Charge Forward Podcast

Stolen Benefits: One Veteran's Battle Against VSO Negligence

• Jim Cripps • Season 2 • Episode 25

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🎙️ SABOTAGED: When a Veterans Service Officer decides to Sabotage a Veteran and Costs a Veteran $50,000+ in Benefits

Army veteran Elmer Richardson walked into his county’s Veterans Service Office seeking help. What he didn’t expect was to become a victim of what now appears to be intentional retaliation—at the hands of the very person paid to advocate for him.

Elmer was one of seven veterans who had filed formal statements with Cheatham County, raising concerns that their VSO was mistreating and disrespecting veterans. Months later, when Elmer needed to file his VA disability claim, that same VSO sat on his paperwork for Five months, despite receiving clear instructions from veteran & his advocate James Cripps. Then, the VSO sat on the file waiting over 5 months until five days past the filing deadline. This alone cost Elmer more than $23,000 in back pay. On top of that VSO submitted only one of Elmer’s five claims—costing him more than $50,000 in backpay and future compensation.

This episode reveals:

  • 🕰️ The shocking five months of intentional inaction
  • 🚨 Why only a partial claim was filed—despite clear documentation
  • 💥 The disturbing pattern of mistreatment toward other veterans
  • ⚖️ The lawsuit Elmer has notified them of his intent to file suit against the VSO and Cheatham County for gross negligence and retaliation
  • 💰 What most veterans don’t know about Special Monthly Compensation—and why many VSOs fail to pursue it

This isn’t just one veteran’s story. It’s a wake-up call about the broken gatekeeping within the VA claim system—and the real cost of silence and incompetence.

📢 If you're a veteran—or know one—this episode could help protect your benefits and your future.

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#Veterans #VAReform #JamesMCripps #ElmerRichardson #VeteransJustice #VSOCorruption #CheathamCounty #VeteransDeserveBetter #SpecialMonthlyCompensation #SABOTAGED #ChargeForwardPodcast #MilitarySupport #VSOAccountability #Retaliation #TruthForVeterans

Speaker 1:

Some of these claim sharks are charging five times your retro for six months.

Speaker 2:

That's insane.

Speaker 3:

And it took a year and she just did not do her job. Yeah. And it's been a long road. It's been a long year. Hey team Jim Cripps here with the Charge Forward Podcast.

Speaker 2:

It's been a long year. Hey, team Jim Cripps here with the Charge Forward podcast coming to you from Hit Lab Studios here in Nashville, tennessee. Now you've probably seen some previous episodes where we put spotlights on our veterans and this is a very important episode if you're a veteran, if you know a veteran, because our veteran administration, our VA affairs, our veterans benefits some of those individuals in those communities or in those roles do a great job and some do not, and then some take it upon themselves in order to try to decide what they think should happen.

Speaker 2:

And in this particular case, this veteran has been wronged in a major way. Essentially, over $50,000 was stolen from him by his veteran service officer. So joining me in the studio today is a familiar face, mr James Cripps, my dad, as well as military veteran, army veteran, mr Elmer Richardson. Elmer, welcome to the show. Glad to be here. Absolutely Good to have you all. Welcome back, dad. Good to be here. Yes, sir. So I want to just dive into it right from the beginning. So the the main reason we're having this conversation is you reluctantly went to a vso office in cheatham county yes to get help with your claim, yes.

Speaker 2:

And then you met resistance right from the beginning. Yes, I did so if you will kind of walk us through um that day and uh, then we'll, we'll kind of walk through where we're at currently well, I think I met them up there about 10, 10, 30.

Speaker 3:

well, we went in and this lady started talking to me about I wanted to claim on my hands and feet didn't talk to her very long. She was a little reluctant, I could tell that right off the bat so talked to her a little while. She wanted me to sign some papers. I can't do nothing with my hands, so I went in the back room and talked to I assume I didn't even know what that was about. Psychologist, maybe Come back out. I thought business was taken care of Me and James went on home and it took a year and she just did not do her job. Yeah.

Speaker 3:

And it's been a long road. It's been a long year. Yeah, I've been sent well prior to that, I sent two or three different places and in the last four months I've been to three. It's just been going around and around in a circle and I blame the officers for all this and I blame the officer for all this. I applied in April of last year and I'm just now getting tested for my hands. Here it is April, it was last Thursday.

Speaker 2:

It should not take a year.

Speaker 3:

I know there's a lot of them out there. That's went a lot longer. But the problem is, in my opinion, is officer, I went and saw not all of our bad. I've had a good one, I had a couple of bad ones.

Speaker 2:

Yeah Well, and I think the the big problem with this situation is there's clearly some I'm not even going to say inconsistencies, but what looks to be malice intent in that, and you correct me if anywhere in here I've got this story wrong. But you had filed a intent to file.

Speaker 3:

Yes.

Speaker 2:

And for anybody out there that doesn't know what an intent to file is, if you are a veteran and you feel like you have a service-connected disability, then the very first thing you should do is file an intent to file, and what that does is it starts the clock and gives you one year in order to submit to substantiate that claim, and it starts your clock. So meaning, if you file your claim before the end of that year, then if you are awarded your claim, then the start date would be the day that you filed your intent to file, but you have exactly one year to do so. Um, somewhere along the way you got introduced to James Cripps. How did how did that come come to be?

Speaker 3:

I met uh James at a car show in Charlotte, Tennessee, mm-hmm. Four years ago. James Five.

Speaker 1:

Pretty good while ago, long enough that I forgot how we met.

Speaker 3:

Well, he forgot how we met. And then I got hooked up with James through a friend of mine, Don Smith. Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Don's been here on the show.

Speaker 3:

And I've been sort of hanging out with him ever since, and james has done a lot of work for me, yeah, and some of it's come true. I think I earned what I did get, and there's some out there that I didn get. I think I earned. But I'm here today more or less for the ones that's been done too and the ones that's going to be behind us. They're not. Like you say, there's good officers and there's bad ones. If you can't do your job, you need to go.

Speaker 3:

That's right, that's what's happened to me.

Speaker 2:

Well, and before a lot of these things started, Elmer, it's my understanding that you, along with six or seven other veterans, got talking and had issues had been turned away or had been cussed out of the building or fill in the blank with some pretty nasty stuff, and figured out this was all this same Cheatham County veteran service officer.

Speaker 3:

Same one.

