41:18
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, What do you need from us when it
41:21
Speaker 1: comes to resources? Because I got to imagine being a nonprofit,
41:24
Speaker 1: you probably just don't have cash flowing out of your ears.
41:27
Speaker 1: And I don't know if you get any government subsidies
41:28
Speaker 1: or help. You should for what you're doing the VA.
41:31
Speaker 1: I think, in my opinion, I should have said this
41:32
Speaker 1: to Doug earlier. I think the VA, if they want
41:34
Speaker 1: to start really helping this is start giving out some
41:37
Speaker 1: of those millions to private nonprofit groups that are helping veterans,
41:42
Speaker 1: like in the flesh out in the field right instead
41:45
Speaker 1: of the big government VA buildings. Not that I'm saying
41:48
Speaker 1: the VA is doing a bad job, but they could
41:50
Speaker 1: do a hell of a lot better. So how do
41:53
Speaker 1: you fund and how can we help fund you more
41:55
Speaker 1: so that we can help you check on more vets
41:57
Speaker 1: and save more lives.
42:00
Speaker 6: First off, every penny that's donated into check a Vet
42:03
Speaker 6: stays with the mission. We've only got one person who
42:07
Speaker 6: receives a paycheck, and that's our bookkeeper. Everybody else on
42:10
Speaker 6: staff is doing it for the right reasons.
42:14
Speaker 7: I can't do anything about.
42:15
Speaker 6: The forty four that we lost yesterday, but with America's help,
42:19
Speaker 6: please help us to give us the resources that we
42:22
Speaker 6: can get after this mission, we literally just left Nashville, Tennessee,
42:27
Speaker 6: and came all the way out here to hell out
42:29
Speaker 6: to Montana because this is the worst state in the nation.
42:33
Speaker 6: And as I'm out here in the state capitol, Dan,
42:35
Speaker 6: I'm looking around. We're the only veteran nonprofit out here
42:40
Speaker 6: that's out here for veteran suicide. We're it. So give
42:44
Speaker 6: us the resources and I'll put them to use.
42:48
Speaker 7: Everything that we got goes right into the mission.
42:51
Speaker 1: Check avet dot org is the website. It's the organization
42:55
Speaker 1: of my friends CEO and founder of check Evet, Michael Carmichael.
42:58
Speaker 1: I can tell you, folks, he and I have had
43:00
Speaker 1: many offline conversations in the evenings and over weekends. I
43:04
Speaker 1: know where this guy's heart and head stands. And you
43:07
Speaker 1: will be helping our brave veterans if you help Michael
43:11
Speaker 1: check on our vets. God bless you. Thank you for
43:14
Speaker 1: your service, and I'm checking in on you. You look like
43:16
Speaker 1: you're doing well. You take care of my brother.
43:20
Speaker 7: Yes, sir, thank you, Thank you for your service.
43:22
Speaker 1: Yep, God bless you. Coming up after the break, Navy
43:26
Speaker 1: Seal veteran Mike Cirelli's going to join us with a
43:28
Speaker 1: special message for all who've served. Stay with us. Hey,
43:35
Speaker 1: if your cable provider doesn't offer one America News network,
43:39
Speaker 1: you should give him a call and kindly demand that
43:42
Speaker 1: they carry away in. Now you're the customer, and without
43:46
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43:50
Speaker 1: is a strong demand across this country for One America
43:53
Speaker 1: News Network, So please call your cable company today and
43:58
Speaker 1: kindly ask or that they add o ANN to their
44:02
Speaker 1: channel lineup. Hey everyone, here's a question for you. What
44:10
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44:15
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44:19
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44:22
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44:26
Speaker 1: Simply go to the app store, search out for an,
44:30
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44:34
Speaker 1: my show Real America. Viewers are always asking me how
44:41
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44:45
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44:52
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44:56
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45:00
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46:08
Speaker 1: I wanted to end this special program on Veterans' Day
46:11
Speaker 1: with a message, a big message of gratitude to all
46:14
Speaker 1: the brave patriotic men and women who've donned that uniform,
46:18
Speaker 1: whether it's Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Space Force,
46:22
Speaker 1: you all have done a great service to your nation
46:24
Speaker 1: and we are indebted to you forever for it's you
46:28
Speaker 1: and you alone who have sacrificed along with your family members.
46:32
Speaker 1: Thank you, thank you, thank you. So to wrap up
46:35
Speaker 1: this special I'd like to welcome back a friend of
46:37
Speaker 1: the program, retired Navy Seal Officer and Chief Talent Officer
46:41
Speaker 1: for Overwatch Mission Critical, Mike Sirelli, with a message to
46:45
Speaker 1: all you veterans. Mike, nice to see you again, and
46:49
Speaker 1: by the way, thank you so much for joining us
46:51
Speaker 1: on this very very special day in our nation. And
46:55
Speaker 1: you know, and I'm going to say this throughout this
46:57
Speaker 1: entire special tonight. I don't care if I sound like
47:00
Speaker 1: a broken record, because folks hear me say it every
47:02
Speaker 1: year since I've been doing this show. Why do we
47:06
Speaker 1: only honor our veterans one day a year? Mike, I
47:09
Speaker 1: kind of have a problem with that.
