00:00:15.650 - 00:00:22.140

Clarence Bacon: You have a question that has to do with local Delaware. Barbara Beel: Okay, I do want-- CB: I'd love for Jack to-- Barbara Beel: I did want to touch on the

00:00:22.140 - 00:00:37.930

VA cemetery and what the status of it is now. Jack Simmons: I know that pretty well. Yeah, I can talk on that. CB: Okay, we have a department commander out there if you want to ask her any questions.

00:00:37.930 - 00:00:58.760

BB: Well, I think I'd like to stick with you mostly. JS: Okay. CB: I think I'm going to have to go to the doctor to get cured. (Chuckles)

00:00:58.760 - 00:01:06.440

BB: Are you ailing? CB: I have a sinus problem. BB: Oh, so do I. CB: When the pollen comes out when the trees,

00:01:06.440 - 00:01:18.030

start shedding all that stuff in the spring of the year I start having watery eyes and stuffy... I do the stuffy head and the stuffy nose. BB: Yeah, Delaware's great. JS: Yeah, it lasts all summer long.

00:01:19.240 - 00:01:33.060

CB: Usually when all the stuff disappears off the trees mine'll clear up. JS: Oh yeah? CB: I think it's some kind of an allergy. JS: Probably is. BB: We've got about twenty seconds to go.

00:01:40.870 - 00:02:00.380

CB: And we're talking to local people, right? BB: Yes. [Muffled voices in the background] Good morning, everybody. I'm Barbara Beel, and this is

00:02:00.380 - 00:02:07.230

the WKEN Open Mike program. We have two guests today. We have the National Commander of the American Legion,

00:02:07.230 - 00:02:16.160

Mr. Clarence Bacon and Jack Simmons, Delaware National Executive Committee man. Welcome to the program, gentlemen. Clarence Bacon: Thank you. BB: Commander Bacon,

00:02:16.160 - 00:02:23.000

let's begin with: What is the American Legion? CB: Well, the American Legion is a wartime veterans organization that

00:02:23.000 - 00:02:31.280

consist of 2.7 million members. We have, in addition to that, 1 million members in the American Legion Auxiliary and

00:02:31.280 - 00:02:37.600

a half a million members in our Sons of the American Legion. So we represent approximately 4 million Americans.

00:02:37.600 - 00:02:45.490

BB: As I understand it, the Legion's major programs are Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation, Legislative National Security,

00:02:45.490 - 00:02:53.990

and Americanism. Let's first address Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation. CB: Well, the American Legion was founded

00:02:53.990 - 00:03:01.790

in 1919 for the purpose of rehabilitating the veteran, the veteran's spouse, and the veteran's children. And since that time,

00:03:01.790 - 00:03:09.290

we've added three other major mission responsibilities. Our second one is to foster and support a strong national defense,

00:03:09.290 - 00:03:19.550

national security system, for the United States and for its allies. The number 3 program is to develop and implement very good children

00:03:19.550 - 00:03:28.180

and youth programs, all over this country. And we have sixteen-thousand American Legion posts located in virtually every community in America,

00:03:28.180 - 00:03:34.730

the District of Columbia, and seven foreign nations. And we carry out our programs in those communities.

00:03:34.730 - 00:03:43.310

Here in Delaware, you have thirty-three American Legion posts. Our fourth major mission responsibility is something that we call Americanism.

00:03:43.310 - 00:03:51.620

And it has to do with observing patriotic holidays, making the people of this country more aware of the great nation that

00:03:51.620 - 00:04:03.680

we have the privilege of living in. BB: I believe the average age of the Vietnam vet is approximately thirty-five. The World War II vet about sixty-four.

00:04:03.680 - 00:04:14.770

World War I about ninety. Korea, around fifty-six. Is that correct? CB: That's correct. BB: Let's talk about the Vietnam vet. What is happening now with

00:04:14.770 - 00:04:23.840

programs concerning the Vietnam vet? CB: Well, the American Legion was the first veterans organization to recognize the ills created by exposure

00:04:23.840 - 00:04:30.860

to dioxin. Agent Orange as it's commonly referred to. And we have been working with Columbia University

00:04:30.860 - 00:04:39.920

in a study to develop all of the scientific information that we can to let the government know that Vietnam veterans really are

00:04:39.920 - 00:04:48.950

having problems with exposure to Agent Orange. Last year, President Reagan signed into law a bill on October 12th.

