 Welcome to Sheboygan County government working for you. My name is Adam Payne, Sheboygan County Administrator and co-host of this program with Chairman Mike Van der Steen. And today we're very pleased to have a special guest with us who has never been on the Sheboygan County program before. She is one of our newest department heads and a very important area. In fact, the area that Ms. Cobb works in serves a number of residents of Sheboygan County. She's just refreshed by memory, in fact, of our total population of about 115,000 people in Sheboygan County, 14% are veterans. And with that, today we have our veteran service officer, Ms. Charlene Cobb. It's good to have you with us today, Charlene. Thank you. It's great to be here this afternoon. Charlene's been, has it been four or five months now? Just over four months. Four months. She hit the ground running. And let's start by, Charlene, please tell us a little bit about yourself and a little bit about your background and how it's going so far. Sure. Well, as Adam said, I started just over four months ago in the middle of October of 2008, taking over for Jim Riesenberg, who retired after 21 years of service to the county and the veterans that we have here in the county. I'm a 21-year Navy veteran. All of my time was done active duty, not reserve or anything like that. I joined the Navy in the 70s to see the world, and I tried to do as much of that as I could. I've been on every continent in the world except for South America in the 21 years. So I think that's an accomplishment. 21 years with the Navy, and I know prior to this position you were working for the Department of Transportation, what was your motivation, what interest you interested in working for Sheboygan County as the veteran service officer? Helping veterans. The veterans motto for the veteran service office here in Sheboygan County is serving those who served. And that comes right to my heart, serving veterans here in the state of Wisconsin. I think that as a country, we owe a tremendous debt to our veterans for the service they have given to our country all the way back to the Revolutionary War up to our current conflicts that we have going on around the world at the moment. And I truly want to help the veterans, and it's a demanding job. Let's put it that way. It's not difficult. It's a demanding job, but it's also very, very rewarding. At the end of the day, when I go home, if I know I have helped make a difference in someone's life, it's very fulfilling to be able to say that. And you certainly stood out in the interview process, and we're so pleased that Charlene's with us. I've heard nothing but positive reports about you, and it's good to have you part of our team. Please set the stage for us a little bit. What is the primary role and responsibilities of the veteran service officer? And I know you just touched on that. I've been asked that on several occasions by different folks. And basically, we're information central. We're a clearinghouse for keeping all this information together in one place, that people can come to us to help them navigate through the federal Veterans Administration, or even our state Veterans Administration, which can be a daunting task for someone that's never had to find the right person to talk to. And as with any bureaucracy, once you get to the right person, you get the assistance and the help you need, but you can be shuffled around through seven or eight people while you're getting to that point, and that can be very daunting for especially someone that's already having other medical or mental issues or has just lost their husband and wanting to find out they've gotten this money and now what do they do with it? So there's a variety of things like that. Our main goal there is to assist veterans in whatever way we can. A good deal of it is getting the benefits that they are entitled to from either the federal or state government. Wisconsin is phenomenal on the programs that are available through the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs for our veterans coming home. Educational benefits, loans for buying their home, helping them with that, making repairs to the home. There's a variety of things that the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs has people in place to help and assist doing preference for jobs, even a veteran's representative to help them with making applications and things like that. And so for us, it's just letting people know that these are available to them and kind of channeling them in the direction they need to go, getting the applications to them for whatever the programs are that they're doing. Also we take questions from the public wanting to know about different veterans organizations and things related to veterans. Here in Sheboygan County, we have the Veterans Memorial. So there again, we are information central for being able to tell people about the memorial, what's all involved for getting their veterans name placed on the memorial and also a place where they can actually come and turn that information in. I mentioned some of our viewers are hearing this overview and all the different programs that you just briefly touched on and I know there's more. And whether they're a veteran or a spouse of a veteran or a family member or a friend of a veteran and they know they would or someone would need more information, what's the best way to learn more about all these programs? If you have access to a computer, a great way is to go on the Department of Veterans Affairs website, either the Federal VA website or the State of Wisconsin website. Both of these books are available in an electronic format on their state websites and they give an overview of all the programs that are available through either venue. They can stop by our office and actually pick up hard copies of them if they would like and also make an appointment or come in and just ask us about the programs that we have available. And if people don't know, where is your office and what's the general number that they would call for more information? Our phone number is area code 920-459-3053 and we are located in the courthouse in the basement and we are B-4. B-4. Moving on, one of the real concerns to a lot of people across the country is we're in the midst of war. We've had a global war