 Hi there, this is Ashley with DAV and I've got kind of a special story to share with you that's very near and dear to my heart. A few years ago we had a veteran named Dahlia who reached out to us to share her story about being an MST military sexual trauma survivor. She was assaulted at Knife Point many decades ago while she was serving in the Army and was kicked out because nobody believed her at the time, even though they had asked her after the fact to come back and testify against her attacker and he ultimately ended up in jail for a string of assault similar to hers. But for many, many years Dahlia was unable to access her veterans benefits because she did not have an honorable discharge. So once I got my hands on this story, I knew we couldn't let it die there. And we connected her with one of our national service officers down in Florida, a wonderful person named Naomi, as well as the Veterans Consortium, which is a group that we have a partnership with through the DAV Charitable Service Trust and they make it their mission to work with veterans to get them upgraded discharges when they've been kicked out due to things like military sexual trauma or some sort of mental health issue that may have stemmed from PTSD or a traumatic brain injury, things like that. So it has been a very long road. I can't lie and say that the process has been easy for Dahlia and there were many times that along the way she wanted to give up. She didn't want to talk about her anymore. Very understandable. Many MST survivors share that same experience. And the pandemic over the past year has certainly slowed the process down quite a bit. It's been difficult to get records. People have not been in the office as much so it's been hard. And even though the process was slowed down considerably. We finally had some great news to share with Dahlia the other day and it's really not just a testament to the great people at the Veterans Consortium, but also to our national service officers, the folks that are out there. Every day working with veterans one on one to make sure that they're getting the benefits that they've earned. So I wanted to share this with you because I think it really demonstrates why we do the work that we do on behalf of our fellow veterans every single day. So Dahlia I know, and I mentioned to Naomi this morning that you had received the letter from the VA and I know that that it's jarring I understand without really any context as to why you'd received that letter. And, you know, I know you, you just had this wonderful expansion of your family and so we didn't want to take anything away from that. But Naomi did reach out to me last week and let me know that there was some news that she wanted to share and we thought it would be so nice to do it. Can't do it in person but it would be nice to at least see you face to face. So I'm going to let Naomi take it from here. Yes. So, as of June 17, the VA has found that your period of service is honorable for VA purposes they made an administrative decision and said that your period of service is honorable. And they based it off of the information that they actually already had in the file. I wish we could be there in person to give you. Thank you so much. I just, it's been 30 some years waiting and it's some type of validation. I feel that somebody's validated my story of what happened. I love you guys so much for all you have done for me. You did it. You did it. We don't know anything. We were just, we were just the coach telling you go, go, keep going. I know, I know you did. So, ladies I'm ready. I am so ready and I just, I may have to take some time off now after this news. I just feel very happy inside. I know it hasn't been an easy process but I'm, I think I can speak for myself and for Naomi and so many of my colleagues were just, were in awe of how much strength and resolve you've showed throughout this entire process I know. Yeah, I don't, I don't call myself a victim anymore. I cannot say I'm a survivor. I hope that one day I can share my story with other women out there. And I'm, and I'm planning to, you know, to get better to get certified. Absolutely. And how to be like you help other people out there. It's people like you that keep me going your mind here. Oh, Naomi. Thank you. Thank you.