 For another edition of Military in Hawaii, my name is Calvin Griffin, and for those of you who are viewing it for the first time, this is really a recent program for me. I've been doing other media forums anyhow. But with this program, what we're going to be talking about is what's happening within the active duty and also the military and the veterans community. Here in Hawaii we have more than 100,000 veterans, and of course with the military that's another number, another different story anyhow. But one of the things here in Hawaii is what we try to do in the military community and the veterans community is to network and find out what's going on. Here in the program what I'm going to try to do, not try, what I'm going to do is bring information like I said that will be beneficial to you. We'll have individuals who are knowledgeable in many different aspects of what's happening with the military and the veterans community, things in nature like the VA services, other things that I would say will be important to your well-being. The one thing I do try to stress is the fact that nowadays there's less than 1% of the total U.S. population that's involved in the military experience. Of course that doesn't count the veterans, but the thing is there are a lot of individuals who made great personal sacrifices to serve their country. And the one thing that we try to encourage especially our elected officials to make sure that the promises that they've made are kept to our military. We have a lot of individuals who, it's a great career for many, but there are some issues that need to be addressed. Here in the program we're not going to, you know, beat up on any particular department or organization or any personalities. The main thing when we're trying to do is systemic issues. If there's anything positive we're going to bring that out. If there's anything that needs to be addressed we're going to address that also. It will be an open and honest dialogue. What I do encourage the viewers, if you want to call in, one standing rule that I do have is that if there's anything that I or my guests say that you feel is an error, please contact us and we'll let you give you time to go ahead and error your position because like I say the main thing here we want to be informative. We don't want to be reactionary. We're not here to incite, as I say we're here to inform. So if there's anything that you want to share, if there's something and experience that you've been through as an active duty individual or a veteran, please give us a call and we'll be happy to go ahead and engage in dialogue. One thing that I do want to bring out, a lot of people may not be familiar, there's an organization called the Oahu Veterans Center and it's located in Foster Village. At the center there's a lot of different activities going on. We have a lot of good things that's happening as far as interactive between the veterans, military and like I said community, but still a lot of people may not be aware of what's going on there. What I do encourage you to do if you're interested in being supportive or if you need some information about what some of the services that they provide, then what you can call Claire at 422-4000 and that's Claire at 422-4000 and as I mentioned there's a lot of good things that they do down there and we're trying to get the word out about what's happening there. The other thing I want to bring up before we get into a conversation with Mr. Dennis Higay is the fact that we have a system that's been put in place over here called the Veterans Treatment Court. The Veterans Treatment Court, this is a system that's been set up, it's been spearheaded by Judge Ed Kubo to help veterans who say heading problems with the law. There are certain criteria that you have to meet, but they're also looking for mentors. These are individuals, prior service members, even active duty members who might want to be mentors to individuals who are either involved in the judicial system as a participant but that had problems at the time or whatever. But it's a very good program, it's been tried a couple of places around the country but I think as far as the track record is concerned, what's being done over here is really a ground moving, I mean it's shaking, there's some very good people that's been involved as far as with the mentors and even the mentees. There's quite a few of them that have graduated and themselves came on board to become a mentor, you know. So that's another issue you might want to deal with. But right now what I'd like to do is introduce Mr. Dennis Higay to the program. Dennis, thank you for coming on board. Thank you for having me, Calvin. My pleasure, anyhow. Just a background like I try to be open and honest about my relationships with all any guests that have come on board. You and I have known each other for quite some time and we think a lot but of course we disagree on a few things also. Sometimes. Yeah, okay. But the main thing with you for the viewers who may or may not be familiar with you, could you tell us a little bit about your background and some of the things that you're championing right now? Well, I've always been an advocate in the state legislature because this is where I am and I just came back from providing testimony today and I also did that yesterday. Today's testimony came as a surprise. I was called by one of the state senator's office and asked if I would submit testimony and I agreed