00:04:48.950 - 00:04:57.410

And this bill is for two years. It goes a long way in the right direction, but does not go nearly far enough, because it does not

00:04:57.410 - 00:05:08.950

recognize a presumption of illness due to exposure to Agent Orange. The American Legion drafted this bill. It will expire on September 30th, 1986.

00:05:08.950 - 00:05:16.390

And we're now looking at ways to either extend the bill or to provide the scientific information that we can to the government.

00:05:16.390 - 00:05:24.520

The federal government also has a study on Agent Orange. And that study is due to be completed in about three or four years.

00:05:24.520 - 00:05:33.710

BB: Simply put, veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange are not being helped. CB: They are being helped. Not nearly enough, in the opinion

00:05:33.710 - 00:05:42.280

of the American Legion. And Vietnam veterans that are suffering from something that's called PTSD, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

00:05:42.280 - 00:05:50.330

They need help. And at just the time when the younger veteran, the woman veteran, and the aging veteran needs more help,

00:05:50.330 - 00:05:59.810

the federal government is reducing the Veterans Administration funding programs. BB: You obviously are doing something about that. Tell us what? CB: Yes.

00:05:59.810 - 00:06:12.950

The the Veterans Administration 10 years ago was receiving just over 5% of the total federal budget. In fiscal year 1985, that had been eroded to just under 2.8%,

00:06:12.950 - 00:06:22.820

almost cut in half. The budget that's proposed for fiscal year 1986 will reduce it even further. Now, one of the proposals is that

00:06:22.820 - 00:06:32.030

the total federal budget would be reduced by just about a billion dollars. They would also eliminate four-thousand medical

00:06:32.030 - 00:06:42.590

personnel positions and would freeze the cost of living adjustment for disability compensation. Another proposal in the fiscal 1986 budget is

00:06:42.590 - 00:06:53.960

to increase the VA Home Origination Loan fee from 1% to 3.8%. And the American Legion is opposed to all of those reductions

00:06:53.960 - 00:07:01.010

in the Veterans Programs. We are also opposed to any dismantling of the Veterans Administration and

00:07:01.010 - 00:07:08.330

the transfer of those responsibilities either to the States or to other federal agents. Because if that occurred,

00:07:08.330 - 00:07:17.090

it would degrade medical care of veterans. And it would increase the cost of providing medical attention to veterans at the State level.

00:07:17.090 - 00:07:25.100

BB: Specifically, Commander, what is being proposed? The budget cuts? CB: The budget cuts is being

00:07:25.100 - 00:07:32.990

proposed to eliminate hospital beds in Veterans Administration hospitals, to lengthen out the construction and the

00:07:32.990 - 00:07:42.440

upgrading or state-of-the-art diagnostic treatment and care of veterans, and to overall just reduce the amount of money

00:07:42.440 - 00:07:53.540

that the Veterans Administration can spend to care for America's veterans. We have 10.7 million veterans today that are sixty-five years of age or older.

00:07:53.540 - 00:08:02.830

Right here in Delaware, you have seventy-seven-thousand veterans. And eleven-thousand of those today are sixty-five years of age or older.

00:08:02.830 - 00:08:10.960

In five years, by 1990, that number will increase to twenty-thousand. And by the year 2000, you will have in Delaware

00:08:10.960 - 00:08:19.880

over twenty-five-thousand veterans who are sixty-five years of age or older. That's not much different than the average population of

00:08:19.880 - 00:08:29.570

America because we are a country of older people. We live longer, we're healthier. But when veterans reach the age of sixty-five,

00:08:29.570 - 00:08:36.830

they need more medical care for longer periods of time. And the Veterans Administration doesn't seem to recognize

00:08:36.830 - 00:08:45.830

this because they are reducing, not only hospital beds, but funding. BB: There was talk of an equitable test being put into effect

00:08:45.830 - 00:08:52.370

regarding health care for the vets. What is that? CB: That's called a means test. It means that if a veteran is

00:08:52.370 - 00:09:00.940

sixty-five years of age or older, that in order to receive medical attention from a Veterans Administration Medical Center,

00:09:00.940 - 00:09:09.860

the person would have to divulge their assets, their estate. And the means test says if you have an income or an estate

00:09:09.860 - 00:09:17.780

worth a certain amount of money, that then you would have to depend on the private sector for your medical care. The American Legion is opposed

00:09:17.780 - 00:09:28.040

to any means tests for a veteran. Because veterans have earned their benefits. The federal government has an obligation to care for veterans because

00:09:28.040 - 00:09:35.870

they have sacrificed more than any other group of citizens in this country. They've been uprooted from their home, from their jobs,

00:09:35.870 - 00:09:44.920

had their education interrupted, to serve the country in a time of need. And the federal government has an obligation to care for those veterans.

