 Welcome to Sheboygan County Government. Working for you, my name is Adam Payne, County Administrator and co-host of this program with Chairman Roger Distruty. And as you know every month, we strive to have bring a different guest, predominantly a department head here, to talk about their roles and responsibilities. And today, we're very pleased that Charlene Cobb is with us, our Veteran Service Officer. Welcome Charlene. Welcome, thank you. We were just saying off- Pressure to be here. We were just saying off the air, how long has it been and you just celebrated an anniversary? My fifth anniversary. Fifth anniversary as our Veteran Service Officer. Jim Riesenberg has now been enjoying retirement for over five years. So I hope he's well. Charlene has a real important job working with about 9,000 veterans in Sheboygan County. And every year with these interviews, I get a better feel for just the amount of money and documents that are processed in her office that flow through Sheboygan County as a result of her good work. Nearly 23 million dollars go to support our veterans in Sheboygan County. And they've certainly earned it and Charlene does a great job making sure that they get the resources they need to be successful. And obviously that's good for our economy. So please start Charlene by just sharing a little bit about yourself. Again, it's been five years now to share with our viewers a little bit about your background. Well, the five years has just flown by. It's been a great time and I love working for Sheboygan County. I think it's one of the best counties in the entire state of Wisconsin, maybe in the entire United States. I'm a 20 year retired Navy veteran which is a part of my job in order to be the county veteran service officer. I had to have had some sort of military service in order to be eligible to apply for that position. I grew up in Wisconsin down in the southern part of the state real near the Eleanor border and spent my entire life there until I joined the Navy and then I joined the Navy to see the world and I tried for 21 years and came back to Wisconsin. And in 2004, I moved up here to Sheboygan. I took a job at the DMV out behind the mall. And when the county veteran service officer position came open, I applied for that and it's my favorite job. I work harder at it probably than any job I've ever held and I love it more. Awesome, awesome. Well, it's five years certainly have flown and as you said, very important work serving our veterans. Share a little bit about your roles and responsibilities. How many staff do you have? Give us a snapshot of your office. My office is a very busy place. Is anyone that spends any time there can tell you. County employees, there's just two of us, myself and my secretary. And we are very, very fortunate that through a federal grant we have two ladies that work part-time. They each are allowed to work up to 20 hours per week under their grant program that they're involved with. And they have been an absolute godsend to our office. They are very personable, very, very helpful. They spend a lot of time helping to get all the paperwork together and make sure we keep our files organized and be able to quickly and accurately access the information that we need. The services we provide to our veterans, basically it runs the gamut. Anything veteran can come through our office. We provide all of the flags that everyone sees out at the cemetery on Memorial Day. All of those are provided by my office and we have wonderful veteran service organizations here in the county that will actually put the flags out there on the graves of our veterans to honor them. We help individuals with healthcare benefits, educational benefits, home loans, compensation and pension benefits through the VA. So basically anything that a veteran needs from our federal or state government, our office is kind of the first stop into providing information, providing the paperwork, helping them get all of it together because you're dealing with bureaucracies so there is a ton of paperwork. And if a veteran is looking to see what programs are available through the VA, as you said, obviously they can stop at your office or make an appointment to see you. But are there other means of accessing information? The, yes there is. And that's a good question because nowadays with a lot of the stuff being online, there is two websites that are really important for our veterans here. One of them is our federal VA website which is just va.gov. And the other one is our Wisconsin State Department of Veterans Affairs website. And that one's a little harder. That's dva.thewordstate.wi.us. And they can go online. There is a lot of informational type pages that they can get to. And then there's also applications available on both those websites that it's a good start to have those filled out when they come in to our office because it helps, we don't have to gather that information. It's all right there in front of us then. Now I know you work with a number of World War II veterans and folks in that age class are starting to pass on but you're also seeing a lot of new young veterans come onto the scene that you're providing services to. What are some of the trends here, what are the programs that you're seeing the greatest demand for? For our younger veterans, for the OEF, OIF, Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom Veterans, those veterans we see coming in wanting educational benefits, wanting home loans, something to just let all of our viewers know if you know anybody that has served in the military after 9-11, the post 9-11 service, they are eligible for five years worth of free medical care through the VA upon their discharge out of the military. And so if they're a National Guardsman and they served in 2004, 2005 and then served again in 2011 and came back in 2012, that five year window starts over again in 2012 when they return off of that deployment. So that is a benefit that everyone's while I talk to somebody that says, well, nobody ever told me that. So that's something to get out but that's what we see with our younger veterans. For our World War