I really am working!

OK, I know you are all wondering if I have spent any time working. The answer is yes, and I think there must have been a full moon over here! I have been so busy; there was one day that I had 11 interviews along with returning telephone messages and e-mails. I had one interview that lasted two hours. It was with a little 70 year old Vietnam veteran that basically told me his life story, mostly about his plight to get his Japanese wife to America to have a liver transplant. He broke down several times, it made me want to cry with him. He had to have heart bypass last year and has not been well, his main concern is that he had always said that he would take care of his wife and now he is not able to take care of her the way that he would like to. It was so sweet. I can see Stephen having to take care of me. Or Jennifer and Dusty may be taking care of both of us!

There have been three active duty deaths here in Okinawa in the past two weeks. One man was 38 and found dead in his room of a heart attack, one was on the explosive ordinance disposal team and he was disabling an old WWII bomb and it blew him up; and there was an accident on a motor scooter.

It was about an hour after we heard about the bomb accident that my next interview came in. He was a young man that has lost his eye due to a car accident. His tire blew out and he hit an orange construction barrel, the barrel was being held in place by a large rock, he calls it a boulder. The boulder went thru his windshield and crushed the entire right side of his head. He woke up 32 days later in Bethesda Naval Hospital. He says that the boulder is so large that he can barely move it, but he still has it in his Mom's yard as a reminder of how precious life really is. Before we started the interview he had to show me pictures of a car barely hanging on a concrete barrier wall to keep it from going down a deep ravine, he had just taken this picture at the shoppette here on base on his way to the appointment with me.

It wasn't more than an hour after his interview that the Retired Affairs Officer came in to talk with me about a retiree that is upset with VA about some payment issues, turns out it is the man whose car was hanging over the wall at the shoppette. So thanks to my friends at the VARO and VAMC at home and calling via Skype during the middle of my night, I am working on his issues.

Working with the public makes me remember how much I loved the old days as a Veteran's Benefits Counselor (VBC). When I am at home I am working with the public thru phone contact with the seriously injured OEF/OIF veterans. I really enjoy this and know that I have so much to offer to these heroes!

I must admit every person with the exception of one disgruntled service member has made me feel like my Dad used to make me feel when it came to the VA, which was like I could get anything done. I think that come from truly caring about your job and your purpose! From the day I started working for the VA on April 4, 1980, my motto has been I want to treat every customer the way I would want my Dad to be treated! I have wondered what he would think about me being in Japan, him being a WWII veteran that was arrived in Japan just after the bombing. I hate that I didn’t take the time to sit and talk with my Dad more about his Army experiences during WWII. My Aunt Dosie is the one that told me about him arriving in Japan just after the bombing. I am not even sure where he was over here.

I know that he would be proud of me and so would my Uncle Jerry, they both thought I could work miracles, my Dad with his medical care and Uncle Jerry with helping him complete his claim for benefits to be submitted to VARO in St. Louis. I didn’t do anything more for them that I do for every other veteran that I assist. Now that they are both gone I hope they knew how much I truly love them!

Well, I hope this gives you some idea of what my life has been like since the first of the year. I have helped so many people and I it has been so rewarding to hear how much I am appreciated here. I will carry this experience home with me and use it throughout the next six years to remind myself how I can serve those that fight for all of our freedom! Why six years??? In only six years and seven months I will be eligible to retire!
Please keep your thoughts, prayers and e-mails coming my way! I will see you all in 49 days!