Speaker 2:

And y'all filed a formal complaint to the mayor's office with your signed statements in order to have her either removed or for there to be disciplinary action. And, dad, I know you're aware of that and help help make sure that that got to the mayor's office. I mean, what came of that?

Speaker 1:

I know it got to the mayor's office because I handheld it. Um, no different than any other small town, there's a good old boys club, so it ended up in the hands of the good old boys. The mayor put it right back. He put the fox right back into the hen house. They held a hearing. I understand they held a hearing.

Speaker 1:

I understand the Veterans Service Office Committee four commissioners held a hearing. If you didn't agree with them and you wasn't part of the good old boys club, you didn't get an invitation to the hearing. So it was one-sided and they just decided, despite the tent, the well. I think there was actually eight sworn and notarized statements and complaints against the service officer. They decided it was a personal issue between myself and the service officer and just dismissed it like it never happened. I think that's fixing to come around and bite them in the hind end. We tried to be nice. We tried to submit a formal complaint expecting at least a hearing or somebody to take a look at our side. We put a lot of time into it. It became a joke. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Well, and going back a little bit, I do recall the way I met Elmer. We were at a car show one day and there was one shade tree, I think, and a whole place and a bunch of veterans were sitting there. I didn't know any of them and, uh, we pulled our chairs up and started talking and one of them elmer said you know, there's a guy over in ashton city can help you with your claims. I said you might be talking to him.

Speaker 3:

That's pretty good, but uh, that's how we met that.

Speaker 2:

That's exactly how we met well, there's, there's the reality of it is. There's not many people on this earth that know more about the va system and how it works, what, what can be done, what can't be done, what's difficult, what's easy, the ins and outs of all the programs more than you.

Speaker 1:

That would be debatable, I guess, but I've spent my time. I actually went to Tennessee State service officers training 20 years. But the crux of the matter is when you go to service officers training and this is service officers it's like picking one paragraph out of the Bible and spend two days studying one paragraph and you leave there knowing a lot about that one paragraph, what you've been told about that one paragraph. But what about the rest of the Bible? The big picture.

Speaker 1:

It's got to get into your blood. You've got to be dedicated and you've got to learn it on your own. And, to tell the truth, for many years I kept a .38 CFR by my crapper. Every time I took a crap I got a little smarter. I think I would go up against anybody in the state in a debate on veterans' issues and benefits and knowledge. Yeah, not to brag, but I've come a long way. It's been a lot of work. It took a lifetime, sure, and you're never too old to learn and you should be open-minded to that. If you're not dedicated, it's not going to happen because the service officer is required to know so much. If you can't get the training which is supposed to be provided from the state, then you've got to do it on your own. If you don't have the wherewithal to do it on your own or the drive, then bail out. Find you something you can do on.

Speaker 2:

Or the drive, then bail out, find you something you can do Right and in some instances again, you've got some fantastic people doing great work. There have been some great VS veteran service officers that have helped you along the way, Exactly.

Speaker 1:

I know I was going to say quite a few good service officers, but I don't. They're far and few between I know a lot of service officers Work. In another case. We're 55 years out from this guy's service and two years ago he decided maybe he had something coming. So he went to see a service officer and his service officer said I'll call you, I'm going to send and get your records. He signed the paperwork to get the records. Well, that phone call I had to prompt. Two years later there was no contact between the service officer and the veteran for two years. How does that happen?

Speaker 2:

Well, and this veteran in particular, correct me if I'm wrong here, but he and his wife both were knocked down by an explosion on the base.

Speaker 1:

Oh, and they were in their housing and a militant gang in Germany. They were responsible for 250 bombings. They bombed the gate, killed several guards. These people were cleaning out their apartment, fixing to rotate back to the States. It slammed them up against the wall. It took out his hearing for life. Um, tinnitus, uh, and he just never. He had to get out of the army because he couldn't hear. Yeah, uh, he had a choice get in a non-combat unit or get out of the army. Well, there's no promotion in a non-combat unit. He chose to get out. Um, yeah, the man you know, ptsd claim uh, a hearing claim, uh, and his service officer sitting there twiddling his thumbs for two years playing with toy cars, playing with toys cars and and looking at his pictures on the wall and his decorations and doing nothing at all for the veteran. And he's getting paid by the county. What's up? You know who is he responsible for? Who does this man?

Speaker 2:

answer to. Well, where's the accountability in the veteran service officer program?

Speaker 1:

You know we've gotten away from it, but the service officer works for the veteran. He don't work for the county, he works for the veteran. He don't work for the county, he works for the veteran. He gets paid by the county to do that like say, if you can't get, if you can't do your job, then get out. Yeah, you're doing the veterans no good. We did our part, now how about you consider doing yours?

Speaker 2:

absolutely. Yeah. Well, um, you you know, and that's really what brings us to here. So if we back up to so, elmer, you have your intent to file out there. You did the right thing, you did your intent to file, you get your evidence and you've got it ready to submit evidence and you've you've got it ready to submit and you're so worried about that not being done correctly.

Speaker 3:

Yes.

Speaker 2:

That you take the person you know to know the most about it with you.

Speaker 3:

That's right.

Speaker 2:

And so y'all get down there and you're, and you're submitting, submitting the substantiate, your claim, and you've got what? Five months left, roughly left, roughly in your intent to file period Somewhere about yeah, so plenty of time and paint the picture for me. How long does it actually take if you've provided all the evidence? How long does it take for them to submit the claim?

Speaker 1:

In my experience a veteran walks into the veteran service officer, he sits down, he tells his story, he gives up whatever it is he has. If the claim is substantiated, it's written up right there in front of the service officer. Service officer gets out of their chair, they go to their fax machine. They fax it to the regional office. The the actual form, the 526 ez, is filled out right there in front of the veteran and it's submitted electronically to Jamesville, wisconsin or the VA regional people in the office where it's supposed to go and the veteran leaves there with a copy and I usually ask for a fax receipt where it was received. Yeah, that's how quick.

Speaker 2:

Okay, and so, elmer, that's not exactly how yours went, did it, no? So how did that go?