II and Korean, some of our Vietnam vets, there we're seeing with our World War II veterans and their families the pension program. They're having significant health issues, not able to live on their own any longer and to go into assisted living facilities or nursing homes as people here in the county know that's a very expensive endeavor. And so they can receive assistance and help from the VA. So we help with individuals filing all of the paperwork because that all that income and medical related expense information needs to be supplied to the VA to determine eligibility for that program. Don't wanna spend a lot of time on this question because there's been enough media attention surrounding it the last few weeks but they're with the partial government shutdown. Did that have any impact on your programs or services to veterans? The healthcare portion of the VA was up and fully operational during the shutdown period. What impacted our office was that the regional office which is where we send the paperwork for claims was shut down. And so there wasn't any direct immediate impact on the veterans. We got a lot of questions about how that would affect them if it continued to be shut down and they didn't get paid because they were saying they wouldn't have money to pay after the end of October. So I had a lot of concern in my office of what am I gonna do? How am I gonna pay for my medication? How am I gonna pay for food? This is the only income I have. This is the only money I have to live on so there was that concern but there wasn't any real immediate impact other than the fact that everything we sent down to the VA just sat in a pile because they were closed. And so now not only do they have the backlog that they were trying to work through prior to the shutdown but everything that came in during that two week period now needs to be put into that mix and process. So it created a bottleneck and a delay where folks are gonna have to be a little more patient. Yep. Very good. Turning more to a newer initiative that we do have a lot of direct control oversight of and that's the Veterans Court that you and the judges have championed here and it's recently received some attention on the media because you had your first graduate set the stage there a little bit and why that's been so beneficial for our veterans. Well, I think my personal opinion is is I think we owe it to our veterans. I tell people this all the time. 20 or 30 years ago, soldiers were offered the option go to jail or join the army. That's not happening today. It's a buyer's market for the military out there. So the military is taking our absolute top notch best young men and women out of our colonies and communities into the military. We get the Eagle Scouts, the valedictorians, the salutatorians, the council president. Those are the people that are going into the military. It's not the juvenile delinquents. It's not the ones that have been in and out of trouble. If they're in and out of trouble, the military doesn't want them. They don't want to waste their time having to try and straighten someone out when they've got dozen people standing there that are honor students and Eagle Scouts to take into the military instead. So we are talking about individuals that were kind of skirting on and off the bad side of the law all along anyhow. We're talking individuals that were just upstanding, upright citizens of our country. We send them to war, and then when they come back, we don't do a really good job of reintegrating them back into the world here. I heard somebody a while back say that we do a phenomenal job of training our young men and women to keep them alive in war when we send them to a war zone. But those very same skills that we train them to use in a war zone when they exhibit those same skills here in the United States, it puts them in jail. So veterans court. So veterans court is an alternative to just throwing them in jail and throwing the key away that there's nothing that can be done. The objective is to get them into a treatment program and to hopefully reintegrate them back into society and help them to be the productive individuals that they were prior to ascending them off to war. So it's an alternative to the routine judicial system. It's unique and specialized for veterans to work with them and hopefully give them a second chance that as you said they've earned, they deserve. And it's patterned after the drug courts. And I really, my personal opinion on the subject is is I really think that as a country, we need to look at alternatives to just incarceration. I mean, even the best experts will tell you that incarceration doesn't rehabilitate the individual that's there. And if somebody is in jail that has a drug or alcohol condition, jail's not doing anything for them. That it doesn't change anything. So when they come back out, they're right back into the same cycle they were before and there's the recidivism. And so our veterans court is patterned after those drug and alcohol treatment court programs. The one component that we add to a veterans court that is not in those other courts is we provide a mentor for each one of the individuals that's in our veterans treatment court. They receive a mentor that's a veteran and we have veterans across the county that have willingly volunteered their time to it's basically being a big brother or big sister. They are just there to be in that individual's corner to kind of give them encouragement and help them along as they're dealing because some of them are dealing with some very significant injuries or illnesses from their military service and needing that assistance and that help. And across the country, that mentor component of our veterans treatment courts are what's making them so successful. And so I'll put in my 30 second advertisement that if there is any veteran out there that thinks they would be interested in just being a friend and being a partner with a mentor to please contact our office. We are always looking, we do need more mentors because we're having more individuals that are applying to be a part of our treatment court. Excellent, nice