00:09:44.920 - 00:09:52.820

BB: How about a proposed third-party reimbursement? CB: That would include having insurance companies

00:09:52.820 - 00:10:03.920

reimburse the federal government for medical care given to veterans. Now, at the present time, almost all private insurance policies

00:10:03.920 - 00:10:11.480

have a clause that prevents reimbursement of any federal government agency who cares for a veteran.

00:10:11.480 - 00:10:20.300

So if that were to be implemented, it would increase the workload of all private insurance companies. And it would take away

00:10:20.300 - 00:10:29.620

the current policy statement of the federal government to care for its veterans because it would be a shared cost responsibility,

00:10:29.620 - 00:10:37.730

private sector and federal government. The obligation is totally on the part of the federal government, not the private sector.

00:10:37.730 - 00:10:48.220

BB: How about proposed pay cuts? CB: Pay cuts for whom? BB: For veterans? I'm sorry. Let me start this over.

00:10:48.220 - 00:10:56.890

Staff reductions and pay cuts for those working within the Veterans Administration. CB: Okay. Staff reductions. There is a proposal in

00:10:56.890 - 00:11:05.630

the fiscal year 1986 budget to eliminate four-thousand medical personnel positions. The American Legion is

00:11:05.630 - 00:11:16.310

opposed to any elimination of those positions because veterans need more care today rather than less. And we need to retain all of

00:11:16.310 - 00:11:24.320

those highly-skilled medical personnel. Now on pay cuts, you might be referring to the statement that one of

00:11:24.320 - 00:11:35.910

the people in the current administration made about reducing military pay cuts, for retired military personnel. Now the American Legion does not endorse

00:11:35.910 - 00:11:44.720

any political party or any political candidate, but we do speak out strongly on issues. And we also believe that

00:11:44.720 - 00:11:54.300

any person who has devoted the majority of his adult life in the service of his country, is entitled to an adequate retirement.

00:11:55.030 - 00:12:08.450

BB: There is also a VA Home Loan Origination fee. What is that? CB: Currently, the origination fee as 1%. The fiscal year 1986 budget and the

00:12:08.450 - 00:12:19.120

Senate Budget Committee meeting this past Monday had proposed that that be increased by 380% to 3.8%.

00:12:19.120 - 00:12:26.450

And as National Commander of the American Legion, I immediately send a mail gram to all of our American Legion departments

00:12:26.450 - 00:12:33.430

throughout this country. And I sent a letter to all of our United States senators on the twenty-first of this month

00:12:33.430 - 00:12:43.090

telling them that the American Legion opposed any increase in the VA Home Origination Loan fee. Because if that were to occur,

00:12:43.090 - 00:12:52.340

it would exclude most veterans from participating in buying a home. And that in turn would depress the building industry and

00:12:52.340 - 00:13:00.920

the real estate industry. It would eliminate many jobs throughout this country that we can ill afford to eliminate. BB: Many people believe,

00:13:00.920 - 00:13:13.620

including Delaware's Congressman Tom Carper, that military personnel and veterans should be willing to take cuts, because of the staggering federal deficit.

00:13:13.780 - 00:13:22.490

Now when people join the service, they were promised certain things. Is your objection, mainly because this is in effect a contract being breached?

00:13:22.490 - 00:13:31.550

Or because the need is there? CB: Well, unless you can be specific on taking cuts, I don't really understand

00:13:31.550 - 00:13:40.070

the Congressman's position. But let me say this, that veterans' care, carried out in a VA Medical Center,

00:13:40.070 - 00:13:48.830

is the most economical way to care for the veteran who needs medical attention or compensation. If you're trying to place that veteran in

00:13:48.830 - 00:13:56.870

a private sector hospital, cared for in the States, the cost to provide the medical care needed would be

00:13:56.870 - 00:14:04.510

substantially greater than can be provided through the Veterans Administration. And the American Legion's position is that

00:14:04.510 - 00:14:14.710

veterans have earned their benefits. They are entitled to care in a Veterans Administration Medical Center when they need such care.