Speaker 3:

Well, like I say, I've done this back in April Of last year, of last year. Hands and feet, mm-hmm. Feet. Okay, here it is april again. I'm just out took an exam on my hands. That's been a year, there's no excuse for that. So, like james said, you go in there, you talk to them. The paperwork's done right then, which mine wasn't, was never sent in, I, I assume and so they didn't send it in until when uh october 15th and your intent to file was through October 10th.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so they waited it was late, so somebody in that office took it upon themselves to not submit your paperwork Right To sit on it for over five months.

Speaker 3:

Over five months.

Speaker 2:

And to potentially with malice intent. Five days past, your intent to file ran out five days past. And when that got submitted it didn't include everything did it.

Speaker 3:

No, it did not.

Speaker 2:

What were you it? Was there any point where you were unclear that you were filing on hands and feet?

Speaker 3:

Well, sure it was Sure it was.

Speaker 1:

We were actually filing on five separate issues, all of them supported Mm-hmm. The service officer actually submitted one issue loss of use of two feet. So the VA granted loss of use of two feet. So the VA granted loss of use of two feet. But because it was five days late getting to the regional office and again we think maliciously, then there was no back pay included. We're talking about a year's back pay. I think that figures up $20-some-odd thousand dollars $23,000, best of my memory. And the VA don't care whose fault it was that it was late. When that one-year date for your intent to file is up, it's up, no excuses. You lost one year's back pay right there.

Speaker 2:

Now just to clarify here everything that was submitted in April of that time when y'all went to the veteran service office. That was submitted to be with the intent and very clear that they were supposed to submit that that day.

Speaker 1:

Within a reasonable time, if not that day, that would be understandable, depending on their workload. But what kind of excuse can you come up with for sitting on it five months and five days when it's going to cost the veteran one year's pay? And then again you look at this thing. We submitted that we wanted to claim or Elmer wanted to claim five separate issues which would put him at a special monthly compensation rate. Had they been granted which yet remains to be seen, but I think the evidence is there and they'll be granted it would have put him at an O rating. Gosh, you're talking about between $6,000 and $7,000 a month, which would have been substantial back pay had they been able to drop back that year and give him his retro. But because of that five-day late submittal he lost the back pay.

Speaker 2:

And we're not talking. It's not like you guys went in there like the day that it was due or the last day of the intent to file. It was five months before, five months prior, and so somebody in that office took it upon themselves to let that file sit there for over five months to pass the date of your intent to file and then to file it.

Speaker 1:

Exactly, and then didn't file on all the issues.

Speaker 2:

And then didn't file on all the issues and then didn't file on all the issues.

Speaker 1:

And the pity and the shame is Elmer's waited 50 years for this. When all's said and done, he's already had the compensation pension exam on his hands and the way that that came about, the VA has a duty to assist. If they see that you mention a disability, then they have a duty to assist and they have to actually infer that claim. Well, there was a 21-4138, which is a statement in support of veterans' claims that was sent in with Elmer's paperwork and we happened to get a really really good rater with Elmer's paperwork. And we happen to get a really really good rater and the rater looks at this 24 and 41, 38, and he's comparing these issues that we want to turn in against the 526 that only has loss of use of two feet and he's saying, whoa, wait a minute here, this guy's wanting to claim these issues too. So he takes it upon himself to infer post-traumatic stress disorder and he inferred loss of use of hands. So you got a good rater.

Speaker 2:

You got somebody at the.

Speaker 1:

VA we did. Somebody was doing their job. This is one of the good guys we're talking about. So real, real quick. He got a 50% rating on the post-traumatic stress disorder and now he's already gone for his loss of use of two hands. Now we're up and into the rates. But yeah, elmer was already a hundred percent, uh, and we're already up into the letter awards. Now special amounts of compensation.

Speaker 2:

Now this is a hot topic, so please explain what exactly the letter of awards are, what special monthly compensation means, and a lot of veterans watching this right now believe that 100% is it 100% is one more step, just like from 10 to 20% is a step.

Speaker 1:

20 to 30% is a step. 90 to 100 is a step. 100% is one more step. 20 to 30% is a step. 90 to 100 is a step. 100% is one more step. It's not a goal. It's not the end.

Speaker 1:

You keep going if you can, if you qualify. Well, elmer happened to qualify. He had lost a use of two feet, which becomes an L. It's a letter award. We're not dealing in percentages anymore. Until you hit 100%, the VA is paying you for your unemployability. How unemployable are you? If you're 80%, then you're 80% unemployable, but yet you're 20% employable. Once you hit 100%, you can't get any more percentages, but that doesn't mean you can't keep going.

Speaker 1:

The next award would be a K award, and that's $130 over and above your 100% award, and that would be for loss of use of an organ or a limb, or even loss of use of a sexual or an ED. It's a K award, it's an extra payment. After that would be an S award. It kind of takes it out of the alphabetical order, but we'll consider the S award because it's in alphabetical order. The S award would be awarded for 100% award, whether or not it's TDIU, totally disabled, individually unemployable, or whether it's a scheduler rating. If you can get another 60% award above that, then you move on up to an S award, statutory housebound.

Speaker 1:

There's two different housebounds. One of them is housebound, in fact, where the veteran can basically only get out of the house to make his VA appointments. The other one is statutory housebound. It means by statute you have been awarded another 60% above 100. Now you're no longer a 100% veteran, you're an S. You're receiving special monthly compensation. S Above that would be an L, and there's two ways to get an L. Loss of use of two feet for us Vietnam era veterans, or for any veteran in fact, is an L award. They're letter awards. They're no longer paying you for your unemployability. They're paying you for your inconvenience because you can no longer do your activities of daily living. You can't enjoy family life, social life. There's so many things that you can't do anymore because of your military service.

Speaker 2:

Well, and to paint that picture because somebody out there is probably thinking well, I can see both these guys still have arms and hands.

Speaker 2:

But what we're talking about is the practical loss of use so some people may have actually lost the limb, whereas both you guys I mean without canes, there's no way you're getting in this building. No way, and and even even with the canes and this is not meant to be disrespectful whatsoever even with the canes, you getting the roughly 30 feet through this building to this door was obviously a challenge. It is.

Speaker 1:

It is we even talked before we left my house about how we were going to achieve that, how we were going to get into the building and how far we had to go. Yeah.

Speaker 2:

And it was part of our conversation last night because the parking lot here where you would have normally parked, which would be twice as close as where you had to park today. So again, somebody out there is paying attention to this and I want you to understand that it is the practical loss of use, meaning you are not going to be able to enjoy many of the activities that you would have previously enjoyed, constitutes lack of use, or it could be the actual loss of the limb um, you know, this is a good time to bring up a lot of people.