commercial. And those mentors are so important. I'm gonna go back to something you said just to gently challenge you because I know you didn't mean it to be a slight but though 20 years ago, a number of people entering the military may have been folks who were got the choice of you said jail or getting in the military. I think most people that went into the military certainly just as today were good, upstanding, wonderful people. I didn't mean to imply that everybody was. Because I was one of those. As was Roger Disturdi, as was my dad. And I was on the honor roll in high school and college. Right, I know, I know. I could just see some of your viewers going, jeez, what did you think? We all were at the choice of jail. No, most folks obviously. I was on the honor roll, I went to college. Very good, let me turn it over to Roger. Every year we have important holidays, state and federal holidays like Memorial Day, Veterans Day. And I think sometimes it's always great to have a day off but some of our young people don't remember or realize the significance of those holidays. Why is it important for public events to take place on Memorial Day or Veterans Day, Pearl Harbor Day? Well, there was a British statesman, Edmund Burke, that said those who don't know history are destined to repeat it. And so I really think that's a true statement that it's important that we know what happened, how we got to a point where we went to war, how we got to a point where different things happened in our country. And with our honoring these different days, it helps to remind us of that. I saw a picture on my email the other day. It was taken at Normandy Beach. And what they do is every year there's a group of them that it started out just being a handful like 48 or 50 people and volunteers showed up to having over 500 and they have templates of people. And what they do is they lay these templates in the sand on Normandy Beach and then they take a rake and they rake it. So when it's done, they had a picture. That was the picture I saw was this aerial photo of all these people in the sand. And it represents the soldiers that came ashore at D-Day on to Normandy Beach. And just to commemorate the liberation of France and this is French people that do this, is just they remember and recognize the importance of that where they're at today as a country is because of the service and sacrifice that people made that day on the beach back in 1944 and they commemorate that. And so the same thing, when we commemorate days like Memorial Day and Pearl Harbor Day, I mean, that happened in 1941. So if we don't do something to remember that, we're losing the individuals that were actually alive on that day and can remember where they were. You know, most of us, we can tell you exactly where we were on 9-11 and what we were doing when we got the word of the trade centers being hit. But we're losing the individuals that can do the same thing for where they were when they got the news of the bombing in Pearl Harbor. And so it's important that we commemorate those days and just let people know, this is our history. This is what we were doing. This is how we have come together as a country to make a difference. We created a whole new generation of veterans just as our World War II veterans are passing away. How can we help ensure the personal sacrifice are not forgotten and real meaning of Veterans Day is remembered? Well, I think it's important to not only get involved in going to the parade, going to the cemetery where they have the ceremonies for these different days and different events and on Veterans Day, here in Sheboygan, it's done at the high school because it's done in conjunction with trying to educate young people. In Plymouth, I think they do a parade and then have a ceremony. So that's what's happening coming up for Veterans Day. For Pearl Harbor Day, we get out where it's nice and cold, usually along the Lakeshore someplace and very early in the morning, like seven o'clock in the morning to have a commemoration. So I encourage people to come out, put your heavy coat on, it doesn't take that long, we don't get that cold. But not only that, but just get involved in your communities. Make a difference in your community. If that means being a big brother or big sister or volunteering at your local food pantry or with your church or civic groups, the Rotary, United Way, whatever, it's important to be involved and be active in making a difference in our communities and that's the way we honor our veterans because that's what we want. That's why we serve and sacrifice is so that our communities and our families have a good place to live. You know, Roger, that reminds me a little bit of the movie Private Ryan. I don't know if you've seen that movie. Saving Private Ryan. It's one of my favorite all-time movies and every time I watch that scene where they're storming the beach and the incredible sacrifice that people made, it's very moving for me, even just to think about it now. And your comment, Charlene, that a way we can honor those veterans and that sacrifice is by giving of ourselves and giving back to our community, whether it's being a mentor or a lunch buddy or helping United Way or just helping someone in need. And for many of us, we're so busy today that finding the time to do that sometimes is tough or we probably make excuses that I just don't have time to do that. Yet if you compare that sacrifice of spending a noon hour to deliver meals on wheels or whatever it may be. Go to the library for an hour to read to somebody. It is such a small, small sacrifice to make in comparison to what our parents and grandparents did for this country. So I really encourage people to think about that and get involved and make a difference in your community. It's an excellent point. And we're going to be celebrating the 20th anniversary of our county Veterans Memorial. How can people get involved to help in the process? And our memorial is gorgeous. I mean, it's a nice testament of the care that Sheboygan County has for honoring our veterans and the service they had. And it's been 20 years. When I tell people that