{"id":22448,"date":"2024-06-22T01:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-06-22T01:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/bowling-green\/?p=22448"},"modified":"2024-06-17T17:17:44","modified_gmt":"2024-06-17T17:17:44","slug":"an-expert-in-filing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/bowling-green\/an-expert-in-filing\/","title":{"rendered":"An Expert in Filing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>FORMS AND paperwork can be daunting even on the best days \u2014 especially when so many forms are important to fill out correctly. That is the struggle of many veterans as they work to file for benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Fortunately, veteran service organizations (VSOs) like the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion always have someone there to help: the service officer.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A service officer acts as a liaison between the veteran and the VA and has the knowledge and experience to handle claims with care. P.R. Webster provides that resource for thousands of veterans in Bowling Green and surrounding counties. For nearly 20 years, he has met with veterans and filed paperwork, doing his best to get local service members the help and compensation they have earned.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The job is neither glamorous nor easy. While Webster is retired, his position as a service officer includes 40-hour weeks and weekend overtime. He has to be familiar with dozens of different forms and qualifications, and he must travel across seven counties to meet with those he serves.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe VA has over 730 forms, but we deal with about 30 or 40,\u201d Webster explained. \u201cIt just takes time \u2014 patience \u2014 to learn how to do them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because it is so time-consuming and complex, Webster said the position is often relegated to the \u201cnew guy\u201d at a VSO. That is how Webster was introduced to the\u00a0position in 2006. He\u2019d spent three years in the army, serving in Vietnam. Years later, after retiring from his construction job, he joined the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion as a life member.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/bowling-green\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2024\/06\/2-4-1024x683.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-22451\" srcset=\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/bowling-green\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2024\/06\/2-4-1024x683.png 1024w, https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/bowling-green\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2024\/06\/2-4-980x653.png 980w, https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/bowling-green\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2024\/06\/2-4-480x320.png 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) 1024px, 100vw\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI had retired from my job, and I needed to do something,\u201d Webster said. \u201cI took to it, I enjoyed it, and I got good results, and so I\u2019ve stuck with it ever since.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That persistence sets Webster apart from many other service officers, who Webster said wanted to help veterans but didn\u2019t want to learn the VA system. It\u2019s a system that many veterans are unaware of and need to know. Webster\u2019s job has helped him serve thousands of people, but there are many more who never seek out a service officer to get the benefits they are due.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThey don\u2019t know what they\u2019re supposed to do when they get out of the service,\u201d Webster said. \u201cBy joining a VSO, then people like me tell them what their benefits are, but a lot of veterans don\u2019t join veteran service organizations, and they\u2019re just out there playing with their grandkids and [have] no clue what they might be entitled to.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It might be six years of work to get someone\u2019s back pay, or there may only be a few days to file a claim so a family can have military honors at a funeral. It could be filing for insurance, education, disability, or any number of other issues. Once a month, he goes to the Warren County jail to work with veterans who are inmates there, helping them access resources the VA can provide and prepare for their release. Any veteran, spouse, child, or widow may have a claim, and Webster helps all of them \u2014 free of charge.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a result of his years of dedication, many veterans and their families have gotten the benefits they worked so hard to earn through serving their country. His work and those like him make Bowling Green a better place daily. <strong>GN&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>FORMS AND paperwork can be daunting even on the best days \u2014 especially when so many forms are important to fill out correctly. That is the struggle of many veterans as they work to file for benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Fortunately, veteran service organizations (VSOs) like the Veterans of Foreign Wars [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":22450,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>An Expert in Filing - Bowling Green, KY Good News Exchange<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/bowling-green\/an-expert-in-filing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"An Expert in Filing - Bowling Green, KY Good News Exchange\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"FORMS AND paperwork can be daunting even on the best days \u2014 especially when so many forms are important to fill out correctly. 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