47:13
Speaker 8: Yes, I think you and a lot of Americans, millions
47:16
Speaker 8: of Americans, have a problem with that. You know, some
47:19
Speaker 8: demographic scale, a whole month of celebration one day for
47:23
Speaker 8: our living veterans. We get one day for our fallen
47:27
Speaker 8: It seems a very It seems like a disservice to
47:31
Speaker 8: those who are willing to sacrifice their lives and honor
47:34
Speaker 8: that covenant of service to protect our constitution in our
47:38
Speaker 8: way of life.
47:39
Speaker 1: Yeah, you make a great point, right, And I'm not
47:41
Speaker 1: saying we shouldn't have these months that honor Native American,
47:47
Speaker 1: Black History, Asian American, whatever. We have the LGBTK, we
47:51
Speaker 1: got months for those. But you know what, in the military,
47:55
Speaker 1: all of those people are encompassed, right. It doesn't matter
48:00
Speaker 1: in color or religion or gender. The military is made
48:03
Speaker 1: up of all those folks that get those special months
48:05
Speaker 1: or weeks or days. So I agree with you. How
48:08
Speaker 1: about we start pushing this administration to make the entire
48:13
Speaker 1: month of November a month to honor our veterans. We
48:17
Speaker 1: might be able to get it done with the current administration. Mike,
48:19
Speaker 1: I don't know, what do you think.
48:21
Speaker 3: The time is now?
48:22
Speaker 8: You're absolutely right with this administration, and this administration has
48:24
Speaker 8: already made so many waves of bringing pride and honor
48:28
Speaker 8: back to our military. I mean, look at the recruiting numbers, right,
48:31
Speaker 8: They've already recruiting numbers for twenty twenty six. And that
48:35
Speaker 8: is that's historic. It was we called the Trump effect
48:37
Speaker 8: and the Pete Haikseeth effect. They've restored that, and so
48:41
Speaker 8: our service members are actually proud to be in Americans.
48:43
Speaker 8: Americans again. The young Americans are are fighting to get
48:46
Speaker 8: into the military as it should be. And you know
48:49
Speaker 8: that is Veterans Day, man. That is one generation honoring
48:53
Speaker 8: those who served and passing the baton onto the next.
48:57
Speaker 8: And Dan, if you look at it, from seventeen seventy
49:00
Speaker 8: five to this this moment in time, forty two million
49:04
Speaker 8: Americans have worn the uniform. And some people may think
49:07
Speaker 8: that's a large number. I actually don't. I think that
49:09
Speaker 8: that number should be in the hundreds of millions. Given
49:12
Speaker 8: our history is people should want to serve. It is
49:15
Speaker 8: a what is service it? You know, service to me
49:21
Speaker 8: is deciding that your life isn't your own that you
49:25
Speaker 8: owe it. There's a solemn duty that covenant to your nation,
49:29
Speaker 8: just as the past generations have to defend our way
49:32
Speaker 8: of life. And whether you serve for four years, twenty years,
49:34
Speaker 8: or thirty years, it's the fact that you serve, not
49:37
Speaker 8: the tenure in which you served.
49:39
Speaker 3: And more young.
49:40
Speaker 8: Americans need to step up America as a whole. These
49:42
Speaker 8: recognize that these men and women made a sacrifice time
49:45
Speaker 8: away from way less sleep to serve our nation.
49:48
Speaker 1: Amen, it is a sacrifice, and you know it's it's
49:50
Speaker 1: a public service, right And let's be real. This isn't
49:53
Speaker 1: like you're running for mayor or city council or governor
49:56
Speaker 1: or president or whatever, which, yes, those jobs can be
49:59
Speaker 1: difficult to but let's be real, this is true, true
50:03
Speaker 1: public service. Your pay is crap, your life is on
50:07
Speaker 1: the line, and when you get out, which we're discussing today,
50:11
Speaker 1: let's be real. We haven't always treated our veterans as
50:15
Speaker 1: we should. We had the Secretary on earlier in this
50:18
Speaker 1: special to discuss the massive changes they've been making at
50:21
Speaker 1: the VA thanks to the Trump administration and the new secretary.
50:25
Speaker 1: But obviously, you know, Mike, still more needs to be done.
50:29
Speaker 1: You were a team leader in the Seals as an officer.