Speaker 1:

They'll write in or they'll call in and they'll say you know, my neighbor's a 100% disabled veteran and I see him out working on his car and I see him on his lawnmower and I see him going up and down the street and doing just anything he wants to. Well, he can do that. If he has a 100% schedule of writing, he can get a job and work all overtime if he wants. He can get two jobs if he wants them, If he can find somebody that would hire him.

Speaker 2:

And it doesn't mean that he does not have those ailments. It doesn't mean that he didn't qualify for those things Because everyday activity is harder for that man or harder for that woman because of the things that happen to them.

Speaker 1:

You can look at me sitting right here now, today, and you could say that guy looks good. I don't see a thing wrong with him. Let me tell you, you can't see the parts of my missing feet and my missing toes and my heart attack and my kidney disease, and you can't see all of those things.

Speaker 2:

Or the fact that you were reconstructed in 2020.

Speaker 1:

Reconstructed from my knees to my navel, with a 4% chance to live and 12% for 90 days. I push myself. I do what I can still do. You're not going to see me when I look bad. I'm not going to let you see me when I look bad. It's just not going to happen. And I can tell you now, no veteran of any era, of any branch of service has ever been granted a higher disability rate than I draw. I am an R2 veteran. It don't get any higher than that. It's a catastrophe, really, for me, sure, but I'm still going. I can overcome.

Speaker 2:

Well, I just want to be realistic here. I mean from September to now. So we're talking about, uh, what is that? Eight months? For eight months, I would, I would guess, aside from VA appointments or being in the hospital at VA, you've had less than 15 to 20 days where you actually got out and did things that you wanted to do.

Speaker 1:

In eight months I haven't walked 100 yards, yeah, without crutches, canes, scooter, electric wheelchair. I have all those things and I use them. You know, if I'm in my recliner and I go to the bathroom, I'm in my wheelchair. You can't see that now, so you can't judge a veteran and his disabilities. We're proud people, that's right. You know we are what we are because of our military service. You know we are what we are because of our military service and we expect something back in that we have earned something back in that.

Speaker 2:

We shouldn't have to beg, that's right, especially not when you followed the processes. You submitted the paperwork, you did all the things that you're supposed to do, like Elmer. It's not like you went into this blind. You talk to Don. Don said let me introduce you to somebody. Dad said all right, I'm going to walk you through this. We're going to dot all the I's cross, all the T's. You did everything you were supposed to do. Yes, we did. And then someone in that office said nope, I get to choose what elmer qualifies for and I don't know why this person done that malice gets this man right here.

Speaker 3:

I know she she done that. Yeah, there's no doubt in my mind. I believe, it.

Speaker 2:

And I'm sure, there's more Sure Well, and so I want to say thank you, elmer, in a big way, because most veterans are afraid to speak up, are afraid to push back, and it's not because they're weak, it's because they have been trained, they've been told. They have been trained, they've been told. And you can look at the responses on the TikTok videos that are on my channel from dad's last when he and Don were here, and you got multiple veterans that say oh, no, no, no, you don't file after 100. You don't file after 100. They can take everything away.

Speaker 3:

They've been taught that.

Speaker 2:

They've been taught that, and veteran service officers push it.

Speaker 3:

That's right they do officers push it, that's right they do they push? It such a shame and they're taken away from the veteran that needs it. You know, I told him I'm not up here today about me, and I I'm up here, if you hear me out there. I'm up here for you. There there's something bigger than us.

Speaker 1:

You know Elmer fought for this. He turned in his claim. He did everything right. He won his claim. The money would have been deposited in his bank account his, to spend any time he wanted it, for anything he wanted. He was actually the same as robbed of his one year's back pay in the amount of money that's going to turn out to be more money than most bank robberies produce. Yeah, if you robbed a bank you wouldn't get that much money. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

So what do you do when your service officer don't perform, you complain. What do you do when your complaint goes nowhere?

Speaker 2:

You sue, and that's where we are now.

Speaker 1:

And that's where we are right now. Right now, Elmer has chosen to sue the service officer and sue the county because when we lodged our first complaint, which was a formal complaint, that was substantiated by multiple, substantiated and complete.

Speaker 1:

The good old boys got together and they just dismissed it. So they're batting on their horse, which is the service, officer. I'm batting on my horse, which is Elmer. And this ain't my first rodeo, that's right, and let's just see what happens. We'll see how far they make it in court. We warned them. Yes, we did, that's right. I said you're not filing claims, especially for 100% veterans.

Speaker 2:

Which seems very targeted to your USVA group group.

Speaker 1:

Well, in that the United States Veterans Alliance is the largest veterans organization in Cheatham County. It's the most active in Cheatham County. It's the most knowledgeable in Cheatham County. We're 99% 100% veterans or better up into the letter awards. You can pretty well say if you have an R1, r2 award, which are the top awards, or any of the letter awards or even a 100% award in Cheatham County, you're a veteran. You are a United States veterans Alliance member.

Speaker 2:

Well, and correct me if I'm wrong here. Um, you know, 42 members, that are a hundred percent. Yes, at last count. And collectively let's say, uh, vva, vfw. Uh, I know I'm missing a couple there, but all the rest of the organizations in Cheatham County combined, one or two, maybe None.

Speaker 1:

None, no, 100%, not at my last knowledge. You know it's crazy, they can't see that, but they would rather be a part of the good old boys club than to get their veterans benefits. I just don't understand that, yeah.

Speaker 2:

And you've even had widows that called you afterward, after their husbands had passed away.

Speaker 1:

And they were presidents in these organizations. They passed away and their widows came to me for help getting their benefits. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

I don't know, it just blows me away. But you know we're going to see how this works out. We're determined we want a veteran service office that the veteran, us, our dependents, our spouses, our children can walk into and get served, get what they need. Trust that office, and right now we don't have it. We can't walk. Trust that office and right now we don't have it. We can't walk into that office. We go to Robertson County, we go anywhere except that office.

Speaker 2:

We drive an hour to get somewhere else and drive right by that office to do it Well, and this is what blows my mind, this is what I. It's not funny, it is disgusting, really is there would not be a veteran service office of Cheatham County If it wasn't for you.