00:14:14.710 - 00:14:23.750

And those veterans who cannot care for themselves are entitled to compensation. No veteran should ever be allowed to live in poverty.

00:14:23.750 - 00:14:31.090

And all veterans should be permitted, as the Supreme Court has indicated, because they are a preferred class of citizen,

00:14:31.090 - 00:14:38.360

they should be permitted to live a life of dignity. BB: Consolidation of regional offices is being proposed,

00:14:38.360 - 00:14:47.270

I believe. What would that do? CB: That would degrade the care and service for veterans all over this country. And we have twenty-eight-million veterans

00:14:47.270 - 00:14:56.620

living in America today. Twenty-three-million of those have served their country during wartime. And by reducing or curtailing of veterans'

00:14:56.620 - 00:15:06.080

regional offices would require a veteran in need of care to travel long distances just to present his case to a Veterans Administration representative.

00:15:06.890 - 00:15:14.960

The American Legion is opposed to consolidation of those regional offices. We think the service should be provided in the communities

00:15:14.960 - 00:15:27.620

where the veterans are located. BB: Let's turn to the veterans' cemetery issue in Delaware, Mr. Simmons. It's been a difficult thing

00:15:27.620 - 00:15:37.750

for the Legislature to deal with it would seem. However, land has been bought now. What's the holdup? JS: There really is no holdup at present time.

00:15:37.750 - 00:15:46.940

I understand right at the... at this time that core wells have been drilled in a piece of property north of the bridge,

00:15:46.940 - 00:15:53.720

Summit Bridge on the left-hand side, and that that piece of property really belonged to the State. And it's being turned over

00:15:53.720 - 00:16:02.060

to the cemetery, to be used as cemetery, as part of our portion of the cost of the cemetery. The monies that the State

00:16:02.060 - 00:16:09.650

puts up, and these monies have already been allotted, will be matched by the federal government after these cores, or these wells, are drilled and they

00:16:09.650 - 00:16:15.350

find out that the property is okay to put a cemetery there. BB: Delaware is one of only a few States that

00:16:15.350 - 00:16:23.960

does not have a veteran's cemetery. JS: It's the only State. BB: The only State. I stand corrected. What took it so long? JS: Well, I don't know.

00:16:23.960 - 00:16:30.710

It seems that politics got into it one time or another. And it's just been one of those things that the veterans haven't been able

00:16:30.710 - 00:16:39.260

to get the State to cooperate in. BB: But now everything is-- JS: Now everything seems to be-- BB: rolling a long. JS: Yes. BB: Delaware is also one or,

00:16:39.260 - 00:16:50.130

or I believe the only State, that has a woman who heads up the VA hospital or a portion of that?

00:16:50.130 - 00:16:54.470

Carol Kerrick? JS: Carol Kerrick is a service officer for the American Legion. BB: Thank you. That's what I meant.

00:16:54.470 - 00:17:00.470

JS: Yes. She is a service officer for the American Legion. I don't know that she's the only one, but she's one of very few.

00:17:00.470 - 00:17:07.310

And she's doing a very terrific job. If any veteran would like to get in touch with her with any problems that they have.

00:17:07.310 - 00:17:16.990

I have a phone number here that they might call. It's really the Veterans Administration Regional Office. It's 994-2511.

00:17:16.990 - 00:17:27.380

BB: How many Delaware women veterans are there? JS: I think in the neighborhood of five-thousand. BB: How about nationwide? CB: I don't have the total count

00:17:27.380 - 00:17:35.840

of women veterans nationwide, but the woman veteran has contributed materially to the American Legion. We have a State Commander here in Delaware,

00:17:35.840 - 00:17:48.500

that's a woman, Jeanne Pat Renning. And we have had a National Vice-Commander, a woman veteran. But the woman veteran is not able to go into

00:17:48.500 - 00:17:55.910

VA Medical Center in most cases and receive gender-related care. The American Legion has been working with the Congress,

00:17:55.910 - 00:18:03.530

with the Veterans Administration, and urging the administration to do more in the way of providing gender-related medical care

00:18:03.530 - 00:18:12.140

to the women veteran. And I think that we're making some progress in that regard. But we have many, many women veterans who

00:18:12.140 - 00:18:20.960

hold high offices in the American Legion. BB: How do their needs differ from the men's? CB: Well, I think there's a difference between a man and a woman.