50:32
Speaker 1: How do you think we should be better preparing the
50:35
Speaker 1: active duty troops when they retire or finish their four
50:39
Speaker 1: year tour whatever, when they become a veteran, because I
50:42
Speaker 1: feel like we don't do enough of that. We don't
50:44
Speaker 1: talk to them about what their benefits are and what
50:47
Speaker 1: being a veteran means. I feel like we got to
50:49
Speaker 1: prep them better. Do you agree with that?
50:52
Speaker 8: Yes, in neither the military trains you to do your
50:54
Speaker 8: job very well, and sometimes they train you for years
50:57
Speaker 8: to do that job. The military is not good at
51:00
Speaker 8: transitioning people out and preparing them for life. In the
51:02
Speaker 8: civilian sector. It's never been a course strike that it
51:04
Speaker 8: never will be, and this is where the private sector
51:06
Speaker 8: needs to step up quite frankly, for those that never served,
51:10
Speaker 8: this is your opportunity to give a veteran a chance.
51:13
Speaker 8: And I even hate using that language, give them a chance,
51:15
Speaker 8: I mean veterans bring. Yeah, the number one thing that
51:18
Speaker 8: everyone's looking for leadership.
51:19
Speaker 1: They've been for themselves. They can show up on time.
51:22
Speaker 1: They can look clean cut, they can follow rules and
51:25
Speaker 1: orders right, Like, why would you want some joe blow
51:27
Speaker 1: off the street for your job versus a guy or
51:30
Speaker 1: gal who for four years or twenty five years had
51:33
Speaker 1: to wake up at the crack of dawn. Pet you know,
51:36
Speaker 1: shave no no hair, hair is in great uniform iron
51:40
Speaker 1: like I want those workers before some college grad cry baby, anyway,
51:45
Speaker 1: go ahead.
51:46
Speaker 8: Mike, Hey, just show up on time and work hard.
51:49
Speaker 8: And that's what you're gonna get with most veterans. But
51:52
Speaker 8: the private sector, you know, the military knew they were
51:55
Speaker 8: never going to be able to solve this, especially during
51:57
Speaker 8: the Globe War and terror when enlistment went up in
51:59
Speaker 8: a lot of veterans as we're getting out. So you know,
52:01
Speaker 8: even our company, which we are predominantly you know, veteran
52:05
Speaker 8: known company, we're forty three percent veterans. We run a
52:07
Speaker 8: program called Anchors of Hope where we pull other companies
52:11
Speaker 8: in from the data center industry and we say, just
52:13
Speaker 8: hire one veteran between the periods of D Day, celebrating
52:16
Speaker 8: that in November eleventh, and companies just don't hire one,
52:20
Speaker 8: they hire multiple veterans, and the results are usually above
52:25
Speaker 8: their expectations. They like I said, they show up on time,
52:28
Speaker 8: their process oriented, they work hard, and they know how
52:31
Speaker 8: to operate as a team, and they know how to
52:33
Speaker 8: self educate. And that really is that it is a
52:36
Speaker 8: tough cultural trans transition, and there's no way to sugarcoat that.
52:41
Speaker 8: In the military, we put a precedence on conformity, loyalty
52:45
Speaker 8: to country, team above self and that's not the same
52:48
Speaker 8: in the private sector. And we're not saying that's a
52:50
Speaker 8: bad thing, but that takes time to adjust for when
52:54
Speaker 8: they're working along somebody who may not care about them whatsoever.
52:59
Speaker 8: And so that justment is hard. And a lot of
53:01
Speaker 8: times veterans don't know what they want to do. They
53:03
Speaker 8: think they may know what they want to do. They
53:05
Speaker 8: give that job a chance and they realize it. Maybe
53:07
Speaker 8: it does.
53:07
Speaker 1: Whiches again, why we need better separation classes when you separate,
53:12
Speaker 1: to give you some guidance on things you might want
53:14
Speaker 1: to go into. I'm almost out of time, Mike. I
53:16
Speaker 1: want to give you the final word on what Veterans
53:19
Speaker 1: Day means to you and a message you as a
53:22
Speaker 1: former commanding officer of Seal Team one.
53:23
Speaker 8: I think it was, but no, I was a strike
53:26
Speaker 8: force commander at Naval Special Warfare Advice.
53:29
Speaker 1: Oh okay, I thought, I thought you, But which team
53:30
Speaker 1: are you on? You're on Team one for a.
53:31
Speaker 8: While, so priory, Comerene, I served at Seal Team three three.
53:35
Speaker 1: Okay, on to your commanded troops. Different than a little
53:38
Speaker 1: E four and listened guy like me. So I would
53:40
Speaker 1: like to hear from officers on their messaging to the troops,
53:45
Speaker 1: and so just give us a final word here on
53:47
Speaker 1: on this Veteran's Day. Your message to the troops who
53:49
Speaker 1: will be separating soon as they become veterans, and why
53:52
Speaker 1: Veterans Day is so special to Mike's Arelli.