Speaker 1:

I, I created that office. Um, if you want to use those terms, you know it wasn't single-handed. I don't claim that it was my idea, I used to. We used to go to breakfast on Tuesday mornings. We didn't have a Cheatham County Service Office, so I would fill up my car after breakfast and take these veterans down to the Nashville Regional Office to claim their files and do whatever they had to do the Davidson County. Well, the Regional Office resented us coming in from out of county so they would line us up on a couch and they would see us when they got damn good and ready. So we started complaining. We needed a Cheatham County Veterans Service.

Speaker 2:

Office and at the time it was only the second county, because there was only two counties in Tennessee that didn't have a service office and Davidson had the regional office. Yeah, they didn't need one.

Speaker 1:

so they said I think they've got one now but they didn't have back then. But you know, we did a little complaining. We went before the commission and we finally got them to approve $35,000 to open the office. We went around and we gathered the office furniture and we supplied the office furniture. We sold bricks with veterans' names on them to plant in the ground and made a little money doing that.

Speaker 2:

Wasn't it Frank Tejeda that helped you all procure some of the furniture.

Speaker 1:

It was Felix Tejeda. At that time the Baptist Sunday School board was kind of slamming down their operation to get rid of some furniture. So we went up there begging for furniture for our veteran service office, for furniture for our veteran service office. Said on the front of the veteran service office desk it said something about Baptist Sunday School Board. Well, we covered that up with a United States Army sticker and you know, we made do with what we had, sure, and then it became political sized. It's a political-sized, it's a political office.

Speaker 1:

Now, even on Memorial Day, veterans Day, vietnam, veterans Home, welcome Home Day, it's a political event. It's not a veterans event anymore. The only thing the veteran gets to do. We got a veteran part of the good old boys club or you're not even invited to that, but he'll get up and introduce the politicians and that's about the extent of his participation. I don't go anymore. They have a free lunch. Most of the people there for the free lunch. It's a political event. Most of the people there for the free lunch it's a political event.

Speaker 1:

Why do you know? I'll go somewhere where it's not a political event. I usually end up in Springfield, robertson County, where they have a real veterans participation veteran-driven. You know I want to hear the veterans speak. I don't want to pat on the back from a politician that stayed home when we were over there doing all we could do so they could be all they could be over here. That's right. You know I resent them patting me on the the back saying good job, guy. Glad you decided that you would offer your life so I can carry on being my political self here. I'm mighty proud.

Speaker 2:

Well, and most people would assume, and almost every veteran out there, I think, would assume that you can't sue your veteran service officer.

Speaker 1:

Well, we're here to tell you we can in yesterday's mail. First thing you have to do is file an intent to sue and send that by either the sheriff's office, a courier or a registered mail. The mayor of Cheatham County should have gotten that intent to sue Well outlined pretty good in yesterday's mail. We're picking up steam, we're determined, we want our day in court and we want a jury trial. Yeah, and we want a jury trial. Yeah. This thing is not only negligence, but because we warned them and they disregarded it and just swept it right under the rug, it's gross negligence. And we want attorney's fees. I mean, we want court costs and we want things made right for Elmer. Elmer needs his money. Elmer's not a rich man.

Speaker 2:

Well and Elmer, correct me if I'm wrong here I mean your biggest expense is trying to take care of your wife.

Speaker 3:

Yes.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it's not like you want this money and it wouldn't matter if you wanted to go spend it on a car or burn it in the street. It's what you're owed.

Speaker 3:

Right, I spend a whole lot more money a month there than I will receive on this here. Yeah, it's a lot of money.

Speaker 1:

You know, when we went up and filed Elmer's claim that day, I could tell there was a resentment. I went up and filed Elmer's claim that day, I could tell there was a resentment. I was there which caused some resentment. They know, I know their job Probably the only one in the county that does. But I got home and I got to thinking you know, they don't really. I got home and I got to thinking you know, they don't really. I know state training and they don't have the training to get this high in the awards to work with a claim like we were submitting. So I sat down and I typed up an email and I explained it exactly what we were claiming, claiming issue by issue five of them, why we were claiming them, what we expected to get from them and how it would help Elmer. And I emailed that. I typed it up where a third grader could understand it and I emailed that to the Veterans Service Office and the director emailed me back. Thanks for the information.

Speaker 2:

So she confirmed that she got it.

Speaker 1:

Thanks for the information. So she confirmed that she got it and she knew exactly by that email what we were claiming, why we were claiming it, and there's a lot more issues there than losses to feet. Yep, what's the excuse?

Speaker 2:

How are you going to get around that? To sit on it, not do what was explained, and sit on it until five days past the due date, which was five months out.

Speaker 1:

Now, how inept can you be before it reaches the point of being incompetent and liable and liable? Yeah, these service officers need to know that they can be sued, and we're going to start doing it. Yeah, these service officers need to know that they can be sued, and we're going to start doing it. Yeah, we're going to put some money behind it, we're going to right their wrong and they're going to be liable for their work. Yeah. Enough is enough, and it's going to start right here with a grassroots effort.

Speaker 2:

Well and correct me if I'm wrong here. Veterans have in fact sued their veteran service officer and won Exactly.

Speaker 1:

The court agrees. So we've got a point man with a case.

Speaker 2:

That's Elmer, and Elmer again, thank you for standing up for yourself and other veterans, because it's not just about you, it's about it's not just about you, it's about.

Speaker 3:

It's not just about me, it's not. I have no idea how many have been to this office. No work. The thing of it is, if this office continues, how many is going to be behind me and all of the others in front of me? Yeah, that's what I want.

Speaker 2:

Well, and it's so brazen that just recently, that office petitioned the county for five hundred thousand dollars worth of upgrades ah, don't even get me started well again.

Speaker 2:

I mean this is they're supposed to be providing a service for our veterans. It is supposed to be unbiased. It is supposed to be. They are there to work for the veterans and what you have is a situation where they are picking and choosing who they want to work for, who they don't, who they think deserves whatever they should get or not, deserves whatever they should get or not, and then taking it upon themselves to penalize by not filing paperwork or not filing complete claims.

Speaker 1:

And hiding behind the skirts of the commission, the good old boys. You know, I would think when you got a chance at that job, you'd have a choice. You can be a part of the veterans community, which you should be, or you could join the good old boys, the politicians, and that's what's happened here, yeah happened here.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, uh, so now we're.