00:18:20.960 - 00:18:29.630

And women need a private room when they are in a Veterans Administration hospital. They need medical personnel,

00:18:29.630 - 00:18:40.130

including physicians that recognize the peculiar ills related to women veterans, unlike men. And we just don't have those kind of

00:18:40.130 - 00:18:47.840

doctors in our hospitals. We've also been urging the Congress and the administration and the Veterans Administration to do more

00:18:47.840 - 00:18:57.890

in the way of geriatrics research. Americans are growing older. Veterans are growing older. And we have very few VA medical centers

00:18:57.890 - 00:19:05.360

that have geriatrics doctors. We do very little in the way of geriatrics research. And whatever medical

00:19:05.360 - 00:19:13.490

breakthroughs are made in VA regional hospitals is shared with private sector hospitals so that all Americans would benefit.

00:19:13.490 - 00:19:24.710

Here in Delaware, we have thirty-thousand World War II veterans. We have one-thousand World War I veterans. fourteen-thousand that served in Korea.

00:19:24.710 - 00:19:38.000

And twenty-two-thousand that served in Vietnam. You only have one VA Medical Center. But in that center last year, four-thousand five-hundred and twenty-one veterans were cared for in-house.

00:19:38.000 - 00:19:46.120

And they also treated forty-seven-thousand as outpatients. And in addition to that, they cared for a hundred veterans

00:19:46.120 - 00:19:56.200

in the nursing home. But during this period of time, over two-hundred and thirty-three medical personnel were trained in that VA Medical Center,

00:19:56.200 - 00:20:05.150

one-hundred and twenty-three of those were physicians and the private practice physicians, those that work in private sector hospitals,

00:20:05.150 - 00:20:12.340

60 to 70% of them received some or all of their training and Veterans Administration hospital.

00:20:12.340 - 00:20:25.100

So it's a large contribution to every State in which we have a VA hospital. In addition here in Delaware, the total expenditures made by

00:20:25.100 - 00:20:37.670

the Veterans Administration to this economy is over $67 million a year. And that is a lot of money when you talk about the economy in Delaware.

00:20:37.670 - 00:20:46.120

And if any part of that was eliminated or eroded, it would seriously impact the economic situation here in this State.

00:20:46.120 - 00:20:57.710

BB: Let's turn to another issue. What are your feelings, as Commander of the American Legion, of Russia's new leader, Mikhail Gorbachev?

00:20:57.710 - 00:21:06.580

CB: Well, I don't know Russia's new leader, but I can say that whomever the Russians have in their leadership position,

00:21:06.580 - 00:21:16.400

the United States would bend over backwards to work in a diplomatic manner with the Russians to try to reduce the number of nuclear arms that

00:21:16.400 - 00:21:29.110

we have and that they have. Any reductions should be verifiable. And we should both try to achieve total elimination, if possible,

00:21:29.110 - 00:21:35.630

of all nuclear weapons. Now, I understand that national security and national defense is the most important thing

00:21:35.630 - 00:21:44.720

that we can do in America, in order to negotiate from a position of strength. And it has been proven many, many times that no nation

00:21:44.720 - 00:21:55.430

can negotiate from a position of weakness. I generally support, the American Legion supports, the rebuilding of our national defense capability and posture.

00:21:55.430 - 00:22:05.180

But, we also would like to see more negotiations carried forward to eliminate nuclear weapons. BB: Mr. Gorbachev is much

00:22:05.180 - 00:22:12.440

younger than his predecessors. Do you see any difference with his age as compared to the others? CB: Well, he's fifty-four years of age,

00:22:12.440 - 00:22:20.990

and I don't think he's been in office long enough for us to really assess his views. He, no doubt, has different views than some

00:22:20.990 - 00:22:30.400

of the older people who have preceded him. But we are still at the negotiating tables with the Russians to try to talk about arms reduction.

00:22:30.400 - 00:22:40.190

And that's a positive sign. And I believe that the Russians recognize, as well as do us here in this country, the need to continue to talk.

00:22:40.190 - 00:22:49.130

The need to try to work out a way to reduce or eliminate nuclear weapons in order that we can live in a society of peace.

00:22:49.130 - 00:22:57.380

And we've been at peace now longer than in almost any period of history. And I look forward optimistically to a continuation of

00:22:57.380 - 00:23:05.210

good negotiations and relations with the Russians. I hope we do. I know that the United States is doing everything that they

00:23:05.210 - 00:23:15.020

possibly can to exhaust every diplomatic avenue before ever resorting to either the threat or the use of arms.