53:55
Speaker 8: Well, yeah, first off, call me Mike's Airelli at Watch
53:58
Speaker 8: or we are Overwatch dot com. If I can't get
54:00
Speaker 8: you a job, I can at least give you some
54:02
Speaker 8: advice and that's free. But you know, hey, first off,
54:05
Speaker 8: thank you for your service. You know what you've done
54:08
Speaker 8: and the sacrifices you've made to protect our freedoms. And
54:11
Speaker 8: I'm an old that now and it takes me five
54:14
Speaker 8: minutes to get out of bed.
54:15
Speaker 1: You know it's.
54:16
Speaker 8: You've protected me and my family and there is nothing
54:20
Speaker 8: I can say to truly show you the gratitude for serving,
54:23
Speaker 8: but you know, give yourself grace when you get out.
54:27
Speaker 8: It sometimes takes a couple of time or a couple
54:29
Speaker 8: jobs to figure out what you want to do and
54:30
Speaker 8: where you want to land in the right culture. But
54:32
Speaker 8: you have been taught everything you need to know by
54:35
Speaker 8: the military to succeed, from discipline to commitment to focus.
54:41
Speaker 8: You are more powerful than you ever will believe. And
54:45
Speaker 8: you can start your own companies, or you can succeed
54:47
Speaker 8: within companies and continue to serve out of uniform by
54:52
Speaker 8: building the economy, which is our most which is our
54:55
Speaker 8: biggest strength by far. That's what allows us to defend
54:58
Speaker 8: freedom across the world.
55:00
Speaker 1: Employ or military, Mike Sirelli has always retired Navy Seal
55:04
Speaker 1: Chief Talent Officer at Overwatch Mission Critical. Thank you, brother
55:07
Speaker 1: for weighing in on this veteran's day, and thank you
55:10
Speaker 1: for your service to this great Republic. God bless you, Mike.
55:13
Speaker 8: Happy veterans dah Yeah, and.
55:16
Speaker 1: Folks, you're watching Real America right here on the One
55:18
Speaker 1: America News Network. We'll be right back. Stay with us. Hey, everyone,
55:23
Speaker 1: here's a question for you. What does Roku TV, Apple TV,
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55:35
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55:39
Speaker 1: or Amazon Fire device. Simply go to the app store,
55:43
Speaker 1: search out for an then enjoy all the great programming
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55:55
Speaker 1: always asking me how can they watch Away in live?
55:58
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Speaker 1: Now it's spelled klowd TV. Simply go to cloudtv dot
56:09
Speaker 1: com and subscribe to watch twenty four to seven live
56:12
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56:15
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56:20
Speaker 1: simply go to cloudtv dot com and do it today. Hey,
56:26
Speaker 1: did you know that One America News Network has launched
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Speaker 1: We're calling it free Talk forty five. So why is
56:37
Speaker 1: it branded free talk forty five? Well, free talk because
56:40
Speaker 1: you will not be censored for expressing your opinion there,
56:44
Speaker 1: and forty five because forty five is a really lucky number.
56:49
Speaker 1: So join us at free Talk forty five and express
56:51
Speaker 1: yourself with no fear of cancelation. Every if your cable
57:00
Speaker 1: provider doesn't offer one America News Network, you should give
57:04
Speaker 1: them a call and kindly demand that they CARRYN. Now
57:09
Speaker 1: you're the customer, and without your feedback, your cable provider
57:13
Speaker 1: will not know that there is a strong demand across
57:16
Speaker 1: this country for one America News network. So please call
57:20
Speaker 1: your cable company today and kindly ask or demand that
57:25
Speaker 1: they add ANN to their channel lineup. As we say goodnight, personally,
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Speaker 1: as an Air Force veteran and a father and a patriot,
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Speaker 1: I'd just like to say to all of you out there,
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Speaker 1: from the bottom of my heart, thank you to all
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Speaker 1: who have served. And might I make a suggestion to
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Speaker 1: the rest of America who hasn't served. Don't wait. Don't
57:48
Speaker 1: wait for just that one day a year where you
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Speaker 1: say thank you to a veteran, or that one day
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Speaker 1: a year when you check on that uncle of yours
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Speaker 1: who was a veteran. Trust me, if you just pick
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Speaker 1: the phone up, send a text, write an email, go
58:04
Speaker 1: over to their house and knock on the door and
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Speaker 1: say thank you, it will mean the world to them
58:09
Speaker 1: and bigger picture, as you heard from Michael Carmichael earlier
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Speaker 1: in this program, you just might save a life too,
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Speaker 1: so again, on this Veteran's Day and every day of
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Speaker 1: the year, let's remember why this nation stays free. It's
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Speaker 1: all thanks to our heroes and our armed forces. So
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Speaker 1: thank you all. God bless you, God bless America. And goodnight,