Speaker 1:

She, the director is seeking to gut the office, which is only a couple years old. Well, she don't. She claims she don't have, but, uh, two or three offices. Actually there's three. Uh, I think they're using one for a conference room, but they don't have any privacy. They might get sued by HIPAA violations. Well, they're not liable to HIPAA. The VHA, the VA health care system, is liable to HIPAA, but she's part of the DVA. She follows their rules. They're not liable for HIPAA, but she's part of the DVA. She follows their rules. They're not liable for HIPAA. They have their own privacy laws and regulations, but it's not HIPAA.

Speaker 1:

Hipaa don't give a crap about them. But the office hours have been set up by the director for the convenience of the employee and herself Nine to three, four days a week. They got them a nice little comfy six hours a day, four day a week job. There's three of them in that office. If they would expand and work normal hours, they could spread out more in that office and work opposing hours and they wouldn't need any more privacy. It's not that they need it now, but that she's wanting to bust out the wall, take in another area, expand. That's crap.

Speaker 2:

Well, and I would assume that most days they have more employees there than people who could come through the door.

Speaker 1:

I think she's saying they have 4.1 people a day walk through their door. They serve that many veterans.

Speaker 2:

Sounds like Doge needs to get involved with the VSO office in Cheatham County.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, where's Musk? Let's bring him in. It's right up five things that they did that day. I think they're going to come up three-quarters of a point short, and it's really, really interesting. They, just before she came there, a year and a half ago, they fired the Vietnam veteran service officer for lack of performance and what he was saying is nobody comes through that door. It's not my fault. I'm sitting here twiddling my thumbs. I don't have any clients. They won't come through that door. It's not my fault. I'm sitting here twirling my thumbs. I don't have any clients, they won't come through the door. And then she gets in there and the next day she says we're swamped, and there's three of them, three of them working in there. How does four clients a day swamp three people?

Speaker 2:

That you may or may not even file their claim for.

Speaker 1:

I think she's even counting phone calls as a visit. Maybe, so, but I don't know, it's a sad situation. And we've got an oversight committee, a Veterans Service oversight committee, a commissioner who, by the way, is a veteran, but he's a bigger politician than he ever was. A veteran, oh, absolutely. And he has appointed three more commissioners to be on the committee. So now we've got a four-man committee, all commissioners, all part of the good old boys club Plow boys, farm boys. They're not any smarter than I am To oversee a three-man office.

Speaker 2:

And they do that so they can get paid for being on the committee.

Speaker 1:

And they bring her in from North Carolina and they vet her and I'm asking myself who she can to. And that's usually what happens. There's not a lot of performance. It's required but it's not done in a veteran service office. There's very little accountability. So it's a brother-in-law job the mayor's brother-in-law or commissioner's brother-in-law or a next-door neighbor or acquaintance. Now the state's going to train you so you don't have to know anything. But I've already told you about taking one paragraph out of the Bible.

Speaker 1:

You go to get your certification to be a veteran service officer. You go for five days and they pick one subject a day and they kind of go over some of the test questions and they say you might want to remember this, you're probably going to see it a little later on. And then on Friday you get a 20. It's either 20 or 25. I've took them. You get a 20. It's either 20 or 25. I've took them. You get a test and it's true or false or multiple choice. You got to make 70%. Make 70%, you are a bona fide service officer Certification You're qualified. On one of the tests that I took, they gave out the test and the director of claims said Crips, you cheated on that test. I said, roger, how did I cheat on that test? He said you made a hundred. I didn't even make a hundred. I said, roger, it's an open book test, right, you know it would take a dummy to flunk it, but they do. I'd almost say it takes a dummy to take it, but I took it.

Speaker 2:

Well, and so, elmer, what? What are you looking for? What do you want out of this? Um, you know, obviously this is not easy, it's not good, it's going to take time. There's a lot that goes into suing the county. I know. What do you want out of this?

Speaker 3:

I would want this certain person gone. Mm-hmm. Get somebody in that office that's qualified, that actually does care about us veterans. Mm-hmm. That's what I want more than anything.

Speaker 2:

It's not about that dollar to me, but it's not not about that either, in that it should be made right.

Speaker 3:

It should be made right. We need someone in there to work for the veteran instead of working against us. I'm not the only one that's been done this way. We know. Yeah, we know.

Speaker 2:

And you know, some people may not know If it's a veteran that's listening. They probably do. But walk me through what you had to do in order to substantiate that claim. You had doctor's appointments. You had to go get multiple letters. You had to substantiate this with medical evidence, right?

Speaker 3:

Right, I've been to since we have put this claim in, I'm trying to remember and not all of them was VA. I've been to probably 10, 12 different doctors.

Speaker 2:

And there's a lot that goes into that between finding a doctor that will take you, getting on the schedule, waiting until it happens. Some of those appointments are 110, 120 miles away. Right, right, right, I think the furthest one was probably. Tallahoma.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, Tallahoma.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, tallahoma from Clarksville is about 150 miles.

Speaker 3:

It's a pretty good little drive. Yeah Tallahoma, yeah Tallahoma. Yeah, tallahoma from Clarksville is about 150 miles. It's a pretty good little drive.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and there's a lot more work that's going to go into this, and so you know, I do want veterans to understand the sacrifice that you're still making today for other veterans. You know, yes, you're fighting for yourself and your family, but at the same time, you're also fighting for your brothers in arms that are being treated this way, or there's a veteran service officer in their community that maybe hadn't gotten a reality. Check that you've got to treat veterans right. You're here to serve veterans, not they're your problem when they walk through the door to distract you from playing with your toys.

Speaker 4:

That's right, and that's what's going on, but I know we do have some good ones.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, absolutely some good ones. Um, very disappointing when you walk in to see your service officer and you see mrs wiggins sitting there right uh well, let's back up a little bit.

Speaker 2:

So you know, the good news is you've met some other great veterans along the way. I have, and one of my most fun stories and I only got just a tidbit of this but, mr Don Smith is how you met my dad, james Cripps. But your meeting with Don Smith was an interesting one. If you will walk us through that first interaction or two, Well, this happened in 1968.

Speaker 3:

I'd been back from Vietnam about two weeks probably, don been back maybe a month. He got back a little bit sooner than I did. Just got out of the house, I was depressed, started drinking. Then I heard about these river rats. They called themselves river rats.

