NEWS: Without an Advocate, Navigating the Bureaucracy Can Be a Costly Puzzle for Military Veterans
San Mateo County, California sent this bulletin at 08/16/2024 02:07 PM PDT
Aug. 16, 2024
For Immediate Release
Without an Advocate, Navigating the Bureaucracy Can Be a Costly Puzzle for Military Veterans
Redwood City – For Donald Christy, fighting on behalf of military veterans is second nature.
A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Christy served two combat tours in Vietnam, in 1965 and 1969, with the Marine Corps. He retired as a colonel in 1989 and settled in San Mateo.
Now, at 84 years old, he encourages all veterans from any era to, as he put it, “Find your local VSO,” that is, the Veterans Services Office. “They can help and be a true advocate for a veteran and their families.”
He speaks from experience. The San Mateo County Veterans Services Office helped him navigate the U.S. notoriously bureaucratic Department of Veterans Affairs to access health benefits.
“If I hadn't had support, I probably wouldn't have found a way to go through that bureaucracy,” Christy said. He figures assistance from a Veterans Services Office cuts months to years off the time it takes veterans to receive benefits they earned from the VA.
