On Centre: Penns Valley

Rebersburg man helps fellow vets

By Ed Mahon

Dennis Price left Vietnam in 1972, and the U.S. Navy the next year as an E-4 specialist.

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But he says it was another 20 years before he learned that he qualified for health care benefits through the Department of Veterans Affairs. A friend told him, and he’s since passed the word on to others.

“It just put a fire in my gut, because there’s just so many ’Nam vets that don’t know that they’re eligible,” said Price, a Rebersburg resident who served in the Navy from 1969 to 1973.

Price and other members of American Legion Keystone Post 444 of Millheim are organizing a veterans information day June 13. Any veteran from any conflict is invited. The event is intended, in part, as a chance to share some camaraderie and thank other vets.

This will be the third such session Price has helped organize in recent years. There will be information on benefits and how to navigate the government system, how to apply for home loans, acquire discharge papers and file service- connected disability claims.

This session will focus on post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury. Price said those are difficult topics for many of the men and women he’s encountered returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

“It’s like a stigma,” Price said, adding that many are reluctant to admit they have a problem. “It’s an uphill battle.”

But a winnable one, “as long as they know there’s people out there to help them,” Price said.

He said the goal is to get help to those veterans who need it, so they don’t hurt themselves or their families.

Specialists and counselors will be on hand to assist veterans and their families in identifying symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and of traumatic brain injury and to tell them where to go for help and how to assist children whose parents are suffering.

“The support is there, but the vast majority of the people, they don’t know what’s going on,” Price said.

IF YOU GO

Veterans Information Day will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. June 13 at Penns Valley Area Elementary School’s auditorium and cafeteria, 4545 Penns Valley Road.

Ed Mahon writes about news from the Penns Valley and Brush Valley regions. He can be reached at 231-4619 or emahon@centredaily.com.