to do that so that's where I had my breakfast. But I know that you make frequent trips to Washington to talk to some of the so-called big players concerning the veterans of the military. What is the new administration coming in? Do you see any changes that are going to be really substantial, you know, that have not been addressed in the past? Nothing's changed in Congress. I'm waiting for the State of the Union address. When our president addresses the full Congress, I'm wondering what he's going to say about his friends in Congress or he may just come directly to the point and say, I know I don't have very many in here, but I'm still the president. There's one thing about right now as far as the political issue, from time to time we'll touch on that, but right now the main thing we'll be concerning ourselves with is the different issues, systemic problems. I know that there's a couple of bills that you've been addressing that do affect the veterans here in Hawaii. And if you could share that information with our viewers. I didn't come prepared with the bill moment. Oh, encapsulated. I'm very concerned. Being a Vietnam veteran myself, I'm very concerned about blue water sailors. Their presumption of being exposed to age in orange was withdrawn and limited to anybody who just happened to have boots on the ground. And so we know that a lot of the symptoms are there among us. As we get older, we get to fall prey. Our immune systems, we fall prey to the symptoms. And I've been a strong advocate of that for a long time, basing my argument on a very well written, in my opinion, piece by the American Legion. And I've taken that to each member of our delegation and asked them to support legislation as it comes down. One thing that we do, I mean, it's been discussed from time to time where it hits the press and there's a lot of play or interest at a certain point about certain veterans' issues. Of course, the blue water thing, that's one thing. There's a number of differences and a number of different things that have been addressed for a long time. But I know many of us veterans don't believe adequately enough. There's a lot of systemic problems. The one thing that is rarely touched on in public is the fact that we have individuals who served in Vietnam or different areas. And there's some things that may have, whichever way they developed, that have passed on to their second generation, to their children or whatever. A lot of people may not be aware that certain birth defects, certain things that, mainly the birth defects, again, this is something that's not really talked about. But if you're out there and you happen to be the dependent or the child of a veteran, and you are having medical issues, what you might want to do is check with the VA initially to find out what is in place, what programs there are to address this, and see, take it from there. Because we're talking second and third generations. And again, a lot of people are not aware of this particular aspect of the healthcare system anyhow. So this is a very true situation. It's coming up more and more, especially with the personnel who were sprayed. And I wasn't directly sprayed. I served offshore on a naval vessel. And this would have been back in 1968. So, so far, I feel very fortunate that I'm not showing any age and orange symptoms of any diseases or disorders that are associated with that. Carcinogenic, what's a toxic chemical? What's a toxic? Toxic, age and orange is toxic. In fact, slightly modified, it exists today, it's called Roundup. So, farmers beware, you see them out there spraying Roundup and they're wearing protective gear. Yeah, okay. But yeah, there's a lot of things that, again, individuals were, I think, Fort Bragg or one of the two couple of military bases where they had problems with the water, but they didn't tell anybody about it until, you know, years later. You know, issues, things of that nature anyhow. And again, what I'm trying to do here is not to, you know, incite or try to, you know, cast any dispersions on our military or the water system. But the thing is, there are issues that need to be addressed, you know, and because we're losing, you know, World War II veterans, I mean, we're really down into the losing a lot. I mean, like, they're almost all gone. They're almost all gone. Then we got to Vietnam, you know, Korean and Vietnam. Right. And again, these people are still going through a lot of issues that have not been adequately addressed. The other thing that we'll be talking about in the future is what's happening with our female personnel. You know, there's certain unique situations that I think I touched on this briefly on another program where some of our female personnel are saying not being the issues that, there's some things that still need to be clarified as far as the treatment, you know, with these individuals. And also, again, dependence. You know, we talked, you know, I touched on it briefly in the fact that sometime in the past couple of years we had more suicides here in the state of Hawaii with dependence than we had losses in actual combat, you know. So these are some of the other, you know, spillover things that a lot of people aren't aware of. The dependence, the wives, the children, you know, even their husbands now, because you have females are being deployed overseas, you know. So the term dependent, you know, takes on a different aspect anyhow. But again, these are the issues that