Everybody says they appreciate and support veterans, but nobody works harder to help make veterans' lives better than Sheboygan County's Veterans Service Office.
From helping veterans file for Veterans Administration benefits and assisting families to coordinating presentations on patriotic holidays, Veterans Service Officer Charlene Cobb and her staff put veterans' needs first.
"I believe it is the responsibility of us as citizens to take care of our veterans and their families because of the service and sacrifice they've given to our country," said Cobb, who has been in her post for six years. "Veterans Day is prime time — we're saying thank you to veterans. A real practical way of saying thank you to veterans is having my office being part of county government and providing that service and help to them. It's needed."
So needed, in fact, that the Sheboygan County Board of Supervisors recently approved spending $55,000 in 2015 to add another full-time position to Cobb's office, increasing the total staff from two to three.
If filled by a veteran, which is Cobb's first choice, it will be an assistant veterans service officer. If the chosen person is not a veteran, he or she will become a deputy.
"I suggested that in my annual report for many years," said former Veterans Service Officer Jim Riesenberg. "It probably should've been done 15 years ago."
Riesenberg, a Vietnam veteran who ran the office from 1987 to 2008, said one of the functions of the office was working with state and national legislators to make sure laws reflect the real needs of veterans.
Working with the County Veterans Service Office Association of Wisconsin, Riesenberg and his counterparts were able to weigh in and answer legislators' questions.
"I always felt kind of privileged even up to the end, if we had something that needed to be arranged or rearranged, done away with, silently trashed or blown up, we could find a way to present a convincing presentation to indicate this isn't what we really want," he said.
Most of Cobb's time is spent working with veterans on their claims for benefits through the VA. It's a complicated, time-consuming workload that has multiplied in recent years.
"I probably have a couple hundred files of active cases," Cobb said. "I'm really looking forward to having an assistant service officer, maybe we can get a handle on this."
Cobb and her staff, which includes a full-time secretary and a half-time employee paid through a federal grant that ends in December, hear hundreds of stories.
One was from the widow of a Vietnam veteran who died as a result of his wartime service. Cobb helped the woman put together the documentation she needed to prove that her husband's death was related to his military service.
That made the widow eligible to receive dependence indemnity compensation from the federal government.
"You've got to prove boots on ground in Vietnam and that can sometimes be problematic," she said.
Another man was a member of the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam war, stationed in Thailand, Cobb recalled.
He was a mechanic, and each time he was was sent into Vietnam to repair aircraft he was exposed to the same chemical agents as the troops who were stationed there.
Years later, he turned to Cobb to help him prove that his medical issues were related to his service.
"We have yet to be able to come up with any piece of paper anywhere that shows they stuck him on a helicopter and sent him to Vietnam," she said. "It just didn't get written down. He's out of luck."
Sheboygan County has roughly 9,000 veterans, according to the statistics Cobb uses, and she's not sure exactly why the demand on her office has grown so much.
"I don't know if we hit the tipping over part," she said. "We've been at war a long time and those individuals serving have gotten out, WWII veterans are passing away, Korean and Vietnam veterans are experiencing illnesses and needing more assistance. It has just been incredible this last year."
The hope, she said, is that the new staff member will give her office the muscle it needs to be able to stay on top of veterans' claims and cut down on the time they have to wait for paperwork, filing and notification.
"At the moment I'm pretty much reactive," she said.
In addition to working with veterans on their benefits claims, Cobb's office also assists veterans in translating their military or wartime experience into employable skills on their resumes and works with veterans organizations and funeral homes to get military honors for deceased veterans. The office also purchases the hundreds of American flags that are placed on veterans' graves at Memorial Day.
Cobb said the work her office does is vital because it helps get veterans the help they are entitled to.
"We have those rights and benefits here in this country that other countries don't have and only wish they did, and only a very small percentage of the population gets them for us or keeps them for us," she said. "I think we owe them something."
Reach Janet Weyandt at 920-453-5121.
Sheboygan-area Veterans Day events
• The Plymouth High School Veterans Day program will be from 9 to 9:45 a.m. at Plymouth High School, 125 Highland Ave., Plymouth. The program will feature the PHS band and chorus and a short oral presentation by the Advanced Speech class. The public is invited.
• Veterans for Peace Chapter 114 will observe Armistice Day at 10:30 a.m. at Peace Park at North Third Street and Michigan Avenue. There will be a short presentation covering the history of the holiday and recall a Christmas truce that occurred in France 100 years ago. The event will conclude with a memorial ceremony at 11 a.m. In the event of inclement weather, the gathering will take place at the First Congregational UCC at North Third Street and Bluff Avenue (please use the north entrance).
• The Kohler Civic Club will dedicate a new Veterans Memorial at 11 a.m. in Woodland Cemetery, Kohler. The memorial consists of a new lighted flagpole and flag with five granite blocks commemorating the five armed services. The Kohler High School Band will perform, followed by words of welcome and thanksgiving. The artist, Sher Quasius, will speak about the artwork and then we will move to the flag raising ceremony. Following the flag raising, Col. Robert C. Horneck, a Kohler High School graduate, will present the dedication address. After the ceremony there will be a short reception in the Village Hall.
• The Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah High School band and chorus will perform during a Veterans Days program at 11 a.m. at the school, 201 N. Lincoln St. There also will be speeches and poetry readings from high school students. Guest speaker for the program is Stu Kuehl.
• Parkview Elementary School, 500 Parkview Drive, Plymouth, will hold its annual Veterans Day program at 11:15 a.m. Students are encouraged to wear red, white and blue for the program, which will be presented by the school's fourth-graders.
• The annual Veterans Day programs at Sunny Ridge Health and Rehab Center, 3014 Erie Ave., will be held on Veterans Day beginning at 3 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 11. The event is open to the public. The program is an annual presentation of the Sunny Ridge activities department with the assistance of Jensen-Van Thruler Post 18, Disabled American Veterans and Sheboygan County Chapter 618, Vietnam Veterans of America. For more information, call 920-453-7071.
• History on the Move, sponsored by the Sheboygan County Historical Research Center, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. will present "On the Home Front," a chronology of civilian life in Sheboygan County during the war years of 1941-1945, at Cedar Grove Public Library, 131 Van Altena Ave., in Cedar Grove. The program is free.
• Texas Roadhouse, 4304 Gander Road, is offering veterans a free lunch on Veterans Day from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. with proof of service such as military or VA card, or discharge papers.
• Reflections Spa at Blue Harbor Resort is offering free haircuts to the first 10 veterans who make reservations on Tuesday. Call 920-457-9880.
• Applebee's restaurant, 526 S Taylor Dr., is offering free entrees to veterans who provide proof of service, including a U.S. Uniform Services Identification Card, U.S. Uniform Services Retired Identification Card, Current Leave and Earnings Statement, Veterans Organization Card, photograph in uniform or wearing uniform, DD214, Citation or Commendation. Diners also can donate at Applebee's to Honor Flight through the purchase of Honor Flight icons. Larger donations are also welcomed.
Veteran's Day schedule
See a list of today's Sheboygan-area Veteran's Day events on page XX.
