President Bill Frei welcomed club members to the October 3rd meeting with the ringing of a new Rotary Bell that was a gift to the club. It is a beautiful bell, but so far does not have the ear-splitting ring of the old one so President Bill practiced his swing on the old bell for a time.

Pastor Laurie Kidd was asked to offer up a prayer which she did giving thanks for the food, fellowship, and our many blessings. Laurie then led the members in singing “Give My Regards to Broadway” followed by “Row, Row, Your Boat” with Rotary words and divided up the tables for rounds of singing.

There were no guests for today, so we went right to the fines by Sergeant at Arms Brunsing:

Football winners this week were James Bechen, ticket sold by Amanda Bechen and Rosie Sumpter, ticket sold by Gerrit Juffer

The lucky ticket winner was Jamie Soukup who was no longer at the meeting. After attempts to reach him by phone and looking outside for him another ticket was drawn as members must be present in order to win the pot. That ticket holder was Becky Brunsing who handed the last six cards over to Jeff Doom so as not to have the appearance of impropriety. Becky was the lucky winner; she drew the Queen of Hearts!

After the dust settled from that excitement Patty Frei reported on the new attendance race for the Oct., Nov., December quarter. Pastor Bill’s team had one absence and Pastor Laurie’s team had three absences for our first quarterly meeting.

The last quarter totals are 15 misses for Bill’s team and 13 misses from Laurie’s team. This means that Bill’s team has one week to make up at least two absences for a tie or 3 absences for a win.

Ken Cotton introduced his program which was Jerry Seiner, Veterans Service Officer for Charles Mix County. Jerry was hired in April of 2018 and works for the County Commissioners with help from the South Dakota Disabled Veterans Affairs which has a tremendous network.

Jerry felt qualified for this position as he came from a military background. His grandfather served in the First World War, his Dad served in WWII, his Brother was in Vietnam, Jerry and one of his sons served in Iraq and another son served in Afghanistan. Jerry is a familiar face in Wagner as he was full time in the National Guard for 20 years. His background was a plus for him, but he soon realized there was so much more to learn. It is an intensive job to service the veterans who have earned and deserve the benefits that are available to them.

Charles Mix County has a veteran population of 604 but that figure is in constant change as veterans move into the county and don’t always register their status. The expenditures by the VA in 2018 equaled 5.9 million dollars. $2 Million is spent on compensation and pensions, and 3.6 million is spent on medical care. $168,000.00 is spent on education.

There are two separate departments to VA. (VBA) which is Veterans Benefits Administration and (VHA) which is Veterans Health Administration.

VBA includes both Compensation and Pension which is broke down to compensation paid to veterans for disabilities incurred in service. There are procedures to follow and there are percentages assigned to disabilities. PTSD is a huge issue right now with many Vietnam Veterans experiencing increased episodes.

More and more Vietnam Vets are beginning to have problems due to the Agent Orange being sprayed indiscriminately in Vietnam. Veterans from the Navy are also experiencing diseases related to the Orange agent when they were loading and unloading ships of supplies in Vietnam.

VBA also includes Concurrent Receipt, Special Adapted Housing Grants, Automobile and Adaptive Equipment for veterans.

A Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) Benefit is available to surviving spouses and family of deceased veterans.

The Pensions is a needs-based benefit with limited or no income or net worth. You must be 65 years old and served 90 consecutive days with 1 day during a period of war.

Pension is income based: Veteran is limited to $1097.00 and a widow is limited to $736.00. Once income minus allowable expenses is determined, the VA makes up the difference.

Burial Benefits are provided if the veteran is receiving compensation or pension. A burial flag is provided for all veterans with proof of discharge document and burial in a National or State Cemetery is available.

Veterans Health Administration Enrollment is income based also. The veteran income must be under $36,000.00 or with a spouse not to exceed $43,000.00. Eligibility may also be established with a service-connected disability. The VA also provides hearing aids and glasses free or with copay. Prescriptions have a copay of 5-8-11 dollars for the generic drugs.

A recent additional benefit for veterans is the Mission Act which went into effect on June 6, 2019 and that involves providing veterans with care in the community so they can visit their local doctors.

He spoke briefly about Home Loans, the GI Bill, the State Veterans Home, and the State Cemetery.

It was a fact filled program. Several questions were asked. It is obvious Jerry is passionate about his work and about veterans. If you are a veteran or know a veteran who needs help with navigating all these programs, please call Jerry Seiner. He will be able to help you! His office hours at the Charles Mix County Courthouse are Monday and Tuesday from 8:00 to 4:30 and Wednesday from 8:00 to 12:00. He can be reached byphone at487-7691 (work) or 4881-1338 (cell).