we need to network with anyhow. And again, with the veterans out there and with the military personnel, if you went through a situation or you know something about the system on how to help another individual clarify certain aspects or claims or whatever, again, call us, contact us, let us know. Alex, I won't go ahead and share the information because that's what it's about, you know. Your experiences, my experiences, sometime along the way you learn little bits and pieces about what's going on that someone else may not know, you know. I've been parted to you. And I think it's really incumbent on all of us to go ahead and do what we can, you know, not only with the veterans and military community, but on the civilian side, you know, for them to go ahead and be involved with what's happening. Because again, we do have a lot of individuals who have made major sacrifices for our country now. Well, this is true. I remember my grandmother telling me that she used to see the Civil War veterans. What a grumpy lot and they drank too much beer. Well, maybe they were suffering from PTSD symptoms and here we are in the 21st century. We're just now recognizing that there's something to that other than, and I believe we had other terms for people who had that emotional problem coming out of the horrors of war. I mean, what does somebody who's never been there know about it? You certainly don't, you might get a glimpse from a Hollywood movie. I don't think anybody can, and so we don't talk about it because we don't expect anybody to understand it. Yeah, like I said, it's going difficult at times. But I would like more for the VA to embrace the idea that all veterans are in their charge. Not just the ones that knock on their door or raise cane in the media, every one of them. And I can remember that now retired Senator Akaka once told a meeting of us that, the money is there, ask for the benefits. And so there's nothing shameful for asking the VA to help you out and if the experience doesn't appear to be standard, then it's time to come to someone like Calvin and express your concerns. Now we're trying to. We're going to take a brief break and we'll be back in a moment, but feel free to call us here at 415-871-2474 and we'll be back in a moment. Hi, and thanks for watching Think Tech Hawaii. My name is Justine Espiritu and I host the Hawaii Food and Farmer series with my co-host Matthew Johnson of Awaku Fresh. Every week we bring on farmers as well as all the other individuals and organizations that help support a thriving sustainable food system. In fact, it's interesting to learn what others are doing so you don't have to be a Hawaii resident or producing food on Hawaii to be featured on the show, like today's guest, Wyatt Bryson of Jewels of the Forest and Michael Lab Solutions. Aloha, thank you. It's been a pleasure being on the show. I love seeing what you guys do and I really support your mission and it's really nice being back in Hawaii and thank you again. It's an honor. So you can see guests like Wyatt every Thursday at 4 p.m. on Think Tech Hawaii. Thank you. Okay, I'm welcome back to the program. We're going to continue our conversation with Dennis and also discuss a few other things, of course related to the military. Like I said, there's so many different things that we can talk about, so many different aspects, that not one individual is really an expert on the overall military and veteran experience. What you talked about briefly before we took a break is that with the VA, we all, quite a few, we hear more, a lot of horror stories about what's happening with the system. The one thing that I say once you get into the system as far as the medical treatment that you get is really superior. I mean, it's really great. You can't really complain about that. But one of the things that we do have to address and been going on for the longest time is what's happening systemically with the benefits, getting into it. There's a report that came out about a year and a half ago where we lost like 306,000 vets waiting to get into the system. So I think a lot of people are really, they want to see, of course, with the new administration, if there's going to be a more proactive addressing of this issue with the VA. Here locally, we have a lot of dedicated people, but we still need to go ahead and keep their feet to the fire and firmly address. As you mentioned, one of the things is that we are military personnel and veterans. These are benefits that they've earned. There's nothing that somebody's given them or anything else. We have people who do four, five, six, 12 tours and come back and then once they get out of the system, then they still have to go through another battle to get what they've earned. Because one thing that a lot of people don't realize, if they're deprived of their benefits from the VA or some other source that has been designated to help them out, then it becomes a drain. It may be wrong term, but it becomes a burden on the local communities in the form of medical treatments that have to be issued or whatever, food stamps, things of this nature, because it's coming out of the veteran's pocket. If they can't adequately address that financial issue, then of course, there's a lot of things that come back to the community or the taxpayers, but we have to do this. I know there's a lot of things that need to be addressed and what changes have you seen? What do you think is, what is your take on