Cover Story: Veterans Often Overlook Benefits They Deserve

PORTLAND - There can be no doubt of Roy Leverich's background when you walk into his office in the Jay County Courthouse.

The walls are covered with posters and photos of the aircraft carriers he once served on, and a large model ship is on display under glass.

Leverich spent 27 years in the Navy, including 3 years in the Navy of the Netherlands.

He now serves as the Jay County Veterans Service officer and is determined to see to it that every one of the county's 2,000 military Veterans gets what he - or she - has coming.

"Roy does a real good job for the Veterans of Jay County," said Rick Hudson, former commander of the American Legion's fifth district.

"Roy is one of the more experienced service officers in the state," Hudson said. "If he doesn't know the answer to a question, he knows where to get the answer."

Leverich said most Veterans didn't know about many benefits available to them. "And there is a lot of misunderstanding and confusion about Veteran benefits," he said.

Part of his job is also to help make sure no one takes advantage of the system.

"Sometimes I have to be the bad guy and tell people they don't qualify," Leverich said. "Sometimes I find out things like a guy is still getting benefits for a wife he divorced several years ago."

Most of the time, though, he is helping Veterans get the health care they're entitled to. Or he helps a Veteran with a worsening service-connected disability to get an upgrade.

Other common problems include Veterans obtaining compensation for service-connected disabilities years after the injury was suffered, and problems with the GI Bill and pensions.

One of the frustrations of the job, he said, is that everything a Veteran wants to do must start with his DD-214 form, more commonly known as discharge papers.

"People walk in here thinking I have them on file in a drawer," Leverich said. "But I don't. I can get it, but it can take anywhere from 8 weeks to 8 months to get it."

He advises all Veterans to have their DD-214 form recorded at their county courthouse.

Leverich is also advising all Veterans to sign up for VA health care. Until recently, Veterans had to have a service-connected disability to qualify for the health care. But that changed about 4 or 5 years ago, he said. "Anyone who served a regular hitch in the U.S. military can get VA health care," he said. "Veterans should go to their county service officer and enroll now."

Of course, it could take 5 months to get a doctor's appointment, according to Leverich.

"The government is thinking of cutting off health benefits for any new people who do not have a service-connected disability," he said. "Even if you don't need health insurance now, you may down the road, and you won't be able to get it because you didn't sign up for it."

Veterans Officer a Federal Position

The Veterans service officer position was created by the federal government but is paid by the county. "The county commissioners can fire me," Jay County officer Roy Leverich said, "but my boss is in Indianapolis. That's where I send my monthly reports."

Leverich has been on the job since 1995. Leverich and his twin brother, Rex, joined the Navy one day before their 18th birthday. Rex stayed for 3 years, Roy for 27 years.

Roy spent 3 years in the Navy of the Netherlands. NATO navies exchanged personnel to learn from each other.

This article reprinted courtesy of the East Central Indiana Star Press (www.thestarpress.com)