on terrorism now, we're fighting it eight years in Afghanistan, we've been in Iraq for six years. We're really creating a whole new generation of veterans. And how has this impacted the Veterans Service Office and specifically your workload? What are you seeing as a result of that? It's increasing our workload. There again the state has brought and the federal government both have brought in brand new programs targeted strictly for our Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom Veterans to address some of the issues they've encountered in their time of service. And so to be familiar with those programs so that when you have an individual veteran coming in to be able to best, there again, help them get the services and get the entitlements that they deserve and are entitled to. We see a lot of younger veterans and they're going to be ones that want educational benefits, want to be able to do something with the rest of their life once they've come out as opposed to when we're dealing with our World War II and Korean and Vietnam War veterans. Those folks were looking at their pensions and health care issues are more on their plate for those individuals whereas the younger ones are looking to buy that home, get education, get established in a good job somewhere, have the educational benefits and care that their children need. And we have, there again within Sheboygan County along with my office, we work very closely with the Military Family Connect which is Karen Degner through the Family Resource Center to help while they're on active duty, while the service member is gone to Iraq and the family is left behind. The Military Family Connect is there again, an information central to help them get in touch with whoever they need to get in touch with to help them navigate through the system. Last night I was watching and by the time this tape is shown it will be a week later but last night President Obama made his first speech to Congress and one of the things that encouraged me as he was speaking to them was he specifically made a reference to meeting commitments to veterans and making sure that veterans get the resources and services they need. I don't know if you happen to see this well, what did you think when you heard that and what's your perception of where we're currently at and the level of service we're providing and what he may have meant by that, what needs to be done, what needs to be improved. And I've heard that mentioned before ever since the election back in November. One of the things that's currently in place with the federal VA system is there's a hierarchy for health care for veterans. If you are disabled, if you've lost a limb or seriously wounded or injured during service, you're in a category one and they run all the way down to category eight. And you have a category eight sitting right here in front of you. I have no service connected disability from my time on active duty. I'm in relatively good health and I'm gainfully employed so I make too much money. So even though when I joined the Navy they said you stay 20 years in the military, you'll have health care benefits provided to you by the federal government. Well that's still true, but because I'm in category eight they're not taking any new category eights into the VA system at the moment because they don't have enough resources to take care of the other more seriously injured ill veterans. And so those in category eight, like I said, are in relatively good health, no service connected injuries. And then even in category eight they rank them A, B, C, D, E and I fall down in like F or G because they're again being gainfully employed and having health care benefits through the county, I make too much money and have other health care options that even if they would register category eight, they wouldn't take me as a veteran. So even though I'm entitled to it, they just don't have the resources available. And President Obama had said back when he was elected in November that one of the things he would like to do is to increase that cap for the category eight veterans. They still probably wouldn't let me enroll in the VA, but they would let somebody that doesn't make, that's retired or isn't a low paying job or just barely making ends meet. That they would then be eligible to enroll and get health care benefits through the VA. Just out of curiosity, and you may not recall, but when you enlisted, did they have that criteria at that time that, well, we promise to provide these benefits when you leave. But if you're gainfully employed and good health and making a certain income, it doesn't apply. And if they did, I don't recall them saying that, so. Okay, just curious. Well, very good. It puts just a little bit more light on the comment that was made. And I would say they probably didn't because there was a time frame when category eights could enroll that we do have some category eights enrolled in the VA health care system. And in defense of the Veterans Administration, they have not thrown anybody out that once got enrolled. They just don't let anybody else come into play. Well, you mentioned earlier, you've only been here four months. I think you walked into the position with a great feel for the role and responsibilities, certainly at least the people you're serving. I've been very impressed with your empathy and your compassion for the people that you're serving. And I'm curious to know in your short tenure, to serve those who served, how many people have you interacted with and helped since you've been to Sheboygan County? Bunches. I did a quick count knowing I was coming here this afternoon. And just since the beginning of the year, I've had over 200. I'll be there. Clients. And I use that term, clients coming in for where we're filing for educational or healthcare or compensation, widow's pension benefits like that. That doesn't count the ones that come in to pick up a form to get a book, to get a gravestone marker for someone, things like that. I mean, these are the ones that I actually have to sit down and spend time with to fill out forms and fill out for some sort of benefit or some sort of request that they're making to our state or federal government. And just so everyone's clear, this is the smallest department that Sheboygan County has, we have 22 departments. And