VETERANS PRESS: How and why Veterans Press was started
“Hey Veterans, Did you Know?”
Let me tell you the story.
It all started at the “Dad’s Day” WSU football game in 2017 and the “Dad of the Year” was being honored at halftime … Turns out he was an active duty Air Force and was in uniform.
The announcer said lots of great things the dad did to earn him this honor, but ended by saying “Besides all of those great things … this Dad’s daughter is going to school on his GI Bill!”
I was shocked. That can’t be true! A kid can use their dad’s GI Education benefits?”
I looked around and there were a few of us with our jaws propped open …
Not believing this was possible, I immediately looked it up on my cellphone and sure enough …
Under certain circumstances the Post 9/11 GI Bill allows for a transfer of their Education benefits to their kids or spouse!
Why didn’t I know that? I thought I was pretty informed. What other benefits were out there that me and lots of other veterans and families did not know about?
Thus begin my search for those little known, new or quickly forgotten benefits and services.
I started gathering a bunch of “Hey Veterans, Did You Know?” articles and facts.
We have spent the best part of the last four years trying to get these messages out to our local veterans. I found a bunch of local veterans and citizens that wanted to help get this message out and we eventually formed an action group and named it the “Veterans Help Net.”
This group is responsible for founding the Veterans Press (what you are reading now). It is published monthly in the Coeur d’Alene/Post Falls Press in North Idaho and the Veterans Chronicle a monthly insert in the Spokesman-Review. Both have been published monthly since 2018.
The message is clear … Help veterans and their families find “Help and Hope” by making them aware of the Benefits, Services and Help they earned with their time in the Service.
Since that 2017 football game … Veterans Help Net has been responsible for the publication of 64 monthly editions of the Veterans Press in the Coeur d’Alene/Post Falls Press and 63 monthly editions of the Veterans Chronicle, in Eastern Washington.
We have published over 300 different “Hey Veterans, Did you Know?” articles and hundreds of stories about veterans, veteran organizations and individuals that contributed to hundreds of veterans and their families “Finding Help and Hope.”
So now you know how all this started …
Veterans Day 2024 will be the sixth anniversary of Veterans Help Net and we hope to continue finding more “Did You Knows?” to help veterans and their families find “Help and Hope.”
We will continue to write stories of organizations and individuals who are also helping.
We are always looking for more stories and articles. Send us your story, tell us about your organization or about someone who is making a difference in our veteran world.
Maybe your story will open someone’s mind and lead them to finding “Help and Hope.”
Thank you for all your help and support over the last six years.
• • •
Don Walker
Bryan Bledsoe
Veterans Help Net
Website: Veteranshelpnet.com
Email: don@vethelpnet.com
Facebook; Veterans Help Net
509-998-6484
Veterans Help Net
Helping Veterans Find “Help and Hope”