00:23:15.020 - 00:23:22.790

BB: What is the American Legion's position on Central America? CB: Well, we've done a number of studies on the Western Hemisphere,

00:23:22.790 - 00:23:32.410

including Central America. And we've also done a study on our Northern Hemisphere. The American Legion position is that we should

00:23:32.410 - 00:23:41.420

assist our allies in Central America, both financially and with weapons, so that they can be self-determining in the type of

00:23:41.420 - 00:23:49.970

government that they should run. And we've helped El Salvador. We've helped many other countries in Central America.

00:23:49.970 - 00:23:57.990

And we will continue to do that in order to stem the flow of Communism any further in the Western Hemisphere.

00:23:58.420 - 00:24:06.200

BB: Next month, April, is the American Legion's Children and Youth month. What's that mean? CB: Well, the American Legion has some

00:24:06.200 - 00:24:14.540

of the best programs oriented to youth of any organization in this country. Three programs that we are pushing this year

00:24:14.540 - 00:24:24.890

includes Teenage Suicide Prevention Awareness to acquaint parents and teachers and youngsters with what to look for and listen for

00:24:24.890 - 00:24:31.640

for youngsters that are threatening to take their lives. And we have a serious problem in America with young people,

00:24:31.640 - 00:24:42.050

just at the prime of their life, of committing suicide. We have many good publications that have been published by the American Legion and

00:24:42.050 - 00:24:52.490

distributed to high schools and colleges. And many high schools have picked this up and done a considerable amount with it. A school and Griffin, Georgia has a play

00:24:52.490 - 00:25:02.210

called "Dim Lights Need More Current," oriented toward preventing suicide among their youngsters. Another excellent program that

00:25:02.210 - 00:25:13.310

the American Legion has is Drug and Alcohol Abuse Prevention Awareness. And another one is our Missing Children Program. We have 54% of

00:25:13.310 - 00:25:24.640

all major-league baseball players are graduates of American Legion baseball. We have high school oratorical programs. And annually the American Legion

00:25:24.640 - 00:25:31.940

donates well over a $100,000 in scholarships. You might not know this, but the American Legion is

00:25:31.940 - 00:25:44.840

the single largest donor of blood of any organization in this country. Last year we donated three-hundred and twenty-eight- thousand pints of blood and we had fifty-seven-thousand donors.

00:25:44.840 - 00:25:55.460

And that's only from 48% of the total number of posts that we have that report. We have tremendous children and youth programs.

00:25:55.460 - 00:26:01.930

And we believe in the American Legion that the youth are the future leaders of our country.

00:26:01.930 - 00:26:10.190

And we're doing everything we possibly can to see that they're brought up as good citizens and can represent our country

00:26:10.190 - 00:26:16.660

in an outstanding manner. BB: We're running out of time. Briefly, what is the Legion's position on the MX missile?

00:26:16.660 - 00:26:25.250

CB: The American Legion supports the building of the MX missile, the Peacekeeper missile, in order to provide us the degree

00:26:25.250 - 00:26:35.960

of strength needed to keep the negotiations going for hopefully a reduction of nuclear weapons on both sides, by the United States

00:26:35.960 - 00:26:45.620

and by the Russians, on a verifiable base. So we support rebuilding of America's defense forces, but we also support

00:26:45.620 - 00:26:53.380

negotiations to try to eliminate these weapons. BB: Mr. Simmons, if you would once again give us Carol Kerrick's number,

00:26:53.380 - 00:27:04.940

the Department Service Officer in Wilmington? JS: Actually, it's in the State of Delaware, which is 302-994-2511. BB: And she can do what for whom?

00:27:04.940 - 00:27:12.550

JS: She can fill out the necessary forms to receive Veterans Administration benefits for any veteran who has has wartime service.

00:27:12.550 - 00:27:19.430

BB: Thank you very much. We've been talking today with the National Commander of the American Legion, Clarence Bacon and Jack Simmons,

00:27:19.430 - 00:27:27.060

Delaware's National Executive Committeeman. I'm Barbara Beel and this has been the WKEN Open Mike program.

00:27:37.600 - 00:27:45.260

I'm not doing it live. And I apologize, this has not been my week. Oh my gosh. I've been totally out of it all week.

00:27:45.260 - 00:27:47.460

Thank was our lives are.