the area, the Veteran Service Office is made up of two individuals. Three, if you include the volunteer, that gentleman's name again. Fred Henkel. Fred Henkel, who's been just with our Veteran Service Commission. And he's been wonderful, he's been a very dedicated public servant for a lot of years. Absolutely. And he's supposed to be there Monday and Wednesday mornings and you'll find him there on in the afternoons and on Tuesday and Thursday. And there again, just dedicated to desiring to help our veterans and needing to get that paperwork, just he's had a mountain of paperwork over the last month and a half to get it over to the finance department so that these veterans can get some assistance. Final question before I turn it over to Mike. Big picture, the population of veterans is actually going down kind of sadly because we're losing all this knowledge and experience. Yet with the recent global war on terrorism, we're seeing a kind of a new crop of veterans, if you will, with different needs and different challenges. Touch on please, Charlene, what are some of the challenges that you're encountering, serving those who served? And there again, a big part of the challenge is just learning all there is and that runs the gamut from the healthcare benefits for somebody that's 80 or 90 years old and dealing with dementia or Alzheimer's and being in a nursing home and getting extra benefits for that nursing home care they need, all the way to this 18-year-old kid coming out that he just wants to know what to do with the rest of his life. So we have that whole and everywhere in between, along with the service member themselves, plus their spouse, plus any children they have, sometimes a parent may end up dependent on that service member and then something happened to the service member and the parent is like, oh, now what do I do? And so it just- Never a dull day. Oh, no, the days just zip by. Next thing I know, it'll be five o'clock and it's like, it's five already. Good, thank you, Charlene. Charlene, every year we have state and federal holidays like Memorial Day. I don't know, many people look to a day off with the family or something. And there's a really much more important reason for having these holidays. And can you tell us a little bit why it's important to have public events on such days of Memorial Day Veterans Day in Pearl Harbor Day? Well, first of all, I think it's important just to recognize the service. As I said at the beginning of this, as pre-people in the United States of America, we owe a tremendous debt to our veterans. When I was applying for the job here with the county, so Adam has already heard this story, in my letter that I put with my resume, I said that a veteran signs a blank check to the United States of America that is eligible to be cashed up to and including their life. And we have had a number of veterans from Wisconsin through the years that have done just that, that have given the ultimate sacrifice for our country by dying for it. And when you have somebody that is willing to do that, they sign their name on the bottom of that contract and say, literally, take me. I'm yours. And the government does. When I was on active duty, we were 24-7. That we could be called to do whatever, whenever. And so we owe them a tremendous debt for their willingness to do that. We have an all-volunteer force. Nobody's being forced into doing this. They all raise their hand willingly to say, yes, I'll serve my country. So I think it's important that we recognize that service, that we recognize what they have done and thank them. And stand up and say, we are proud of you. We're happy you did that. We want to recognize and support and honor your service and commitment. So I think that's number one. Number two, we have a whole generation of folks that we're going to need them to be our military folks 15, 20 years from now. So we have to prepare them. The only way to prepare them is to tell them the stories, to tell them what this all means. If they don't know what it means, it's not valuable to them. So I think in order for them to understand the value of the memorial we have sitting here on Kohler Memorial Drive, they have to understand the significance of what it costs somebody to get there. Well, Charlene, that kind of leads into my next question. This veterans population from World War II is decreasing. And that firsthand experience of that sacrifice that they made is diminishing. But we enjoy the quality of life that they've left us. How can people help to ensure that these personal sacrifices are not forgotten? And we keep the real meaning of Memorial Day. And we've had folks recently in recent years that have tried to do that. They take the stories. And there again, it's gone back to the schools where they have partnered with the schools to having these schoolchildren interview and get the stories of some of these older veterans. And so it's an opportunity for the two generations to have interaction with one another and get to learn a little bit about each other. And I think that's been a tremendous boon. The Library of Congress is trying to gather up as many of those stories as possible and have that oral history of the World War II, especially veterans, because we are losing them. And I think that's important. I think it's important at all levels to, if you have somebody in your family that's served in World War II, that you try and get them to talk about it. My father was a World War II Purple Heart recipient, and he would never talk about his service in World War II. He just, you couldn't get him to do it. Flag of Our Fathers was written about Doc Bradley, who was a part of raising the flag on Iwo Jima. His family found out about all of his service and the medals that he was awarded for that service at Iwo Jima after he died. And they were cleaning out his office and found a box with the citations and the medals and things in it. And that's what precipitated his son to write the book Flag of Our Fathers, because he had to go searching to find this history, because his dad never talked about it. So I think it's important that we get these older people to talk about their service and where they were at and what they did and how things have changed, because that'll preserve it for future generations. I agree. That's really