it? Am I speaking about anything? You are. What's significant is that everybody in Hawaii, we've been issued a choice card. In addition to our health benefits photo ID card, we've been issued a choice card because we don't have a VA hospital here. We have a clinic, and so everybody who resides in Hawaii have a choice card, and I have what is significant is I have noticed that without even asking that the VA will outsource your healthcare needs to the local healthcare industry. And one of the members of the Congress who happens to represent individuals in the El Paso, Texas area, he got the VA there to agree to this plan to outsource what they absolutely couldn't care for in a timely fashion, and that would be the Fort Bliss area. So if anybody's listening in Fort Bliss and they want to talk about how their VA benefits are working for America, it might give us some insight on it, but I can see eventually that the VA will outsource everything to the community, and there's very little that the VA does that the community can't do. If it's called upon, now individuals working in the VA, they have nothing to fear. If the patients are all outsourced, they can find jobs on the outside. In the healthcare industry, probably just as good paying as what the VA pays. You and I, we both get tired, we talk about this offline a lot anyhow, but the way that every couple of months there seems to be some new problem that's been identified with the VA. And again, here in Hawaii, we do have problems, but the thing is it's not as extensive as it is on other parts of the country, whatever. But still and all, whether it's here or El Paso, Texas, or some other place, the veteran is not being taken care of. Then collectively, of course, we need to go ahead and address that issue because if it can happen there, it can happen here. So we just want to make sure that the whole system is addressing, it's being addressed properly. Well, it seems to me that bringing the Oahu Veterans Council into the picture that they, I call them advisors from the VA. Anybody who doesn't represent a nonprofit such as I do, I call them. I like to look, view them as advisors. They seem to be getting much better to address the issues we bring to them rather than trying to took their own horn so they just kind of sit there and they'll very briefly summarize what we've accomplished since the last month we met and we've been asking for that. And they seem to be much better and really eager and in State Office of Veterans Services, they're there for us too, as their local advocates. Well, yeah, I see the improvement because I mean, being a council member myself with my organization, excuse me, it's the, I see improvements, but it doesn't mean that it can't get better, okay? We need, the council needs to be more proactive, not only like say with the members of the different organizations that's represented, but also with the number of veterans over here who are not participants in any type of work, any type of veterans organization. Because a lot of times, like say, I've talked about, everybody knows how I feel about certain issues and the thing is we have to be the voice for all veterans. Like say, the council needs to be more proactive about that. And again, they used to be, but hopefully in the future there's a pretty decent leadership with it, but still in all, they need to go ahead and really step up to the plate and put their, take their foot off the break and let's go full force to see what we can do to address a lot of these issues. Because what I see is that the veterans we have over here with the homeless, a number of different things. If veterans don't mind helping one another, if you give them the opportunity, but sometimes you have so many bureaucratic rules and regulations that's in place where even if you wanted to help somebody, and I think that needs to be addressed and it needs to be eliminated where if there is someone that's willing to go ahead and step up and help out, then allow them to do so. It's about, because one thing with the veterans and the military is that the spirit of giving back. If you're willing to serve your country, you're giving up a lot of time and efforts and everything else, but that doesn't end when it takes off the uniform, because there's so many veterans out there that will say who may be in dire straits, they need help. But a lot of them will say, look, I'm in bad trouble right now, but there's got to be another veteran out there that needs the help better than I do. And they will say use it or lose it. Not true. Right. When we're talking about the appropriations and everything else with the VA, for all those veterans out there who say, I'm comfortable, I'm all right, that's fine. But if you're entitled to certain benefits and you don't use it, then what happens, all those numbers that they start calculating in Washington or wherever they do it at anyhow, then that's reflected on the amount of appropriations that's going to be provided to the veterans overall. So you can sign up for it. You don't have to use it, but the main thing, let them know that you're participating or you're there. You're around. So even if you're personally well off or whatever, think in terms of just the numbers. Again, that's why I say as far as using or losing, that's what we... Well, I do notice that if we get together again before the end of this session of the state legislature, I'll tell you how active my fellow delegates