they're like, really? That has been there on Kohler Memorial Drive for 20 years. And yes, it was dedicated in 1994. We're hoping to have next year a huge celebration to commemorate the 20th anniversary of it. And we would like to partner with several entities here in the county. Our military heritage and education museum that's on A Street right near the A Street Bridge for your longtime residents of Sheboygan County, the old Allian Energy Building. And I encourage people to go there, too. They're compiling artifacts and people are donating memorabilia from loved ones to the museum that can display what their service, what they did in their service, and that's any place. But we'd like to partner with them and with our historical museum, which is on the hill above the memorial, as well as with our Veterans Service Organizations and the Mung Association to just really put on a good ceremony and a good presentation for that. And one of the things we have done is we had applied to and we've been selected as a site. We are going to have the wall that heals, which is the half-size replica of the Vietnam wall is going to be here in Sheboygan County in August of next year as a part of our ceremony and a part of our celebration of our 20th anniversary. And with the Vietnam moving wall being here, that's an opportunity, as you mentioned. How can we elaborate on the Mung involvement in the Vietnam War? Yeah, and I don't know if all of our listeners are aware of that. I wasn't until I had actually came to live here in Sheboygan County because we have a substantial Mung population here in the county. And what I learned is the Mung people sacrificed literally absolutely everything to help our soldiers in Vietnam. They lost their families a lot of times, they lost their homes, they lost their country by helping the American soldier in Vietnam and they would risk their life and a lot of times would actually give up several of their lives, four or five, six of their lives to rescue one of our soldiers or downed airmen and keep them safe until they could get them back into American hands and not allow the enemy to get them. So they literally have sacrificed everything to help our soldiers in Vietnam. They felt it was that important and worthwhile for them to do that and make that sacrifice. And we have a huge population here, they've got a gorgeous memorial down in Deeland Park that I encourage everyone to take a look at, to just look at the beauty of the memorial itself but then also to look at the panels because it tells the story of the Mung involvement with our Vietnam soldiers. And several of our Vietnam veterans owe their lives and still are in contact with some of the Mung soldiers that helped them. And if people would like to get more information and veterans also but other people in the community if they'd like to be more involved with some of the organizations, how can they contact you or who can they contact? Well, they can contact our office but the other thing is just to talk to their neighbors and ask because you'll find that there are a lot of folks out there that are actually veterans or have a connection to the veterans groups in the area or if you see your post home, you're in Plymouth and you happen to be on Stafford Street and see the American Legion or the VFW, you can stop in and talk to those folks, they're always willing to let you know what they're working on next and to allow you to be a part of it. The American Legion over in Plymouth periodically through the year does what they call a GI breakfast. So if you hear news of that, it's wonderful food. The ladies there in the auxiliary in this and the VFW post or the American Legion post do a good job of putting that on and all of their GI breakfasts are for a particular program. So the money raised off of the breakfast will be donated to help like the Camel Quilt Project or the moving wall coming to town or vets court or something. They target a particular organization or a charity or something for each of the breakfasts that they do honor flight. They've done one where the money was donated to the honor flights. So you can get involved just by seeing those things. The website also gives information about our American Legion and VFW. Veteran Service Officer Department is the smallest department of the 19 departments we have at Sheboygan County, but certainly a very, very important department serving approximately 9,000 veterans and their families and 26, I think, veteran service organizations that you work with. So much good work with our veterans here. And your mission, of course, is to serve those who served. We only have a minute left, Charlene, but any parting words or anything you'd like to share with our viewers about the important work that you and your staff do. Well, my staff is phenomenal. They work really, really hard day in and day out, but I would like to say thank you to Sheboygan County. I think Sheboygan County is very veteran friendly. We take care of our veterans here in the county. Service Commission is an example of that. Our veterans' Camel Quilt Project that's here in the county, the Military Families Connect to take care of those that are currently serving. So we do a phenomenal job of trying to take care of our veterans. That doesn't mean there isn't more we could do, but Sheboygan County rates right up there at the top of being very caring and concerned about the veterans we have in the county. Well, thank you so much for being with us today. Thank you and your team, your small staff for the very important work they do, and we certainly appreciate you being our guest today, Charlene, thank you. It's been my pleasure to be here. And thank you for joining us today. As you know, we'll strive to continue to bring quality programs and information about Sheboygan County, your Sheboygan County government. Next month, Tom Eggebrecht's gonna be here, our Health and Human Services Director, Tom and his staff certainly provide vital services as well and we'll learn more about their role and responsibility. So until then, on behalf of Chairman Distruty and the Full County Board, thank you for joining us.