important. Earlier, you said that there are 26 veteran organizations here in Sheboygan County. What are some of the projects that they're involved in? And there again, everything. We have veteran service organizations that get involved in the schools that will go in and be mentors, be in a program where they will help individuals with reading or spelling or math. They're there to, they're going to help educate on different things, patriotic things, how to display a flag. Also, just to talk about their service. If the class is studying about World War II and they can get a World War II veteran that they know of will come in and talk about what they did in World War II or Vietnam or Korea. So they'll do those things. They have scholarship programs through several of our veterans organizations. And this is the time of year where they're getting that information together and getting those ready to be presented to the schools. They do Little League, softball, sponsor teams for those kinds of things. We have military honors, and that's done in conjunction with the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs. And it's one of the great programs that our state has. They up and decided that every veteran deserved to be honored on their passing from this world. And to, at a minimum, to have their casket draped with a flag, to having full military honors with a 21-gun salute if they so desired. And so it is up to the individual family. But every single solitary veteran is eligible for that. And the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs will provide either through the local veterans organization. And we have several here in Sheboygan County that I know Fred is a member of one of our organizations. And sometimes he has as many as 10 or 12 funerals in a week. With these veterans organizations, is there a different membership requirements to join a veterans organization? Absolutely. Just to mention a couple. The American Legion, you have to have had honorable service during a wartime period. You don't actually have to have served in a war zone. You could be here in the United States, but it has to be during that period, the time frame of a conflict. Whereas the veterans of foreign wars, you actually have to have a qualifying medal or ribbon from a war zone in order to be eligible for that organization. And they check to see that you have that qualifying ribbon or medal. And they run, we have some that are just for Marines, just for Army, just for the Navy. Some you have to be retired. There's a retired enlisted association, retired officer association, disabled American veterans, Purple Heart. So in those particular cases, you have to fall into that category, be a disabled veteran, be a recipient of the Purple Heart, have the Congressional Medal of Honor to be a member of those associations and those societies. How can people get more information about these different veterans organizations that are available to them if they are a veteran? There again, if there is a local, you're in Plymouth, and there's an American Legion on the corner, you can stop in and they will let you know whether you're eligible and get you the application and help you fill it out and sign up. Or the veterans of foreign wars. So you can get a hold of your local organization within your community. And if you're out at a softball game and they're sponsoring the softball game and have the canteen set up, just walk over and ask them. They'll be more than happy to sign you up and have them join their organization. Otherwise you can also go online. Most of the, especially the major organizations have a state or national website that you can go to. And there again, it will tell you who the local contact is and give you information for becoming a member. Sounds pretty easy. Well, with that, I'll turn it back over to Adam. You know, Charlene, this may have been your first program with our county TV8 program here, but I think this was one of our best programs in the 100 plus we've done. I think just an excellent, excellent presentation of information. And I hope our viewers have appreciated this opportunity and certainly will take Charlene up on the offer to follow up. She's in the courthouse. She left the number, gave the number earlier and perhaps that can be put back up on the screen, but there's so much to learn in this area and there's so many interesting stories to convey and share. So I appreciate you joining us today and certainly Charlene, appreciate you being with us. We only have a minute left. Oh, wow. And yeah, the time just flew. And as you think about your vast four months on the job and some of the things, and I know you just had a tremendous amount to absorb in a short period of time, but what would you like to improve upon as you go forward? What are a couple of key goals you have in the future? Just a couple since we're down to only a minute. I would like to see us be able to partner with as many other organizations and groups as we possibly can. I think the more information we have available and the more that we can partner with other agencies and other folks, the better able we are to have another choice for our veterans of things that they can do in places they can go. So that would be number one. And number two, just this program is a prime example is just to help get the awareness out to the public because there again, we're losing some of our World War II vets and to preserve what they've brought to this country and all of our veterans of what they've brought to this country to just let the people know these folks are important and they need to be commended and they need to be honored and loved and respected. Outstanding. Ms. Charlene Ka, veteran service officer with Sheboygan County now for four months and she's doing fantastic work. I hope you'll contact her if you would like more information. Next month, Laura Henning Lorenz, our county treasurer will be with us to talk about the roles and responsibilities of the treasurer's office, but she's gonna have a tough, tough shoes to fill following this program and information. So again, Charlene, thank you so much for joining us and thank you for the very important work you do. Thank you. Until then, on behalf of the Sheboygan County Board, Chairman Mike van der Steen and myself, thanks for joining us.