of the Oval Veteran Council have been in the state legislature so far today, as of yesterday and today, two times I've been in the legislature providing testimony. There hasn't been any other. Now, I do know that some of our delegates are hidebound by their own bureaucracy. So if you bring a legislative issue to their attention today, they're not ready to provide testimony for three weeks. Well, that may be the third or fourth go around or the bill may already have been tabled. So they're not able, by definition of their own bureaucracy, able to respond in time to be effective as an advocate in the state legislature. I've noticed that. Oahu Veterans Council leadership knows that, but they're comfortable. And most of the veterans organizations, they feel more comfortable out there in the grassroots as volunteers. And my question for them is, well, if the services provided to veterans is all mostly provided by volunteers, then what is the VA doing? They should be having an executive director and anybody, all 100,000 people that represent or live in this community called veterans and military, they're well aware of all the services that the VA does provide, not just the other. Yeah, well, that's another thing we want to touch on also. There's a lot of different, over here, there's like close to 108 different vet organizations, subdivisions and all that stuff, 108 roughly, okay? With all the, sometimes there's an overlap. We have one organization that provides certain benefits to, or they want to provide it to the veterans community, all right? But yet, still, the disconnect between the different organizations where, like say, if you know that there is another organization that has certain resources that you don't have, by sharing that information, and I think that would be more beneficial if we are working together. And I think that we really don't see that extent of the cooperation between the organizations. I mean, there's a lot of dedicated people out there, but okay, if there's someone that's doing a bang up job in certain areas that you're not handling, then why not pass that information on? You don't have to be, a lot of people don't look, in these different groups, are looking for the limelight, but sometimes they seem very, they want to play close to the chest. Well, this is ours, our thing or whatever. And they need to get past that, where okay, let's think of what's good for the whole. And even veterans out there who are not part of any organizations, get involved, okay? Because you don't have to be part of anything. The only thing you have to be part of is to do something that's going to be proactive, okay? So whether you're the labeling and everything else, you know, when more people are trying to get past that, as far as partisanship, where I'm an individual, I care, let me go ahead and do my thing, as far as that's concerned. So you don't have to go under the umbrella of some other organization or a leader, because I gotta tell people, if you want a leader, look in the mirror, that's where that leader is coming from. Not for someone who's in Washington, the leaders of tomorrow. Set the example, walk the walk, talk the talk, as you say. Absolutely. Well, with 108 organizations, you could call it the question, how effective are they? They could be participating in a divide and conquer. You spent so much time questioning one another, they don't have time to bring the question to the state legislature or to write letters as representing X number of members in Y organization to every member of the Y delegation when there's an issue that should be addressed. And many organizations, I'll be frank with you, they're not allowed to do that without permission of their leaders. I've noticed that some of the major ones, and I won't name any names, because then you'll probably get phone calls, I can handle it. We're going to tell the truth. It'd be okay to get a phone call. But they just, the local chapters, posts, whatever they call themselves, branches, they don't really feel that they can do of any service to their members by going and supporting or even opposing legislation, that our state is proposing that affects them. They just don't go. That's all. We're getting down to the wire, and if you were getting down to the wire, any final thoughts before we wrap things up? Well, I don't think you're going to have any competition, because this is really a good thing that we bring this not only the voice, but then the face behind the voice. Yeah. And they know that you're here to make a change. And we're trying to. I do see you and the state legislature when it's time to go. A little bit later down the road, but anyhow, they wrap things up in here real quick. Tune in next time, and again, if you have any information, you want to share anything with the other viewers, or again, if you have any statements that you want to correct, anything I said or whatever, please feel free to do so. We're here to be proactive, we're not to be reactive, but we want to be here to be supportive. So if you have any information that you want to get out there, or share, please get in touch with us. This is what this program is for. We're not going to go ahead and watch anything. We're not going to go ahead and throw bombs or anything like that, but we will hold certain individuals accountable if they're not doing their job. But again, I want to thank you all for tuning in, and we'll see you next time here on The Program.