Speaker 3:

Went down and saw a young lady at my school with Carolyn. Gulledge Was talking to her and here come this macho man through the crowd. I had a beer in my hand. He jerked it out of my hand and turned it down. I didn't like that and come to find out I knocked him out. That was Carolyn's boyfriend. But the crowd all of a sudden was just opening up, like Moses opening up the sea. Great old big boy, I'm Don Smith, I'm going to take care of you. He did so. I recuperated for about two weeks and went back again. He tried to throw me in the river. That didn't work, but anyway I stuck my hand out. I said uncle, it's over. I couldn't handle that man. And that's how I met don's bed and we've been friends ever since and how, and so how long ago was that?

Speaker 2:

since 1968 okay, so you've been friends just a little minute, just a little bit yeah not on, not on all the time.

Speaker 3:

You know life goes, things change and here we go, bob heads with him again, on the friendly side this time, and we hang out. Yeah, it's good, he's a good person.

Speaker 2:

Don smith is a good person yes, he is he and wonder something special. They're fantastic. He's a good guy, good deal, good deal. I think I got he's a good guy, good deal, good deal.

Speaker 3:

I think I got more than one good guy.

Speaker 2:

That's right.

Speaker 3:

You know what I mean.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 3:

I think I got a good one with me today. Yeah. I don't think I know. Yeah, this man works his butt off to help veterans. He don't have to do that.

Speaker 2:

That's right.

Speaker 3:

He does not have to do that. What little he can do, which I know is not much, he could be doing things he enjoys doing, but I know he enjoys doing this. That's the reason he keeps on going. Yeah. He's a very strong man.

Speaker 2:

That's right.

Speaker 3:

And I appreciate he don't and I I appreciate. Uh, he don't know Well.

Speaker 2:

I will say this If a veteran's not willing to help themselves, if they're not willing to do the hard work of substantiating the claim, then he's not going to waste his time. So the fact that you're here with him says something about you too. So make make make sure you acknowledge that, because he's not going to waste his time on people that don't want to help themselves.

Speaker 3:

Well, I believe that.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, If it's good with y'all, we're going to spend just a couple minutes uh dispelling some myths uh in the VA. So one of those, obviously, is that 100% is a step. It is not the end, Right? But somebody right now thinks that they got to do a lot of work before they even get the thing started. How does one go about starting a claim?

Speaker 1:

Well, the first thing, like you said earlier, would be file the intent to file. That gives you one year to actually file the claim and gather your evidence. Should you win that claim, then your back pay started on the date that you actually file the intent, actually file the intent. You can file that intent with any service officer or you can simply pick up the phone, dial 1-800-827-1000 and tell them you want to file an intent to file. You don't even have to tell them what you want to file on.

Speaker 1:

My policy and what I put out there is every veteran should always have an intent to file, keeping in mind that when you do file a claim, it consumes that intent and you have to file another one.

Speaker 1:

So you file your intent, you get to gather your evidence to support that claim. You got to have three things Essentially you got to have an event in service that could be an exposure or an accident that might have caused your issue. Then you have to have a present-day diagnosis that something is actually wrong with you. And then you have to have what's called an exit letter and that's a doctor stating that that your present-day diagnosis was probably that event or that disease or injury was probably caused not probably, but at least as likely as not caused by your military service, and it needs to be expressed in a likelihood not likely, at least as likely as not more than likely highly likely or it actually was caused. The next thing you would do would be present that to a service officer, or you don't really need a service officer. You can go on VAgov and file your own claims.

Speaker 2:

Okay, yeah, so that is far different than it used to be. It used to be 26 pages, correct.

Speaker 1:

Yes, we complained about that and they reduced it to a simple form. The form is a 526EZ 526EZ.26. Easy, right, okay, and the address you send that to generally is changeful and you just send it to Jan, for you flip the form over. On the back tells you where to mail it to, or you can turn it in at any regional service office. I would suggest there's no way you can just turn your case over to a service officer, I don't care how competent they are. You can't do that. Never lose control of your own claim. It's up to you. You have more at stake than anybody and there are some good service officers out there, but they're overworked.

Speaker 2:

The good ones are.

Speaker 1:

The good ones are overworked. Talk to the service officers. If a service officer don't believe in your claim, beat feet out that door.

Speaker 2:

As far as hiring a claim shark, I would never recommend that, and there's a lot of them out there, and if you will kind of explain how that works and how they know that, that's who that is.

Speaker 1:

Well, first of all, they're not accredited by the VA. All they can do is say, okay, you can file on this, and you can file on this, and you can file on that, and you can turn your claim in, but they get you under contract could turn your claim in, but they get you under contract and correct me if I'm wrong here but a lot of times they either insinuate or flat out state that they can speed up your claim no way they're going to speed up your claim.

Speaker 1:

You can hire a lawyer. The lawyer can't speed up your claim. He can't prove your case. You hire a lawyer. You've got the same exact work that you had to do before you ever hired a lawyer. Same thing with a, but a lawyer or an agent is capped at 33%. Most of them charge 20, 20% of your retro pay. Some of these claim sharks are charging five times your retro for six months. That's insane.

Speaker 2:

You can get up to 30 grand real quick. Well, and correct me if I'm wrong here, but that actually gives them a reason to slow your claim down.

Speaker 1:

Well, it's beneficial to them, because your back pay, you know, gets to be bigger. You know, not that they would all do that, because they want to get paid too, but the astronomical charge, you know. Then you lose control of it. You have no control of it anymore. And let's say that you hire a firm to win your claim for you and they recommend that you put in for PTSD and a knee injury and you could probably put in for a neck injury and you do this. Well, you could have done that on your own, not owe them a dime.

Speaker 2:

You still have to go through and do all the substantiating all the doctor's appointments You've got to make the doctor's appointments.

Speaker 1:

You've got to substantiate that claim. They've just got on paper if this veteran wins, we're going to get part of his back pay and it's a legal contract. They're going to get their money.

Speaker 2:

Now correct me if I'm wrong here, but they are not accredited by the VA and as such they're not VA approved. But if you sign that contract, it doesn't matter whether they're VA approved. You've now got to sign the contract with them.

Speaker 1:

You sign a legal contract. Whether or not they're in a legal business, that's beside the point. That contract is legal and they're going to enforce it.

Speaker 2:

And they got big money to come after you too.

Speaker 1:

They got big money because they make big money. Let's say you win that claim and that takes you from a 10% disability to 100. They're going to get $30,000 from you. Five times your first six months retro. And what did they, they actually do for you? Sit back and wait with you. Yeah, okay, let's say you win that claim.

Speaker 1:

and then you get to thinking six months later uh, I could, I could fall on, uh loss of a head injury, a loss of use, uh, going up the ladder for some special month compensation where the big bucks lie. And big bucks, an R2 pays $11,300 a month. That's what I make. So when you file on your own or with a service officer and you win that claim, guess what?

Speaker 2:

They get half of that too.

Speaker 1:

They get part of that too. Yeah, you're under contract. You signed your life away. Now I'm sorry they talked you into that and I feel sorry for you. But hey, you did it. You lost your money.

Speaker 2:

That's right.

Speaker 1:

I can't help you anymore. Yeah, because if you come to me after you sign that contract with them, any advice you give them is just benefiting. All I'm doing is working for them to get their money from you. Yeah, I'm not helping you, I'm helping them, yeah.

Speaker 2:

And a lot of veterans fall for it. A lot of veterans fall for it.

Speaker 1:

A lot of veterans fall for it. And whose fault is it that we even need those kind of people in the game? The claim sharks?

Speaker 2:

It's the fault of the veteran service officer.

Speaker 1:

It's the fault of the DVA the Department of Veterans Affairs because they slow walk the claims so slow. I can remember being 600,000 behind in claims the veterans. It's like a dam. If the water can't get through the dam, it's going to find a way around it when the water gets high enough. Well, when the veteran gets frustrated and gets tired of dealing with the Department of Veterans Affairs, he's going to go out and look for a claim shark. So they create their own competition. An incompetent service officer can be replaced in about two minutes with a claim shark.

Speaker 2:

And they're happy to follow the claim because that's what sets their money in motion Exactly.

Speaker 1:

They got a little incentive. That veteran service officer has no incentive. The DVA sat around and waited on their bonus. Yeah. You know it's a sad situation. The whole thing is set up for failure. Yeah, who's at the blunt end? The veteran.

Speaker 2:

Some of them losing their businesses, losing their family farms losing their homes.

Speaker 1:

You know, before I finally won my benefits, which took me five years, which took me five years, but it was 30, 35 years down the road from my, because I didn't know. Sure, I didn't know I had anything coming. I couldn't support my family, I couldn't feed my family, I couldn't insure my family, I couldn't pay my bills. I was struggling, I was working with disabilities that I didn't know where they came from, trying to make a living. And there's veterans that are going to die like that because their service officer here's one sitting right here, you know.

Speaker 1:

But Elmer's our point man. Elmer is brazen enough to see this thing through, and we've got Elmer's six. That's right. And for the people that don't know what your six is, your 12 o'clock is straight ahead to see this thing through. And we've got Elmer's six, that's right. And for the people that don't know what your six is your 12 o'clock is straight ahead. Your six is behind you so we got Elmer's back. That's right. We're picking up steam. We're gathering support from other veterans organizations and other entities.

Speaker 2:

Well, in fact, there's going to be a GoFundMe right.

Speaker 1:

We're going to start a GoFundMe, you know we need some legal fees. We need good legal representation. We plan on making an example out of Cheatham County because we warned them. We gave them fair warning. We didn't get a fair shake in the adjudication or even any consideration on our complaints.

Speaker 2:

So let's let the chips fall where they will. And it also sets the tone for veteran service officers across the nation that you are going to be held accountable for what you do and what you don't do you better listen up? That's right to be held accountable for what you do, and what you don't do you better listen up.

Speaker 1:

That's right. This is fair warning, because when we win this lawsuit, we're going to broadcast it far and wide. You're going to know you can sue your veteran service officer and we're going to show you how to do it. That's right, and then we'll back you up.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, we're tired of this, elmer. Somebody out there right now is either, uh, at the end of the rope about filing a claim, or a veteran service officer that won't return their call, won't get their paperwork together, or has been maliciously messed over, like you. What, what bit of advice do you? Do you leave them with, from your experience, what you're about to go through, and this podcast?

Speaker 3:

Well, if it hadn't been for James, I wouldn't be where I'm at, but there's a lot of people out there that don't have a James. I recommend going to another service office next county, whatever. See if you can find you an honest service officer that cares about the veteran, and then that don't work, find another one not right. Never give up. I'm a lucky person that I met this man right here very lucky, but there's not a whole lot of Jameses out there.

Speaker 2:

Not a lot of Elmers either.

Speaker 1:

I would like to say that the work that I do, I never charge. There is no charge, it's. I don't do this for money. I do this because I owe my brothers in arms. I do this because I owe my brothers in arms. I do this because I've been through the process, I've learned, I know the ropes and I don't mind sharing them.

Speaker 2:

That's right. Well, good deal. Well, team, thank you so much for tuning into this episode of the Charge Forward podcast. I hope that you'll share this with the veterans that you know to get the word out so that veterans understand and realize that there is hope that you don't have to settle for a veteran service officer that either does not want to do their job or chooses to take a stand against you and basically dares you to say there's nothing you can do about it. You can absolutely stand up. You can fight back. You can sue your veteran service officer. You can go to another county. You can go to the regional office. There are many options out there. You can also visit VA the redneck waycom that's James's website that has a lot of information in there about how to file your claim, about some of the hurdles that you'll go through, setting some expectations and those types of things. Do not fall victim to a claim shark or to a veteran service officer that is a bad actor. You can do something about it. Again, we have new episodes that drop every Thursday. Please share this episode with the veterans that you know and love and care about. There are also other veterans episodes throughout the Charge Forward podcast Until next time.

Speaker 2:

I'm Jim Cripps coming to you from Hit Lab Studios here in Nashville, tennessee. Take care Team is Jim Cripps here with the Charge Forward podcast. I just want to tell you I love you, I appreciate you listening, I appreciate you for subscribing and sharing the Charge Forward Podcast with people you know and you love, because that's what we're here for. We are here to share the amazing stories, the things that people have been through, the ways that they were able to improve their life, so that you can take little nuggets from theirs and help improve your story and be better tomorrow than you were today. I hope that this is the tool you needed at the right time and that you find value in the amazing guests that we bring each and every week. Thanks so much and don't forget new episodes drop every Thursday.